10th Oct

CR IP TI ON BS SU

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

Pakistan child rights activist shot in head

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NO: 15594

150 FILS

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THULQADA 24, 1433 AH

Merkel confronts Greek anger over austerity

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Frenchman, American win Nobel for quantum physics

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www.kuwaittimes.net

US coach Sandusky jailed for life for child abuse

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Oppn: Kuwait sliding into ‘autocratic rule’ Statement sternly warns against election system change

By B Izzak

Cabinet passes ‘deficit’ budget

KUWAIT: Opposition groups yesterday issued a new stern warning against what they called a plan by the “political authority” to issue an emergency Amiri decree to change the electoral constituency law despite being affirmed by the constitutional court two weeks ago. In a strong-worded joint statement, almost all the opposition groups charged that Kuwait has entered “a new phase of autocratic rule which does not believe in democracy,

KUWAIT: The Cabinet has approved the 2012/2013 budget projecting a shortfall of KD 7.3 billion ($26 billion), mainly through calculating oil income at a very conservative price. Kuwait, which says it sits on 10 percent of global crude reserves, has projected a budget deficit every year for the past 13 fiscal years but has annually ended up with a healthy surplus, accumulating around $250 billion. The budget, which started on April 1, will be issued by an Amiri Continued on Page 13

Bedoons held in clampdown KUWAIT: Police have arrested seven leading stateless activists for “instigating” demonstrations and are hunting for eight more in a clampdown aimed at preventing protests, a rights official said yesterday. Among those detained was the head of the Kuwaiti Bedoons (stateless) Committee, Ahmad AlTameemi and his assistant Ali Al-Enezi, the director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, Mohammad Al-Humaidi, told AFP. Continued on Page 13

ABU DHABI: Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates speaks during the opening session of the Abu Dhabi Media Summit yesterday. Gates told the gathering he will focus on charity rather than running for US presidency. — AP

Max 40º Min 23º High Tide 05:27 & 20:08 Low Tide 12:47

popular participation and the state of institutions” after the Cabinet approved a number of draft laws to be issued by HH the Amir through emergency decrees.

The draft decrees approved by the Cabinet in a meeting chaired by the Amir include a decree to privatize state-owned Kuwait Airways Corp, another for anticorruption laws and a third for establishing an independent election commission, in addition to the state budget.

Continued on Page 13

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

LOCAL

MoH hires 170 bedoon medics Anti-Shiite columnist released on bail

By A. Saleh

involving deputy directors of public hospitals.

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health hired 130 nurses in addition to 40 doctors from among Kuwait’s stateless residents in recent months, a top ministry official announced on Monday.

Undersecretary Assistant for Technical Affairs Dr. Khalid Al-Sehlawi said the nurses were graduates of the Institute of Nursing at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training and passed recruitment tests while the process for their appointment in public hospitals and polyclinics was on. In a separate note, Dr AlSehlawi denied reports hinting at a reshuffle

Shiite offender bailed Columnist Mohammad Al-Mulaifi was released from jail yesterday after serving a six months’ sentence for offending the Shiites in a column posted online. Al-Mulaifi was reportedly set to be released last week, but the Interior Ministry had insisted that there was still one more week left for his sentence to run out. The Criminal Court had initially sentenced Al-Mulaifi for seven years in prison on hate charges before the Appeals Court reduced the jail term to six months.

BOT amendment The Cabinet plans to amend the buy-operate-transfer (BOT) law through an emergency decree in order to iron out certain issues that have been creating problems in the execution of important projects included in the state’s development plan, sources privy to the case said yesterday. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also said that the amendment will address the reasons why private companies in and outside Kuwait feel discouraged to bid on tenders issued by the government for mega projects.

KUWAIT: The General Director for training administration, Lt Gen Hameed Al Sammack, said that the administration was keen to always cooperate and coordinate with all authorities and specialized establishments in addition to produce a number of qualified officers who would be able to organize training courses and give lectures. He was speaking at a reception for a delegation of military education and MOD, headed by Lt Col Talal Abdul Lateef Al Najdi.

NBK offers overseas banking services

Indonesia showcases ‘Marawis’ in Kuwait

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: In preparation for the First Asian Cooperation Dialogue Summit due to be held in Kuwait on 15-17 October 2012, a three-day colorful cultural presentation about Indonesia (Indonesian Cultural Days) was kicked off Monday evening at the Kuwait National Museum. The event that will last till tomorrow is being hosted by the National Council for Culture Arts and Letters as a prelude to the upcoming summit.

Various Asian countries were invited to showcase their heritage including cultural

dances, their products and tourism sites.

Indonesia has invited its famous musical group ‘Marawis’ who performed before the guests both modern and pop songs, as well as Indonesian folk songs. A Muslim Fashion show was also held. Marawis’ entry to Indonesia can be traced back to 1892 when they came there from Yemen. The Marawis, a type of percussion, has a strong religious element that has become an institution. It is said that Marawis was a gift to Indonesia by the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and is a product of Arab culture.

Indonesian Ambassador to Kuwait Ferry

Adamhar welcomed the guests and the visitors who had thronged the venue in large numbers from 7pm. Adamhar said the three-day event, organized by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), was held following His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s initiative to host the summit.

Speaking to the reporters, the Ambassador said that women in Indonesia have made great contributions to the country’s art and culture. These cultural activities, he added, aimed at bringing the people and their cultures together and closer to each other.

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) offers its customers in Kuwait overseas banking solutions through its specialized center in Ras Al-Salmiya branch. This first of its kind center assists Kuwaitis and expatriates with their overseas banking demands.

NBK overseas specialized center provides customers in Kuwait with complete overseas banking services in coordination with NBK’s overseas subsidiaries.

Expert sales staff are ready to assist customers with the products and mortgages offered by NBK international branches in London, Paris and Dubai besides Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt.

With its largest international network of any Kuwaiti bank, NBK provides customers with the best investment opportunities and services. NBK’s network extends to having more than 174 branches worldwide. NBK’s international network includes many of the world’s leading financial centers such as London, New York, Paris and Singapore, as well as China (Shanghai). Meanwhile, regional coverage extends to Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE. NBK offers customers complete banking solutions, providing them with the freedom to manage their finances easily, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Campaign against street vendors KUWAIT: The Kuwait municipality continued its campaign of surprise checks in the six governorates covering all areas that require supervision.

The assistant general director of municipality, Eng Faisal Sadeq Khalaf Jumaa, said that the Farwaniya branch carried out a campaign against street vendors in the Farwaniya area, Jleeb Al Shoyukh and Ardiya. The campaign was aimed at ending violations of the municipality

law and ensuring safety of consumers.

As a result of the campaign, 54 people were fined for lack of hygiene, 63 street vendors were fined while 16 were fined for using the road.

Five lorries loaded with fruits and vegetables were confiscated along with one lorry load of used clothes and subsidized food stuff.

Al Jumaa hailed the efforts of municipality inspectors who would continue their work round the clock.

Japanese delegation touts renewable energy technologies to Kuwaitis KUWAIT: A visiting Japanese delegation demonstrated to the Kuwaiti private sector its advanced know-how in the field of renewable energy technology and its wide array of uses, it was learned here yesterday.

The delegation represented Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME) and its demonstration took place at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry building, said the Chamber’s board member Adel Al-Yousifi, who noted that the delegation explained in detail applications of renewable energy technology in the fields of environment, health, and infrastructure.

Showing great interest in the delegation’s presentation of facts and figures today, al-Yousifi acknowledged the close economic ties Kuwait has with Japan. He said that Japan was Kuwait’s third trading partner, after the US and China, with a trade exchange of $13.44 billion in 2010.

On his part, delegation chief and CEO of the JCCME Seiji Hirota noted that with the growing size of the work force in the Middle East and a burgeoning population overall, it seemed axiomatic that there would be a high demand for conventional energy or better yet affordable energy substitutes. He stressed that Japan was enthusiastic about working together with Middle East nations on tapping renewable energy sources and developing their potentials in myriad fields.

He acknowledged that Japanese government was working closely with Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to instigate a number of agreements regarding the undertaking of studies and researches aimed at applying renewable energy technologies in Kuwait. — KUNA

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

local

News

in brief

Steps against corruption KUWAIT: His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace, the members of Initiative of Kuwaitis against corruption yesterday. Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak pointed out the government’s keenness to implement the laws against corruption, as well as the support for national talents in all fields. He explained that private and civil sectors must need a new legal legislation to fight corruption in various business sectors, to respect the competencies and justice in the work opportunities. The meeting was attended by Assistant Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office Sheikh Khaled Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Sabah.

Hoax bomb call KUWAIT: A report about a bomb placed inside Ajial Bilingual School in Riggae turned out to be a hoax.

After getting the report, police rushed to the site and evacuated students to a neighboring mosque. Five ambulances were kept on standby with ten technicians. Farwaniya Hospital was alerted to be ready to receive trauma cases while the central emergency room at medical emergency was also kept ready. A wireless wave frequency was allocated for any eventuality. Police later discovered that the bomb report was false and stopped further evacuation. Two people had to be hospitalized. A 9-year-old Kuwaiti student found vomiting was taken to the Al Sabah Hospital while a 27-year-old Egyptian woman who complained of pain in the back was taken to the Al Razi Hospital.

Mubarak Hospital bed capacity KUWAIT: The Director of Mubarak Al Kabeer Hospital, Dr Hassan Al Dawsari, said that the hospital has reached 660-bed capacity as part of an increase in bed capacity across all hospitals, and added that the focus over the next five years will be on enhancing the quality in bed capacity. Talking about future plans for the hospital, he said there will be two buildings, one for children with 280-bed capacity and another to serve all x-ray diagnosis. He told reporters that the hospital was in the process of setting up a division for kidney donation, and work was currently on for this venture. He also mentioned a sterilization project that will provide more space inside the hospital to make feasible further addition to the bed capacity.

KAC needs better management KUWAIT: A necessity decree will be issued to convert KAC into a commercial company which will then be handed over to the Investment Authority, sources said.

They said that the only solution for KAC was to become a commercial company owned by the government but work with a mindset normally associated with the private companies.

The company does not lack in skills or expertise but needed better management, sources said, adding that privatization of KAC was in the interests of both, Kuwait and the company.

It was a national duty to resolve the current situation as the decision was required to create a spirit of challenge and competition once again.

GCC information ministers meet in Jeddah JEDDAH: The meeting of GCC information and media ministers began here yesterday with the attendance of Kuwaiti Information Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdallah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah.

Heading the meeting, Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Abdulaziz Khoja said in a keynote speech that the meeting is being held during Arab, regional and international circumstances that require media alertness and precision in analyzing these events, without “exaggeration or fabrication.”

“We have to pursue current events and make sure to achieve the aims of the media’s social responsibility,” he said.

The meeting will discuss strategic targets to be later adopted by GCC ministers and will revise those already achieved last year, he said.

Other issues include, GCC radio, television and foreign media distribution, discussing several reports on media in the region and what has been achieved by the Kuwait-based GCC Joint Production Program Institution and the Saudi-based Gulf Radio and TV Organisation. —KUNA

Kuwait notes importance of intellectual property rights RIYADH: Elevating media standards is built on the need to protect intellectual property rights, Kuwait’s Minister of Information and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdallah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah said yesterday.

The minister was speaking to reporters following the conclusion of the 20th GCC meeting of information and media ministers in the Saudi capital - Riyadh.

On the disparity between public and private media, he said there needed to be “legally agreed principles” that bind the two, as the private sector currently “has no limits.”

This has been discussed by GCC ministers, and he hoped the matter would be dealt with in “a professional manner.”

On the issue of deliberate disturbance caused to some satellite channels, particularly in the Gulf region, he said the issue was another that was discussed in depth.

He considered the matter “a sovereign” one, and that regulations and appropriate resolutions would be taken in this regard to stop these “illegal, immoral and illegitimate acts.” For their part, GCC minister’s said that those behind these acts would bear the “political and legal” procedures that will follow.

They expressed their “utter rejection” of the acts that were described as “immoral,” in a statement issued by the congregation. They called on local tasked with the issue to put an end to these practices and to put in place fierce penalties against the bodies carrying out these offences, for viewers to rightly enjoy clear-cut and smooth transmission. —KUNA

KUWAIT: On the occasion of the Egyptian Armed Forces Day, Col Nader Mohamad Saleh, head of the military communication of the Egyptian Embassy, and his wife held a reception on Monday at Dana hall, Holiday Inn Salmiya. The reception was attended by a large number of diplomats and dignitaries and high-ranking officials. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Investment into Energy KUWAIT: The northern Gulf state’s estimated proven oil reserve stands at 104 billion barrels. With this amount, OPEC member state Kuwait harbors some 8 percent of world’s oil reserves, which ranks it 4th among oil producing countries, a notch above the United Arab Emirates which has 7 percent of the global reserves.

“Our long-term goal is really to be secure supplier of oil,” said Farouk Hussein Al-Zanki, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), in a video interview with Marcopolis. KPC is the stateowned entity responsible for Kuwait’s hydrocarbon interests throughout the world.

The bulk of Kuwait’s oil is located in the Burgan field, south of the capital Kuwait City. Ninety-five percent of the government’s fiscal budget comes from oil revenue. The dominance of the energy industry overwhelms nearly all other segments.

Kuwait is in the comfortable situation of dealing with a low fiscal break-even price in oil at $44 per barrel, according to data compiled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In comparison, Saudi Arabia’s fiscal break-even level is much higher, at $72 per barrel.

“For gas, it is almost the same, except that in the United States, gas production is already increasing through oil shale discoveries and production,” said Walid K. AlHashash, Chairman of energy investment firm AREF Energy. “ The supplies are immense and accordingly, the prices are going down. Overall, I do not expect 20122013 to be much different from 2011. The price will remain around 100-110, more or less.” Nevertheless, the oil and gas industries are very capital-intensive ones. This requires local exposure and foreign direct investment. Al-Hashash agrees that the investment climate needs improvement.

“The oil and gas sector of Kuwait is very closed. We might be the hardest market to penetrate. Despite this, you have a lot of

contacts, so there are many ways to go about it. Usually, it is either done through JV or agencies, through arrangements with oil companies. The only thing is that right now, only oil and gas services are available: tenders, contractors.”

Despite all the heated discussions in parliament, Al-Hashash does not see light

dinner chat to talk about working in the upstream or downstream oil industry.

Office job have become more attractive than careers on oil-rigs. Nevertheless, according to Farouk Al-Zanki, CEO of KPC, many more opportunities are coming up for young graduates. “Especially in the fields of gas exploration and environmental

on the horizon-as yet: “To be honest, I do not see any signals that the foreign investment environment will be encouraging in Kuwait. There haven’t been any changes, from what I can see right now,” he said.

“Things are the same. If we look at a ranking of countries in terms of attracting foreign investment, Kuwait will be in one of the bottom spots.”

What to do? Al-Hashah said that it is up to the government to improve the business climate. “It will all depend on the government’s seriousness to make a difference.”

According to a survey done by Marcopolis, a majority of interview partners of this Kuwait Report do not expect that the newly elected government will steer the country to an improved level.

Another challenge which all oil states face is a lack of talent. It does not make a

protection we see more potential. We want to produce clean energy. That is our challenge and our dream.”

Corporate Social Responsibility is also high on the agenda. KPC supports the Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice, a clinic which aims to be a “home away from home” for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.

While the production of oil nowadays hovers around 3,1 million barrels per day, Kuwait is aiming for further growth in production - up to 4 million barrels per day by 2020 and sustain it until 2030. It is an ambitious but official target that would require the development of complicated fields near the northern border of Kuwait. This will translate into more investments and special opportunities for companies with heavy oil extraction know-how.

According to the report by Netherlands’ Embassy, “the growth needs to be achieved by upgrading existing facilities as well as developing new facilities; a development which is scheduled to cost around $ 80 billion. Most of the investments will be in upstream activities with a scheduled expenditure of over $US 55 billion.

Downstream projects are scheduled to cost around $ 25 billion. Finally, there are also plans to increase the production in Kuwait’s northern fields from 600.000 barrels per day to 900.000 barrels per day.”

The report further outlines major project that offers business opportunities for foreign companies: “as for downstream development project, the $18 billion Clean Fuels Project is among the largest downstream investments in Kuwait. The project covers modernization and upgrade of the two refineries through three main EPC packages. One package covers the process units at Mina Abdullah. The other involves process and revamp work, as well as off site facilities and utilities, at Mina Abdullah and Kuwait’s third refinery at Shuaiba, in advance of its planned decommissioning.

The final package covers all facilities and services at Mina al Ahmadi.” There is also a plan for 4th refinery that is to produce “615.000 bpd refinery at Al-Zour in the south of Kuwait; the new refinery would raise the daily output of Kuwait to around 1,6 million bpd.”

Another business bonanza is the development of gas fields in Kuwait. Due to Kuwait’s alarming rate of energy consumption coupled with global demand for this resource, that KPC “expects to grow almost 300 percent in the coming 20 years, compared to 25 percent growth in oil demand”, major projects are in the pipeline and they require advanced technology.

Lastly, major downstream projects include heavy crude oil extraction in the divided zone, development of Khafji and Dorra field and Iraqi invasion cleanup project. — Marcopolis.net

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

LOCAL Letters to Badrya Darwish

Shocking, painful experience

Time not ripe for single constituency

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net Dear Badrya, On Sept 13, 2012, at around 7pm, I received a telephonic message from my home that my mother who lived in Pakistan has passed away.

I got 15 days’ worth of emergency leave from my company, bought an air ticket and went to the Kuwait airport to board the flight. I had informed my family members about my flight’s timings and they had made arrangements to pick me up from the Lahore airport. I wanted to bury my beloved mother myself. The take off time was 1am. What I was made to go through was very shocking and painful.

I was stopped from leaving Kuwait and was locked up in a room without being told why. I cannot explain what my mental condition was. So many things were running through my mind. I tried hard to figure out what could have happened but could not reach at any conclusion. I did not know what to tell my family. In the wee hours of the morning of Sept 14, at 04:30 am, the Kuwaiti police put me in a vehicle and drove me to an unknown place. All this while, I tried asking them what was it that I did wrong, but they ordered me to keep quiet. The policemen took me to a prison center where the officials filled up some documents, took away my cell phone and locked me up with other prisoners.

Now I had no means to communicate with the outside world since no one had a cell phone there, but from the airport itself, I had informed one of my friends. I stayed there all through Friday and Saturday without knowing what the allegations against me were. My family was also suffering on the other side.

On Sept 16, at around 2:30, the police took me to another place for investigation.

It was there I got to know what the issue was, and it was something interesting. I had come to Kuwait in 2004 to work in a company but in February, 2012, the company terminated the services of around 120 workers including me since it decided that it no more needed us and gave us an option to get a transfer to some other sponsor, as per Kuwait labor law.

I got myself transferred to work with another employer, but he did not honor the verbal agreement between us and I asked to be released. However, he refused. After working for around eleven months, he did agree to release me but on the condition I had to get a transfer within 10 days or he will report me to the police as an absconder.

For me, the threat was serious since I knew that it was very easy for him to declare any one as an absconder. He had already done that with two of his employees. I tried hard to find a job and finally managed to get one but on the condition of first working my way through a three-month probation period.

My new employer was right since this was the provision of Kuwait labor law, but I was helpless. This was when I went to someone who deals with visas. I narrated my story and told him that I just want their sponsorship for three months.

I paid the agreed upon amount and they gave me sponsorship. It was a tough time for me. All my three children were studying in universities and I was out of cash. Somehow I arranged the money and paid them. I had already begun working with the new company and it gave me sponsorship after 70 days of working with them and I was transferred to the company with effect from July 14, 2012.

I gave all these details to the Kuwaiti police. After getting to know all these facts, their attitude towards me was good. My passport is still with the police though they released me from prison on the evening of Sept 16. I hope I will get justice. I believe in the Kuwaiti judicial system, but there are flaws in the implementation of Kuwait labor laws.

Thanks.

Yours truly, Ehsan Ullah

By Abdellatif Al-Duaij

F kuwait digest

Bedoons facing a dark future

By Waleed Al-Ahmad

W

hile it is ridiculous to say that the bedoons did not attack police patrols and officers with stones during their recent demonstration in Taima, it is even more ridiculous to expect that the bedoons, going through continuous suffering, would remain calm, avoid violence and instead sit at home and just think of a bright future ahead.

The police officers cannot be blamed for carrying out their duty in maintaining security and arresting troublemakers, but who is the culprit in this case?

The culprit who continues to act in violation of the government’s promises is none other than the Central Agency for Illegal Residents. It has failed to announce the names of those stateless residents who are eligible for naturalization and those who are not. This ambiguity has been the reason behind the frustration that has been fueling the recurring demonstrations in Jahra districts. These demonstrations have been invariably marked by violence and arrests. The bedoons have been letting out their frustration since they find themselves facing a dark future for four generations now.

The Central Agency needs to either provide a crystal clear solution for the problem now or declare its failure and shut down. The situation prevailing now can brook no more delay.

Privileges like offers of job opportunities and enrollment at the

Kuwait University are no longer working because bedoons do not want their ailment to be dealt merely by painkillers but rather by a solution that pulls them out of the intensive care unit; in fact, out of the hospital itself.

The solution lies in immediately naturalizing stateless residents who meet the conditions to obtain the Kuwaiti citizenship, and letting others know that they do not meet such conditions. Of course, there are people who used the government’s inability to settle this problem for forty years to infiltrate their way into the bedoon community and today demand citizenship. But it is no excuse for the government’s inability to resolve the problem once and for all. Do not expect things to calm down as the bedoons are feeling a sense of great injustice and are convinced that they need to do something so that they are no more ignored. It is unfortunate for all stakeholders involved that when steps are taken to end this problem, they move at the pace of a tortoise, thus leading to potentially more demonstrations and more violence. How many ministers have set timelines for ending the sufferings of the bedoons, only to fail to live up to their promise before the end of their tenures? But perhaps an even more important question is: who is behind all this delay when everyone agrees that the problem needs to be settled for once and all? — Al-Rai

kuwait digest

ormer MP Abdullah Al-Naibari has written many times favoring a single constituency and election by list system, which, in his opinion, is most suited for Kuwait. It is hard to argue that Al-Naibari is wrong since we have no prior experience based on which we can make an assessment, particularly when we take into account the fact that the veteran politician has experience in parliamentary work that qualifies him to express a better understanding of Kuwait’s electoral process.

However, I still believe that a single constituency or reducing the number of constituencies from what we have today is going to actually add to the problems afflicting our election process and to the negative impact that these problems leave on the society. This would ultimately only worsen the political underdevelopment scenario that AlNaibari is trying to avoid in the first place.

Al-Naibari’s argument that he uses to back his theory is based on the notion that the smaller constituencies have lesser voters and that makes it easier to bribe them to ‘buy’ their votes. At the same time, Al-Naibari also argues that a multi-constituency system increases the chances of candidates who allegedly accept money in exchange for allegiance. This begs the question about which

A single-constituency and election by list system is not going to stop vote buying as AlNaibari suggests, because it is not going to change the social reality we live in and in which family and sectarian relations still dominate peopleís ideologies. The previous elections clearly saw sectarian and tribal blocs being mobilized to serve certain candidates.

People deserve a better system

By Sami Al Nisf

T

o argue that the system of one voter one vote is the correct system implemented in all other democracies and the one involving voting for four candidates which is practiced in Kuwait is wrong, all we need to do is to look at the results that we achieved on the basis of the current system. These elections resulted in dissolution of several legislative councils and governments, something that Kuwait had not seen earlier. Apart from encouraging tribalism, sectarianism, racism and buying of votes, it brought Kuwait to the verge of an internal war. It is being said that the issue be left to the future council which is to be built on the success of alliances and by those who forged the nation well. Let them decide whether the system of four votes should remain or not. Talk like this does not even deserve to be answered or commented upon.

It is enough to say that those who support the system of four votes are the same MPs who are behind the current crisis and who have external agendas. They want to see an Arab spring in our state. They are also the ones who came up with a proposal of having a popular government and who proposed a system of single constituency. They are behind such destructive political parties’ proposals. Earlier too, their stance and the legislations they brought in brought everything to a halt in Kuwait. Did they earlier prove to be right? Then how can they be right now? Anyone who cites the examples from the election results of 2008 and 2009 but ignores the results of more recent past, i.e., the 2012 elections, can-

not make an argument that can be understood logically. We do not want to say anything else.

How can you cite an example from something that happened four years ago, but forget that which happened four months ago?

They know that public memory is short and that elections will not take place today but two months from now. There are bluff masters who can manage alliances that can take them to the green chair time and again. The next elections will be no exception and will be followed by their sinister designs for the destruction of the state.

When God gives Kuwait peace and the wheels of growth start moving again, the same wheels that had stopped rolling as a result of the elections, then everyone will be sorry that we did not take this choice for a very long time when the state was busy dealing with daily crises.

The dissolution of councils resulted from the system of four votes which may Allah not let Kuwait repeat again. The people, the silent majority of them, deserve better.

Note: The attempt of extorting the political leadership will fail the same way as the attempt to extort the constitutional court. The important question for those who threaten to demonstrate in the streets and public squares to stop everything in the state and make things worse that what is happening now, is this: Is the country that you are threatening to destroy in your race for power not your country, too? — Al-Anbaa

theory we should believe: that the system favors candidates with large financial assets, or those receiving money?

A citizen is supposed to have freedom of choice. The freedom to make the choice to give their vote to the candidate they believe is the most deserving. This begs the question of monitoring primary elections in which votes are made on tribal basis, a practice the state is currently following. But the fact is that there is a difference between someone who ‘sells’ the vote, and someone who votes on tribal, sectarian or even family basis. The latter does not exercise the right to chose, but gives the vote automatically to the candidate representing his or her tribe, sectarian group, family, etc (in some cases without even having a choice).

A citizen who ‘sells’ his vote could be tempted by money. But such a practice would not have thrived in the first place if there was not a group of voters who feel that they are a marginalized minority and their votes would not effectively count (this, by the way, is only going to increase in case we limit the constituencies). For example, the Shiite citizens of Al-Jabriya do not have the ability to have any real impact on the election process, and the same goes for tribes which are comparatively smaller as far numbers go.

It would not be surprising in such cases for a voter to start entertaining the idea of getting a financial benefit from an otherwise politically worthless vote. It is worth mentioning here that the first recorded incident for vote buying took place during the seventies and under the ten constituencies system when a man was found buying the entire votes of Al-Sulaibikhat residents who had the disadvantage in terms of numbers and social influence compared to other areas.

A single-constituency and election by list system is not going to stop vote buying as Al-Naibari suggests, because it is not going to change the social reality we live in and in which family and sectarian relations still dominate people’s ideologies. The previous elections clearly saw sectarian and tribal blocs being mobilized to serve certain candidates. In other words, vote buying is no longer targeting individual voters only, but entire communities as well. I do not see how this is going to end when the number of constituencies is reduced, because based on the current ideology, political money is still going to buy allegiances.

It is strange that calls for reducing constituencies are now supported by the liberal National Democratic Form and Democratic Forum, who suffered the most when their candidates lost to those supported by mobilized blocs of Shiite and tribal voters.

A single constituency system requires the presence of political parties and a sense of political belonging among a majority of voters. These days, 99 percent of the voters are influenced by tribal, sectarian and family dominance.

The first step we need to take is to establish political parties, then wait for a few years in order to allow loyalty to the political party dominate over social loyalties. Only then can we put our trust in an electoral system based on political parties and election by list.—Al-Qabas

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

LOCAL

Kuwait refinery project ready for execution Vietnam provides land KUWAIT: The government of Vietnam has allocated land for a Kuwaiti jointly-owned refinery and petrochemicals plant, with the land now ready for excavation and basic construction, a Kuwait Petroleum International (Q8) senior employee said yesterday.

The Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical project is a joint venture between four sides, with close to equal shares. Q8’s share in the project is 35.1pct, PetroVietnam, 25.1pct and Japan’s SK, 35.1, in addition to a partner which specializes in the petrochemicals industry, Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals. The Vietnamese government

has provided many facilitations for foreign investors in the country, through allowing the tax-free import of crude oil for the refinery and pledging to purchase all the petroleum products of the intended refinery, Kuwait Petroleum International’s (Q8) director and deputy director for financial affairs Yousif Al-Yateem said in an interview with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s staff magazine.

Q8 has done “extensive research” of the intended project, covering all angles, especially the economic aspect, he said, like the exchange value of the Vietnamese currency. All of these

feasibility studies showed that the project is “economically feasible.”

Due to hard currency issues, the execution of the project has been delayed a year, and the Japanese government have stepped in to resolve the matter, he said.

Japanese banks have funded 70pct of the total costs of the project, in addition to backing from the UN and World Bank, he added.

The remaining costs, around KD 360 million (USD one billion), will be shared amongst the three main partners, the governments of Kuwait, Vietnam and Japan, he concluded. —KUNA

Kuwait ready for ‘Expo Milano 2015’ MILAN: Kuwait’s Consulate General in Milan finished its preparations for the Kuwaiti delegation which would be partaking in the preparatory meeting for “Expo Milano 2015,” the most prominent international event to review technological achievements. The General Consul to Milan Sami Abdulaziz Al-Hamad said that the Kuwaiti delegation arrived to Milan to participate in the preparatory meeting for “Expo Milano 2015” on Oct 10. The Kuwaiti diplomat said, on the sideline of a coordination meeting with the Kuwaiti

committee here yesterday, that the Expo Milano was themed “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.”

He stressed the importance of the exhibition in general, and specifically “Expo Milano” which a total of 102 countries would be taking part in.

This exhibition offers the latest in intellectual and scientific achievements, innovations, and technologies. General Assembly of the International Exhibitions Bureau in Paris is responsible for choosing the countries organizing the “Expo” among a group of competing

elected countries. This exhibition is held once every five years. Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information Sheikh Salman Sabah AlSalem Al-Sabah will head the Kuwaiti delegation. Kuwait will install its pavilion on an area of 2,790 cubic meters, with the participation of several local bodies in the field of energy, nutrition, and development.

Italy themed its exhibition “Feeding the Planet, Energy of Life” due to the importance of these issues to the global community. — KUNA

Boubyan ITQAN Academy launches bachelor’s program KUWAIT: As part of the relationships between Boubyan Bank and Gulf University for Science & Technology (GUST), they announced the launch of Boubyan ITQAN Academy’s program for current employees of the holders of diploma to obtain the bachelor’s degree from GUST, which is accredited by University of Missouri at St. Louis (UMSL), and with which agreement has been previously made to act as the “Exclusive Academic Partner” for Boubyan Bank in Kuwait.

GM-Human Resources Group in Boubyan

and starting its activities is a product of extensive study based on the training requirements for staff and the care to develop their capabilities and enhance their experience in an academic manner whose results reflect on their academic qualifications in order to achieve better positive results for training and development.”

According to the program organized by ITQAN Academy, some lectures will be held at GUST and the other at ITQAN Academy and staff will join the College of Business to study the

KUWAIT: Al-Hammad and Al-Hares after signing the agreement Bank, Adel Al-Hammad said: “Once again, we work to launch one of the important and basic programs of ITQAN Academy as part of the strategic relationships with GUST, which aim at developing our human resources in an advanced and innovative way that is considered the first of its kind throughout all banks in the region.”

Al-Hammad added: “The agreement signed by the Bank with GUST in this regard aims at giving the Bank’s staff of diploma holders the opportunity to continue their university study through combining academic programs with job requirements. And no doubt, it is the dream of many people to receive the bachelor’s degree from one of the leading Kuwaiti universities. He also noted that the launch of ITQAN Academy

majors of accounting, finance, business administration and marketing.

Al-Hammad pointed out that trainees at the Academy who satisfy specific conditions will be entitled to obtain 45 accredited credits of the bachelor ’s program at GUST ’s College of Business and these credits will be closely relevant to job type and career development scale, and represent 50% of the accredited hours remaining for the student after the equation of the diploma subjects so that the accredited credits be suitable for key work requirements in Boubyan Bank. Besides, trainees will be given the opportunity to complete the remaining accredited credits of the bachelor’s program at GUST in order to receive the certificate in case they so desire.

Contracts to upgrade power generators KUWAIT: Minister of Electricity and Water, and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim signed yesterday two contracts, worth about KD 11.6 million, to enhance electricity output in Kuwait.

In a press statement, the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) said the first contract was to supply and extend fibre optic cables as well as their accessories in Shuaiba area in the Second Phase, worth around KD 5.9 million.

This project includes strengthening the electricity feed in Shuaiba Industrial Area and Al-Zour by linking a main power transformation station, with 54-km-long cables, to extend power feed with diameter of 18 kilometers, statement added.

The minister pointed out that the second contract consisted of studying, designing, equipping, installation and intensive maintenance to improve power generating, at total cost nearly KD 6.5 million. He explained that the second project aimed to bear high loads of power in order to raise the ability and improve the performance of the power grids as well as reducing the load by between 12 and 20 percent. —KUNA

Municipal Ministers wrap up meeting RIYADH: Municipal affairs ministers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) wrapped up here yesterday their 16th meeting with the participation of Kuwaiti Minister of Electricity and Water and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Abdul Aziz Abdul Latif Al-Ibrahim.

The Ministers approved at the meeting which was chaired by the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs of Saudi Arabia Prince Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdul Aziz the general framework of dealing with solid waste in the GCC countries and a directory for the development of utilities on highways, in addition to a proposal to develop rules of municipal information.

The Secretariat has been entrusted with preparation of meetings of the team charged with coordination and follow-up with the Kingdom for the city beautification and setting a timetable for the implementation of the sought goals. The Ministers also recognized the Saudi building code to be used by all GCC states’ municipalities. —KUNA

On his part, Dr. Osama Al-Hares, Director Centre of Alumni and Corporate Relations (CACR) at GUST applauded the strong relations linking GUST and Boubyan Bank, considering that the establishment of the Bank’s ITQAN Academy is a pioneering idea that represents an example to be followed in adopting advanced strategies and mechanisms for training and developing national cadres in the private sector.

Al-Hares stressed GUST’s care to do its best towards the success of IQTAN Academy’s programs and objectives. He also said that the Agreement comes as commitment with a leading Kuwaiti bank in terms of developing human resources and capabilities, adding that “developing and enhancing training with bachelor’s and MBA programs and advanced media like e-learning which ITQAN Academy strives to include in its programs is something we really appreciate for Boubyan Bank’s management which realizes the importance of qualifying the promising future generations of this nation.”

On the other hand, Al-Hares indicated that they started to reap the fruits of the agreement signed by the Bank with ITQAN Academy as the first class of Boubyan staff started study at GUST with the aim of upgrading their expertise, with 19 employees joining the MBA program and now 15 employees joining the bachelor’s program of GUST’s College of Business. In addition, a large number of the Bank’s staff have joined the training programs, which are among the best types of training provided throughout the Kuwaiti banking sector, as the Bank has a training team with high qualifications and experience that enable them meet the requirements of current and future business trends.

Boubyan Bank strives to be the employer of choice for branch managers by providing a work environment that encourages the development of young capabilities and gives opportunities for career development to skilled trainees in a carefully thought-out academic way under the supervision of a professional training team accredited by international institutions who participated in providing training courses to international companies in North America, Europe and GCC countries. In addition, ITQAN Academy programs are based on Blended Learning Approach which includes training courses, onjob training, rotation among departments, guidance and instruction, e-learning and assessment centers.

Sirens tested around Kuwait KUWAIT: The civil defence started a trial operation for sirens yesterday in the presence of Civil Defence Director Lt Gen Yousuf Al-Roudhan.

The hi-tech sirens were sounded at 10 am yesterday. The sound of the sirens was accompanied by a voice recording to explain the meaning of the sound, and messages were relayed in both languages, Arabic and English.

The Civil Defence had sent teams across all governorates to listen to the sirens and record their observations. The operations room received a number of calls from citizens who made some observations and made some enquiries.

The signs along the express roads were operated 24 hours before the sirens were sounded and also during the time when the sirens were active.

Zakat House prepares shelter for 40 Syrian refugee families BEIRUT: Kuwait Zakat House announced yesterday that it is preparing a shelter for 40 Syrian refugee families in Baalbek, Lebanon.

Zakat House has prepared a school in Baalbek to shelter 40 Syrian refugee families, in addition to distributing about a thousand food rations and blankets to Syrian families in Bekaa and Baalbek, Deputy Director of Zakat House Khaled AlHusseini said.

Al-Husseini expressed his hope that these gestures, which depict a humanitarian and religious duty towards the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, may contribute to alleviating their suffering.

For his part, Head of humanitarian relief and aid at the Dar Al-Fatwa in Lebanon Riyadh Aitani praised the charitable work that Zakat House is carrying out in the Arab and Muslim countries in general and in Lebanon in particular, nothing that it is a key partner to Zakat Fund Lebanon to enforce charitable projects.

Aitani also praised the assistance provided by Kuwait Zakat House for the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, stressing its significance at the current time, especially that the number of Syrian refugees is increasing.

Furthermore, Zakat House has distributed food aid, blankets and money to 1,500 Syrian refugee families in northern Lebanon on Monday.

Several activists and philanthropists from Kuwaiti charitable organizations are providing humanitarian assistance to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan such as KZH, Kuwait’s Al-Rahma AlAlamiya Society for relief and development, International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO), Eslah Social Association and many others.

The latest statistics indicate that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon reached more than 80,000, mostly in northern Lebanon in Akkar, Tripoli, Minyeh and Daniya. — KUNA

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

LOCAL

Homeless mother with kids at Salmiya beach Woman charged for beating ex-husband KUWAIT: A woman found with her two children at the Salmiya beach in a state of destitution told police officers that she has been homeless ever since her husband divorced and kicked her out of her house. The Hawally police escorted the woman and her children to the Salmiya police station where investigations confirmed her story. The police also found that there was a dossier on her at the Psychiatric Hospital and she has been homeless for over a month. All this while, she and her children survived on leftovers left by visitors to the beach. The police managed to contact the woman’s father who agreed to take in the children while the woman was taken back to the Psychiatric Hospital.

Motorcyclist hurt A motorcyclist was hospitalized in a critical condition after an accident recently at the Arabian Gulf Road, it was reported. The 29year-old Kuwaiti man was rushed to the Amiri Hospital in an ambulance after medics and police responded to a report about a motorcycle losing balance and hitting a light pole. An investigation was on to determine what had led to the accident.

Suicide motive A woman who attempted suicide by jumping into the gulf waters recently told officers that she took the step after she was tricked by a man she married since she later discovered that it was actually only a customary marriage.

She revealed this during interrogation at the Salmiya police station where she was sent

after being discharged from the hospital.

Search is on for the man accused of deceiving her by arranging a customary marriage and hiding the marriage contract.

Officer escapes run over A male driver was arrested after he ran over a police officer who was injured in the accident. The incident took place on the Sixth Ring Road near Al-Sulabiya where paramedics rushed after getting a report about a policeman being hurt in an accident. The officer was taken to the Farwaniya Hospital while the driver was taken to the Saad Al-Abdullah police station where investigations got underway.

Family feud A man kicked his nephew out of his dewaniya Sunday night following an altercation while watching the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match. The incident took place in AlAdan where guests invited to watch the Spanish League El Clasico match had to intervene to stop a heated exchange between the dewaniya owner, who happened to be a Barcelona fan, and his nephew who supported the Catalonian team’s archrival. The quarrel ended when the host kicked his nephew out before the match ended.

Good Samaritan A man who lost a suitcase containing KD1350 with which he planned to buy a new car got lucky when a citizen who found it reported it to the police. The Good Samaritan arrived at the Ahmadi police station recently

with the suitcase containing cash, saying he found it near the Ahmadi Traffic Department.

The police identified the suitcase’s owner through documents of traffic transactions found inside. The man, an expatriate dentist, arrived at the police station soon afterwards and explained that he had lost the suitcase when he was preparing to buy a car.

Arrest warrant The Sulaibiya police are looking to arrest a man who faces charges of domestic assault registered against him at the area’s police station. Investigations went underway after a Saudi woman approached the officers with a medical report showing diagnoses for multiple bruises that she claimed were caused by her husband’s assault. According to her testimony, the man beat her up with a stick during a heated argument. The husband was being summoned for investigations.

Angry woman A man pressed battery charges against his ex-wife who hit him in the presence of the police when he arrived late with their children who she has custody over. The woman had arrived in time to Waha police station to collect her children who went for a trip with their father, but had to wait for two hours for her exhusband to show up. She took out her anger on her ex-husband by attacking him, much to the shock of the police officers who later helped the man file a case. The woman was referred to the proper authorities to face charges. — Al-Watan, Al-Rai

Dive team lifts two tons of nets off Kubbar Island KUWAIT: Kuwait dive team in the Environmental Voluntary foundation managed in cooperation with the directorate General of the Coast Guard of the Ministry of the Interior in lifting fishing nets weighing two tons off the Kubbar Island.

The nets were dangerous to marine life in Kubbar coast and add gravity to the pioneers of the island, an official at panel operation Waleed Al-Shatti said yester-

day. The Kuwaiti laws ban the stationing of nets near coral reefs. Islands like Kubbar, Qaruh and Umm al Maradim are within protected natural areas that prohibited harming wildlife by any type of fishing. Dive team volunteer assignments with government departments and agencies like the General Administration for Coast Guard, Fire department, Cabinet removal commission, Kuwait ports institution and Kuwait Municipality. — KUNA

Arab Internet Governance Forum kicks off KUWAIT: Minister of Communications and acting Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Salem AlUtahinah stressed here yesterday that the first Arab Forum for Internet Governance would narrow the gaps among Arab internet users especially after the recent events in the Arab world.

This came in a keynote address delivered by the Minister before the first forum on behalf of His

Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah dubbed (Better internet for better Arab homeland) and organized by the Kuwait Society for Information Technology.

He added that the forum will discuss public policy issues related to Internet governance in order to reach an international administration of the Internet and enhance access to this network

and its security, stability and development.

He explained that the forum seeks to facilitate the exchange of information and best practices and drawing lessons and knowledge, especially from experienced professionals and academicians and reach appropriate suggestions and recommendations in this area.

He said the forum would also

address the issues of emerging technologies without operational management processes of the Internet and contribute to capacity-building and development in the field of internet governance in Arab countries. Al-Utahinah underscored the importance of strengthening the participation of all those in charge to make full use of the available resources of knowledge and expertise. — KUNA

TEC sponsors Childhood Festival

Alwane advocates for Kuwait businesswomen KUWAIT: Alwane-Kuwait, part of a regional coalition for the advancement of women leadership in the MENA region, has recently concluded a series of activities which seeks to bolster the role of Kuwaiti women in business, as well as to provide them with ample opportunities to establish their own small projects.

Armed with an inspiring slogan, “My life ...

Passion and Ambition,” Alwane Kuwait stressed the importance of providing the necessary motivation for women to take the first step in bringing about change. The committee held many free intensive courses entitled, “Entrepreneurs: beginning, funding, growth...finding the right way,” at the National Library in Kuwait at the beginning of October.

Alwane-Kuwait strongly believes in women’s empowerment, giving women entrepreneurs a chance and the right to establish small businesses. They have successfully linked their trainees with mentors, who are successful women entrepreneurs, making great strides in the business market.

Among the main topics highlighted during these sessions, were “How to develop your business,” presented by Dalal Ganai, “How to get funding,” presented by Haifa Al-Odwani, “Marketing basics and knowhow,” presented by

Basma Sultan, and finally, “How to communicate and interact with the target audience,” presented

by Mariam Al-Shamali.

At the end of this month, Alwane-Kuwait is also hosting a special exhibition for women who have participated in those courses to showcase their projects and how they have benefited from the program. The exhibition will open its doors to the general public so that they can witness and get acquainted with the success stories of these new women entrepreneurs.

Jana Al-Banna, Alwane-Kuwait Country Officer, commented saying, “The Alwane campaign in Kuwait has strengthened the role of Kuwaiti women in the local community, and has proven that women are able to combine both their responsibilities at home and their leadership in business at the same time.” She added “Kuwaiti women have proven that they are able to have an active and important role in their society”.

Alwane-Kuwait has partnered with Mars Venus Success Coaching Center; which is headed by Dalal Al-Janaie (Alwane-Kuwait Committee member). The Center has offered its support to Alwane’s campaign, and has collaborated with Alwane Kuwait in its “Spread the Love Campaign” which aims to promote,

the strong belief in and respect for the role of women.

A newly established Regional Coalition of experienced and emerging leaders from 16 countries across the Middle East and North Africa has come together to work towards the advancement of women’s leadership in the Arab World. Alwane includes men and women academics, activists, experts, entrepreneurs and youth committed to social change and gender equality. Working at both a national and regional level, this coalition aims to generate discourse around pressing challenges to women’s full participation in society, as well as share intraregional success stories. By working together, this coalition aims to raise awareness, create a platform for dialogue, advocate for change and influence national, regional and international policies effecting women’s participation in society.

Working in more than 40 countries around the world, Women’s Campaign International (WCI), advances opportunities for women to actively participate in public advocacy, market and political processes. In providing the requisite skills, knowledge and culturally-sensitive support, we develop leaders who transform the lives of everyone they serve.

KUWAIT: The Touristic Enterprises Company organized a training program on projects management in cooperation with Projacs. The program focused on identifying the principles of projects management as it is the main tool in dealing with the local markets today. The course was conducted at the TEC’s headquarters between Sept 30 and Oct 4. It featured ten engineers from the projects and planning department.

KUWAIT: The Touristic Enterprises Company takes part as a platinum sponsor in the first Childhood Festival organized by the Dhuwa Al-Yaddah Center in cooperation with Idarah Exhibitions and Conference on the occasion of the Arab Child Day. The event takes place from Oct 14 to 16 at the Convention Center and Royal Suites Hotel under the patronage of Minister of Finance, Acting Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf.

The festival features an entertaining program that includes competitions as well as seminars and lectures on childhood.

“The TEC’s participation in the event comes as part of the company’s support to activities concerning children, and commitment to improving services presented to children in all fields,” Huda Al-

Saleh, the Public Relations and Marketing Department Manager, said in a statement yesterday.

Huda Al-Saleh

Gulf Bank recognizes staff with long service awards KUWAIT: In line with its internal strategy of recognizing outstanding achievements, Gulf Bank launched a Long Service Award program this year, which has already seen over 600 employees honored.

The program recognizes employees who have completed 5, 10, 15 and 20years service with Gulf Bank, to thank them for their commitment and dedication. Each employee receives a personalized award pack.

Surour Alsamerai, Gulf Bank’s General Manager, HR, said: “At Gulf Bank we understand the value and importance of our people. We will con-

tinue to provide exciting employee programs that recognize and motivate our staff. On behalf of Gulf Bank, I congratulate all our long serving staff for their commitment to the Bank, and wish them many more years of success.”

Gulf Bank is committed to providing its employees with the best working environment and continues to invest in its people to achieve this.

The Long Service Award program is just one more of Gulf Bank’s wide range of employee recognition schemes designed to motivate, attract and retain the very best people.

KUWAIT: Hanan Al-Khalifa, HR Business Partner, Subhi Faraj, Deputy General Manager, Consumer Banking Group, recognizing Adel Al-Khaldi, along with Basel Al-Assad, Area Manager at Gulf Bank

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

Taleban attack teenage Pakistani girl activist Page 12

Frenchman, American win Nobel for quantum physics Page 10

ATHENS: Protestors run away from tear gas during clashes in front of the parliament in Athens yesterday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Greece has covered “much of the ground” required for recovery, during her landmark visit to the financially stricken country. Paying her first visit to Greece in five years, Merkel’s arrival triggered protests attended by some 50,000 demonstrators in Athens. — AP

Merkel confronts Greek anger over austerity Police fire teargas, protesters pelt rocks, sticks ATHENS: Police fired tear gas yesterday to disperse protestors attempting to storm a barricade near parliament as tens of thousands of Greeks massed in Athens in a show of anger against German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Vilified for Greece’s punishing spending cuts, Merkel, the leader of Europe’s paymaster, is on her first visit to the eurozone’s most indebted nation since the debt crisis erupted almost three years ago.

As she met Greek Prime Minister Antonio Samaras, demonstrators gathered just a few blocks away, some brandishing banners reading “You are not welcome, Imperialisten Raus” (Imperialists out)” or “No to the Fourth Reich”.

Two Nazi flags were draped on the steel fence near parliament and set on fire. Sporadic violence also broke out, with small gangs of masked youths throwing bottles at riot police.

Thousands of police were out on the streets and key parts of central Athens were closed off to create a large security zone for Merkel’s meetings with Samaras and President Carolos Papoulias.

Police said about 25,000 protesters had already streamed on to the central Syntagma Square, which lies outside the lockdown zone. Merkel, the head of Europe’s largest economy and the continent’s paymaster, has been a champion of tough budgetary discipline.

She has become a hate figure in

Greece over the tough spending cuts imposed on the country in return for multi-billion dollar aid packages. She has even been depicted as Adolf Hitler in Greek tabloid caricatures.

The visit comes at a crucial time for Athens which is locked in negotiations with its international creditors over a 13.5-billion-euro package of further cuts in order to win further bailout funds.

Christina Vassilopoulou, a 37-year-old teacher in the impoverished Athens district of Agios Panteleimon, said she had turned up to protest “the decisions taken at European meetings where Merkel manipulates the participants”.

“I have a doctorate and I make 900 euros a month, 400 less than before. We have children that go hungry and most of the parents are unemployed,” she said.

Merkel’s office and the Greek authorities are selling her visit as a gesture of solidarity and encouragement for the country’s reform efforts, but many in Greece said the trip only served to fan anger.

Online hackers group Anonymous said it had attacked a number of Greek government sites. “We, as Anonymous, are next to the Greeks claiming their freedom. We are next to a people who have fought against the German occupying forces,” it said.

Vana Koronaiou, a shop owner selling German-made handbags near Syntagma Square, said: “This visit pours oil on the fire. “If she wanted to help, she should have done it sooner,” she told AFP.

Samaras is holding talks with Merkel before a joint press conference. The German chancellor will then meet Papoulias and a delegation of Greek and German businessmen before departing in the evening.

Shortly before her arrival, Greece’s international creditors-the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank-piled further pressure on Athens to live up to its austerity pledges made in exchange for crucial loans.

However, Athens and Berlin both shied away from tough talk ahead of the visit. “The basic message is that we are here, that we are on the side of Greece, and that we want to support Greece’s endeavour towards stability and recovery,” German ambassador to Greece Wolfgang Dolt told state television NET. “The people in this country are going through tough measures, massive adjustment, structural reforms, they are under great pressure,” Dolt said.

“They deserve respect for that. I think this is one of the core sentiments we have and which will certainly be expressed.”

Greek government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou described the visit as “a message of faith in the course of the Greek government, the Greek economy”.

“It is a positive step, it’s important that the German chancellor is coming to Greece for the first time since the start of the crisis,” he said. Mocking the govern-

ment’s positive spin on the visit, a frontpage cartoon in top-selling Ta Nea daily showed Samaras sweeping protesters under a red carpet as Merkel’s plane lands.

Greece is counting on a positive outcome from the EU-IMF talks to unblock a 31.5-billion-euro installment from Greece’s EU-IMF bailout package, which is needed to recapitalise banks and repay outstanding domestic debts in a country that is heading for a sixth straight year of recession.

Samaras said Friday that his country could not take more bitter medicine and warned that if the next aid tranche did not arrive soon, state coffers would be empty by November. Greece’s debt amounted to about 160 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, according to official figures.

International creditors on Monday gave Athens an October 18 deadline-the date of the next European Union summit-to implement reforms in exchange for slice of loan, which has been pending since June.

“We stressed that before the next disbursement, Greece clearly and credibly should demonstrate its commitment to fully implement the programme-and 89 prior actions from March should be implemented by the 18th of October at the latest,” Eurogroup chairman JeanClaude Juncker said at the close of talks with finance ministers from the 17nation single currency area. — AFP

Panetta, Allen to reassure NATO on insider attacks BRUSSELS: NATO defense leaders gathering here yesterday are committed to the war in Afghanistan, according to US and alliance officials, but there are growing signs that the Afghan political and military hostilities are starting to wear on the coalition. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other US officials heading into the meetings say they expect to reassure allies that military commanders are doing all they can to stem the tide of insider attacks, in which Afghan troops or insurgents dressed in their uniforms turn their guns on the coalition forces that are training them.

Compounding those military threats, however, is a recent spike in political tensions between Afghanistan’s government leaders and the US, Afghan President Hamid Karzai complained that the war effort is wrongheaded, and that coalition forces are not fighting the right enemy.

Just days ahead of the NATO meeting, Panetta was uncharacteristically sharp, criticizing Karzai for complaining rather than thanking the troops who have sacrificed their lives for his country.

Karzai’s argument that NATO is wrongly going after the Taliban in Afghanistan when it should be fighting insurgents in Pakistan’s safe havens could further erode support for the war, particularly among members of Congress.

Panetta’s pique reflects the frustration of his military commanders, who have seen more than 2,000 US troops die in the

11-year war. And it can only fuel the increasingly strident grumbling by American lawmakers who are facing hotly contested elections next month, and are hearing from constituents wondering why the US is pouring billions of dollars into a fight that Afghanistan’s shaky and corruption-plagued government may no longer support.

Still, Panetta and allied leaders, including NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, insist that the war strategy is sound.

They say the coalition will stick to the withdrawal schedule, which has combat forces leaving and Afghan forces taking over security of the country by the end of 2014. During meetings yesterday, Rasmussen said the ministers are expected to endorse a new framework for the Afghan war post 2014, shifting the focus of the coalition effort from combat to training. As a result, NATO is working on a new name for the mission - which to date has been the International Security Assistance Force. It would change in 2015 to the International Training, Advisory and Assistance Mission.

That mission would also likely include continued counterterrorism efforts by the US. The NATO members were also discussing the widening gap in defense spending between the US and the European allies, who have been cutting military budgets as part of their financial austerity measures. —AP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

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

Thousands march a year after Egypt Copt killings CAIRO: Thousands of Egyptian protesters marched yesterday to mark one year since nearly 30 people were killed in a Coptic Christian demonstration that was violently crushed by security forces. Demonstrators carrying posters of those who died during the violence walked solemnly down a main Cairo thoroughfare in the working class district of Shubra towards Maspero, in the city centre.

Some waved flags, others held posters of officials they want to see

put on trial. Groups of them chanted against Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the military ruler who took charge of the country following the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, and whose forces are accused of killing the protesters.

“Either we get justice, or we die like them,” they sang. The march was organised by the Maspero Youth Union, a group of Coptic activists formed in the wake of last year’s deadly protest that left Egypt’s Christian

community deeply scarred.

“The only political demand on this day is to seek justice for the martyrs and for the criminals implicated in the massacre be tried,” the group said on Facebook. Yesterday’s procession followed the route taken a year ago by the Coptic protesters.

On October 9, 2011, thousands of demonstrators marched from Shubra to Maspero to denounce the torching of a church in the southern province of Aswan. The protest was attacked

and violence flared when the army and riot police charged at the protesters, leaving 26 Coptic Christians, one Muslim man and one policeman dead, says Amnesty International.

Graphic videos that were subsequently posted on the Internet s h owe d a r my ve h i c l e s r a m m i n g into protesters at high speed. In a repor t published last week, Amnesty said “armed and security forces used excessive, including lethal, force against those not pos-

ing a threat to them or others.” “ The Egyptian authorities have failed to conduct a full impartial and independent investigation into the circumstances of the violence and to bring those responsible to account,” the rights watchdog said.

Christians, who make up six to 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 83 million, have regularly complained of discrimination and marginalisation.

They have also been the target of numerous sectarian attacks. — AFP

NATO backs Turkey in standoff with Syria Heavy clashes around Syrian town of Azmarin

LONDON: This Friday, April 30, 2004 file photo shows Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, as he arrives with a masked bodyguard, right, to conduct Friday prayers in the street outside the closed Finsbury Mark Mosque in London. AlMasri pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that he conspired with Seattle men to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon. — AP

Abu Hamza pleads not guilty on terror charges NEW YORK: An Egyptian-born preacher pleaded not guilty yesterday to conspiring with Seattle men to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, three days after he and four others were brought to the United States from England to face terrorism charges. Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, 54, entered the plea shortly before US District Judge Katherine B. Forrest set an Aug. 26 trial date. Mustafa, widely known by the name Abu Hamza al-Masri, is also accused of helping abduct 16 hostages, two of them American tourists, in Yemen in 1998.

“He’s presumed innocent,” his courtappointed lawyer, Jeremy Schneider, said outside court afterward. When someone asked Schneider whether he thought his client was a terrorist, he snapped: “That’s a silly question.” Schneider said his client prefers to be known as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, the name listed first on his indictment. Abu Hamza and Abu Hamza alMasri are listed as aliases.

There was no mention in court Tuesday about access to the prosthetics - including a hook - that Mustafa uses in place of the hands he says he lost fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, but Schneider said outside court that it was a problem for him.

“I believe he has use of them for a certain part of the day but not long enough to allow him to function the way he should function,” he said. “As you can well imagine, he’s not happy he’s in a situation like this without use of his prosthetics.”

“He’s having a hard time. He doesn’t have hands,” he said. He also is missing an eye. His lawyers in England said he suffers from depression, chronic sleep deprivation, diabetes and other ailments.

Earlier yesterday, two men brought from England to face terrorism charges on Saturday along with Mustafa made their first appearance before U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who set an October 2013 trial date. Khaled al-Fawwaz, 50, and Adel Abdul Bary, 52, are charged with participating in the bombings of embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in August 1998. The

attacks killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. They were indicted in a case that also charged Osama bin Laden.

Both pleaded not guilty on Saturday.

Assistant US Attorney Sean S. Buckley said the men made statements to officers in the United Kingdom that may be part of the evidence at a trial he estimated would last up to three months. Two other men brought from Britain were arraigned in Connecticut on Saturday on terrorism charges. Mustafa became well-known in the 1990s as his Finsbury Park Mosque in London became a training ground for extremist Islamists including Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and attempted “shoe bomber” Richard Reid. He had been jailed since 2004 in Britain on separate charges. Traci Billingsley, a US Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman, said she cannot provide specific information about individual inmates. “In general, if an inmate arrives at any of our facilities with a prosthetic that we believe could pose a danger, it would not be permitted inside,” she said, adding that the inmate would be medically evaluated to determine whether other accommodations or devices would be appropriate. John N. Billock, head of the Orthotics & Prosthetics Rehabilitation Engineering Centre in Warren, Ohio, and a pioneer in the field, said a hook for a hand would “definitely be considered a weapon.”

“You could brutalize somebody with it,” he said. “You can put somebody’s eyes out or knock out their teeth.”

He said hooks are typically made of stainless steel or aluminum. The price of prosthetics in place of hands can range from $15,000 to $100,000, he said.

Mustafa is being held prior to trial in the same federal lockup where a prison guard lost an eye and was left brain-damaged when he was stabbed with a sharpened comb in 2000 by a terrorism defendant awaiting trial in the embassy bombings plot. Mamdouh Mahmud Salim is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in the stabbing. — AP

Tehran may cut ties with UAE over disputed islands TEHRAN: Iran yesterday warned the United Arab Emirates it could cut diplomatic relations between the two countries if the Arab nation keeps repeating claims to three Gulf islands that are controlled by Tehran.

Iran took control of the Persian Gulf islands in 1971, after British forces left the region. The islands - the tiny Abu Musa and the nearby Greater and Lesser Tunb - dominate the approach to the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about onefifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the US Navy patrol the narrow waterway, which Iran had threatened to choke off in retaliation for tougher Western sanctions over its suspect nuclear program. Since 1992, the UAE has repeatedly claimed the islands and last month at the UN General Assembly, it said Iran’s “occupation” violates international law.The news website of Iran’s parliament, ICANA.ir, quoted foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying that Iran will either cut or reduce ties with the UAE if it repeats “anti-Iranian, baseless claims.”

“If anti-Iranian baseless claims become too much, and downgrading or cutting diplomatic ties becomes the only option to secure national interests, this will be done,” Mehmanparast was quoted as saying. “The continuous and repetitive Emirati claims will have a negative impact on various parts of the relationship” with Iran.

The comments mark the first time that

Iran has come out threatening to cut ties with the UAE. In the past, Tehran kept saying it was willing to discuss the case in bilateral level - though it never said relinquishing the islands was an option.

Iran is a top trading partner of Dubai, with the Islamic Republic importing annually $10 billion worth of goods on average in recent years. Mehmanparast also said Iran will have an “immediate reaction against any country that violates Iran’s territory” and stressed how the Emirati claims about the islands have been “very provocative for Iranians.”

The remarks are part of Iran’s harsher stance after the UAE’s statement at the General Assembly in September. In April, a visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the islands inflamed the dispute over the territories and prompted an outcry by UAE and its Arab allies. Tehran later vowed to develop the islands through tourism and other industries, though nothing has been reported on that since the visit.

Tehran says the islands have been part of states that existed on the Iranian mainland from antiquity until the British occupied them in early 20th century.

Tehran also maintains that an agreement signed eight years before its 1979 Islamic Revolution between Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the ruler of one of the UAE’s seven emirates, Sharjah, gives it the right to administer Abu Musa and station troops there.—AP

HACIPASA: NATO said it had drawn up plans to defend Turkey if necessary should the war in Syria spill over their border again as dozens of people were killed across the Arab nation yesterday. Fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces could be heard from this Turkish border town following on from several days of clashes in the past week. One Syrian villager said a rebel push on the town of Azmarin was expected soon.

In Damascus, rebel suicide bombers struck at an Air Force Intelligence compound used as an interrogation centre - the latest attack to bring the conflict close to President Bashar al-Assad’s power base.

“Assad...is only able to stand up with crutches,” Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party. “He will be finished when the crutches fall away.” Erdogan, reacting to six consecutive days when shells fired from Syrian soil have landed on Turkish territory, has warned Ankara will not shrink from war if forced to act.

But his government has also stressed it would be reluctant to mount any big operation on Syrian soil and then only with international support. It was not clear whether the shells hitting Turkish territory were aimed to strike there or were due to Syrian troops overshooting as they attacked rebels to their north. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Brussels the 28-member military alliance hoped a way could be found to stop tensions escalating on the border. “We have all necessary plans in place to protect and defend Turkey if necessary,” he said.

Elsewhere in Syria, rebels took control of the town of Maarat alNuaman, which lies on the main north-south highway in the northern province of Idlib, after a 48hour battle with soldiers, according to rebels and activists.

Video sent to Reuters, which activists said was filmed in Maarat al-Nuaman on Monday, showed dozens of fighters on a main street.

Other footage purported to show fighters taking over a prison and army-held buildings in the town.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence, said 90 people had been killed so far yesterday, including 29 soldiers, compared to a death toll of 210 on Monday.

Activists estimated more than 100 dead or wounded in the bombing of the intelligence compound in Damascus. The militant Islamist group al-Nusra Front said it had mounted the attack because the

ALEPPO: In this Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 file photo, smoke rises over Saif Al Dawla district, in Aleppo, Syria. Nearly 19 months of violence in Syria have left their mark everywhere: Entire blocks of apartment buildings have been shattered, their top floors reduced to pancaked concrete. Centuries-old markets have been gutted — billions of dollars along with an irreplaceable chunk of history wiped out in just few hours of battle. —AP base was used a centre for torture and repression.

“Big shockwaves shattered windows and destroyed shop facades.

It felt as if a bomb exploded inside every house in the area,” said one resident of the suburb of Harasta, where the compound was located.

The sharp rise in casualties in the past month indicates the growing intensity of the war, which developed from peaceful protests against Assad in March 2011 into a full-scale civil war. An estimated 30,000 people have been killed as main cities such as Aleppo, Homs and the capital itself are savagely contested. UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will go to Syria soon to try to persuade the Assad government to call an immediate ceasefire.

In the border area, there was no sign of any breakthrough by either side though activists said rebels killed at least 40 soldiers on Saturday in a 12-hour battle to take the village of Khirbet al-Joz. Just outside Hacipasa, nestled among olive groves in Turkey ’s Hatay province, the sound of mortar fire could be heard every 10 to 15 minutes yesterday from around the Syrian town of Azmarin. A Syrian helicopter flew over the border. Villagers used ropes and boats to ferry the wounded across a river into Turkey. Rebels with AK-47s slung over their shoulders carried an Free Syrian Army officer down to the river bank on the Syrian side,

using a carpet and two poles as a makeshift stretcher. He had been shot in the chest and had a chest drain and drip attached. The rebels said they had dealt with roughly 20 wounded people and two dead yesterday.

The seriously wounded are ferried across to Turkey, while those less severely hurt are patched up at a makeshift first aid centre on the river bank and sent back into Syria.

Musana Barakat, 46, an Azmarin resident who makes frequent trips between the two countries, pointed at plumes of smoke in the distance and said Assad’s troops were burning houses there.

“There are rebels hiding in and around the town and they are going to make a push tonight to drive Assad’s forces out,” he said, a Syrian passport sticking out of his shirt pocket.

A crowd gathered around a saloon car, the blood-stained body of a man who had been pulled wounded from the fighting slumped across its back seat. Those with him said he had been rescued alive but died after being brought over the border.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Monday the “worst-case scenarios” were now playing out in Syria and Turkey would do everything necessary to protect itself.

Gul and Erdogan, in seeking Western and Arab support, have repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting in Syria spilling over into

a sectarian war engulfing the entire region. Turkey’s chief of general staff, General Necdet Ozel, flew by helicopter to several bases in Hatay province on Tuesday, part of Turkey’s 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria.

The shelling of the Turkish town of Akcakale last Wednesday, which killed five civilians, marked a sharp escalation. Turkey has been responding in kind since then to gunfire or mortar bombs flying over the border and has bolstered its military presence along the frontier. “We are living in constant fear.

The mortar sounds have really picked up since this morning. The children are really frightened,” said Hali Nacioglu, 43, a farmer from the village of Yolazikoy near Hacipasa.

Unlike the flat terrain around Akcakale, the border area in Hatay is marked by rolling hills with heavy vegetation. Syrian towns and villages, including Azmarin, are clearly visible just a few kilometres away.

“It’s only right that Turkey should respond if it gets fired on but we really don’t want war to break out.

We want this to finish as soon as possible,” said Abidin Tunc, 49, a tobacco farmer also from Yolazikoy. Turkey was once an ally of Assad but turned against him after his violent response to the uprising. It has nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory, has given sanctuary to rebel leaders and has led calls for Assad to quit.— Reuters

Libya insists can match ICC charges against Gaddafi son THE HAGUE: Libya has enough evidence to charge Moamer Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam with crimes against humanity, lawyers told the International Criminal Court on Tuesday amid a dispute over where he should face justice.

While the ICC wants Seif, the only son of the slain Libyan leader in custody, to be tried in The Hague, Libya’s post-revolutionary authorities insist he should stand trial in his home country.

A probe “has already produced considerable results,” Libya lawyer Philippe Sands told a two-day hearing on Seif’s fate. “There is a wide range of evidence that will constitute an indictment the same as that presented by the ICC’s prosecutor.”

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Seif, 40, and Gaddafi’s former spymaster Abdullah Senussi, 63, in June 2011 for crimes against humanity allegedly committed while trying to crush the popular revolt against the veteran leader’s iron-fisted rule.

ICC defence lawyers are expected to argue that Seif would not get

a fair trial in Libya, where he could face the death penalty, but the ICC prosecutor ’s office said Libya’s prosecution of Seif and Senussi appeared to be on course.

“We see that the case being presented appears to be on track,” prosecutor Sara Criscitelli told the ICC’s three -judge bench. “ We believe that Libya is interested in prosecuting this offender... we are confident that Libya needs a bit more time to sort itself out,” she said. One of Seif ’s ICC appointed international lawyers, Australian Melinda Taylor, who was herself detained by rebels for a month in Libya after visiting Seif in June was expected to address the court later yesterday.

Evidence against Seif includes how he allegedly told Libyan security forces during a television broadcast to use violence shortly after the outbreak of the uprising in mid-February last year, Libya’s lawyer Sands said.

Tripoli also alleges that Seif ordered the use of live rounds against civilian demonstrators and that he recruited Pakistani merce-

THE HAGUE: Representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor, Sara Criscitelli, left, Rod Rastan, center, and Antoinette Issa, right, are seen at the start of a hearing in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague yesterday. — AP naries to put down the revolt. Seif has been in custody in the northwestern Libyan hilltown of Zintan since his arrest last November in the wake of the uprising that toppled his father after more than 40 years in power.

Senussi was extradited to Libya last month from Mauritania, where he was arrested in March as he tried to enter the country from Morocco using a Malian passport

under a different name.

Tripoli and the ICC have been at loggerheads since his capture over where Seif al-Islam’s should be tried, with Libya’s new leaders saying they want him in the dock before one of their courts. “ The government of Libya is committed to carrying out a fair trial for any ex-Kadhafi government official,” Tripoli’s lawyer Ahmed alJehani told the ICC.—AFP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

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

Obama, Romney focus on swing-state Ohio Both men scrambling to win election

SALTILLO: Coahuila state prosecutor Homero Ramos (L), accompanied by member of his staff Gerardo Villareal (R), speaks during a press conference regarding the death of the founder of the Zetas drug cartel Heriberto Lazcano , in Saltillo, state of Coahuila, Mexico, yesterday. The body of the Lazcano was stolen from a funeral parlor by an armed group after he was killed in a shootout with authorities in northern Mexico, officials said yesterday. — AFP

Top Zetas cartel leader killed in firefight MEXICO CITY: Top Zetas drug cartel Gulf cartel’s drug shipments. The Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano has apparently finally split from their former bosses in been killed in a firefight with marines in 2010 and have since been fighting a the northern border state of Coahuila, the vicious battle for control of the drug business in northeastern Mexico, the traditionMexican navy said late Monday.

If confirmed, Lazcano’s death would al home base of the Gulf cartel. The result has been a surge of drugmark a huge victory for related killings.

Mexican law enforcement, and Lazcano “is credited with mark the end of a founder of strengthening the organizaone of the world’s bloodiest tion ... he created a new struccartels. The navy said there ture of regional cells that spewere “strong indications” the cialize in specific crimes,” body of one of two men killed Mexican federal prosecutors in the shootout Sunday was say in their profile of Lazcano.

Lazcano, known as “El Lazca.”

The Zetas earned their But it added that more forennotoriety for brutality by sics tests would have to be carbecoming the first to publicly ried out to confirm the identifidisplay their beheaded rivals, cation. “Information was most infamously two police obtained after the first forenofficers in April 2006 in the sics tests were carried out Lazcano resort city of Acapulco. The that yielded indications that suggest that one of the bodies is Heriberto severed heads were found on spikes outLazcano,” the navy’s statement said. “The side a government building with a mesNavy Department is coordinating efforts sage signed “Z” that said: “So that you learn with Coahuila state, and will be awaiting to respect.” Even with the death of the conclusions of the forensics examina- Lazcano, the Zetas would still be run by a ruthless capo, Miguel Angel Trevino tion in the case,” the statement said.

The death of Lazcano would be a major Morales, who has a reputation for being victory for Mexican law enforcement. The even more brutal than Lazcano. Trevino Zetas cartel that he helped found with oth- Morales, also known was “Z 40,” has taken er deserters from an elite army unit went on a greater leadership role and has even on to carry out some of Mexico’s bloodiest been reported to have replaced Lazcano massacres, biggest jail breaks and fiercest as operational chief.

The report of Lazcano’s death came just attacks on authorities. Lazcano, who is also known as “El Verdugo” (the Executioner) for hours after the navy nabbed a suspected his brutality, is suspected in hundreds of Zetas regional leader accused of involvekillings, including the June 2004 slaying of ment in some of the country’s most notoriFrancisco Ortiz Franco, a top editor of a cru- ous crimes in recent years.

Navy spokesman Jose Luis Vergara said sading weekly newspaper in Tijuana that often reported on drug trafficking. Ortiz Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo was Franco was gunned down in front of his arrested Saturday in Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas. The official said two young children as he left a clinic.

The United States has offered a $5 mil- Martinez is believed to have mastermindlion reward and Mexico an additional $2.3 ed the massacre of 72 migrants in the million for information leading to northern state of Tamaulipas in 2010.

The man known as “Squirrel” also has Lazcano’s arrest. The Sunday shootout came in the rural area of Progreso, been linked to the escape of 151 prisoners Coahuila, about 80 miles (125 kilometers) in 2010 from a jail in the city of Nuevo Laredo, the recent flight of 131 prisoners west of the Texas border, near Laredo.

The navy said it received complaints in the city of Piedras Negras and the killing about armed men in the area and sent out of US citizen David Hartley in 2010 on a patrol to check out the reports. Gunmen Falcon Lake, which straddles the UStossed grenades at the patrol from a mov- Mexico border.

The death of Hartley drew wide attening vehicle, wounding one of the marines. tion as it appeared Hartley and his wife, His injuries were not life-threatening.

Two of the gunmen were killed in the Tiffany, were on a personal trip when he ensuing shootout, the navy’s statement was shot by Mexican criminals on Sept. 30, said. In the gunmen’s’ vehicle, authorities 2010. The Hartleys were using personal found a grenade launcher, 12 grenades, watercraft on Falcon Lake when David what appeared to be rocket propelled Hartley was shot in the head and fell into the water. The navy is also blaming grenade launcher and two rifles.

Under Lazcano’s leadership, the Zetas Martinez for the killing of the Tamaulipas recruited more hit men, many of them for- state police commander and chief investimer Mexican soldiers, and hired “kaibiles,” gator on the case, an attack that hamGuatemalan soldiers trained in counterin- pered the investigation. The navy said surgency, transforming what had been a Martinez is also a suspect in dozens of small group of assassins into a ruthless killings of people who were buried in mass gang of enforcers for the Gulf cartel. The graves at the same site of the 2010 masZetas also were in charge of protecting the sacre of migrants. — AP

Winner dies in live roach-eating contest MIAMI: The winner of a roach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms, authorities said Monday. About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night’s contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of Miami. The grand prize was a python.

Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach became ill shortly after the contest ended and collapsed in front of the store, according to a Broward Sheriff ’s Office statement released Monday. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine a cause of death.

“Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don’t think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat,” said Michael Adams, professor of entomology at the University of California at Riverside, who added that he has never heard of someone dying after consuming roaches. “Some people do

have allergies to roaches,” he said, “but there are no toxins in roaches or related insects.”

None of the other contestants became ill, the sheriff ’s office said.

There was no updated phone number listed for Archbold in West Palm Beach. “We feel terribly awful,” said store owner Ben Siegel, who added that Archbold did not appear to be sick before the contest. “He looked like he just wanted to show off and was very nice,” Siegel said, adding that Archbold was “the life of the party.” Siegel said Archbold was selling the exotic prize to a friend who took him to the contest. The Miami Herald reported the grand prize has been put aside in Archbold’s name and will be given to his estate.

A statement from Siegel’s attorney said all the participants signed waivers “accepting responsibility for their participation in this unique and unorthodox contest.” The bugs consumed were from an inventory of insects “that are safely and domestically raised in a controlled environment as food for reptiles.” — AP

WASHINGTON: The presidential candidates bear down yesterday on Ohio, a state that could decide the Nov. 6 election, as the US presidential race moves into its final four weeks with the Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s shift toward more moderate positions apparently narrowing the gap with President Barack Obama.

Obama has spent much of his time since last week’s first presidential debate trying to convince voters that Romney has suddenly and fundamentally shifted his position on income taxes. Romney had been promising to lower tax rates for all Americans, something independent experts predicted that would vastly increase the already massive US deficit unless Romney also increased the tax burden for middle income earners.

In the debate, Romney unexpectedly changed course, saying he would not institute any tax cut that raised the deficit or put a greater burden on the middle class. He also presented himself as aggressive and competent during the debate, while Obama put in a poor performance.

The shift in the polls toward Romney after that first confrontation with Obama would seem to reinforce the argument that the candidate who can win voter confidence on fixing the struggling US economy will win the White House.

The debate win notched in his favor, Romney on Monday delivered what his campaign characterized as a major foreign policy speech that attacked Obama on

issues where polling shows Obama is seen as clearly viewed as the most capable candidate. Romney sought to burnish his credentials as a potential commander in chief in his address before Virginia Military Institute cadets, asserting that Obama’s efforts have been weak in the volatile Middle East and his leadership in world affairs lacking overall.

Tuesday’s focus on Ohio underscores the importance both men place on the swing state. Romney will be joined in Akron by New Jersey’s tough-talking Gov. Chris Christie. Obama will rally students at Ohio State University in Columbus, the state capital. Ohio is one of a handful of US states where voters do not reliably vote for the presidential candidate of one party or the other. Because the president is not chosen according to the outcome of the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests, Ohio and other so-called swing states will determine the outcome of the election. Romney also plans a stop in Iowa, another swing state.

Both men were scrambling Monday to show their optimism and determination to win the election. “I very much intend to win this election,” Obama told donors in San Francisco on Monday night.

“But we’re only going to do it if everybody is almost obsessive for the next 29 days.”

Romney, speaking on a rainy day in Newport News, Virginia, joined the kind of die-hard supporters he needs for victory.

“People wonder why it is I’m so confident we’re going to win,” he told them. “I’m confident because I see you here on a day like this. This is unbelievable.” As negative ads blanketed the toss-up states, the Obama campaign on Tuesday unleashed one on national broad-

about. It’s Sesame Street.”

The US government partially funds the public network, a favorite target of conservative politicians. While Obama maintains more paths to victory in the swing states, polling shows a tightening race after more than 67 mil-

SAN FRANCISCO: Liz Biagini and other Mitt Romney supporters chant anti-Obama slogans outside a campaign event for President Barack Obama in San Francisco on Monday. — AP cast and cable networks featuring its favorite new weapon - Big Bird.

Employing ominous narration, the spot ridicules Romney for singling out the “Sesame Street” character and PBS subsidies as examples of how he would cut spending. “One man has the guts to say his name,” says the ad, flashing to Romney and then the feathered creature.

“Big. Yellow. A menace to our economy. Mitt Romney knows it’s not Wall Street you have to worry

lion people watched Romney shine in the Denver debate last week. The challenger’s path victory is extremely narrow, particularly without Ohio. No Republican has won the presidency without carrying the state.

Based on the presumed outcome of the 41 non-battleground states and Washington, D.C., Obama enters the final period banking on 237 electoral votes.

Romney is assured of 191. — AP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

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

4,000 tonnes of old munitions explode in central Russia MOSCOW: Four thousand tonnes of old munitions yesterday exploded at a military site in central Russia, releasing a white plume of smoke into the sky and sending locals fleeing for their lives.

The Donguz military range 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of the city of Orenburg in the Ural mountains region caught fire after the old munitions unexpectedly exploded, the emergency and defence ministries said. A total of 4,000 tonnes of outdated munitions including 400 tonnes of

aerial bombs and 1,300 tonnes of shells exploded, a spokeswoman for the chief military investigative directorate Yevgeniya Maltseva told AFP. The defence ministry said no military personnel or residents had been injured. Television footage showed a white plume of smoke rising above the affected area. Several buildings in one village were damaged, with the explosions also shattering windows, the government of the Orenburg region said. It said that officials were assessing the damage from the blasts

in three villages close to the military range as well as the city of Orenburg.

Witnesses from nearby villages described scenes of chaos. “First there was a first explosion. We got scared.

We ran out of the house at once. Then a second explosion followed, then a third one. It was terrible,” Yelena Churikova said in televised remarks.

“Glass flew around. Everything started falling from the upper floors. A neighbouring house cracked in half.

You can’t imagine that sight. Everyone ran outside, everyone is yelling. No-

one understands what is going on.”

A spokesman for the regional emergencies ministry, Vladislav Zubchenko, told AFP that the blasts had stopped by around 0930 GMT. He did not say how many people were evacuated from the affected area which is home to several thousand people.

Authorities planned to send two Il76 planes to the region to help douse the flames, adding that several ambulances and psychologists had been dispatched to the scene of the accident. A defence ministry commission

flew down to the military range to look into the accident, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in televised remarks. The Russian military has a huge stockpile of outdated munitions that are poorly maintained and frequently explode, causing casualties and deaths. Last July, more than 20,000 people had to be evacuated and dozens were injured when a fire at a munitions depot in the Volga region of Udmurtia triggered a succession of explosions and sent a fireball blazing into the sky. — AFP

Frenchman, American win Nobel for quantum physics Research to help make GPS navigating systems more accurate

MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) looks at Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev during their meeting in Moscow yesterday.— AFP

US slams Kazakhstan over oppn leader’s jailing ASTANA: The United States yesterday voiced concern over this week’s jailing of Kazakhstan’s leading opposition leader, accusing its oil-rich ally of using the criminal justice system to silence critics. A court in Kazakhstan on Monday convicted the leader of the unregistered Alga party Vladimir Kozlov of seeking to incite a coup against President Nursultan Nazarbayev after the activist’s involvement in oil workers’ protests last year. He was sentenced to 7.5 years in a penal colony. In a statement Tuesday, the US embassy noted “concern regarding the prosecution of Vladimir Kozlov and the apparent use of the criminal system to silence opposition voices.”

Kozlov was arrested in January after participating in oil workers’ protests that killed 15 people in west Kazakhstan town of Zhanaozen, tarnishing its image as Central Asia’s safe haven.

Kazakhstan’s General Prosecutor on yesterday said that “Kozlov ’s active involvement in Zhanaozen was one of the causes of the mass riots” in the Caspian city in December. “Experts have found evidence of stoking social hatred and calls for a violent government overthrow in the flyers distributed to the fired workers on Kozlov’s orders,” the prosecutor’s spokesman said yesterday.

Prosecutors also listed Kozlov ’s belongings subject to confiscation,

including “three expensive cars, 11 apartments, five houses,” as well as land in Kazakhstan.

Kozlov’s co-defendants activist Serik Sapargali and trade unionist Akzhanat Aminov received suspended sentences Monday. The court has also accused Kozlov of working under the orders and in the pay of Kazakhstan’s fugitive oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov, a top Nazarbayev top opponent who is wanted on fraud charges.

The 52-year-old’s arrest came shortly after Kazakhstan’s parliamentary polls in January, which gave Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan party almost 81 percent of the vote but were called undemocratic by international monitors.

Kozlov pleaded not guilty during the trial and accused the prosecution of politicising the case and convicting him of something he did not do, denying that he ever called for violent action.

Kozlov had been one of Nazarbayev’s most vocal critics during the conflict, accusing the authorities of opening fire on demonstrating workers and torturing those detained in the clashes with police.

Nazarbayev has been president of the ex-Soviet country for almost 22 years, bringing economic reforms and prosperity through energy riches, but cracking down on human rights and political opponents. —- AFP

Georgia’s Saakashvili vows peaceful power handover TBILISI: Georgian President Mikheil Saak ashvili yesterday promised a peaceful transfer of power to his victorious rival Bidzina Ivanishvili at their first talks since the ruling party’s shock poll defeat. The two rivals shook hands for the cameras in a show of unity after a bitterly personal and divisive election campaign but their grim faces and lack of smiles betrayed the tensions simmering beneath.

“We, as responsible authorities, and I as the president who is the guarantor of the constitution, will ensure that the transfer of government functions happens without any excesses,” Saakashvili said after the 40-minute meeting at the presidential palace in Tbilisi.

Both men described the handover as “historic”. “For the first time in this region, in this part of the post-Soviet space, most functions of executive power are being peacefully and democratically transferred,” Saakashvili said.

The surprise victory of Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream coalition over Saakashvili’s once dominant party in last week’s hard-fought parliamentary polls had raised fears of political turmoil. But Ivanishvili, standing next to Saakashvili as the rivals made brief televised statements in the courtyard of the presidential palace, said his coalition would “treat our opponents with honour”.

“Me and my team have managed to create a precedent for the democratic transfer of power in Georgia and this will have its deserved place in Georgia’s histor y,” he said. Yet both took the

opportunity to criticise the other for what Saakashvili described as their “fundamental differences”.

Ivanishvili promised however to maintain Saakashvili’s staunchly proWestern foreign policy and ambitions to join NATO which have infuriated arch foe Russia. “We will be aspiring towards Europe, we will be steadfast and Georgia will surely manage to become a NATO member very soon,” he said.

Ivanishvili has vowed to simultaneously restore ties with Moscow which were cut by a brief war between the exSoviet neighbours in 2008. Saakashvili immediately conceded his par ty ’s defeat after the vote last week and negotiations about the handover between representatives of his party and Ivanishvili’s coalition started Friday.

Georgian Dream could hold 84 seats in the 150-seat parliament with Saakashvili’s United National Movement taking the remaining 66, according to the latest unfinalised figures from the central election commission. But Georgian Dream appears not to have won a constitutional majority which would give it the same power to dominate the country as Saakashvili’s outgoing government, which was swept to power by the 2003 “Rose Revolution”.

Ivanishvili expects to become prime minister in the next government and nominated his first cabinet Monday which is set to include inexperienced newcomers like the retired AC Milan football star Kakha Kaladze alongside ex-diplomats and political veterans from the pre-Saakashvili era. — AFP

STOCKHOLM: A French-American duo shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics yesterday for inventing methods to observe the bizarre properties of the quantum world, research that has led to the construction of extremely precise clocks and helped scientists take the first steps toward building superfast computers.

Serge Haroche of France and American David Wineland opened the door to new experiments in quantum physics by showing how to observe individual quantum particles while preserving their quantum properties.

A quantum particle is one that is isolated from everything else. In this situation, an atom or electron or photon takes on strange properties. It can be in two places at once, for example. It behaves in some ways like a wave.

But these properties are instantly changed when it interacts with something else, such as when somebody observes it.

Working separately, the two scientists, both 68, developed “ingenious laboratory methods” that allowed them to manage and measure and control fragile quantum states, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

“Their ground-breaking methods have enabled this field of research to take the very first steps towards building a new type of super fast computer based on quantum physics,” the academy said. “The research has also led to the construction of extremely precise clocks that could become the future basis for a new standard of time.”

Haroche is a professor at the College de France and Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris.

Wineland is a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.

The two researchers use opposite approaches to examine, control and count quantum particles, the academy said.

Wineland traps ions - electrically charged atoms - and measures them with light, while Haroche controls and measures photons, or light particles.

Haroche said he was out walking with his wife when he got the call from the Nobel judges. “I was in the street and passing a bench so I was able to sit down,” Haroche told a news conference in Stockholm by telephone. “It’s very overwhelming.”

He said his work in the realm of quantum physics could ultimately lead to unimaginably fast computers. “You can do things which are prohibited by the laws of classical physics,” he

told The Associated Press.

Haroche also said quantum research could help make GPS navigating systems more accurate. Christopher Monroe, who does similar work at the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland, said the awarding of the prize to the two men “is not a big surprise to me ... It was sort of obvious that they were a package.”

Monroe said that thanks to the bizarre

the process of discovering what numbers can be multiplied together to produce a given number. That has implications for breaking codes, Monroe said. Quantum computers could radically change people’s lives in the way that classical computers did last century, but a full-scale quantum computer is still decades away, the Nobel judges said. “ The calculations would be incredibly much faster and exact and you would be able

BOULDER: In this combination of photos made yesterday, American physicist David Wineland, left, poses at his home in Boulder, Colo., and French physicist Serge Haroche speaks to the media in Paris after they were named winners of the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics. — AP properties of the quantum world, when he to use it for areas like metrology and for measand Wineland worked together in the 1990s, uring the climate of the earth,” said Lars they were able to put a single atom in two Bergstrom, the secretary of the prize committee. places simultaneously.

The physics prize was the second of the At that time, it wasn’t clear that trapping single atoms could help pave the way to 2012 Nobel Prizes to be announced, with the superfast quantum computers, he said. That medicine award going Monday to stem cell whole field “just fell into our laps,’” Monroe pioneers John Gurdon of Britain and Japan’s said. In an ordinary computer, information is Shinya Yamanaka. Each award is worth 8 milrepresented in bits, each of which is either a lion kronor, or about $1.2 million.

Only two women have won the physics zero or a one. But in a quantum computer, an individual particle can essentially represent a prize since it was first awarded in 1901: Marie zero and a one at the same time. If scientists Curie in 1903 and Maria Goeppert-Mayer in can make such particles work together, cer- 1963. The prizes are always handed out on tain kinds of calculations could be done with Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder blazing speed. One example is the factoring, Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. — AP

Hollande slams DRCongo for lack of democracy PARIS: French President Francois Hollande yesterday slammed the lack of democracy and basic rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he is set to visit for a summit of French-speaking nations. “The situation in this country is absolutely unacceptable as far as rights, democracy and the recognition of the opposition are concerned,” Hollande said, addressing a press conference in Paris with visiting UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

He said the other area of concern in the sprawling mineral-rich central African nation were rebel attacks on its territory from outside, “especially in Kivu,” a region in the country’s volatile east.

Eastern DR Congo has been hit hard by a rebellion by army defectors who have formed a group called the M23, whose members are former fighters in an ethnic Tutsi rebel movement integrated into the military under a 2009 peace deal.

Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes charges, is accused of leading the M23, which has been fighting government troops since April thereby forcing some 470,000 out of their homes.

A UN report in June accused Rwanda of backing the rebels, causing a surge in tensions with neighbouring DR Congo. Kigali denies the charge and has been in talks with Kinshasa to set up a neutral force to tackle the unrest.

Rwanda meanwhile accuses Kinshasa of renewing cooperation with Rwandan rebels based in eastern DRC. Conflict-prone DR Congo stretches over territory two-thirds the size of western Europe and is ranked the world’s least developed state by the United Nations. Joseph Kabila was named head of state in 2001 after the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire. He was re-elected for a second term in November last year in elections that were marred by fraud allegations and whose results were disputed. Veteran politician and opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi claimed victory was stolen from him.

Hollande will this weekend visit the country for a summit of French-speaking nations to be attended by some 20 heads of state and government. — AFP

Berlusconi ‘ready to step aside’ ROME: Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said yesterday he may not stand in elections next spring and suggested that technocrat premier Mario Monti could stay on as head of a centreright government.

Berlusconi’s move, which revealed his fears that the centre-left will win the vote, indicated he had abandoned hope of winning enough support to mount a credible campaign as leader of the centre-right, which is trailing heavily in opinion polls. It was greeted with scepticism by many politicians and analysts, who saw it as a tactical move that underlined the weakness of Berlusconi’s badly divided camp and said little about the likelihood of Monti returning after the election. Monti himself has repeatedly said he will not stand for election but would be willing to stay on for the sake of the country if there was political deadlock after the polls, which are due by April.

Berlusconi said he wanted to unite a broad coalition capable of defeating the centre-left, and was prepared to stand down to gain the support of smaller centrist parties that have been reluctant to join forces with his People of Freedom (PDL) party.

“Silvio Berlusconi has always said and continues to say that he is ready to stand aside to allow all moderates to unite in a single force that can face the left together,” he told his own Canale 5 television network. “I have always wanted the good of the country I love, I have never had any personal ambition,” he said. He declined to identify a potential leader if he did step aside, but said Monti could lead a centre -right government.

“Absolutely, I would not rule out it being Mario Monti. Ever since I’ve known him, he has always been in the liberal camp,

so it could easily be Mario Monti,” he said.

Monti is strongly supported by Italy’s business establishment and has enjoyed wide international backing for his efforts to rein in Italy’s towering public debt and reform its stagnant economy.

But how far Berlusconi’s announcement increased the chances of a second Monti term remained very unclear, with opinion polls showing little public appetite for an encore by the former European commissioner.

The centre-left backs Monti in parliament but has consistently said the next government should be formed by a democratically elected coalition. It has expressed strong objections to a repeat of Monti’s technocrat administration.

The exceptionally confused political situation in Italy, the euro zone’s third largest economy, has been a source of concern on financial markets, which are worried that a weak government could emerge from the election and renege on Monti’s reforms.

Berlusconi, forced to step down last year in the middle of a mounting financial crisis, has hinted several times that he plans a return to the political front line but has never clearly confirmed his intentions. — Reuters

Silvio Berlusconi

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

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

Afghan addicts help run daring new restaurant in Kabul KABUL: Inhaling deeply on a cigarette, Laila Haidari sits on the floor of a new Kabul restaurant wondering if it will one day allow her to repay an eyewatering $26,000 borrowed from friends to launch a daring project to aid Afghan drug addicts.

Haidari plans to find staff for her Taj Begum (“Woman’s Crown”) restaurant through the shelters she runs, giving addicts a chance to rebuild their lives and learn new skills while helping her run a business. Haidari’s idea is revolutionary in a poverty and war-stricken country where treatment options for

opiate addicts in Afghanistan vary from the non-existent to limited.

There is just one methadone substitution project, despite there being over one million users, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

There is also such a heavy stigma attached to drug addiction in ultraconservative Afghanistan that drug use by females is almost never even mentioned. But Haidari is already helping two women recover in her restaurant, which serves an array of Afghan, Iranian and Turkish dishes while operating simultaneously as a shelter.

“I am tired of using drugs because I cannot face people’s harassment any more,” said waitress Masoma Jan. “Now I hope to live without drugs. I am thinking of my sons. They are innocent. I don’t want my background have a destructive and dark effect on my sons’ lives,” Jan said, her head covered in an orange and yellow scarf.

Haidari’s scheme is also daring because she is a woman running a business, and many Afghans object to females working if it brings them into contact with men outside their family.

The restaurant, which opened this

month, ended her marriage.

Her husband filed for divorce when she announced her plans, refusing to negotiate even when she suggested he take a second wife as compensation.

But Haidari felt compelled to go ahead.

She spent years caring for her own brother who was an opium addict, resolving to take action after witnessing the suffering of users congregating under a notorious bridge in Kabul.

“I was always thinking about what I could to do help them and protect them,” Haidari said.

She opened a shelter for men and

another for women and children about a year ago, and says hundreds of addicts have passed through their doors. There are currently about 35 men, four women and four children at her shelters, while her restaurant employs 17 former addicts, including a folk musician Abdul Ali, who was addicted to opiates for a decade.

He entertains guests with his dambura, a traditional Afghan instrument similar to a banjo. “I just want to keep my friends busy with music in order make them stop drugs and enjoy life,” he said. — Reuters

Taleban attack teenage Pakistani girl activist ‘A bullet struck her head, but the brain is safe’

PAJU: North Korean soldiers, back, look at the southern side as South Korean soldiers, foreground, stand guard at the border village of Panmunjom that separates the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. North Korea yesterday warned that the US mainland is within range of its missiles, and said Washington’s recent agreement to let Seoul possess missiles capable of hitting all of the North shows the allies are plotting to invade the country. — AP

North Korea says South, US are within its missile range SEOUL: North Korea yesterday warned that the US mainland is within range of its missiles and said that Washington’s recent agreement to let Seoul possess missiles capable of hitting all of the North shows the allies are plotting to invade the country. South Korea announced Sunday that it reached a deal with Washington that would allow it to nearly triple the range of its missiles to better cope with North Korean missile and nuclear threats. On Tuesday, North Korea called the deal a “product of another conspiracy of the master and the stooge” to “ignite a war” against the North.

In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, an unidentified spokesman at the powerful National Defense Commission said the North will bolster its military preparedness.

“We do not hide ... the strategic rocket forces are keeping within the scope of strike not only the bases of the puppet forces and the US imperialist aggression forces’ bases in the inviolable land of Korea but also Japan, Guam and the US mainland,” the spokesman said.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said yesterday it had no official comment on the North’s statement, but Seoul and Washington have repeatedly said they have no intention of attacking North Korea. North Korean long-range rockets are believed to have a range of up to about 6,700 kilometers (4,160 miles), putting parts of Alaska within reach, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry.

But the North’s spotty record in test launches raises doubts about whether it is truly capable of an attack. Pyongyang shocked Japan in 1998 when it sent a rocket over Japan’s main island and into the Pacific. That also alarmed Washington because about 50,000 US troops are deployed in Japan and their bases could be within the North’s range. Tokyo and Washington have since intensified their ballistic missile defenses.

But the North’s most recent rocket launch, in April, ended in humiliating failure shortly after liftoff. North Korea said it

was trying to launch a satellite with that launch, but the US and other countries said it was actually a test of long-range missile technology. The failure suggests that Pyongyang has yet to master the technology it needs to control multistage rockets - a key capability if it is to threaten the United States with intercontinental ballistic missiles.

And although North Korea is believed to have a small nuclear arsenal, experts do not believe it has mastered the miniaturization technology required to mount a nuclear weapon on a long-range rocket.

It’s unusual for the North to say its missiles are capable of striking the US, but Pyongyang has often threatened to attack South Korea and the U.S. in times of tension. It often does not follow through, but its deadly 2010 artillery strikes on a South Korean island came after it issued a threat to retaliate against South Korean military drills. Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies professor based in Seoul, said that in the latest case, the North had no choice but to respond to South Korea’s extended missile range but is unlikely to launch a provocation, as it is waiting for the results of US and South Korean presidential elections. Under the new deal with the US, South Korea will be able to possess ballistic missiles with a range of up to 800 kilometers (500 miles). South Korea will continue to limit the payload to 500 kilograms for ballistic missiles with an 800kilometer range, but it will be able to use heavier payloads for missiles with shorter ranges. A previous 2001 accord with Washington had barred South Korea from deploying ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) and a payload of more than 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) because of concerns about a regional arms race.

The Korean Peninsula remains officially at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The US stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against possible aggression from North Korea. — AP

JIND: Indian Congress President Sonia Gandhi (2L) arrives to meet the family of a Dalit teenaged girl, who immolated herself in Jind in Haryana state yesterday.

The 16-year-old girl had sprinkled kerosene and immolated herself after allegedly being gang-raped by two youths. The Haryana Government has drawn flak from all quarters, particularly the opposition, for its alleged failure to prevent incidents of crime against women. —AFP

PESHAWAR: A teenage Pakistani children’s rights activist was shot in the head yesterday in an assassination attempt on a school bus in the former Taleban stronghold of Swat, officials said. Malala Yousafzai, 14, was taken to a local hospital and then to the northwestern city of Peshawar for further treatment, but doctors said she was out of danger.

Two other girls were also wounded, police officer Rasool Shah said. Malala won international recognition for highlighting Taleban atrocities in Swat with a blog for the BBC three years ago, when the Islamist militants led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah burned girls’ schools and terrorised the valley.

She received the first-ever national peace award from the Pakistani government last year and was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by advocacy group KidsRights Foundation in 2011. Yesterday’s shocking incident in broad daylight in Mingora, the main town of the once muchloved northwestern valley, raised serious questions about security more than three years after the army claimed to have crushed a Taleban insurgency.

Police said witness statements suggested there were two middle-aged attackers on foot, one of whom flagged down the school bus and asked for Malala. “One of them, who had a small beard, went inside and asked the children which was Malala,” Shah told AFP. “He fired three shots. One bullet hit Malala’s head. The second hit the shoulder of her school friend and the third inflicted a minor leg injury to another girl on the bus,” the policeman added. Doctors at the Saidu Sharif Medical Complex in Mingora said Malala was out of danger after the bullet penetrated her skull but missed her brain. “A bullet struck her head, but the brain is safe,” said Doctor Taj Mohammed.

“She is out of danger.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting. Provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain blamed the attack on terrorists and said Malala would be flown to Peshawar for further treatment. The Pakistan army went into battle against the twoyear Taleban insurgency in Swat in 2009. Fierce

fighting displaced around two million people but the army declared the region back under control in July 2009. Malala’s blog on the BBC Urdu website at the time was anonymous. She also featured in two New York Times documentaries. In a 2011 BBC news report, she read out an extract of her diary that gave a sense of the fear she endured under the Taleban. “Last

compulsory and from tomorrow onwards, girls should come in their normal dresses. Out of 27, only 11 girls attended the school today,” she said. Despite sporadic outbreaks of violence, the government is trying to encourage tourists to return to Swat, which had been popular with holidaymakers for its stunning mountains, balmy summer weather and winter skiing. On

PESHAWAR: In this photo released by Inter Services Public Relations department, Pakistani soldiers carry wounded Pakistani girl, Malala Yousufzai, from a military helicopter to a military hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan. A Taleban gunman walked up to a bus taking children home from school in Pakistan’s volatile Swat Valley yesterday and shot and wounded the 14-year-old activist known for championing the education of girls and publicizing atrocities committed by the Taleban, officials said. — AP night I had a scary dream in which I saw soldiers, helicopters and Taleban. I’m having such kind of dreams ever since the army operation started in Swat. Mother prepared breakfast for us and then I left for school,” she said. “I was very much scared because the Taleban announced yesterday that girls should stop going to schools.

“Today our head teacher told the school assembly that school uniform is no longer

Wednesday state carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is scheduled to hold a test flight to Saidu Sharif, Mingora’s twin town, for the first time since flights were suspended due to the insurgency. “We believe that normalcy has returned to the area, which attracts a lot of foreign and local tourists,” PIA spokesman Sultan Hassan told AFP. “PIA will announce a regular flight schedule very soon. There will be two flights a week to Swat.” — AFP

Myanmar monks protest YANGON: Hundreds of Myanmar monks took to the streets yesterday in a violence-torn western state to protest against local Muslims and against violence targeting Buddhists in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Flanked by police and hundreds of onlookers, maroon-robed clerics demonstrated outside the Bangladesh consulate in the Rakhine state capital Sittwe chanting “Stop insulting Buddhism” and “No need for violence”, according to a witness.

Some held banners that read “Kalars get out” as they marched through the city, one of several Rakhine areas racked by deadly unrest between Buddhists and Muslims. Kalar is a derogatory term for Muslims.

Around 400 clerics took part in the rally, watched by more than 1,000 local people, according to a police officer in Sittwe. “The monks marched peacefully. Security has also been increased here,” he told AFP by telephone.

Sectarian tensions are running high in Rakhine following clashes between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya which erupted in June, leaving dozens dead and forcing tens of thousands to seek refuge in temporary shelters.

The state remains under emergency rule and while the protest was not thought to had been officially sanctioned, authorities did not prevent the monks from marching. Protesters called for the expulsion of a Muslim-majority community from the city and for Bangledesh to do more to protect Buddhists.

Leading monk Pyinnya Zaw Ta said an open letter would be read out “to call on the Bangladeshi government to give full security to the Buddhist minority inside their country”. Bangladesh police said last week they had arrested nearly 300 people in connection with a wave of violence in the southeast of the country in which Buddhist temples and homes were damaged and set on fire.

The monks also protested against the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) opening an office anywhere in Myanmar. Members of the OIC toured Rakhine state last month, after accusations from rights groups that security forces had opened fire on Muslim Rohingya during the unrest prompted concern across the Islamic world. Speaking a dialect similar to one in neighbouring Bangladesh, the estimated 800,000 stateless Rohingya in Myanmar are seen by the government and many in the country as illegal immigrants. — AFP

KABUL: Afghan National Police officers line up with tea pots to get their breakfast at the Police Academy in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday. NATO defense leaders gathering in Brussels yesterday are committed to the war in Afghanistan, according to US and alliance officials, but there are growing signs that the Afghan political and military hostilities against the coalition are starting to wear on the coalition. — AP

China reforming labor camp system BEIJING: China’s government is working on reforms to its system of imprisoning people in labor camps without trial, a senior judicial official said yesterday in a sign that Beijing recognizes the much-criticized camps are problematic.

Jiang Wei, the head of a government committee on judicial reform, said the government has found widespread agreement among legal scholars and lawmakers on the need to reform the labor camp detention system, and an overhaul is being devised based on that consensus.

Jiang’s comments were the firmest indication that after years of debate the government is preparing to revise but not abolish the system - known as “re-education through labor” - that critics say tramples civil rights and is prone to abuse.

Some 190,000 Chinese were being held in 320 re-education centers in 2009, according to a UN Human Rights Council report.

That’s in addition to an estimated 1.6 million Chinese held in the formal prison system. Introduced in the 1950s, labor reeducation was originally meant for opponents of the communist regime. Today, the system authorizes police to jail people for three years without trial, and a fourth year can be added for bad behavior. While often used for drug abusers, prostitutes and others accused of minor offenses, labor camps have also been used to silence government critics and punish practitioners of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.

Police and officials have found the system a handy tool for dispensing punishment without intrusions by lawyers or judges. Jiang, speaking at a news conference, said that the system “plays an important role in maintaining social order,” suggesting that the government is unwilling to consider getting rid of it. — AP

NEWS Oppn: Kuwait sliding into...

Continued from Page 1 “The Cabinet has agreed to issue a series of draft decrees in breach of article 71 of the constitution without any care for the opinion of the people. This comes as a prelude to amend the electoral constituency law in a way to rest full control over the results of the forthcoming elections,” the statement said.

Article 71 of the constitution gives the Amir the authority to issue decrees that are as powerful as laws only in emergency cases in the absence of the Assembly and these must be sent to the Assembly when it meets again. The statement said the plan resembles the forgery of election in 1967 and the suspension of the National Assembly twice - in 1976 for five years and in 1986 for more than six years.

The opposition charged that this aims at “strengthening the pillars of autocratic rule in alliance with people of illegitimate interests and the forces of corruption”. The statement

said that the measures adopted by the Cabinet are an indication that “there is a plot to change the election system even after the constitutional court found the law in line with the constitution”. The opposition warned that the current direction of the “political authority which is under the influence of the forces of corruption is a cause of a serious danger on the country’s political stability and the historical relationship between the Kuwaiti people and the Al-Sabah ruling family”.

“This imposes on us to confront with all available powers to ward off that danger, deter those plots and defend the gains of the people with all available means, politically and on the field, and have pledged unitedly on this,” the statement said. The opposition groups also called on the Kuwaiti people to confront the plots and resist plans to stage a coup against the constitutional rule by the authority and the forces of corruption to strengthen the absolute autocratic rule.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

Cabinet passes ‘deficit’...

Bedoons held in clampdown

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decree because parliament was dissolved on Sunday, Finance Minister Falah Al-Hajraf said in a statement late Monday, cited by the official KUNA news agency.

The budget was delayed because of ongoing political crises between the opposition and the government and after the constitutional court scrapped the previous opposition-dominated parliament on June 20. Under Kuwaiti law, the budget decree must be approved by the new parliament which has the power to reject it.

The budget projects revenues at KD 13.9 billion ($47.7 billion), an increase of 3.7 percent from last year’s estimated income but less than half of actual record income of KD 30.2 billion ($107.5 billion).

Spending is projected at a record KD 21.2 billion ($75.6 billion), up 9.3 percent on last year’s projections but almost 25 percent higher than last fiscal year’s actual spending of KD 17 billion ($60.5 billion).

The minister did not provide figures for oil revenue, which normally makes up 95 percent of total income, nor its price in the budget although former finance minister Mustafa Al-Shamali had said it was $65 a barrel. In 2011/2012 fiscal year which ended March 31, the state posted a record budget surplus of $47 billion despite projecting a huge deficit because it calculated oil income at $60 a barrel while the actual price was $110. As a result, the Cabinet decided last month to increase deductions in favour of Kuwait Fund for Future Generations from the normal 10 percent of revenues to as high as 25 percent. The fund is managed by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the state’s sovereign wealth fund, which holds assets estimated at about $400 billion. — AFP

Twenty-three stateless protesters including five teenagers were arrested on Oct 2 during a demonstration, said Humaidi. The Ministry of Interior also shut the roads leading to the main square in Taima in Jahra to prevent bedoon protestors from reaching there for another demonstrations.

“Today, the public attorney freed the five teenagers on KD 200 each pending trial. They are between 14 and 16 years old,” said Humaidi, adding that the youths were interrogated on charges of illegal assembly. The remaining 18 adults, including a Kuwaiti activist, are still in detention facing similar charges, he said. Police used tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse the stateless demonstrators who were demanding citizenship and other basic rights, injuring at least three people.

Around 200 stateless men, arrested in previous demonstrations since bedoons began staging protests in Feb 2011, are facing trial for illegal assembly, assaulting police and resisting arrest. Some have been acquitted by the lower court while others still await verdicts. Authorities in the state insist that nonKuwaitis living in the state have no right to

protest, unlike the 1.2 million citizens.

Bedoons, who number more than 105,000, claim they have the right to Kuwaiti citizenship, but the government says only 34,000 qualify for consideration, arguing that the rest hold citizenship of other countries.

Kuwait has launched a campaign against bedoons to force them to prove their original identity, depriving them of many basic rights despite criticism by international human rights groups. The state has long alleged that bedoons, and in some cases their ancestors, destroyed their original passports to claim the right to citizenship in order to gain access to the state-provided services and benefits. In an attempt to force the bedoons to produce their original nationality papers, Kuwait has refused to issue essential documents to most of them, including birth, marriage and death certificates.

Two weeks ago, three international rights groups sent a letter to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, urging him to end alleged abuses against stateless people. The letter by Refugees International, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International highlighted the plight of bedoons and called for a solution. — AFP

14

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

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Issues

Reprogrammed cells open new medical window

By Ben Hirschler and Kate Kelland he Nobel Prize-winning discovery of how to reprogram ordinary cells to behave like embryonic stem cells offers a way to skirt around ethical problems with human embryos, but safety concerns make their future use in treating disease uncertain. While researchers have already applied the scientific breakthroughs of Britain’s John Gurdon and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka to study how diseases develop, making such cells into new treatments will involve a lot more checks. Stem cells act as the body’s master cells, providing the source material for all other cells. They could transform medicine by regenerating tissue for diseases ranging from blindness to Parkinson’s disease.

Creating embryo-like stem cells without destroying embryos gets round a key controversy by avoiding the need to process embryos left over at fertility clinics - a system that has led to political objections in the United States and elsewhere. Reprogrammed cells - known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells - offer an ethically neutral alternative. They have been a source of intense research since Yamanaka discovered their potential in 2006, building on work that Gurdon did in frogs and tadpoles 40 years earlier.

Recently, however, different research groups have noticed problems with iPS cells, suggesting they may not be as good as embryonic ones. In one study, iPS cells died more quickly and another found multiple genetic mutations, raising concerns that they could cause tumours.

Despite this, Japanese researchers hope to test iPS cells in clinical trials for a form of blindness as early as next year - catching up with recent successful eye trials using embryonic stem cells.

Researchers in the West are generally more wary.

“There is a bit of a divergence between Japan and the rest of the world on this,” Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, told Reuters. “Scientists in Japan are trying to move very rapidly towards clinical trials of iPS cells, whereas many of us still feel there are a lot of issues to overcome, especially in terms of safety.”

The future potential for reprogrammed cells is that they could be taken from sick people who could have their own “person specific cell replacement” to mend damaged organs or tissues. But key worries include the fact that iPS technology involves using genes which could also be tumour-inducing in some circumstances and that other as-yet undetected problems might crop up after the new cells have been put into patients.

Gurdon played down such worries and said regulatory authorities and governments should take a step back and let patients assess the potential benefits and risks for themselves. “If you explain to a patient what can be done, and what might be the downside - then you should let the patient choose.

Don’t have ethicists or ... doctors or whoever say you may or may not have replacement cells,” he told reporters.

Experts agreed that the pioneering work by the two new Nobel laureates had changed the field of stem cell research. “What’s grand in this discovery is that these specialised mature cells can rewind in their development and become stem cells,” said Urban Lendahl, chairman of the Nobel awards committee. Still, many experts believe the true promise of iPS cells is as unique research tools, rather than necessarily forming the basis of new medical therapies.

They have a key advantage over embryonic stem cells in that researchers can take them from people with a known disease, offering a window into how currently incurable illnesses develop at the cellular level. Already, researchers have made iPS cells from patients with Gaucher’s disease, Down Syndrome, Parkinson’s and diabetes. “I see iPS cells more for use in drug discovery and in understanding the mechanism of different diseases, rather than therapy,” said Dusko Ilic, a senior lecturer in stem cell science at King’s College London. Traditionally, researchers have used stand-ins for human tissue such as yeast, flies or mice for their drug research. Now, they can use human cells containing a complete set of the genes that resulted in a particular disease. — Reuters

T

All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Israel-Iran war not on horizon

By Linda Gradstein his summer, it seemed that the world believed that an Israeli attack on Iran was imminent - a belief shared in the Jewish state as well.

Panicked Israelis rushed to gas mask distribution centers, newspapers published banner headlines speculating on Israeli war plans, and Israel saw a seemingly endless parade of senior American officials trying to convince their counterparts to rethink plans for an attack. But now, the urgency has dissipated and most experts believe a military operation is not likely before next spring, if at all. A series of factors have converged to make it unlikely at best that Israel will act within the next few months.

“If it was going to happen at all, it has been pushed off,” a senior Israeli official told The Media Line speaking on condition of anonymity. “The question is why where does it come from?” One reason is the American presidential election on November 6. The Obama administration has made it clear that it opposes an attack and any Israeli action against American wishes could strain US-Israeli ties. No single issue is more important to Israelis than the safeguarding of that sacrosanct relationship. Senior Israeli military officials say it is unlikely that Israel would act without coordinating with Washington.

A second reason is the presence of American troops in Israel for a joint mis-

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sile defense exercise called Austere Challenge 12. The first US military personnel have already arrived and by the end of October there will be some 1,000 American troops in Israel to train in identifying and intercepting missiles -including those fired from Iran. Yet another reason is a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran has diverted part of its enriched uranium for medical research purposes. The IAEA report was published in late August but is receiving press coverage only now. It says that Tehran has converted more than a third of its most highly enriched uranium into a powder for a medical research reactor. Once converted, it is extremely difficult to reprocess that uranium for weapons production, the net result reducing the quantity of nuclear fuel available for weaponry and with it, the presumed ability of the Iranians to assemble a bomb.

A separate report this week from the Institute for Science and International Security, an American think tank, found that Iran could produce enough weapons grade uranium for a nuclear bomb within two to four months, but concluded that at the same time, Tehran would still face “engineering challenges” and delays before it could make the other components needed for a functioning warhead. In his speech to the United Nations last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu effectively gave the international community until next

spring to act to stop Iran. He said there are three stages of enriching uranium for a bomb: low enriched uranium, medium enriched uranium, and high enriched uranium. “Where’s Iran?” Netanyahu asked in his speech. “Iran’s completed the first stage...Now they are well into the second stage. By next spring, at most by next summer at current enrichment rates, they will have finished the medium enrichment and move onto the final stage. From there, it’s only a few months, possibly a few weeks, before they get enough enriched uranium for the first bomb.” Some Israeli experts suggest that the IAEA report does not fundamentally change Israel’s perception of the danger of Israel’s program.

“You can’t say there’s less urgency if we are talking about enough fissile material for five bombs,” Shmuel Bar, the director of Studies at the Institute of Policy and Strategy and a former senior intelligence official told The Media Line.

“They are producing enough 20 percent uranium that, once enriched to 90 percent, could make five bombs. They are constantly adding centrifuges, so any shifting of the 20 percent uranium to the research reactor is offset by increasing the capacity of the centrifuges.” Bar also said that there is a growing sense that Israel will have to confront the Iranian nuclear program alone. “The US will not act - not before the election and not after the election,” he said. “Like North Korea, the US believes they can contain a

nuclear Iran. They will say ‘we didn’t want them to get there but now we have to live with it.’”

Israel is also closely following events in Iran. A Foreign Ministry assessment leaked to Israeli newspapers found that the sanctions are having a deep impact on the Iranian economy. The Iranian rial fell by 40 percent last week, and Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman even spoke of possible regime change in Iran. Yet, the assessment in Jerusalem is that it is too early for such talk. “There was much wider-ranging unrest - riots and protests - after the elections in 2009 and remember how everything was then suppressed,” the senior Israeli official pointed out. “And despite the deep impact on the economy, the sanctions do not seem to have affected the nuclear program.” He also said that all of the protests so far have been directed against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and not against Supreme Ruler Ayatollah Sayyed Khamenei or the other mullahs - or are even related to the issue of Iran’s nuclear program. The official believes Ahmadinejad’s days in power are numbered and the Iranian regime is using the protests. “He’s fallen so far from grace he’s not even in the dog house - he’s outside the dog house,” the official said. “Directing popular rage against him serves the regime’s purposes. If he becomes the bad guy, then he can be kicked out and people will be satisfied.” — Media Line

Chavez won’t slow down despite oppn surge

By Laurent Thomet resident Hugo Chavez is unlikely to tone down his polarizing style or abandon his socialist revolution despite an electoral fright due to the stronger, more united Venezuelan opposition. The charismatic leftist leader extended a hand to the opposition after defeating Henrique Capriles in Sunday’s election, but pledged moments later to continue his “march toward democratic socialism of the 21st century”.

“I didn’t see any willingness to change,” Venezuelan historian Margarita Lopez Maya told AFP. “He will continue the same way, polarizing and closing dialogue. He may become more repressive because he feels stronger.”

Chavez vowed to become a “better president” following his victory, in a tacit acknowledgement of growing discontent over the country’s soaring crime rate, lack of proper housing and inflation that runs above 20 percent.

But the bombastic leader will see his victory as a clear mandate to continue policies that have angered critics, using Venezuela’s oil wealth to fund social “missions” at home and build alliances abroad, analysts said.

“He will persist with the idea that we must deepen and radicalize the revolution,” said Ignacio Avalos, director of the Venezuelan Electoral Observatory, a non-gov-

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ernmental organization. “We will again be divided in two,” he said. “His argument is, ‘if I have such success (in elections), why should I change?’”

After almost 14 years in power, the main threat to his coming six-year mandate that starts in January may be a recurrence of the cancer that weakened him earlier this year. Chavez declared himself cured in July.

Chavez survived a coup mounted by business leaders in 2002, but analysts say the opposition will continue taking its fight through the ballot box, with the next test coming in elections for mayors and governors in December.

The question now for the historically divided opposition is whether it can maintain the unity it forged behind the Capriles candidacy.

The 40-year-old former state governor was chosen as the opposition’s standardbearer in an unprecedented primary election in February. “He has potential to continue leading the opposition, but it is heterogeneous,” said Angel Alvarez, political science professor at the Central University of Venezuela, noting that the candidacy was backed by parties from the right,

center and left of politics. “He engenders more sympathy than other opposition politicians. Plus he’s young and has a big of political future,” Alvarez said.

The youthful candidate attracted a huge following with vows to reduce the murder rate, which rose to 50 per 100,000 inhabitants, and unite the polarized nation, but it ultimately did not translate into victory. With 97 percent of ballots counted, Chavez won 55.11 percent of the vote in the election, or 735,000 more votes than in 2006, when he defeated opposition candidate Manuel Rosales by 25 points. Capriles drastically improved the opposition’s score, with 44.27 percent, or almost 2.2 million more votes than six years ago. “The (opposition) strategy was correct but it faced a candidate who used all state resources to his advantage,” Lopez Maya said, referring to charges that Chavez used public funds and the state-controlled media to campaign.

For Capriles, the next step is unclear. He could return to his post as governor in the northern state of Miranda, which he had given up to run for president. “The people contributed to opening a new path and this path is here,” Capriles, wearing a jacket in Venezuela’s yellow, blue and red colors, told supporters in conceding defeat. “I am also on this path and I won’t leave almost half the country alone,” he said.

Ratings agency Fitch saw a continuity on Venezuelan policy, given the fact that Chavez’s comfortable re-election win and Capriles’s acceptance of the result meant the risk of post-election social unrest had subsided.

“Still, the re-elected government faces a challenge in adjusting its exchange rate policy, and considerable uncertainty remains over the government’s ability to rein in the fiscal deficit, while at the same time maintaining economic growth and fighting inflation,” Fitch said. “The question of President Chavez’s health remains relevant in light of ongoing uncertainty over his ability to serve a full six-year term,” it added. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

sp orts

Umpires hit back after bribery claims

CALIFORNIA: Kevin Nealon and Bill Rancic attend the Hilton Honors Charitable Golf Series Finale Event at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.—AP

McIlroy and Woods lose on opening day World Golf Final BELEK: Organisers of the $5.2m World Golf Final now face an anxious time after the world’s leading two golfers, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, were beaten in yesterday’s opening round at the Turkish resort of Belek.

World No. 1 McIlroy played his closing five holes on the Sultan Course in a horror seven-over par for an eventual round of a five-over par 75 to lose to American rival Matt Kuchar who shot a one-under par 70.

It was both McIlroy and Kuchar’s first competitive round of golf since last month’s Ryder Cup. McIlroy had WTA World No. 10 ranked girlfriend Caroline Wozinacki walking the course with him but it failed to lift the 23year-old Northern Irishman.

McIlroy had gone ahead at the first with a par but after Kuchar birdied the second that was the closest the double Major Champion got to the current World No. 15.

Kuchar made the turn two shots ahead and while McIlroy was one-under par from the 10th to the 14th holes he finished triple bogey, double bogey, double bogey and par. “I hit a drive into the trees on 15 and lost a bit of confidence,” said McIlroy. “I need to win both of my matches tomorrow if I am to advance. I just struggled for a bit of motivation out there so I need to go out and concentrate on both of my matches tomorrow.”

Kuchar remarked: “It was quite a match and I played really well on the front nine and was three ahead through 10 holes. “I just thought I had to play mistake-free and hopefully Rory wouldn’t get too hot. “All of a sudden we were back to even with four to go but then it was one of these formats which really showed itself with what happened on 15 to Rory.

“There we are all square with four to go, he hits it right and makes triple bogey, and I go three up with three to go and I think both of us lost a little interest at that point.”

Kuchar earns a point for his victory and now faces Woods in Wednesday morning’s second round and Schwartzel in the afternoon.

Woods began his campaign for the $US 1.5m first prize cheque with a birdie at the first but found himself two strokes behind his fellow Masters winner when Woods

triple bogeyed after finding water off the tee and then three-putting.

Their match was all-square coming down the last but Woods then sent his second shot into a back greenside bunker from where the 14-time Major winner took bogey to lose by a shot with a round of 70 to Schwartzel’s 69.

“It came right down to the wire but I can’t believe how far that second shot flew into the back bunker and that was the match,” he said.

“It means now that I have to play ‘Kooch’ (Matt Kuchar) and try and win that match before facing Rory in the afternoon but my main concern in ‘Kooch’ and try and beat him.

“Despite the outcome I really enjoy the format and I haven’t played since format since the times of the Dunhill Cup. “It’s not something that we play very often and we saw today how it can swing on you. I had a three-shot swing go against me on nine and a two-shot in my favour at 17 when I birdied the hole and Charl bogeyed.”

The leading two point scorers in their Group 2 will advance to Thursday’s semifinal against the leading two players from Group 1.

Victorious Ryder Cup colleagues Lee Westwood and Justin Rose head Group 1 with Westwood accounting for US Open champion, Webb Simpson with a round of 72 compared to Simpson’s 73.

Westwood had been three shots behind Simpson at the turn but there match was all even after 13 holes. Simpson went ahead at 16 but Westwood birdied 17 when he chipped in and then won his match when his American opponent bogeyed the last.

“I played a great shot at 17 event though I did not have too good a lie,” said Westwood. “The ball was sitting down were TV cabling had been, and it just came out perfect, landed in the right spot, soon as it got on the green looked like going in.”

Rose defeated Hunter Mahan by four strokes with a round of 71 to Mahan’s 75.

Mahan failed to birdie any of his holes against Rose who is returning to competition also after the Ryder Cup and having spent a week relaxing with close friend Ian Poulter at Albany in the Bahamas.—AFP

COLOMBO: Umpires at the centre of bribery claims denied yesterday they were willing to fix matches for cash as cricket authorities announced an urgent probe into the allegations aired in a television sting. An undercover investigation by the private India TV channel allegedly found six umpires, including one on the international circuit, were willing to give decisions or provide inside information on teams and playing conditions in return for illicit payments.

The accusations were broadcast only a day after the West Indies’ victory over hosts Sri Lanka in the final of the World Twenty20 tournament, quickly souring the atmosphere after one of the game’s premier events.

None of the umpires was involved in the tournament. The International Cricket Council called on India TV “to turn over any information which can assist the ICC’s urgent investigations into this matter”. “The ICC reiterates its zero tolerance towards corruption whether alleged against players or officials,” the organisation said in a statement. Three of those named were from Sri Lanka, while two were from Pakistan. The sixth was Nadir Shah, one of two Bangladeshi members of the ICC’s international panel which officiates in matches around the world.

Grainy footage appeared to show Shah, who has stood in 40 one-day internationals and a number of Twenty20 internationals, saying he was willing to give decisions on demand.

An India TV transcript of the sting said Shah allegedly offered to give biased LBW (leg before wicket), run-out and inside-edge verdicts.

“If the umpire is shown a favor, the umpire can do anything,” Shah was quoted as saying in the transcript. The video does not show any cash being exchanged nor did the channel broadcast any proof of the umpires delivering decisions or information.

Shah said any suggestion he was open to bribery was “absolutely rubbish”. “If I am going to fix match, I will be caught some day by the ICC... no umpire fixes matches,” he told the Press Trust of India news agency.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) pledged to investigate the claims. “The BCB has a zerotolerance policy to issues related to corruption in the game and is committed to holding a thorough inquiry,” it said in a statement.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said it was gathering information and was in contact with the ICC. “We have zero tolerance towards corruption,” said spokesman Nadeem Sarwar.

Pakistan umpire Nadeem Ghouri, another of those named, denied any involvement. “I am surprised at these baseless allegations,” he told AFP, saying he would consult his lawyers.

Ghouri has umpired in Test matches and dozens of limited-over internationals, although he is no longer part of the ICC panel.

Sri Lanka cricket authorities yesterday considered suspending their three local umpires, but delayed a final decision pending a report from the ICC, A.R.M. Aroos, chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket umpires’ committee, told AFP. “We have looked at the tapes. We have got written submissions from the umpires. The next step would be a suspension and a preliminary inquiry, but we decided to await a report from the ICC,” Aroos said.

Gamini Dissanayake, one of three Sri Lankans to be named, told the Colombo-based Daily Mirror the allegation was a “fabrication”.

“Obviously this is an attempt at mudslinging,” he told the daily. India T V chairman Rajat Sharma told AFP his channel would cooperate with the International Cricket Council in investigating the scandal.

“Of course we will give the entire unedited tape to anyone who is enquiring this,” Sharma said. “We would cooperate with the ICC.” Three Pakistani cricketers were last year jailed in Britain after being found guilty of spot-fixing following a newspaper sting.

Shah was among the umpires at the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League earlier this year, a local version of India’s IPL Twenty20 tournament.

The competition was marred by corruption allegations and ended up with former Bangladeshi international Shariful Haque being indefinitely banned.—AFP

BANGLADESH: In this photograph taken on October 9, 2008, Bangladeshi cricketer Abdur Razzak (right) gestures towards umpire Nadir Shah. —AFP

Wembley, Olympic Stadium on World Cup venue list LONDON: Wembley and the Olympic Stadium were named among the potential venues for the 2015 Rugby World Cup as organisers revealed their long list of stadia on Monday.

Gloucester’s Kingsholm is the only Premiership rugby ground on a list that includes Wembley, the Olympic Stadium, rugby union’s headquarters at Twickenham, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and some of the biggest club football arenas in England.

Manchester United’s Old Trafford, Newcastle’s St James’ Park, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, Aston Villa’s Villa Park and Southampton’s St Mary’s have all

been included in the 17-stadium list. The Amex Stadium in Brighton, Bristol City’s Ashton Gate, Pride Park in Derby, Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, Elland Road in Leeds and Stadium MK in Milton Keynes are also potential venues.

But tournament organisers sprang a surprise as Leicester Tigers’ Welford Road was missing from the list despite being the biggest club rugby ground in England.

Responding to the Welford Road snub, Leicester chairman Peter Tom launched a scathing attack on the organisers. “We are hugely disappointed to learn that Welford Road will not play a part in England’s

hosting of the Rugby World Cup in 2015,” Tom said. “Welford Road has hosted many major occasions over the years, including visits from South Africa, Australia and Argentina national teams in recent seasons. “Welford Road is the largest designated club rugby stadium in England, an iconic home of the sport in this country and home to the most successful club, yet it will not be at the table when it comes to hosting a global rugby event in this country. “ That the organisers of RWC2015 do not think this an appropriate venue for its fixtures is disappointing and confusing both for the professional club game in

this country and for its supporters.”

Leicester is still represented by the town’s football club as organisers believe the King Power Stadium, with a capacity of 32,000 and better off-field facilities, is more suitable. Critics argue the World Cup should be utilising more rugby grounds but ER2015 have to sell 2.9 million tickets in order to cover the £80 million ($128 million) guarantee owed to the International Rugby Board.

ER2015 will confirm the final list of 10-12 venues early in the new year, once the tournament match schedule has been formulated. The pool draw is being held on December 3 in London.—AFP

Ukhov cuts hair and ties with past

Jet skier express gratitude for ‘making achievement possible’ Kuwaiti jet skier Ahmad Al-Dawwas expressed deep appreciation for winning a gold and silver medals during his first participation in the International Jet Ski Tournament which concluded recently at the American state of Arizona.

Kuwait’s team, which consists of Kuwait Sea Sports Club members finished in first place alongside the United States and Thailand with fifteen medals, five gold, six silver and four bronze, in addition to ranking forty fourth. The competition feature competitors representing forty countries around the world.

Al-Dawwas expressed gratitude in a statement released yesterday to all who played a great role to make this achievement possible, including the KSSC management, the Public Authority for Youth and Sports, the Kuwait Finance House, Zain Telecom, Gulf Insurance, Pro Rider Garage, as well as Sheikh Duaij Al-Fahad Al-Sabah and Sheikh Terki Al-Yousuf AlSabah.

The KSSC prepares to welcome the team in a grand celebration at the VIP hall in the Kuwait International Airport on Friday at 5:00 pm.

MOSCOW: Russian high jumper Ivan Ukhov says kicking a drinking habit has not only changed his life but helped him achieve his childhood dream of becoming an Olympic champion.

The 26-year-old, who won gold in London with a leap of 2.38 metres and now has more lofty goals for his career, does not like to talk about the past nor discuss his previous escapades only saying that he is “completely reformed now”.

“I just want to concentrate on my future, not go back to my old life. It’s in the past,” he told Reuters in an interview, organised by sporting goods company Nike.

Ukhov, who now prides himself on being a devoted husband and a loving father, even chopped off his shaggy hair following his gold-medal performance to symbolise his changed lifestyle.

Since his August triumph, the usually shy Russian has become an instant media darling at home, doing numerous interviews and photo shoots - something he has been reluctant to do in the past.

“It’s been almost a constant whirlwind, the press has been following me from place to place,” said Ukhov, sporting a shorter, more conventional haircut.

“It’s not something I really enjoy but I understand it’s now a must. Sometimes it makes you feel almost like a hero.” Four years ago, he was portrayed as a villain after showing up drunk at a meet in Lausanne after mixing vodka and Red Bull.

Unsurprisingly, he failed each attempt to clear the bar and the video clip of his exploits on YouTube received more than a

million hits in a week. He faced a one-year ban for his antics but escaped punishment after agreeing to reimburse the Swiss organisers their expenses.

He was able to overcome his problems after moving from his native Chelyabinsk, in the Urals, to Moscow and hooking up with his new coach, Sergei Klyugin, following the 2008 Beijing Games.

“Chelyabinsk sports bosses had completely ignored him, they thought he was finished,” Klyugin, himself an Olympic high jump champion from Sydney 2000, told Reuters.

“I offered him my help and we’ve been working together since. It may surprise a lot of people but Ivan is a really nice guy, not jealous or anything like that.”

Asked what sets Ukhov apart from other elite high jumpers, Klyugin said: “I would say he’s ‘a bit crazy’, but in a good way. He

has a great physique for a high jumper but his biggest asset is his mind. He just doesn’t have any mental barriers whatsoever when it comes to jumping record heights.”

Ukhov’s mental toughness was tested to the limit in London, when his jumping vest was stolen midway through the competition.

“I had put it on my bag as I always do after each attempt but it just disappeared. Someone might have stolen it,” said Ukhov, who was forced to make one of his jumps in a light-blue T-shirt instead of his national team kit.

“I was afraid I could be disqualified for not wearing a proper uniform but in the end it turned out just fine.” He asked compatriot and 2008 Olympic champion Andrei Silnov to give him a spare shirt after he discovered the loss.

“I was going crazy, I didn’t know what to do but luckily

Ivan Ukhov in action in this file photo

Andrei came to my rescue. He had finished by then so he offered me his vest,” Ukhov recalled.

“Now I see it as symbolic that I won gold in his shirt. I guess Andrei being the 2008 champion just passed me the good luck.”

The nervous stress, however, sapped too much energy and prevented him from setting an Olympic record, he said.

“I felt that record was well within my grasp,” said Ukhov, who had one failed attempt at 2.40 in the London rain to try to better American Charles Austin’s mark of 2.39, set at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

“Also, the photographers were distracting me by taking pictures of me while I was trying to concentrate on my run-up. Then, I had to wait while a medal ceremony for another event was taking place and I lost some of my jumping rhythm.” Having achieved his lifelong dream, Ukhov has set a new target. He wants to become the first men’s high jumper to successfully defend his Olympic title and to break one of the oldest world records in athletics - the 2.45metre mark set by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor in 1993. “Of course, winning in Rio in 2016 is one of my big goals,” said Ukhov, who has recorded four of the world’s best six jumps this year while his personal best of 2.40 was achieved in 2009. “Until now, no (male) high jumper...was able to repeat their success so if I can do it, it would make history. “But Rio is four years from now, so my next goal is to break Sotomayor ’s record. I’ll definitely try it next year,” he added.—Reuters

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

sp orts

Ex-assistant football coach gets 30 years jail Child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State BELLEFONTE: A former assistant American football coach was sentenced yesterday to at least 30 years in prison - effectively a life sentence - in the child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State and led to coach Joe Paterno’s downfall.

A defiant Jerry Sandusky gave a long, rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family.

The 68-year-old former Penn State assistant coach was found guilty in June of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period. Witnesses said Sandusky used the charitable organization he founded for troubled children as his personal hunting ground to find and groom boys to become his victims.

The case, which tarnished the reputation of one of the most storied college football programs in the US and stunned a nation where college sports are revered, led to the firing of Paterno, the team’s longtime head football coach, who died from lung cancer in January. Sandusky’s arrest 11 months ago, and the details that came out during his trial over the summer, trans-

formed his public image from a college coach who had been widely admired for his work with The Second Mile charity into that of a reviled pervert who preyed on the very youngsters who sought his help. Eight of the boys he was found guilty of molesting testified at his trial, describing a range of abuse that included fondling, oral sex and anal intercourse.

One of the prosecution’s star witnesses, former graduate assistant Mike McQueary, testified that he saw Sandusky raping a boy in a locker room shower. Among the three who spoke yesterday, a young man who said he was 11 when Sandusky groped him in a shower in 1998 said Sandusky is in denial and should “stop coming up with excuses.”

“I’ve been left with deep painful wounds that you caused and had been buried in the garden of my heart for many years,” he said.

Another man said he was 13 when, in 2001, Sandusky lured him into a Penn State sauna and then a shower and then forced him to touch the excoach. “I am troubled with flashbacks of his naked body, something that will never be erased from my memory,” he

said. “Jerry has harmed children, of which I am one of them.” Sandusky has consistently maintained his innocence and plans to appeal.

In a three-minute monologue aired Monday night by Penn State Com Radio that used some of the same language as his courtroom statement, Sandusky said he knows in his heart that he did not do what he called “these alleged disgusting acts” and described himself as the victim of Penn State, investigators, civil attorneys, the media and others.

His statement in court lasted 15 minutes and his voice cracked as he spoke of missing his loved ones. Judge John Cleland sentenced him to 30 to 60 years in prison. Under Pennsylvania law, Sandusky cannot be released on parole before the minimum term is up.

“The tragedy of this crime is that it’s a story of betrayal. The most obviously aspect is your betrayal of 10 children,” Cleland said before the sentencing. “I’m not going to sentence you to centuries in prison, although the law will permit that.” Still, Cleland said, he expected Sandusky to be in prison for the rest of his life. The scandal brought devastation in State College that will take years

BELLEFONTE: Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky (center) is taken from the Centre County Courthouse by Centre County Sheriff Denny Nau (left) and a deputy, after being sentenced in Bellefonte. —AP to fully assess, as Sandusky’s victims are pressing civil claims and a January trial is pending for Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, two university administrators charged with failing to properly report suspicions about Sandusky and lying to the grand jury that investigated him.

Soon after the three were arrested in November, the board of trustees fired Paterno, the school’s most famous figure and a man who won two national college football championships in the 1980s. Paterno died of lung cancer in January. — AP

Texans ground Jets

Kuwait geared up for Bahrain Speed Race KUWAIT: As Gulf teams gear up for the Bahrain Speed Race Championship 2012, scheduled to start next week, four time winner from 2006 until 2010, in the “8 cylinder” category, Kuwait’s Ahmad AlZaabi said that he is ready, and that he knows the race track well, as competition will be strong in all categories.

About the nature and size of participation, Al-Zaabi said the technical preparations related to my participation in Bahrain’s Speed Racing Championship 2012 are completed, and I will drive a Camaro 68. “I look forward to confirm the Kuwaiti dominance by 100%, especially in this category.”

As for my participation in the Gulf speed Racing Championship, Qatar Championship, Abu Dhabi Championship, Saudi Arabia Championship, I will compete in the super street “8” cylinder category.

Al-Zaabi said it is known to all that I did not race for three consecutive seasons, and without a doubt this has signif-

icant effect, so the first round in Bahrain Speed Racing Championship can be considered as a training camp because we do not have a track that enable us to hold such camps. He added “although my upcoming participation will almost be a trial one, I am confident in achieving good results. Ahmad Al-Zaabi thanked Sheikh Duaij Al-Fahad Al-Sabah who is chairman of the higher committee for the Drag Race at the quarter mile club for cars and motorcycles, who is working hard in order to enhance the level and principle of the drag race, or the so called “speed racing”.

He also thanked Khalid Al-Rashid and his unlimited support for the team headed by their chief Abdallah Al-Shatti and Technical Manager Hussein Al-Demkhi.

Ahmad Al-Zaabi has a long trail of achievements, most important of which is third place in the general standings of Bahrain Speed Race in 2007 and champion for two consecutive seasons 20082009 in the 8 cylinder category.

EAST RUTHERFORD: After Arian Foster ran over the New York Jets all night, it was time for the defense to seal things for the Houston Texans. A six-point lead. Three minutes left.

Mark Sanchez and the Jets 84 yards away from sending the Texans to their first loss with a crowd-pleasing comeback. Not on this night.

Kareem Jackson intercepted Sanchez with 1:51 remaining as the Texans held on for a 2317 victory Monday night and a 5-0 start. “That’s what you dream about,” defensive end J.J. Watt said. “It’s Monday Night Football. You’re on the field. You have a chance to end the game.

That’s what you want. For us to go out there and do that, it’s huge.”

Foster ran for 152 yards and a touchdown, and the Texans overcame some big throws by Sanchez, a few exciting moments by Tim Tebow and a 100-yard kickoff return by Joe McKnight to beat the Jets for the first time in team history. The Texans (5-0) joined the Atlanta Falcons as the NFL’s only teams without a loss. “Arian stepped up and played huge,” quarterback Matt Schaub said. “We’re very excited to be 5-0 and get a win on the road.”

It was a close one, though. Much closer than most expected. After all, the Jets (2-3) were heavy underdogs after coming off a 34-0 loss to San Francisco last week, but made a game of it. “You got to give yourself a chance to win and we did that tonight,” said Sanchez, whose throw was intercepted by Jackson after tipping off the hands of Jeff Cumberland.

Schaub was 14 of 28 for 209 yards and a touchdown to Owen Daniels, winning his ninth straight game - the longest active streak in the NFL - dating to last season. Daniels finished with four catches for 79 yards for the Texans, who have just their second five-game winning streak in team history.

“A big part of that is it doesn’t matter on this team about stats or individually what is going on,” Daniels said. “It’s great to be a part of something like that.”

The enthusiasm was tempered, though, by a left knee injury to star linebacker Brian Cushing that coach Gary Kubiak said he was “very concerned” about. “I don’t know what happened,” Kubiak said. “They tell me he cut on

Skydiver begins prep for supersonic jump ROSWELL: A weather hold that threatened to cancel extreme athlete and skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s death-defying, 23-mile free fall into the southeastern New Mexico desert was lifted yesterday and crews began laying out his balloon.

The planned early morning launch had been delayed by high winds. But just before 9 a.m., the winds calmed and the team decided to proceed with plans to make the flight, a process that would take about two hours.

The 43-year-old former military parachutist from Austria plans to take off in a 55-story, ultra-thin and easy-to-tear helium balloon that will take him into the stratosphere for the jump. He hopes it will make him the first skydiver to break the sound barrier and shatter three other world records.

Those plans were in question before sunrise, when winds at 700 feet above ground - the top of the balloon - were 20 mph, far above the 3 mph maximum for a safe launch, said mission meteorologist Don Day. After sunrise, Day said there were indications the upper level winds might calm, so the team pushed the launch window from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., noon at the latest. The balloon had been scheduled to launch about 7 a.m. from a field near the airport in a flat dusty town that until now has been best known for a rumored 1947 UFO landing.

If the mission goes, Baumgartner will make a nearly three -hour ascent to 120,000 feet, then take a bunny-style hop from a pressurized capsule into a near vacuum where there is barely any oxygen to begin what is expected to be the fastest, farthest free fall from the highestever manned balloon. Baumgartner

spent Monday at his hotel, mentally preparing for the dangerous feat with his parents, girlfriend and four close friends, his team said. He had a light dinner of salmon and a salad, then had a massage.

He spent Tuesday morning resting in an Airstream trailer near the launch site.

Among the risks: Any contact with the capsule on his exit could tear the pressurized suit. A rip could expose him to a lack of oxygen and temperatures as low as 70 degrees below zero. It could cause

ROSWELL: The 30 million cubic foot helium balloon is inflated prior to take off yesterday, in Roswell. Felix Baumgartner will attempt to break the speed of sound with his own body by jumping from a space capsule lifted by the helium balloon. —AP

potentially lethal bubbles to form in his bodily fluids, a condition known as “boiling blood.” He could also spin out of control, causing other risky problems. The energy drink maker Red Bull, which is sponsoring the feat, has been promoting a live Internet stream of the event at http://www.redbullstratos.com/live from nearly 30 cameras on the capsule, the ground and a helicopter. But organizers said there will be a 20-second delay in their broadcast of footage in case of a tragic accident.

Despite the dangers and questionable wind forecast, high performance director Andy Walshe said the team was excited, not nervous. Baumgartner has made two practice jumps, one from 15 miles in March and another from 18 miles in July.

“With these big moments, you get a kind of sense that the energy changes,” he said Monday. “It really is just kind of a heightened energy. It keeps you on your toes. It’s not nervousness, it’s excitement.”

During the ascent, Walshe said, the team will have views from a number of cameras, including one focused directly on Baumgartner’s face. Additionally, they will have data from life support and other systems that show things like whether he is getting enough oxygen.

The team also expects constant communication with Baumgartner, although former Air Force Capt. Joe Kittinger, whose 1960 free-fall record from 19.5 miles Baumgartner hopes to break, is the only member of mission control who will be allowed to talk to him. And while Baumgartner hopes to set four new world records, his free fall is more than just a stunt. — AP

a play and his foot might have got stuck in the turf.” Tebow got the MetLife Stadium crowd fired up at times during the game, including running for a first down on a fake punt. He also threw a pinpoint deep pass that newly signed Jason Hill should have caught, and later took a direct snap and ran for 13 yards to get the ball near the goal line in the fourth quarter. But other than that, Tebow spent most of his time on the sideline - again.

“You know, going in, I had no idea when I would go in,” Tebow said. “I just try to be ready at all times.” After Shayne Graham’s 42-yard field goal made it 20-7 late in the third quarter, McKnight got the Jets right back into it with his 100-yard kickoff return - his second of his career - to cut the Texans’ lead to 20-14 with

wild, sensing a chance at Tebow’s first touchdown since being acquired by New York in March. Tebow stayed in but was stopped for no gain. Then, Sanchez - who has been under fire with many calling for Tebow to take his starting job - had a pass tipped by Watt and then threw incomplete to Schilens in the end zone on third down.

“We could’ve won, we should’ve won,” Schilens said. “We got in the way of ourselves again. Sooner or later, we’ll fix it.” Foster walked untouched into the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown to give the Texans a 14-7 lead with 11:11 left in the first half. He gained 42 yards on three straight carries on the 67-yard drive. The Jets threatened late in the half, but Sanchez’s pass was tipped by Watt and went off Kerley to

EAST RUTHERFORD: Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt (99) tackles New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow (15) during the second half of an NFL football game. —AP 4:38 left in the third quarter.

New York then attempted an onside kick, but the ball went through Chaz Schilens’ hands and Shiloh Keo recovered, giving the Texans the ball with good field position. “If I caught it, we probably would’ve won the game,” Schilens said. “Huge letdown.”

Schaub hit fullback James Casey for 30 yards to quiet the crowd, but the Jets’ defense held the Texans to a 22-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in the quarter. Nick Folk’s 21-yard field goal with 11:55 left made it 23-17, but it appeared the Jets would get more.

Sanchez hit Cumberland for 24 yards on first down, and then Jeremy Kerley for 36 yards two plays later.

Then, Tebow came in - with Sanchez lined up as a wide receiver - and rumbled up the middle for 13 yards to make it first-and-goal from the 3. The crowd at MetLife Stadium went

Brice McCain, who ran back the interception 86 yards before Kerley caught him at the New York 9. Graham made a 27-yard field goal as the half ended to make it 17-7.

The Texans opened the game by scoring on an efficient 8-play, 85-yard drive capped by a 34-yard touchdown catch by a wide-open Daniels less than 4 minutes in. Daniels, who earlier gained 14 yards on a screen pass, got wide open behind the secondary as New York’s safeties both bit on Schaub’s play-action fake.

“It was huge to start fast,” Schaub said. “We knew they were going to come out ready to play, fired up, with a lot of energy. We were just trying to take that wind out of their sails.”

The Jets tied it late in the opening quarter, taking advantage of an interception by Antonio Cromartie. Four plays later, the Jets tied it for their first points in two weeks - a 27yard TD catch by Cumberland. — AP

NFL standings American Football Conference AFC East W L T OTL PF PA PCT New England 3 2 0 0 165 113 .600 NY Jets 2 3 0 0 98 132 .400 Buffalo 2 3 0 0 118 176 .400 Miami 2 3 0 2 103 103 .400 AFC North Baltimore 4 1 0 0 130 89 .800 3 2 0 0 125 129 .600 Cincinnati Pittsburgh 2 2 0 0 93 89 .500 Cleveland 0 5 0 0 100 139 0 AFC South Houston 5 0 0 0 149 731.000 Indianapolis 2 2 0 0 91 110 .500 Jacksonville 1 4 0 1 65 138 .200 Tennessee 1 4 0 0 88 181 .200 AFC West San Diego 3 2 0 0 124 102 .600 2 3 0 0 135 114 .400 Denver Oakland 1 3 0 0 67 125 .250 Kansas City 1 4 0 0 94 145 .200

National Football Conference NFC East Philadelphia 3 2 0 0 80 99 .600 3 2 0 0 152 111 .600 NY Giants Dallas 2 2 0 0 65 88 .500 Washington 2 3 0 0 140 147 .400 NFC North Chicago 4 1 0 0 149 71 .800 Minnesota 4 1 0 0 120 79 .800 Green Bay 2 3 0 0 112 111 .400 Detroit 1 3 0 1 100 114 .250 NFC South Atlanta 5 0 0 0 148 931.000 Tampa Bay 1 3 0 0 82 91 .250 Carolina 1 4 0 0 92 125 .200 New Orleans 1 4 0 1 141 154 .200 NFC West San Francisco 4 1 0 0 149 68 .800 4 1 0 0 94 78 .800 Arizona St. Louis 3 2 0 0 96 94 .600 Seattle 3 2 0 0 86 70 .600

18

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

S P ORT S

Preview

Expanded Euroleague strives to rival NBA BELGRADE:- More games and bigger arenas will enable Europe’s premier basketball competition to aim for NBA standards, Euroleague chief Jordi Bertomeu has vowed ahead of the new season starting tomorrow.

This month’s warm-up games between Euroleague teams and NBA outfits suggest the gulf between the top sides from Europe and North America has narrowed, with Fenerbahce Istanbul pulling off a shock 97-91 win over 17times NBA champions Boston Celtics.

Bertomeu, who met with NBA commissioner David Stern in Berlin shortly before local team Alba pushed 2011 champions Dallas Mavericks to the limit in an 89-84 defeat on Saturday, acknowledged that looking up to the NBA and playing against the league’s top contenders has helped Europe to improve.

“These games are an opportunity to work

with our NBA friends, share the experience and learn because they have already done many things that we want to do in our evolution as a professional league,” Bertomeu told the 24-team Euroleague’s official website (www.euroleague.net).

“We have different models, a different sports culture and of course different resources but we share the same vision about the importance of improving the quality of the game and the importance of basketball becoming a global sport.

“Specifically in this field I have to say that the NBA has been doing a terrific job.

We have in front of us a very important Euroleague season with more games, more weeks and teams moving to bigger arenas, culminating in the Final Four in London.”

The teams are divided into four groups of six in the preliminary stage and the top four from each group will advance into

the last 16, where they will be divided into two groups of eight instead of four groups of four.

The top four teams from each of those groups, operating on a round-robin home and away system like the preliminary stage, will progress into the quarter-finals, whose winners will qualify for the Final Four in London’s O2 Arena from May 1012.

The upcoming season promises a finely balanced battle between a myriad of contenders, some of whom have had to fundamentally change their sides with players being lured to the glamour and higher level of the NBA. However, champions Olympiakos Piraeus, who won the title with a memorable comeback to beat CSKA Moscow 62-61 in Istanbul last May, have kept the bulk of their roster with inspirational point guard Vassilis Spanoulis set to lead

the charge again. They have signed forward Stratos Perperoglu from bitter Athens rivals Panathinaikos, whose longserving Serbian coach Zeljko Obradovic stepped down after winning 11 Greek and five Euroleague titles with the club.

He was followed by virtually all his stalwarts. Six-time winners CSKA, who last won the competition in 2008,have lost forward Andrei Kirilenko and guard Aleksey Shved to the Minnesota Timberwolves but have welcomed back Italian coach Ettore Messina, who steered the Russian side to their last two Euroleague titles.

Messina has returned for a second spell in charge after coaching Real Madrid and stronger for the experience of a yearlong stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he was a consultant to head coach Mike Brown.

“I was able to work with great coaches

and players and really enjoyed it but I missed head coaching and I feel blessed to work here again,” Messina told the CSKA website (www.cskabasket.com).

“The NBA is a great league and environment but CSKA is an NBA-level club and I am looking forward to working with the few players who were here when I left four years ago as well as with the newcomers.” CSKA are at home to Lithuanians Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius in Thursday’s curtain-raiser while Olympiakos entertain Spain’s Caja Laboral Vitoria and Fenerbahce take on CSKA’s city rivals Khimki.

The pick of Friday’s games should be a mouth-watering contest between eighttime winners Real Madrid and Panathinaikos while Barcelona, the 2010 champions, should have a comfortable start at home to Germany’s Brose Baskets Bamberg. —Reuters

England defenders jostling for stalwart Terry’s place LONDON: England begin life without stalwart John Terry on Friday but San Marino are the perfect opponents for his yet unknown replacement to ease his way into the centre back’s boots with all the goals expected at the other end.

Coach Roy Hodgson said last week that he had some concerns about his defence and the Group H World Cup 2014 qualifier would do lit-

get a run-out at Wembley even if Hodgson has been robbed of Manchester United defenders Phil Jones and Chris Smalling because of injury.

“We believe there are two very interesting centre halves in Jones and Smalling both of whom have not been available to us so I think our current plight, if it is a plight, is one that could rapidly change by next March,” Hodgson told reporters as he assessed his

LONDON: England’s national team soccer player Wayne Rooney (right) and Aaron Lennon vie for the ball during a training session at St George’s Park. —AP tle to help him narrow down his options after Terry’s angry retirement amid a racist abuse row.

Anything other than a very handsome victory against the team 207th and joint-bottom of FIFA’s world rankings will represent disappointment for England in one of the most ill-matched fixtures in the qualifying programme for the finals in Brazil.

England, ranked fifth, are in a process of rejuvenation and some inexperienced players could

defensive plans.

The build-up to the game has been overshadowed by the fallout from the FA finding Terry guilty of racial abuse towards Anton Ferdinand a year ago and the revelation from Hodgson, made on an underground train, that Anton’s 33-year-old brother Rio would not be picked.

Terry, who won 78 caps during an eventful nine-year international career in which he was

twice stripped of the England captaincy, announced he was quitting international football two weeks ago - shortly before the FA hearing.

His Chelsea club mate Ashley Cole, whose evidence on Terry’s behalf was questioned in the published findings of the case, is facing a misconduct charge for sending an offensive tweet about the FA and has until Thursday to appeal against that charge.

Cole has 98 caps and is in line to become only the sixth English player to play 100 times for his country but it is uncertain whether he will play on Friday despite apologising in person for his Twitter outburst to FA chairman David Bernstein.

There is no shortage of candidates for his left back position with Everton’s Leighton Baines, who has been having a fine season, and Chelsea’s Ryan Bertrand waiting in the wings.

Like Cole, an injured Terry missed England’s 1-1 home qualifying draw with Ukraine a month ago when Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott played in the centre of the defence.

It remains to be seen if Hodgson retains that partnership on Friday or includes Gary Cahill or the uncapped Ryan Shawcross.

Captain Steven Gerrard is suspended but will return for Tuesday’s far tougher qualifier against Poland in Warsaw. Frank Lampard is expected to take the armband.

“We have enough leaders,” Hodgson said.

“We also have people like Phil Jagielka, Michael Carrick, Joleon Lescott, Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson. Who knows which of these younger players emerge as leaders?”.

San Marino, who have lost their last 49 matches since a 2-2 draw with Liechtenstein in August 2003, have only won one of the 113 internationals they have played - a 1-0 friendly victory over Liechteinstein a year after their draw with them.

The tiny nation from the Italian peninsula have only drawn five other matches, scoring 19 goals while conceding 467 but famously they once found the target against England to earn a place in the World Cup records books.

It came when they met in Bologna in November 1993 and Davide Gualtieri netted after eight seconds - still the fastest goal scored in any World Cup qualifier. England, though, recovered to win 7-1.

Since then San Marino have only hit 16 goals in almost 19 years in matches recognised by FIFA and if they find the net at Wembley on Friday, it will be such a surprise and the cause of some national celebration as they have failed to score in their last 21 competitive internationals.

England are second in the group after winning their opening qualifier 5-0 in Moldova before the draw with Ukraine, while San Marino were beaten 6-0 at home by leaders Montenegro in the one game they have played. —Reuters

Javi Martinez

Spain’s Martinez wary of Belarus banana skin MADRID: Javi Martinez is still smarting from a shock reverse in Minsk and the Spain midfielder is keen to avoid a repeat per formance when the world and European champions take on Belarus in a World Cup 2014 qualifier there on Friday.

Martinez’s Bundesliga club Bayern Munich crashed to a 3-1 defeat at BATE Borisov in the Champions League last week and the Belarussian champions are likely to provide six of the starting lineup for Friday’s Group I clash.

The Belarus soccer association (BFF) has more than trebled their players’ win bonus to $10,000 but Martinez says Spain will be well prepared as they seek to make it two Group I wins out of two following last month’s 1-0 win away to Georgia.

“Because they have so many BATE players in the squad probably they will play in a similar way,” Martinez said at a news conference as he and his team mates gathered at their training camp outside Madrid. “BATE are a team that look to play on the counter attack, they are physically very strong and they don’t give you many scoring chances,” he added.

“We have a few days now before the match to study how they play and for sure the coach will put us properly in the picture.”

Spain’s victory in Georgia extended their winning streak in European Championship and World Cup qualifiers to 23 matches and they last failed to win in a 1-1 draw with Iceland in Reykjavik in September 2007. They went on to become the first team to win back-to-

back European Championships with a World Cup in between and will be firm favourites to retain their world title in Brazil in two years’ time.

They host Group I rivals France in Madrid on Tuesday in a match that could go a long way to deciding who progresses to the finals as group winners.

“Spain is the team to beat right now,” said Martinez, who may be drafted in at centre back in the absence of injured Barcelona pair Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique.

“The fact we are world champions is an extra motivation for our opponents and it must be the same for us,” he added.

“A big chunk of qualification is at stake and if we win both games it will be an important step.” Despite the incentive of extra cash for beating Spain, Belarus coach Georgy Kondratyev was not too hopeful about his players’ chances when he spoke to reporters this week.

“The biggest problem when you face Spain is that it’s very difficult, almost impossible, to take the ball away from them,” he said.

“But then again, they are reigning world and European champions so even if we lose but go down fighting, no one can blame us for the defeat.” Belarus are bottom of Group I after losing their first two qualifiers to Georgia and France.

Kondratyev is likely to deploy Vitaly Rodionov, who scored BATE’s second against Bayern as a lone striker on Friday, with attacking midfielders Alexander Hleb and Brazil-born Renan Bressan, who also play for BATE, in support. —Reuters

Van der Vaart back where he belongs ROT TERDAM: Playmaker Rafael van der Vaart feels he is back where he belongs after being recalled by Netherlands for the World Cup qualifying matches against Andorra and Romania.

The 29-year-old rejoined Hamburg SV from Tottenham Hotspur in August but was left out by national coach Louis van Gaal for the opening two Group D qualifiers against Turkey and Hungary because he was short of match fitness.

“I belong in this team, that is obvious for me, and I don’t feel old,” Van der Vaart told reporters at the Dutch training camp as they prepared for Friday’s game against Andorra in Rotterdam and the match in Romania four days later.

“Van Gaal gives you the chance to fight back when you are fit and ... I am glad the door is open again because if I had been left out again I would have had a problem,” added the midfielder who won his 100th cap in a friendly against Belgium in August.

Without Van der Vaart the Dutch won their first two fixtures to stretch their winning streak in World Cup qualifiers to 10 games.

Overall, they are unbeaten in 22 matches.

The Hamburg player looks set to come into the side in place of fellow former Ajax Amsterdam youth team product Wesley Sneijder who is out with a thigh strain.

Van G aal star ted his second spell in charge with a 4-2 away defeat against neighbours Belgium but they have got back on track in the World Cup with Sneijder running the midfield along with Kevin Strootman and Jordy Clasie.

The Dutch have also recalled midfielders Ibrahim Afellay and Nigel de Jong for the fixtures with Andorra and Romania but the biggest surprise was the inclusion in the squad of the Brazilian-born Douglas. The defender, who became a Dutch citizen in November, was called up for the first time after Joris Mathijsen pulled out with a hamstring injury.

“This is very special for me,” said the 24year- old Douglas. “I t feels like I have a chance to claim a spot in the squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“I have spoken briefly with the coach and he told me I just have to continue what I’ve been doing with Twente Enschede and keep trying to improve.” —Reuters

MENDOZA: Argentina’s Juan Manuel Martinez heads the ball during a training session in Buenos Aires. Argentina will face Uruguay in a World Cup qualifying soccer game in Mendoza on Friday. —AP

19

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

SPORTS

Royals officially open English football’s new home LONDON: Given royal approval by Prince William and wife Kate, English football’s new headquarters were officially opened yesterday to boost hopes that one of the sport’s serial underperformers can soon close the gap to the world’s top teams.

Thirty-seven years in the making, the 100 million pound ($160 million) national football center at Burtonupon-Trent in central England will be the permanent home for all 24 of England’s senior and junior teams as well as a training base for aspiring coaches.

France and Spain became world champions a decade after building their national academies and England, whose only major trophy was won at the 1966 World Cup on home soil, is targeting the same result. “Coming here and seeing these wonderful facilities gives the same feeling as when I first went to the Olympic Park,” said Prince William, who chatted with players and tried out the center’s state-ofthe-art facilities on a guided tour with Kate.

“It gives me great pride we have created in this country facilities that are beyond compare anywhere else.”

Facilities were developed after extensive research into similar centers

around the world, including Clairefontaine - the world-famous headquarters of French football Spain’s Cuidad del Futbol near Madrid, the Aspire Academy in Qatar and the Australian Institute of Sport.

One of the 11 outside pitches on the 330-acre site is a replica of that used at Wembley Stadium, where England plays its home matches, with exactly the same mix of grass and artificial fibers. There is also a full-size indoor artificial surface, an indoor 60-meter sprint track, reflex machines for goalkeepers, a highwire course and a suite of rehabilitation and sports science areas. The idea for the center was first mooted in 1975 - finally, it has finally come to fruition.

“I’m rather hoping that the amount of great work being put in here will take us to that elusive World Cup,” England manager Roy Hodgson said of the center, located in a sleepy town more than 100 miles from London and amid rolling countryside.

“It’s taken a long while for this dream to become a reality. It is going to be very important.” England’s record in recent years has been disappointing, never making it past the quarterfinals of a major tournament

since Euro 1996 - which was also held in England.

The team is currently fifth in the FIFA rankings but is no longer regarded as a heavyweight of the

St. George’s Park, which will translate to future success on the pitch.

“It is a momentous day in our history,” FA chairman David Bernstein said. “What has been achieved here is

LONDON: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (right) and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (left) unveil a plaque to officially open The Football Association’s National Football Centre at St George’s Park yesterday. —AP international game, with players’ inability to keep possession seen as the main reason for its decline.

The hope is that more and higherquality coaches will be produced at

breathtaking. It is an inspirational training base for all our national teams and for coaches an Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) of football.

“We expect to get a huge amount

out of this, probably first and foremost the development of more and better coaches.”

William and Kate initially spoke with Gerrard and Hodgson before walking across the practice pitch for a meet-and-greet with the rest of the senior squad - including Ashley Cole, who on Friday posted an offensive tweet criticizing the FA. William is the governing body’s honorary president. “St. George’s Park is a concept totally new,” William said. “It will provide more than just world-class facilities for our national team and more than a university from which hundreds of coaches will graduate. “It will provide employment and a social hub for local people and will foster community spirit and purpose and hope throughout England.”

England squads will be accommodated in a Hilton hotel, where players will have their own private dining area and games room. “There is no better place to come to work,” England captain Steven Gerrard said.

The center has been in use for several weeks by younger age groups but was first sampled by England’s senior men’s team on Monday, ahead of World Cup qualifiers against San Marino on Friday and Poland next Tuesday.—AP

Iraq, Saudis drawn in same Asian Cup group Kuwait in Group B with Iran, Thailand and Lebanon

STOCKHOLM: Swedish midfielder Sebastian Larsson in focus during a training session with the Swedish national soccer team. Sweden will play soccer World Cup 2014 qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Germany in the coming weeks. —AP

Germany chase hat-trick in Dublin BERLIN: Germany go in search of a third straight victory at the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign when they take on Group C rivals Ireland in the unique atmosphere that is always generated in Dublin. The triple world champions last visited Dublin for a European Championship qualifier in 2007 and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger still has fond memories of the occasion.

“It is a special feeling playing there,” said Schweinsteiger who is back in the squad for the first time since their Euro 2012 semifinal defeat by Italy. “The atmosphere is different, it has this special something. “We had the joy of playing there five years ago and it is difficult to win there. It would be a huge advantage to get the three points but they are a tough team with a clever fox of a coach (Giovanni Trapattoni),” he told reporters yesterday.

Germany, who have won only one of their last five encounters with Ireland, are without injured central defender Mats Hummels, midfielders Lars Bender and Ilkay Guendogan while captain Philipp Lahm is suspended.

The visitors, who had a 100 percent record in Euro 2012 qualifying with 10 victories in 10 games, want to maintain their fine run ahead of next Tuesday’s clash with Sweden.

“The target is qualification and we have a lot of work to do in these two games,” said team manager Oliver Bierhoff. “These are the two toughest opponents in the

group. After the last campaign when we won all 10 games, expectations are high.”

Coach Joachim Loew has had to soak up some criticism for the Euro 2012 semi-final exit and for the team being below their best in their opening two World Cup fixtures.

“We need to improve, we need to play better both when we have possession and when we do not have the ball,” said Schweinsteiger.

Ireland were extraordinarily lucky to escape from Kazakhstan with a victory in their first qualifier last month, scoring twice in the final two minutes to record a 2-1 victory that did little to ease the pressure on Trapattoni following a disappointing Euro 2012. The Italian’s chances of matching the draw Ireland managed against Germany the last time the sides met in Dublin almost five years to the day have been hit by a string of injuries.

Central defensive partners Richard Dunne and Sean St Ledger, midfielder Glenn Whelan and striker Kevin Doyle are out, as is young Sunderland winger James McClean.

The absentees at the back are likely to mean that former Manchester United defender John O’Shea will move to centre half alongside Darren O’Dea who plays his club football in Canada.

“We are missing five players but I am confident about the quality we have and two or three players have grown a little bit in personality,” Trapattoni said.—Reuters

Japan: France, Brazil not ‘class above us’ TOKYO: Japan’s coach Alberto Zaccheroni and playmaker Keisuke Honda have vowed to come out fighting against former world champions France and Brazil, despite their underdog status.

“I don’t feel we are going up against teams that are a class above us,” CSKA Moscow’s Honda said as he landed in Paris after scoring a goal and setting up another in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Spartak Moscow.

The Blue Samurai, who reached the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, will play Les Bleus at the Stade de France in Paris on October 12 and Brazil in another friendly in Wroclaw, Poland, four days later.

“I don’t want to see Japan hold back and defend. We will fight with courage,” Zaccheroni said at the start of a training camp in the suburbs of Paris on Monday, according to Japanese media.

Japan, who won a record fourth Asian Cup last year under Zaccheroni, are currently ranked 23rd in the world. France, who won the World Cup at home in 1998, are 13th and five-time holders Brazil 14th.

Asked by reporters if he felt France and Brazil were of a different class, Honda, nursing a bruised right calf, shot back: “I see it the other way around. I don’t see it like others do.”

The 26-year-old World Cup hero, who has been assigned by Zaccheroni to the “hole” behind a single striker, a position preferred by teammate and Manchester United newcomer Shinji Kagawa, refused to say how he would fell the giants.

“I have mentally mapped out the straightforward way I will play against them, but I’d better not say it,” he said. “I want to wait until after the games to ask how everyone felt about our performance.”

Zaccheroni, who took over Japan after South Africa 2010, reaffirmed his goal of turning the Blue Samurai into serious contenders at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“Japan have exceeded Brazil and France in the rate of growth in recent years,” said the 59-year-old, who coached AC Milan and other Serie-A sides before coming to Japan.

“We still have about two years to go before the World Cup and I want to bring us up to stand level (with France and Brazil),” he said.

Zaccheroni has called up 13 Europebased players for his 23-strong touring squad, also including Inter Milan defender Yuto Nagatomo and Southampton defender Maya Yoshida alongside several Germanbased players.—AFP

SYDNEY: Three-time champions Saudi Arabia were placed in the same group as 2007 winners Iraq and China in the preliminary draw for the 2015 Asian Cup made in Melbourne yesterday.

Iraq, which beat the Saudis in the Jakarta final five years ago, headline Group C along with 2004 runners-up China and 2007 co-hosts Indonesia.

Triple champions Iran will face 1980 winners Kuwait, Thailand and Lebanon in Group B, while Uzbekistan will meet Hong Kong, 2007 quarter-finalists Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates in Group E. Syria were drawn with Jordan in Group A along with Oman and Singapore, while 2011 hosts and quarter-finalists Qatar make up Group D with Bahrain, Yemen and Malaysia.

The top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team among all the groups will qualify for the tournament proper to be held in Australia in 2015. The qualifiers begin in February.

Reigning Asian Cup champions Japan, hosts and runners-up Australia, third-placed South Korea, AFC Challenge Cup 2012 winners North Korea and the champions of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup gain direct berths in the final competition in Australia.

“The preliminary draw has thrown up some great contests and we are sure to see some exciting matches over the next 18 months,” said Asian Football Confederation (AFC) acting president Zhang Jilong. “We’re thrilled that AFC’s newest member, Australia, will be hosting Asia’s flagship national team competition for the first time.”

Frank Lowy, chairman of Football Federation Australia, said Australia was determined to deliver the best Asian Cup yet.

“This will be the largest football competition ever staged in our country,” Lowy told the official draw ceremony. “It will be a feast of inter-

MELBOURNE: Windsor John (right) AFC executive director, displays a draw during the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 preliminary draw ceremony as former Australian football player Alan Davidson (left) looks on.—AFP national football, and we’re confident that Australians will get behind all the 16 teams, as we have shown for other major events.” Sydney will host the final, expected to be played on January 31, and also the two semi-finals.

Melbourne will host the Asian Cup’s opening match, on the weekend of January 8. It has missed out on the games at the business end of the tournament, partly to avoid clashing with the Australian Open tennis grand slam event.

Matches will also be played in Canberra, Brisbane and possibly the Gold Coast.

Preliminary draw Group A - Jordan, Syria, Oman, Singapore Group B - Iran, Kuwait, Thailand, Lebanon Group C - Iraq, China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia Group D - Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Malaysia Group E - Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Hong Kong.

Controversy as Wonga to sponsor Newcastle LONDON: English Premier League side Newcastle United yesterday unveiled a sponsorship deal with loans company wonga.com, sparking criticism and concern because of the firm’s reputation for sky-high interest rates.

Wonga will sponsor the club’s shirts from the start of next season and will also invest £1.5 million (1.85 million euros, $2.5 million dollars) in the club’s academy and a social scheme helping to equip local youngsters with workplace skills.

The Magpies, currently sponsored by Virgin Money, added the deal, whose overall value has not been revealed but which British media suggested was around 24 million pounds, will include a fans’ forum to foster closer links with the club hierarchy.

Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias said in a statement: “We are building a club that can regularly compete for top honours at the highest level.

“Throughout our discussions Wonga’s desire to help us invest in our young playing talent, the local community and new fan initiatives really impressed us and stood them apart from other candidates.”

But local politicians and R3, a trade body for insolvency professionals, questioned the appropriateness of the choice as the northeast of England, of which Newcastle is the main city, has the highest rate of insolvency in Britain. Wonga offers short-term business loans for an annual percentage rate of up to 360 percent while its “representative” annual rate for payday loan for struggling households is more than 4,000 percent.

Those rates have seen the opposition

Labour Party speak out against the deal.

Local Labor lawmaker Ian Lavery told The Times newspaper that “if Wonga get this sponsorship I will not set foot in St James’ Park (which club owner Mike Ashley has rebranded the Sports Direct arena) until it is off the shirts.”

He dubbed the deal “an outrage.” R3’s chairman Lee Manning noted that “Wonga has chosen to target a region that has comparatively high numbers of people experiencing financial difficulty.

“Our experience tells us that many of those seeking high cost credit need professional advice for their financial problems, rather than accruing further debt.”

However, in a bid to curry favour with the public, Newcastle’s stadium will revert to its traditional St James’ Park name as part of the Wonga deal.

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley sparked fury last November when he revealed that the name of the stadium had been changed to the Sports Direct Arena, after his sportswear company, in a bid to showcase the potential for a ground sponsor.

However, Wonga revealed they had also bought the naming rights to the 52,000capacity stadium and, having listened to the reaction of fans when news of a potential agreement emerged at the weekend, have opted to go back to the old name.

A spokesman for Wonga said: “We listened over the last three days and we saw what really matters to the fans. “Football is an emotional sport and it is obviously really important to them. We listened to what they wanted and that is why we did it.”—AFP

More corruption cases could unfold in Italy MILAN: Italian football’s sporadic affair with match-fixing and corruption may be about to reveal more dirty secrets, according to the country’s chief of police yesterday. Italy’s Serie A league, once considered one of the best in the world, has been rocked by several affairs involving players, coaches, officials and betting rings in the past several years.

Current league leaders and champions Juventus were stripped of the titles they won in 2005 and 2006 because of their role in a match-fixing affair.

And earlier this year the Italian national team’s plans to start Euro 2012 on a high note were upset when several clubs and players were snared in a sports-betting affair which led to sanctions for both coaches and players.

Italian chief of police Antonio Manganelli says more revelations could be on the way, according to ANSA. Manganelli, speaking at an Interpol conference in Rome, gave no details but said: “Other developments could be on the way and they will give us more answers, answers that could be even more sensational.” Juventus head coach Antonio Conte is currently serving a touchline ban for failing to disclose knowledge of rigged matches during his time at Siena in the 2010-11 season. Conte’s 10-month ban was last week reduced to four months on appeal. Prosecutors up and down the country have, however, been digging to get to the bottom of several affairs which involve betting rings, players, officials and middle men. Last week former Bari footballer Andrea Masiello and two associates were given suspended prison terms for their role in fixing several Serie A matches.—AFP

Iraq, Saudis drawn in same Asian Cup group

Umpires hit back after bribery claims

19

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

Royals officially open English football’s new home

Page 19

Nishikori cruises as Isner digs deep

SHANGHAI: Kei Nishikori of Japan serves against Wu Di of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament. Nishikori won 6-2, 6-4.—AFP SHANGHAI: Japan’s Kei Nishikori cruised through his Shanghai Masters opener yesterday just 48 hours after making history in Tokyo as America’s big-serving John Isner saved three match points to progress.

Nishikori, who became the first Japanese player to win the Japan Open on Sunday, eased past China’s Wu Di 6-2, 6-4 in his first-round match.

“Obviously, it’s not easy to play (so soon) after winning the tournament,” said the 22-year-old, who is at a career-high of number 15 in the rankings after his success in front of home fans.

“But I had a good day today. I love to play here,” added the 14th seed, who reached the semi-finals in Shanghai last year, losing to eventual champion Andy Murray of Britain.

Nishikori’s weekend win over Canada’s Milos Raonic was his first on the Tour since

the 2008 Delray Beach title, sharply raising expectations that Asia had uncovered a potential world-beater.

In a battle of two giants, eighth seed John Isner was forced to dig deep to save three match points to win a second-round match containing three tie-breaks and keep alive his outside chance of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals.

Isner booked his place in the third round by beating South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (9/7) in two hours and 45 minutes.

In a match featuring 45 aces and no service breaks, Anderson, at 6ft 8ins tall, squandered match points at 6-4 and 7-6 in the third set tie-break.

“We both were serving exceptionally well. It came down to a few points here or there, and I was able to pull it out. It was looking bleak for a little bit,” said Isner, who is an inch taller than his opponent.

Croatian 10th seed Marin Cilic joined Isner in the third round after defeating Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, the recent St Petersburg Open champion.

But seventh seed Juan Monaco of Argentina failed to reach the third round, crashing out 6-4, 6-2 at the hands of former top ten player Fernando Verdasco of Spain, in the late match.

In first-round action there were straight-sets wins for 12th seed Raonic and Stanislas Wawrinka, the 13th seed from Switzerland. France’s Gilles Simon knocked out Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-2. Defeated Australian teenager Bernard Tomic was defeated 6-4, 6-0 by Florian Mayer. His Shanghai flop comes just weeks after he was branded “disgraceful” by his Davis Cup team captain Pat Rafter following his 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 US Open defeat at the hands of Andy Roddick.

China’s Zhang Ze, who last week

stunned Richard Gasquet in the China Open, could not produce fireworks for a second consecutive week, slipping to a comprehensive 6-0, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun.

Australian teenager Bernard Tomic admitted yesterday he had given only “85 percent” in his 6-4, 6-0 defeat at the Shanghai Masters, saying the pressures of the tennis tour were taking their toll.

The 19-year-old won just eight points in a miserable second set of his first-round clash against Germany’s Florian Mayer for yet another early tournament exit in a disappointing season.

His Shanghai flop comes just weeks after he was branded “disgraceful” by Davis Cup team captain Pat Rafter following his US Open defeat at the hands of Andy Roddick.

US tennis great John McEnroe said Tomic seemed to give up during his 6-3, 6-

4, 6-0 loss to Roddick in the second round at Flushing Meadows.

And yesterday the Australian, who stands six feet five inches (196 centimetres) tall, admitted he was having problems with the mental side of his game as he adjusted to life on the gruelling tennis tour. Tomic admitted he only gave “about 85 percent”, adding: “Today I gave 100 percent in the first set. I felt in the second set, my 100 percent wasn’t even close to where it should be... the mental skill is one of my biggest problems.”

Tomic, who has slipped to 43rd in the rankings after hitting a career-high of 27, admitted it had been tough-going in 2012 after a breakthrough year in 2011 during which he reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

“It’s been a long year,” he said. “I played a lot of tournaments. Haven’t had time to rest. I think I only rested one week after

Armstrong attorney hits out at impending report

Zellous’ jumper lifts Fever INDIANAPOLIS: The Indiana Fever are heading back to Connecticut thanks to Shavonte Zellous’ last-second basket. Zellous’ jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining lifted the Fever over the Connecticut Sun 78-76 in Game 2 of the WNBA Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night.

Now the Fever will play the decisive game in Connecticut on Thursday with a trip to the WNBA finals on the line. Indiana is winless in three playoff games in Connecticut, including a 76-64 loss in Game 1.

“I’m expecting a war when we go up there,” Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. “We are very confident we can go in there and win.”

Katie Douglas scored 24 points, including seven of the Fever’s last 11, and Tamika Catchings added 21.

Kara Lawson led the Sun with 18 points, Asjha Jones added 17 points and 10 rebounds and reigning league MVP Tina Charles had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Sun. “Obviously we thought we gave ourselves a chance to win down the stretch,” Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said. “Give Zellous credit, she made a good shot.”

The Sun’s Allison Hightower tied the game on a baseline runner with 12.5 seconds left.

She was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw. Tamika Catchings rebounded the miss and threw an outlet pass to Briann January who missed a layup. Zellous had started celebrating when January attempted the layup but gained possession of the loose ball in front of the Connecticut bench before driving and making the 13-foot jumper.

“I was in the act of cheering when Briann had the layup so I thought it was going in,”

said Zellous, who finished with four points.

“Bri didn’t give up on that play even though she missed the layup. (Erlana) Larkins came in, tipped it and Bri scrambled gave it to me and I went down and knocked down the shot.” Connecticut led 57-56 entering the final quarter but Indiana used a 7-0 run to go up 63-57 with 7:49 remaining. The Sun answered back as Renee Montgomery hit back-to-back threes to tie the score at 63. Charles, who had 11 points at halftime, scored her first bucket of the second half to give Connecticut a 70-65 lead with 4:42 remaining.

Trailing by one, Douglas stole the ball from Jones with a 1:07 remaining. She took it coast-to-coast and was fouled to give Indiana the lead 74-72 on a three-point play with 56.5 seconds remaining.

Charles snatched an offensive rebound, was fouled by Catchings and the secondyear-pro made both free throws to tie the game at 74. The Fever responded on a Catchings layup with 21.3 seconds left to set up Hightower’s game-tying runner.

The Sun scored the first 11 points of the game and led 24-20 through the first quarter after shooting 56 percent from field. Douglas gave Indiana their first lead of the game at 40-39 with 1:48 remaining in the half.

The 11-year-pro then scored two of 15 first half points to give the Fever a 46-43 halftime advantage on a driving layup as time expired.

Connecticut had three players score 11 points or more in the first half with Lawson and Charles both contributing 11 and Jones adding 12 on 5-for-5 shooting.

Indiana is now 3-0 in elimination games in the 2012 postseason and 8-1 all-time at home in elimination games.—AP

Roland Garros. “I think it was the wrong sort of move that I made. I think it’s costing me now, the last few months. My performance has not been as good.

“It’s been a massive road this year. I didn’t plan my schedule as I should have and it’s cost me a lot of matches that I probably should have won,” added the Australian, who turns 20 later this month.

Mayer, who will next play US Open champion Andy Murray, said he was surprised at how easily Tomic had folded in the second set.

“Of course, second set we don’t have to talk about it, he probably didn’t try his best, but I’m happy, easy match, not too long on the court,” he said.

“In sports you want everybody to fight,” he added. “But it’s tough, I know it from my side. I also don’t fight every match because it’s tough, but I try my best.”—AFP

INDIANAPOLIS: Indiana Fever’s Erlana Larkins (left) grabs a rebound from Connecticut Sun’s Mistie Mims during the second half of Game 2 of the WNBA basketball Eastern Conference Finals.—AP

AUSTIN: Before the US AntiDoping Agency (USADA) has even sent its findings regarding a lifetime doping ban of Lance Armstrong to the International Cycling Union (UCI), the cyclist is attacking the report.

Armstrong lawyer Tim Herman has sent a letter to USADA complaining that they should send their entire file of evidence gathered in a probe of Armstrong to the global cycling governing body rather than simply a limited report.

The letter says the USADA report could package the information to support its findings, which led to Armstrong being banned from cycling for life and the forfeiture of his seven Tour de France titles from 1999-2005.

Armstrong’s attorney says USADA acted as “prosecutor, judge, jury, appellate court and executioner” in announcing its decision to ban Armstrong, calling its findings a “biased, one-sided and untested version of events.”

USADA is expected to send its report to the UCI this week, including what it says are statements from at least 10 witnesses, some of them former Armstrong teammates, saying they saw Armstrong use performance-enhancing substances.

Armstrong, 41, decided in August that he would not request a hearing on the charges against him, denying any wrongdoing as he has for years but saying he was so weary from fighting such accusations that he didn’t want to do so again. While a USADA hearing could have exonerated him, it

would also have brought out all the details gathered by USADA in a public display, although that would have given Armstrong a forum to challenge the evidence.

Armstrong also protested the USADA arbitration hearing method procedures, citing USADA’s overwhelming record of successful prosecution in such cases.

Armstrong lost a US court fight protesting the system just before annoucning he would not fight the charges, thereby bringing down the doping ban.

USADA says it has solid evidence of doping by Armstrong and his US Postal Service team, including blood boosters and steroids.

The team’s former director, Johan Bruyneel, has also been charged in connection with the scheme and faces an arbitration hearing of his own.

Among the witnesses USADA has against Armstrong are admitted US dope cheats Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France crown after testing positive for steroids. “USADA will no doubt accept the stories told by Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton as gospel,” Herman wrote. “A reasoned decision would include all prior inconsistent statements by these witnesses.” The UCI has challenged USADA’s authority to bring charges against Armstrong but the World Anti-Doping Agency backed USADA’s jurisdiction and power to press the case. The UCI could appeal the sanctions against Armstrong to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.—AFP

Qatar Airways joins airlines alliance Page 22

EADS/BAE tie-up hangs by thread before deadline Page 23

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

Oil to prod growth in Mideast: IMF Page 24

US, India discuss ways to lower economy barriers Page 25

RIYADH: A general view of the 31st meeting of the Petroleum Cooperation Committee of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states held in Riyadh. — AFP

Global oil market balanced: Kuwait RIYADH: Kuwait Minister of Oil Hani Hussein said yesterday that the global oil market is balanced with no disparity between supply or demand. Prior to his departure, the minister made the remarks in a press statement following the conclusion of the 31st meeting for the GCC oil and energy committee meeting held earlier at the General Secretariat of the GCC in Riyadh.

The minister added that current prices reflect the current state of the market, noting that market’s mechanism do control the way to determine prices. Hussein added the meeting here were important in bolstering coordination and consultation among GCC countries, in particular on oil production prices and formulating ides ahead of the upcoming GCC summit next December.

In relation to hosting the Petroleum Media Forum in Kuwait, Hussain said that GCC oil ministers agreed on the importance of the forum which would reflect positively on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and highlights its role on the regional and global arenas, especially in the fields of energy and mining.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said yesterday that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom will work to satisfy global energy markets and to moderate prices. “We will provide the markets with what they need,” Naimi told reporters on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Riyadh. “We will work to moderate prices.”

He said that oil prices remain high and that he wished to see them at a lower level. “They are still high and we would like to see Brent at 100 dollars,” he said, adding that the “market determines the prices.” Naimi said that the kingdom has been pumping crude “based on demand,” adding that production varied between 9.7 million barrels per day and 10.1 million bpd this year.

“Sometimes 9.7 (million bpd), other times 9.9 (million bpd)... The highest this year it was 10.1 million barrels a day,” he said. Saudi Arabia in March reportedly became the world’s largest oil producer after increasing its production to 9.923 million bpd, topping Russia’s output of 9.920 million bpd. Other reports said the Gulf heavyweight’s production averaged 9.94 million bpd in the first half of 2012.—Agencies

Iran currency rates blacked out online TEHRAN: Currency rates online for Iran’s pummelled rial were blacked out yesterday, while transactions on the open market remained virtually paralyzed a week after the money’s collapse.

Sites such as Mesghal.com and Mazanex.com had rates blanked out for the rial’s value against many other nations’ currencies, including the dollar, the euro, the pound and the yen, among others.

The market rate for gold coins was also missing. In Tehran’s money changing district, licensed bureaux were doing no business at the rate of 28,500 rials to the dollar imposed since Saturday by the central bank in an effort to reverse a collapse of the money last week. Employees said they had no foreign currency to sell. Instead, a few black market dealers were offering the dollar around 34,000 rialsan increase of six percent over the previous day, and close to the rial’s all-time low of more than 36,000 to the dollar reached last week when it lost 40 percent in value.

Iran’s currency market has effectively been frozen since October 3, when protests erupted in central Tehran over the sliding rial. Although shopkeepers and exchange bureaux have since reopened, they are doing little trade.

Merchants in the city’s historic Grand Bazaar, which packs political weight in Iran, have greatly increased prices, to the dismay of shoppers. Several were refusing to sell goods until the currency situation stabilizes.—AFP

Global slowdown deepens:IMF US fiscal cliff, Europe’s debt crisis top issues TOKYO: The IMF said the global economic slowdown is worsening as it cut its growth forecasts for the second time since April and warned US and European policymakers that failure to fix their economic ills would prolong the slump. Global growth in advanced economies is too weak to bring down unemployment and what little momentum exists is coming primarily from central banks, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook, released ahead of its twice-yearly meeting, which will be held in Tokyo later this week.

“A key issue is whether the global economy is just hitting another bout of turbulence in what was always expected to be a slow and bumpy recovery or whether the current slowdown has a more lasting component,” it said. “ The answer depends on whether European and US policymakers deal proactively with their major short-term economic challenges.” Ahead of the Tokyo meeting, policymakers have flagged the US “fiscal cliff”government spending cuts and tax raises due to take affect early in 2013 — and resolving the euro area’s debt crisis as the top issues facing the global economy.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said yesterday that reforms in Europe “could take years to bear fruit”. “In these periods of time, where people were very worried about the risk of collapse in Europe, you saw an impact on financial markets and confidence that was very, very substantial,” he told a meeting of Indian and US business leaders in New Delhi. “Europe still has a very hard road ahead of them.”

His comments echoed those of Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who last week said Europe’s debt crisis was “a clear and present danger”.

The IMF forecast in its latest health check on the world economy that global output in 2012 would grow just 3.3 percent, down from a July estimate of 3.5 percent.

That would make this the slowest year of

growth since 2009 when the world was struggling to pull out of the global financial crisis.

It predicted only a modest pickup next year to 3.6 percent, below its July estimate of 3.9 percent. It projected US growth would be a little more than 2 percent this year and next, but forecast a contraction in the euro area this year by 0.4 percent and modest growth in 2013 of 0.2 percent.

Emerging markets are still expected to grow four times as fast as advanced economies, but the IMF took a sharp knife to its estimates for India and Brazil, with the latter now seen growing slower than the United States this year.

It also cut its expectations for China in 2012 and 2013 but warned against being overly pessimistic about the prospects of these economies, which were major engines of growth in the global financial crisis. “Let me be clear. We do not see these developments as signs of a hard landing in any of these countries,” IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said at a briefing, referring to China, India and Brazil.

The IMF said “familiar” forces were dragging down advanced economy growth: fiscal consolidation and a still-weak financial system, the same problems that have plagued the world since the global financial crisis exploded in 2008.

“More seems to be at work, however, than these mechanical forces - namely, a general feeling of uncertainty,” Blanchard said in a commentary on the forecasts.

Measures of risk and uncertainty, such as the VIX volatility gauge in the United States, remain at low levels, Blanchard pointed out, which makes it difficult to assess the nature of the uncertainty. “Worries about the ability of European policymakers to control the euro crisis and worries about the failure to date of US policymakers to agree on a fiscal plan surely play an important role, but one that is hard to nail down,” Blanchard said. Geithner, who was speaking at an India-US business

SENDAI: World Bank Group Managing Director Mahmoud Mohieldin delivers a keynote speech during the opening of the Sendai Dialogue ahead of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, in Sendai yesterday.—AP forum in New Delhi, said he was “relatively confident” that Washington can manage its fiscal challenges. “Now we’re growing close to potential but if you look through those factors, it a little more encouraging than you might think,” he said. “We are now in a much stronger position than what is true for any other major developed economy.”

Concerns about the health of the global economy and corporate earnings prospects have weighed on financial markets. World shares as measured by the MSCI world equity index fell 0.7 percent on Monday. The index was flat in Asia yesterday.

S&P 500 earnings for the third quarter are forecast to have fallen more than 2 percent from the year-earlier period, which would be the first decline in three years, Thomson Reuters data shows. The IMF said financial

conditions are likely to remain “very fragile” over the near term because repairing euro zone problems will take time and there are concerns about how the US economy will cope with the expected spending cuts and tax increases. The “urgent policy priorities” for the United States should include avoiding the fiscal cliff, which the IMF said at the extreme would amount to a fiscal withdrawal of more than 4 percent of GDP in 2013, and economic growth would stall.

“Both sides of the political isle (should) signal that they are willing to compromise and that they’re willing to get this done ... that could help lower the level of uncertainty that is affecting US investors and consumers,” IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton told Reuters in an interview on Monday. — Reuters

Saudi extends slide as global outlook darkens MIDEAST STOCK MARKET DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s benchmark slumped to a fresh 10-week low yesterday as investors fretted that a gloomier outlook for the global economy would lead to lower oil receipts for the world’s top crude exporter.Other Middle East markets were mixed, with investors cautious as third-quarter earnings season got under way.

The International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecasts for the second time in six months yesterday, warning the global economic slowdown was worsening.

“This will obviously put some pressure on (Saudi Arabia’s) petrochemical sector,” said Farouk Miah, head of research at NCB Capital. “Fundamentally, there are concerns and added to that are the geopolitical issues that are continuing in the region.”

Saudi’s index fell 0.3 percent, its fourth

decline in five sessions to take its losses since Sept. 15’s four-month high to 5.2 percent. Oil has fallen 8.7 percent over the same period. The petrochemicals’ benchmark eased 0.08 percent, down 5.5 percent for 2012. “We are in the middle of the earnings season - while the big companies have not reported yet, there are concerns that the Q3 earnings may not be that strong,” added Miah. Banque Saudi Fransi dropped 1.6 percent and Yanbu National Petrochemical Co (Yansab) dipped 0.4 percent. Egypt’s main index fell 0.4 percent to a four-week low, extending losses following Sunday’s 2.4 percent decline.

That drop was triggered by President Mohamed Mursi’s remarks he would fight corruption and contract violations - comments that left investors worried about the

scope for retroactive penalties on companies. These concerns eased on Monday as Prime Minister Hisham Kandil and other ministers gave upbeat forecasts for Egypt’s economy at a conference in Cairo. “Rumors that led the market down yesterday were denied and the message was very positive for the investors: that Egypt is going to enhance the investment climate,” said Mohamed Kotb, director of asset management in Naeem Financial Investment. Of the 10 most traded stocks in terms of turnover, only Orascom Construction Industries fell, slipping 1.2 percent.

Gainers included investment bank EFG Hermes, up 7.5 percent, and Eastern Tobacco, up 2.9 percent. In the United Arab Emirates, National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) rose 0.5 percent after it said the UAE

central bank had extended a deadline for banks to comply with new lending limits to state-linked companies.

The original deadline was Sept. 30, but commercial banks will now have an extra six months, NBAD said.“The deadline extension comes as a relief as banks now don’t have immediate concerns of taking provisions against it,” said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Investments. Dubai’s index rose 0.08 percent, but gave back early-session gains. It hit a 23-week closing high on Sunday, but fell 1.1 percent the day after. “We have the third quarter results coming up now and by yearend we may see dividend announcements too. There are enough catalysts coming up and investors are waiting for that,” added Arabi. —Reuters

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

BUSINESS

Qatar Airways joins airlines alliance

UAE CB extends lending cap by six months ABU DHABI: National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) said the United Arab Emirates central bank had extended its deadline to comply with limits on commercial banks’ lending to statelinked companies by six months. The central bank unveiled the rules in April, introducing caps for loans made to local governments and their entities. Lenders had until Sept. 30 this year to comply with the rules.

“The (central bank) governor announced it was extended for six months at the last central bank meeting (with commercial banks in September),” Abdulla Saleh Abdulraheem, NBAD’s deputy chief executive, told Reuters yesterday. “It’s a good step, it gives the banks time.” Central bank officials were not immediately available for comment.

Under the rules, any bank’s lending to the governments of the sevenmember UAE federation and their quasi-sovereign entities is capped at 100 percent of its capital base; its lending to a single borrower is limited to

Etihad eyes joint marketing deal NEW YORK: Qatar Airways is joining an alliance of airlines including American Airlines, British Airways and nine other carriers that coordinate routes and allow passengers to earn frequent flier miles on each other’s flights.

The inclusion in the oneworld alliance aimed at allowing passengers to hop around the globe easier - signals the growing importance of Gulf carriers such as Doha-based Qatar. “Alliances are playing an increasingly important role in the airline industry today and that will continue long into the future,” Qatar’s CEO Akbar Al Baker said in a statement. It will take 12 to 18 months for Qatar to join the alliance. The oneworld alliance competes with SkyTeam, a group of airlines including Delta Air Line, and the Star Alliance, which includes United Airlines and US Airways. Frequent business travelers like alliances because they are able to earn and redeem frequent flier miles with the partners, use alliance airport lounges and book complicated trips on one itinerary. A flier could travel on a Cathay Pacific, British Airways or Iberia flight and earn American Airlines miles for those flights.

Another rapidly expanding Gulf carrier, Etihad Airways, announced earlier Monday that it will start jointly marketing some of its flights with Air France-KLM, part of SkyTeam.

The deals, known as codeshares, allow passengers to buy a single ticket to fly on multiple airlines and are common in the airline industry. Carriers can expand their reach with-

out having to launch or acquire the right to operate additional routes. For example, American Airlines and Iberia can sell tickets on a flight operated by British Airways as if the flight was their own.

The third big Gulf carrier, Dubai-based Emirates, recently signed a 10-year deal with Australia’s Qantas Airways. That spelled the end of a long-term relationship between the Australian carrier and British Airways. Eithad and Emirates have yet to join one of the big three alliances. The inclusion of Qatar in

Iraq oil exports up, output may double by 2020

NEW YORK: CEO of Qatar Airways Akbar Al Baker (center), exchanges a gift with International Airlines Group chief executive Willie Walsh (right) while American Airlines CEO Tom Horton looks on during a news conference in New York on Monday. — AP

News

Cyprus to short-list firms for offshore gas deals NICOSIA: Cyprus is close to short-listing companies bidding for offshore oil and gas contracts in the energy-rich east Mediterranean, officials said yesterday.

The island has received 15 bids from companies or consortiums for nine offshore blocks rimming the south of the island in an area where a significant natural gas discovery was reported in Dec. 2011. Among the bidders are Italy’s ENI, France’s Total , Malaysia’s Petronas and Russia’s Novatek.

State-commissioned consultants are now reviewing expressions of interest and would file their findings in coming days.

“That will be submitted to the cabinet which will decide which companies negotiations are to start with,” said Commerce and Industry Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis, who is also responsible for energy matters. He said he expected the decision to be taken by the cabinet this month. Israel, Cyprus and Lebanon have reported significant natural gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean region, known as the Levant basin.

The US Geological Survey has estimated over 100 trillion cubic feet (tcf ) of reserves could lie untapped throughout

oneworld helps put the airline - which isn’t well known in North America - on the map on the continent. American’s pilots, however, aren’t happy about the deal. They are in a nasty contract dispute with the company as it restructures in federal bankruptcy court. They picketed Monday’s event saying partnerships like the new one with Qatar are costing them jobs. “It’s cutting in on our flying and our jobs,” said Capt. John Diacsuk. “How do you maintain morale at a company where everybody is getting pink slips.” — AP

25 percent of capital. Previously there was no such limit.

Some of the UAE’s largest commercial banks were believed to remain well over the limit on Sept. 30, and they asked the central bank for extensions. Michael Tomalin, chief executive of NBAD, told reporters at a conference in Kuala Lumpur: “The central bank has extended the lending limit to March next year, and during that time we will be talking to the central bank on ways which we hope we can accommodate ourselves into their strategy.

“We support their direction of travel...We believe with some definitional changes we can accommodate the strategy, and it will not affect our growth in the future.”

Asked if NBAD would need to sell assets, he said: “Why would you want to sell AA-rated bonds to buy lesser value bonds for their liquidity portfolio? Our interpretation of the circular is that no asset sale is required.” — Reuters

in brief

the region, almost equal to the world’s total annual consumption of natural gas.

Noble, the US concern which reported major natural gas discoveries off Israel and Cyprus, could potentially follow up its natural gas venture with exploration for oil, said John Tomich, the Cyprus country manager for Noble Energy. “The tantalizing element here is the possibility of oil,” Tomich told a conference in Nicosia. There were tentative plans to explore but that had not been finalized, he said. Noble planned to confirm its 5-8 tcf Cyprus discovery in one area with a second drilling slated for the first or second quarter of 2013, depending on the availability of a rig, he said. Discoveries have sparked investor interest, but also revived decades-old disputes among neighbors.

Turkey, which does not recognize the government in Nicosia, says it will block international oil firms from bidding in Turkish energy projects if they take part in Cyprus’s offshore energy ventures.

The island was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 following a short-lived Greek Cypriot coup. Turkey supports a breakaway unrecognized state in northern Cyprus. — Reuters

ANB Q3 net profit up 10.3% RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Arab National Bank said yesterday its third-quarter net profit rose 10.3 percent due to higher total operating income. The lender said it had profit of 572.7 million riyals ($152.71 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to 519.2 million riyals in the prior-year period. In a statement posted on the bourse website, Riyad Bank said total operating income in the quarter rose 3.6 percent to 1.19 billion riyals, while income from special commissions grew by 8.1 percent to 846 million riyals.

Emal eyes for bond issue ABU DHABI: Emirates Aluminium, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and Dubai Aluminium, has mandated three banks for a bond issue up to $1 billion, two banking sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Emal has picked Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and local lender Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the sources said, declining to be identified.The bond is expected to be a part of a $4 billion financing package for a smelter expansion.

Riyad Bank Q3 profit up 5.8% RIYADH: Riyad Bank posted a 5.8-percent rise in its third quarter profits due to higher total operating income, it said yesterday, missing analyst forecasts.

Riyad Bank, the kingdom’s third-largest listed bank by market capitalization, reported net earnings of 840 million riyals ($224 million) in the three months ending Sept. 30, compared with 794 million riyals in the same period last year.

LONDON: Iraq’s oil exports are expected to rise to their highest in decades this month and production is on course to more than double by 2020, as it cements its place as OPEC’s second-biggest producer after Saudi Arabia. The International Energy Agency said Iraq will provide the largest contribution to global supply growth in coming decades, and its production would reach 6.1 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 from around 3 million bpd now under what it called its central scenario. That prediction would be half of that implied by Iraq’s targets signed with foreign oil companies, and the Paris-based IEA highlighted the risk of production rising more slowly than expected, leading to higher global prices.

“This is much lower than the contracted projects and much lower than the Iraqi government’s official targets,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist and the main author of the Iraq Energy Outlook, at a news conference in London. “We think this trajectory is plausible when you look at the challenges in front of Iraq.”

Industry executives have questioned whether Iraq can boost output to 12 million bpd by 2017, as called for under current contracts, due to a range of hindrances including infrastructure bottlenecks, red tape and bureaucracy. The IEA, which advises 28 industrialized countries on energy, prepared its report in co-operation with the Iraqi government. A former Iraqi oil minister thought the IEA’s central forecast was realistic.

“I think it is attainable and Iraq should be able to solve the problems related to water injection, storage and transportation pipelines,” Issam Chalabi, who ran Iraq’s oil industry in the 1980s, told Reuters. “But the main challenge remains in finding new export outlets.”

Iraq’s oil production stagnated for

years due to wars and sanctions, even though the country holds the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves. Output started to rise in earnest in 2010, after Baghdad secured contracts with companies such as BP Plc, Exxon Mobil, Eni and Royal Dutch Shell. Production this year overtook that of Iran, traditionally the second-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries whose exports have been curbed by sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iraq’s exports of 2.6 million bpd in September were already the highest in more than 30 years and a senior Iraqi oil official said yesterday oil exports were expected to rise above 2.8 million bpd this month.

“I’m quite confident that if all goes well, exports will increase to at least 2.8 million,” the official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. Iraq’s southern oilfields are set to contribute about 2.4 million bpd of Basra crude to the export total in October while the northern Kirkuk oilfields are due to pump around 450,000 bpd, he said. Exports from Kirkuk have risen after Iraq’s central government and the autonomous Kurdistan region agreed to end an oil payment dispute. The increase in Iraqi supplies this year had helped to keep a lid on oil prices as Western sanctions targeted Iran’s exports and supply fell short from other regions, such as the North Sea. But the IEA’s report warned that, over the longer term, delays to investment in Iraq could tighten the global market and push prices higher. Under a delayed scenario, in which energy investment in Iraq rises only slowly from 2011 levels, oil production reaches 4 million bpd in 2020 and 5.3 million bpd in 2035. In this case, Iraq would face a $3 trillion loss in national wealth due to lower oil export revenues and a failure of other industrial and services sectors to develop. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds

.2740000 .4460000 .3600000 .2960000 .2840000 .2840000 .0040000 .0020000 .0760810 .7412350 .3870000 .0720000 .7264690 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2802500 GB Pound/KD .4496050 Euro .3638070 Swiss francs .2998130 Canadian dollars .2874510 Danish Kroner .0487810 Swedish Kroner .0422890 Australian dlr .2866680 Hong Kong dlr .0361500 Singapore dlr .2281140 Japanese yen .0035750 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0763310 Bahraini dinars .7436650 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0747530 Omani riyals .7282060 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 Malaysian Ringgit

3.5856 5.403 2.947 2.192 3.381 229.170 36.332 3.433 6.795 9.189 91.832

.2860000 .4610000 .3690000 .3070000 .2940000 .2980000 .0058500 .0035000 .0768460 .7486580 .4100000 .0780000 .7339520 .0510000 .2823500 .4529740 .3665330 .3020590 .2896050 .0491460 .0426060 .2888160 .0364210 .2298240 .0036010 .0054170 .0022050 .0029670 .0034770 .0769030 .7492370 .3993640 .0753130 .7336620 .0068720

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 75.137 77.419 731.840 748.370 76.723

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.950 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.149 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.314 Tunisian Dinar 180.950 Jordanian Dinar 397.900 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.890 Syrian Lier 4.915 Morocco Dirham 33.650 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 281.650 Euro 367.130 Sterling Pound 455.010 Canadian dollar 289.020 Turkish lire 155.930 Swiss Franc 302.850 US Dollar Buying 280.450 GOLD 331.000 167.000 86.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria

50.500 731.200 3.090 6.990 77.870 75.160 230.850 36.350 2.681 455.300 43.400 304.900 4.100 9.520 198.263 76.750 281.900 1.350

10 Tola

GOLD 1,888.470

Sterling Pound US Dollar

731.020 2.960 6.806 77.440 75.160 230.850 36.350 2.191 453.300 303.400 4.100 9.380 76.650 281.500

COUNTRY

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 453.300 281.500

SELL CASH

SELL DRAFT

291.900 748.630 3.690 292.200 552.900 45.900 49.900 167.800 47.950 369.800 37.000 5.530 0.032 0.161 0.246 3.680 398.920 0.190 94.880 45.100 4.330 235.300 1.823

290.400 748.630 3.435 290.700

230.800 46.153 368.300 36.850 5.370 0.031

SELL DRAFT

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL CASH

291.50 292.55 305.18 367.04 281.05 453.87 3.67 3.447 5.334 2.191 3.357 2.952 76.59 748.34 46.12 400.41 731.46 77.61 75.16

294.000 289.750 306.000 369.000 282.250 458.500 3.690 3.620 5.500 2.290 3.530 3.150 77.250 748.500 47.200 398.500 735.000 78.000 75.650

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 398.880 0.189 94.880 3.390 233.800

Rate for Transfer

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

301.785 744.995 76.590 77.240 75.005 396.675 46.148 2.190 5.380 2.941 3.439 6.794 690.275 4.585 9.290 4.365 3.495 92.065

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Selling Rate

281.400 289.250 452.485 365.890

Currency

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

281.450 2.947 5.413 2.200 3.449 6.825 76.718 75.195 748.100 46.149 458.800 2.990 1.550 371.300 293.700 3.395

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

281.200 368.900 456.050 289.300 3.620 5.385 46.153 2.191 3.445 6.785 2.952 748.550 76.600 75.080

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

BUSINESS

11 euro states back financial transaction tax LUXEMBOURG/ATHENS: Eleven eurozone countries agreed yesterday to press ahead with a disputed tax on financial transactions designed to help pay for the cost of fixing a crisis that has rocked the single currency area. The initiative, pushed hard by Germany and France but strongly opposed by Britain, Sweden and other free-marketeers, gained critical mass at a European Union finance ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg, when more than the required nine states agreed to use a treaty provision to launch the tax.

The so-called “Tobin tax”, first proposed by Nobel-prize winning U.S. economist James Tobin in the 1972 as a way of reducing financial market volatility, has become a political symbol of a widespread desire to make banks, hedge funds and high-frequency traders pay a price for the crisis.

“This is a small step for 11 countries but a giant leap for Europe,” Austria Deputy Finance Minister Andreas Schieder said. “The way is now clear for a just contribution from the banking and financial sector for financing the burdens of the crisis.”

The agreement raised the prospect of a pioneer group of European states for the first time launching a joint tax without the unanimous backing of the 27-nation bloc, a move that may fragment the single market for financial services. EU Tax Commissioner Algirdas Semeta told the meeting the number of states backing the initiative had passed the quorum for so-called “enhanced cooperation”, provided some countries turn their oral backing into written commitment. “I proposed this tax as a source of new revenue from an undertaxed sector, and a means of encourag-

ing more responsible trading,” Semeta said. “It would also prevent a patchwork of national bank taxes from creating difficulties for businesses in the Single Market.” However, critics say it could distort that market by giving banks and other traders incentives to shift their trading activities to European financial centers where the tax is not levied, or away from Europe altogether. “People will arbitrage it. People will find a way around it,” said David Stewart, CEO of London-based hedge fund firm Odey Asset Management, which runs around $6.5 billion.

“If someone really wants to buy a company that’s good, I’m sure they’ll keep on buying it. But if it’s a synthetic derivative then they may go somewhere else ... More volume will go through London.” Britain, home to the region’s biggest trading centre, will not join the scheme. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said the 11 countries would present a model for how the tax would work by the end of the year, and it was realistic to expect the tax to be implemented by 2014. Semeta said the countries aiming to launch the tax did not yet agree on where the proceeds should go or on what they should be spent. “Some of them would like to spend it individually.

Some of them prefer to use part of the proceeds to finance the EU budget. It is premature to say what will be the final outcome,” he said.

The breakthrough was a surprise to many EU diplomats who had thought Germany might fail to convince sufficient countries to join the plan, which has been in the works for two years.

After heavy diplomatic pressure from Berlin overnight, Spain and Italy agreed to support the measure. Slovakia and

Estonia said they would throw their weight behind it too.

The European Commission has said a tax on stocks, bonds and derivatives trades from 2014 could raise up to 57 billion euros a year if applied across all countries. The agreement was a victory for German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the day she travelled to Athens, epicenter of Europe’s debt crisis, to express her support for near-bankrupt Greece staying in the euro-zone.

Greek police fired teargas and stun grenades to hold back protesters who accuse Merkel of imposing devastating austerity on their country in exchange for two EU/IMF bailouts that have so far failed to turn the shattered economy around. “A lot has been accomplished,” Merkel said after talks with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, adding that the tough path Greece is on will pay off if Greeks stay the course.

The financial tax deal masked a distinct lack of progress among finance ministers on other pressing issues facing the euro-zone, including whether and when to provide a rescue package for Spain, and what to do about Greece’s off-course program.

The 17 euro-zone ministers finally inaugurated their 500 billion euro permanent rescue fund on Monday, but danced around the question of how soon it might have to be used.

Ministers insisted Spain was taking the right actions to restore its public finances and did not need a bailout for now, even though many in the financial markets are convinced Madrid will need help within weeks rather than months.

The International Monetary Fund doused several euro-zone countries’ budget plans, including those of Spain

and France, by revising down its 2013 growth forecasts for their economies.

Euro zone peers told Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos that his country’s budget cuts should take into account the weakness in the economy

needed next tranche of aid to Athens.

An IMF director told a Dutch newspaper that European countries should consider restructuring the Greek debt they hold if the country’s financial burden proves unsustainable. Diplomats say

PARIS: An illustration made with a figurine set up on words cuts from newspapers to illustrate recession, crisis and financial situation in Europe.

France and Germany hope yesterday to round up the magic number of nine European Union states willing to take the lead and launch a hotly-contested cross-border financial transactions tax, or FTT. — AFP as regional policymakers debated whether to let Madrid slacken the pace of its austerity drive. “The only thing I can say (about the IMF’s forecasts for Spain) is to try to avoid that they happen,” de Guindos said.

“Logically, we are working on the basis that such negative forecasts are not met,” he said. The ministers also had a “robust” discussion with the IMF about the long-term sustainability of Greece’s debt mountain- a key factor in whether international lenders release an urgently

euro-zone governments would prefer to find ways to give Athens more time to meet its fiscal targets and postpone any consideration of official debt restructuring until after next September’s German general election.

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told the European Parliament the euro-zone economy faced a long, uphill road to recovery and the bloc was still suffering a crisis of confidence. But he said there was no alternative to continued budget cuts. — Reuters

EADS/BAE tie-up hangs by thread before deadline Talks focus on extending deadline

NEW YORK: Trader Brandon Barb (left) works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. Another dire prediction about global economic growth is sending stocks lower on Wall Street in early trading. — AP

Growth outlook, Europe woes hit shares, euro NEW YORK: A stark warning from the IMF about global growth and the uncertain outlook for Spain and Greece sent stocks and the euro lower yesterday, while oil rose on escalating Mideast tensions.

Stocks on Wall Street opened lower and government debt prices rose in a bid for safety as anxiety among investors picked up on the International Monetary Fund’s gloomier picture of the global economy.

Equity investors were also in a cautious mood as they awaited the kickoff of the quarterly earnings season, due to start in earnest after the market close with the release of results by aluminum maker Alcoa. Spanish bond yields rose after euro zone finance ministers said on Monday that Madrid did not need a bailout yet, adding to uncertainty about when the country will ask for aid, something widely seen as inevitable.

Concern about Greece also resurfaced after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told the European Parliament Committee that Greece has made progress on reforming its economy, but has more work to do.

“Some things have improved in the last to two or three months, but I think the road ahead is still long and it’s uphill,” Draghi said. The IMF, one of Greece’s main lenders, said in a report that Athens would miss the five-year debt reduction target that is a condition for the country’s 130 bil-

lion euro bailout. “The tone of the market still feels greatly uncertain as we head into earnings season in the United States, and indeed the market is now focusing its attention that way as it seeks out bad news wherever it can find it,” said Brad Bechtel, managing director at Faros Trading in Stamford, Connecticut.

Disappointing results could weigh on equity prices and the euro. Stocks and the euro move together 90 percent of the time, Reuters data showed, with the euro rising as stocks gain.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 6.91 points, or 0.05 percent, at 13,576.74. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 1.93 points, or 0.13 percent, at 1,453.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 17.23 points, or 0.55 percent, at 3,095.12. In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top company shares fell 0.1 percent to 1,099.99 points, while MSCI’s allcountry world equity index slid 0.3 percent.

The benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was up 4/32 in price to yield 1.7167 percent. The euro fell 0.4 percent to $1.2916. The US Dollar Index rose 0.33 percent at 79.799. Oil rose over tensions in the Middle East and the risk of supply disruptions. Brent futures rose $1.78 to $113.60 a barrel. US crude climbed $1.39 to $90.72, also rebounding after two consecutive sessions of declines. — Reuters

KOLKATA: An Indian shoe vendor looks on standing in front of his roadside showroom as people walk past in Kolkata yesterday. India’s economic growth rate will shrink to below five percent this year as the government struggles to restore investor confidence, the International Monetary Fund forecast. — AFP

PARIS: A bold strategy to merge European aerospace groups EADS and BAE Systems to create the world’s biggest aviation group and deepen their attack on the US market hung by a thread yesterday.

The two groups, EADS dominated

by Germany and France, and BAE Systems which is important to British and US defence policy, intend to say before the day is done if they want to go on holding hands.

The heads of the two groups, “Ian King (BAE) and Tom Enders (EADS) will discuss the situation later today and then decide, jointly with the respective company boards, the way forward,” a spokesman for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company said yesterday.

Sources close to the talks said that enough progress had been made to ask for an extended deadline. EADS said it was surprised by a German press report that its merger talks with BAE Systems had failed, saying significant progress had been made. “We are surprised to see the reports from Berlin,” an EADS spokesman said following a report by the German news agency DPA saying the talks had failed, citing a source close to the negotiations. “Only this morning, we have received the information that France and the UK have made significant progress on the issue that was blocking the negotiations for the last few days,” the EADS spokesman said. Whatever the case, the two firms must announce the state of play by a deadline of 05.00 pm London time (1600 GMT) today under British takeover rules.

They may ask to go into extra time to try to break a knot of national interests to enable them

to tie the knot of a commercial onslaught in the sectors of civil and defence aerospace.

A marriage would change the global shape of the two sectors since the new group would be present on land, sea and in the air, building tanks and missile systems, torpedoes, airliners, rockets and satellites. EADS wants to move fast with a footprint in the United

ernments. The main question bedevilling the tortuous talks is whether the deal can be structured to satisfy Germany and France over their boardroom power in the new entity and over retaining the industrial base and employment. This consideration goes hand in hand with suspicion by the British government of undue political interference in the merged group and

The BAE Systems logo at the BAE Systems site at Brough in East Yorkshire, north east England. EADS said yesterday it was surprised by a German press report that its merger talks with BAE Systems had failed, saying significant progress had been made. — AFP States better to access the civil aviation market, expected to expand in coming years, to boost its arms industry activities, and to broaden its cost base from euros into dollars, the currency of aviation sales.

Boardroom power The negotiations on the tie-up, announced on September 12 to create a group valued by the firms at $45 billion (35 billion euros), are complex and are known to have run into deep reservations by the German, French and British gov-

problems which might arise over BAE Systems role as a supplier to the British and US defense forces.

Interests in France and Germany representing the two governments each vote on behalf of 22.35 percent of EADS. Spain owns 5.45 percent. Until six years ago, BAE Systems owned 20 percent of the Airbus aircraft maker, the main asset of EADS, but pulled out to focus on the US market and also through weariness with the political structure and in-fighting at the top of EADS. A critical second

question is whether the tie-up makes strategic and industrial sense and is likely to generate benefits for shareholders. Shares in EADS have fallen heavily since the proposed tie-up was announced and BAE Systems shares have slipped.

On Monday, the biggest investor in BAE Systems with 13.3 percent, Invesco Perpetual, warned that it had “significant reservations”, noting it was “very concerned” that the level of state holdings would affect commercial decisions, notably in the North American market.

“Invesco does not understand the strategic logic for the proposed combination,” the fund said. This came a day after British Defense Minister Philip Hammond said that Britain could use its “golden share” in BAE to block the deal.

“If we can get the safeguards we need for British jobs, for Britain’s national security, for Britain’s defence industry and, crucially for its relationship with the United States, then we will give the deal our blessing,” he said. The two firms present the tie-up as a merger even though EADS shareholders would have a 60-percent stake.

Interested parties have raised various objections, with voices behind EADS saying it should represent about 70 percent, and Invesco for example arguing that BAE has a stronger profit potential. The talks cover golden shares for the French, German and British governments enabling them to veto any investor trying to buy more than 15 percent. BAE employs 83,600 people, mainly in Australia, Britain, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, and reported sales last year of 17.77 billion pounds (22.4 billion euros, $28.8 billion). — AFP

Egypt eyes IMF deal to shore up economy CAIRO: Egypt hopes to agree a $4.8 billion IMF loan within two weeks of talks set for the end of October, ministers said yesterday, after long delays caused by political turmoil in the Arab world’s biggest nation. Egypt urgently needs support to prop up state coffers weakened by a turbulent transition since the popular uprising last year that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

The IMF, which has said a loan agreement could be reached by the end of this year, wants Egypt to put a program in place to narrow a budget deficit that has mushroomed to 11 percent of gross domestic product since the uprising. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said he was aiming for about 4 percent growth in fiscal 2012/13, in line with previous official forecasts but higher than economists predict, and said Egypt wanted to hit 7.5 percent growth in its five-year plan.

“We are negotiating with the IMF. Our people are travelling to Tokyo to attend the joint IMF/World Bank meeting this week,” Kandil told a conference in Cairo organized by Euromoney.

“They are inviting the IMF to come for official negotiations by the end of this month. We are

hoping to reach an agreement by that time,” Kandil said.

Speaking on the conference sidelines, Finance Minister Mumtaz Al-Saeed told Reuters he expected an IMF deal could be reached “within two weeks” of the IMF visit. Egypt initially sought a loan during 2011 when the army was still in charge after Mubarak’s overthrow and Egypt was burning through its foreign reserves to shore up its currency, but the military then said it did not want to add to Egypt’s debts.

The IMF had also sought broad political consensus, tricky to secure when there was only a transitional government in place. But talks were launched again after a new cabinet was appointed by President Mohamed Mursi in the summer. As well as IMF support, Egypt has picked up aid from Gulf Arab states, Turkey and others. Turkey signed a concessionary loan deal with Egypt worth $1 billion this month. The finance minister said that amount would be paid in two tranches, with the first coming at the end of October and the second in January.

An IMF deal would reassure investors who want

the Washington-based institute’s seal of approval on the government’s program to revive the economy and cut back on hefty spending on subsidies.

Egypt has said its recovery will be “home grown”, seeking to reassure Egyptians who fear the IMF will impose tough austerity measures to rein in the government’s budget deficit. One part of the economic program is likely to be a restructuring of subsidies on petroleum products, which eat up about 25 percent of total government spending.

Analysts say measures to reduce energy subsidies are certain to be unpopular among many Egyptians, some of whom joined the uprising last year because of economic grievances.

Kandil has previously said a series of measures are needed to ensure that subsidies reach those who deserve them most. The prime minister said achieving growth of 4 percent would create about 750,000 new jobs. However, the government has said it needs to achieve 6 percent plus if it wants to cut unemployment, officially put at about 13 percent though economists say the real figure could be much bigger. — Reuters

24

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

business

Oil to prod growth in Mideast: IMF Kuwait growth seen slowing to 6.3% in 2012 DUBAI: High oil prices will support economic expansion in the Middle East and North Africa in 2012-2013 as importers grapple with fallout from the Arab Spring uprisings and external pressure, the IMF said on Monday.

The MENA region covered by the International Monetary Fund, which stretches from Iran to Mauritania, is expected to grow at 5.3 percent in 2012, compared with 3.3 percent last year, the IMF said in its annual World Economic Outlook.

Oil exporters will expand collectively at 6.6 percent, compared with 3.9 percent in 2011, thanks to a strong rebound by Libya after its economy came to a grinding halt during the 2011 revolt that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

Oil importers, however, will see collective growth slow further to 1.2 percent, compared with 1.4 percent in 2011, as many countries face political and economic uncertainties as well as slowing growth in major trading partners. In 2013, MENA economies should see growth slow down to 3.6 percent, with expansion in oil exporting economies dropping to 3.8 percent, while oil importing economies widen their pace of growth to 3.3 percent. The IMF has excluded Syria from the regional aggregate due to its 19-month conflict.

“Higher government spending in most oil exporters has supported robust growth,” the Fund said.

“Elsewhere, uncertainties from political and economic change after the Arab Spring, slowing growth in major trading partners,

and, in some cases, internal conflict have led to a marked weakening in activity,” it added.

Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen have seen uprisings that ousted their longtime leaders.

Other countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and Oman had various levels of protests. Risks for oil exporters in the short term “revolve primarily around oil prices and global growth,” the IMF said.

It warned public expenditure in those countries has “risen to such a degree that substantial declines in the price of oil could undermine fiscal positions.”

“Despite significant accrued financial buffers, such declines could put at risk ongoing infrastructure investment and growth,” it said, pointing out, however, that tension with Iran over its nuclear program and other geopolitical risks could lead to higher oil prices. Countries with little or no oil wealth have meanwhile suffered a drop in tourism and foreign direct investments due to uncertainty and unrest, the Fund said.

Those countries remain “vulnerable to trade spillovers if downside risks to growth in major economies materialize,” it said. The IMF also warned an immediate concern over spikes in commodity prices would be the “strain on budgets and foreign exchange reserves” in countries that have extensive food and fuel subsidies.

“Meeting social demands when growth has slowed and political uncertainty has increased has resulted in higher budget deficits and declines in foreign exchange reserves,” it said.

Libyan recovery In figures, the IMF expects Iran’s economy to contract by 0.9 percent in 2012 as its economy reels under the impact of sanctions. Libya’s economy contracted last year by a whopping 59.7 percent, and it is expected to leap back into life with a 121.9 percent growth as oil production has recovered to near pre-conflict levels. Economic growth in Libya is expected to remain strong at 16.7 percent in 2013. The economy of oil-rich Iraq is also forecast to maintain expansion, jumping from 8.9 percent growth in 2011 to 10.2 percent and 14.7 percent in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Economic growth in Saudi Arabia is expected to ease from 7.1 percent last year to 6.0 percent this year and further to 4.2 percent in 2013. In the UAE, growth will slow to 4.0 percent this year and 2.6 percent next year, compared with 5.2 percent in 2011.

Kuwait’s growth will also grow at a slower pace in 2012, expanding 6.3 percent, compared with 8.2 percent last year. Growth is expected to drop to just 1.9 percent next year.

Sudan, which has been shifted to the category of oil importers following the independence of oil-rich South Sudan in July last year, is to see its economy contracting by 11.2 percent this year. Egypt’s economy is expected to grow by 2.0 percent this year and 3.0 percent in 2013 after expanding by 1.8 percent in 2011 despite political and security troubles.

And Tunisia’s economy, which contracted by 1.8 percent last year, is expected to rebound by 2.7 percent in 2012 and 3.3 percent next year. — AFP

Brent rises to $113 on Syria-Turkey tensions SINGAPORE: Brent crude futures rose towards $113 a barrel yesterday after two days of losses, with supply fears due to escalating tensions in the Middle East prevailing over a sluggish outlook for global demand. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Monday that the worst case scenarios between his country and Syria are now playing out, fuelling concerns that the 18-month old conflict in Syria may spread to other countries in the region. “Right now the market is concerned about the continuing conflict between Syria and Turkey, and the worry is that if it escalates, it may disrupt supplies,” said Ker Chung Yang, senior investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. Frontmonth Brent futures rose 78 cents to $112.60 per barrel by 0602 GMT. US crude gained 81 cents to $90.14, also rebounding after two consecutive sessions of declines.

Brent’s premium to US crude rose to the widest in nearly a year, jumping to $22.5 per barrel, the most since Oct. 20 last year.

Tensions between Syria and Turkey are at their worst since March after cross-border firing accidentally killed some Turkish civilians last week, causing Istanbul to boost its military presence along the Syrian border This could threaten oil production in the north of Iraq and its transport to the West, analysts said.

Turkey’s armed forces have been responding in kind to gunfire and shelling is spilling across from the south, where Syrian President Bashar Al-

Assad’s forces have been battling rebels who control swathes of territory.

Concerns over the situation have eclipsed Iran’s long-running row with the West over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program that has led to sanctions on Iranian oil shipments. But a poor outlook for the global economy is keeping a lid on oil price gains.

The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for the second time since April and warned US and European policymakers that failure to fix their economic ills would prolong the slump. For 2012, the IMF now expects global output to grow just 3.3 percent, down from its July estimate of 3.5 percent, making it the slowest year of growth since 2009. It predicted only a modest pickup next year to 3.6 percent, below its July estimate of 3.9 percent.

Growth in China’s economy, the world’s secondbiggest, will slow to 7.8 percent this year from 9.2 percent in 2011, the IMF said, warning of risks to emerging Asia if the euro-zone crisis worsens and the United States does not avoid its “fiscal cliff”.

Looking ahead, investors are awaiting the outcome of the European Union’s Economic and Financial Affairs council in Luxembourg later in the day for any cues on Greece’s troubles and the likelihood of a Spanish request for a bailout.

“The headlines will drive the market over the next 24 hours and help determine if the recent risk-on sentiment continues,” said Ben Taylor, a sales trader at CMC Markets. — Reuters

TEHRAN: Iranians walking past a currency exchange store in Tehran. Iran yesterday stepped up censorship of websites that usually give foreign currency rates for its pummeled money, the rial, as the exchange market remained virtually paralyzed and under tight scrutiny.— AFP

Iran likely to win battle of wills over currency DUBAI: A battle of wills between Iran’s government and foreign exchange traders may end with authorities taking over all legal trade in the rial, leaving many Iranians to seek hard currency illegally in a poorly supplied black market.

This arrangement would probably let the economy limp on in the face of Western economic sanctions. But it might also increase corruption, distort companies’ business decisions and fuel middle-class discontent with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In the past two weeks, the rial-US dollar exchange rate has emerged as a fault line in Iran’s economy as the country resists foreign pressure over its nuclear program, denying Western accusations that it is aimed at making weapons.

The sanctions have slashed Iran’s oil export earnings and triggered a rush by Iranians to change their savings into foreign currency, dragging the rial down.

Early last week the rial was trading around 37,500 to the dollar, having lost about a third of its value in 10 days and two thirds in 15 months.

For Iran’s clerical rulers, who face threats of war from abroad and widespread if subdued discontent at home, preventing any destabilizing economic crisis is a pressing concern.

Many economists estimate Iran may still earn more from exports than it spends on imports, giving the state leeway to resist Western pressure, as sanctions-hit rulers in the likes of Iraq, Serbia and Zimbabwe did in the past. But a loss of trust in the rial among Iran’s private savers means the government may now limit private dealing in the currency to staunch the flow.

The slide in the rial is boosting inflation, officially at around 25 percent already, as imported goods become dearer. Last week riot police clashed near Tehran’s Grand Bazaar with crowds protesting at the currency’s drop, while Ahmadinejad is under fire from parliament for his economic management.

So the government is eager to stabilize the exchange rate. Its failure to do so in the last several days suggests it may have to close down the legal free market entirely to establish control of the currency, analysts said.

“The end result will be the government taking over currency trading, squeezing out the private traders or forcing them to bow to the government for patronage,” said Mohammad Ali Shabani, an Iranian political analyst based in London. “This will give the government leverage as it prepares for

tighter sanctions in the next 20 months.”

Over the last several days, the government has tried to impose its will on the currency market with a combination of threats and persuasion. The Iranian Money Changers Association, a statelicensed body, recommended its members sell dollars at 28,500 rials - a discount of about a quarter on last week’s free market rate. At the same time, over two dozen people have been arrested on charges of manipulating the currency market - widely seen as a warning to dealers of the consequences if they quote the rial at weaker rates than those proposed by the authorities.

Traders are unwilling to lose money by selling dollars at such prices, but also fearful of official displeasure if they sell at other prices. So most free-market trade in the rial in Tehran and across the Gulf in Dubai, a major centre for business with Iran, has shut down, dealers in both cities say.

“If you go to Iran now it will be really hard to find US dollars - you have to buy them in the black market,” said an Iranian currency dealer in Dubai, declining to be named because of the political sensitivity of his remarks. Analysts said the government’s likely response to the stand-off would be to shift more currency trade out of the market and into official channels.

Earlier this year it fixed an official “reference rate” of 12,260 rials at which the central bank sells Iran’s petrodollars to importers of some foods and medicines that are designated as essential goods.

Last month it created a foreign exchange centre to serve importers of basic goods, such as industrial materials.

Already there are signs these official channels are being expanded. On Friday Iranian media reported the exchange centre would cover a wider variety of basic goods, such as olive oil.

On Monday, state television quoted Industry Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari as saying the centre, now quoting a dollar rate of 25,550 rials, would begin providing hard currency to more categories of people requesting it, including students studying overseas and patients going abroad for medical treatment.

“The exchange centre can soon take a lead role in determining currency prices in the free market,” he said.

It is not clear, though, whether the government will over the long term have enough hard currency to satisfy all demand through its official channels, especially if sanctions cut its exports far enough to push its trade balance into

deficit. At the end of last year, Iran had official foreign reserves of $106 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund. Their current level is a closely guarded secret, but some analysts estimate they may have dropped by several tens of billions of dollars as the sanctions cut Iran’s oil income. As much as a third of the reserves may be trapped in banks overseas, where they cannot be used because of Western banking sanctions, some analysts believe.

Meanwhile, Iran’s merchandise imports are running at a rate of a little over $50 billion a year, according to the latest official data. Last year, export earnings outstripped import payments by $51 billion, but some analysts think sanctions may already nearly wipe that surplus out this year.

Nonetheless, figures for trade and reserves suggest the country does not risk running out of hard currency in the very near term, but that it could start to do so in the next year or two if sanctions continue. The latest IMF World Economic Outlook released yesterday forecasts that it will maintain a small trade surplus this year and next, which would help it avoid a balance of payments crisis. The risk could nevertheless prompt the government to ration dollar supplies tightly - providing hard currency to students travelling abroad if their discontent is politically troublesome, for example, but refusing to sell dollars to importers of luxuries, or to middle-class savers seeking to protect their assets from inflation.

And a state monopoly on foreign exchange would have other costs. The potential for corruption among officials handing out dollars is huge; Shabani said he had heard of people setting up bogus “export-import” firms in Iran just to obtain dollars.

“Depending on who you are and if you can get access to FX at a decent level, your cost structure will be totally different to others,” said Steve Hanke, economics professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “That means the economy is replete with distortions and as inflation picks up, they get worse.”

Iran’s government may be content to accept such costs, however, if the system allows it to battle on against the West. Emad Mostaque, a strategist at Religare Capital Markets, said the currency turmoil would be most damaging to the middle class and private merchants - but they were already not very politically supportive of the government. — Reuters

25

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

BUSINESS

Asian markets mixed, stimulus hopes lift China HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed yesterday, with concerns over Europe’s debt crisis overshadowing strong gains in Shanghai and Hong Kong fuelled by stimulus hopes. With the corporate earnings season coming up, dealers were taking a cautious approach, while a cut in growth forecasts for the regional and world economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also weighed on markets. Sydney rose 0.52 percent, or 23.4 points, to close at 4,505.3 — a 14-month high thanks to rising iron ore prices. Seoul eased 0.14 percent, or 2.85 points, to 1,979.04 and Tokyo fell 1.06 percent, or 93.71 points, to 8,769.59.

Hong Kong rose 0.54 percent, or 112.72 points, to 20,937.28. Shanghai advanced 1.97 percent, or 40.81 points, to 2,115.23, with the market also helped by a huge central bank injection of funds aimed at boosting liquidity. Monday saw markets around the world slump on concerns about the euro-zone, with Spain still refusing to ask for a bailout and Greece deadlocked in talks with its creditors over its next tranche of rescue funds.

In Shanghai, dealers were betting that China’s leaders will unveil a fresh set of measures to boost the economy, especially with a date for a handover of power pencilled in for early next month.

The composite index fell on Monday owing to disappointment over manufacturing data that came out last week, when traders were on holiday. The government’s purchasing managers’ index edged up to 49.8 in September from 49.2 in August-a slight improvement but

still below the 50 mark, indicating contraction. “The latest economic data, albeit weak, did show signs of stabilization, and that gives investors some confidence,” said Shenzhen Zhongzheng Investment Consulting analyst Zhang Suoqing.

“Expectations are heightened that more stimulus measures will be introduced.” The upbeat outlook had a knockon effect for Hong Kong, marking its sixth gain in seven sessions.

However, shares in Tokyo, which was closed Monday for a public holiday, slipped as the yen, which rose in New York against the euro on European debt fears, hurt exporters.

The euro fell on forex markets, changing hands at $1.2930 and 101.31 yen in Europe, against $1.2967 and 101.57 yen in New York late Monday.

The dollar was trading at 78.34 yen compared with 78.31 yen in US trade.

“Friday’s US payroll figures were certainly a positive surprise, but still not that great when put into a broader context. They still don’t afford much of a sense of security,” said Naoki Fujiwara, fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management in Tokyo.

“Trepidation ahead of... earnings results, and the IMF’s cut of its global economic growth forecast, are hurting the market,” he told Dow Jones Newswires. The United States on Friday released figures showing the unemployment rate at 7.8 percent in September, its lowest in almost four years and lifting hopes for the economy.

But concerns about the global recovery were underlined yesterday, when the IMF cut its growth projections for the

global economy and said things could worsen if the euro-zone crisis is not resolved.

It also reduced its outlook for China, Japan and developing Asia, warning of the knock-on effects from Europe as well as the weak impact of monetary easing measures. On oil markets New York’s

Gold was at $1,772.30 at 1000 GMT compared with $1,768.00 yesterday.

In other markets: Singapore closed 0.35 percent, or 10.74 points, lower at 3,065.91.

Singapore Telecom was unchanged at Sg$3.19 and Singapore Airlines eased ●

MUMBAI: Indians walk past a poster of the ‘rupee’ symbol in Mumbai yesterday.

The Indian rupee recently soared to its highest level against the dollar in almost six months after the embattled government pushed ahead with more measures to attract foreign investment. —AFP main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was up 85 cents to $90.18 a barrel in afternoon trade.

Brent North Sea crude also for November advanced 73 cents to $112.55.

0.85 percent to Sg$10.56. ● Taipei fell 0.31 percent, or 23.88 points, to 7,592.01.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. shed 2.24 percent to Tw$87.1 while leading smartphone maker HTC was 7.0

percent limit-down at Tw$267.0. ● Manila closed 0.72 percent lower, shedding 39.23 points to 5,394.90.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 1.09 percent to 2,730 pesos and Metropolitan Bank and Trust dropped 2.33 percent to 90.30 pesos. ● Wellington slipped 0.41 percent, or 15.92 points, to 3,907.99.

Fletcher Building was off 2.4 percent NZ$7.30 and Telecom closed down 0.63 percent at NZ$2.37. ● Jakarta rose 0.28 percent, or 12.02 points, to 4,280.25.

Gold miner J-Resources gained 9.5 percent to 5,750 rupiah, car maker Astra rose 1.3 percent to 8,200 rupiah and gas distributor Gas Negara added 2.3 percent to 4,250 rupiah. ● Kuala Lumpur added 0.19 percent, or 3.10 points, to 1,663.32.

YTL Power International gained 1.9 percent to 1.64 ringgit while Sime Darby added 1.2 percent to 9.78 ringgit. MMC Corp. eased 1.9 percent to 2.63 ringgit. ● Bangkok slipped 0.94 percent, or 12.23 points, to 1,292.48.

Electricity firm EGCO fell 1.12 percent to 132 baht, while Siam City Cement dropped 1.40 percent to 353 baht. ● Mumbai rose 0.45 percent or 84.38 points, to 18,793.36.

Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro rose 2.06 percent to 1,628.7 rupees while Infosys rose 1.85 percent to 2,536.95.

Cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines fell 4.76 percent to 12.00 rupees, its seventh straight day of losses as striking workers refused to return to work without payment of salaries, keeping the flights grounded since last week.—AFP

US, India discuss ways to lower economy barriers Euro-zone on a more promised path: Geithner

FRANKFURT: People walk by a giant logo of the euro currency standing in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the banking district of Frankfurt, western Germany, yesterday. —AFP

Cameron won’t ease austerity after IMF downgrade BIRMINGHAM: British Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday he would not soften his austerity program with a “Plan B” of slower spending cuts after the International Monetary Fund downgraded its growth forecasts for Britain.

The Conservative-led government, steadfast in its ambition to cut a record budget deficit but under pressure to fix a recession-hit economy, abandoned its original deficit reduction targets last year and could be forced to extend them again. “What we need in Britain is not ‘Plan B’, which is more borrowing. How can you borrow your way out of a debt crisis?”

Cameron told Sky News, speaking from the Conservative Party’s annual conference in the central English city of Birmingham.

“What we need is what I call ‘Plan A+’, we need to keep our plans, difficult though they are to cut public spending and deal with the deficit, but we need to add to that every measure that business has been asking for. And that’s what we’re doing.”

The IMF cut its UK economic growth estimates on Monday, predicting the economy would shrink 0.4 percent this year before growing by 1.1 percent in 2013. The IMF forecast in July that Britain’s

economy would grow 0.2 percent this year and 1.4 percent in 2013. The IMF also said Britain should delay some spending cuts pencilled in for next year if growth turned out to be weaker than forecast, but Cameron said that did not mean there was any logic in ripping up his plans yet.

“The IMF are not saying change course, they are saying stick to your plan unless things get dramatically worse,” he said.

Britain’s economy fell back into recession at the end of 2011. Analysts expect Britain to return to growth in the third quarter but say that any recovery will be sluggish at best.

Critics, including the Labor opposition, blame government austerity measures for choking off demand but ministers say cutting more slowly would put Britain’s market credibility at risk at a time when the euro zone is embroiled in a debt crisis.

“These downgraded IMF forecasts are another damaging blow to the government’s economic credibility,” said Labor finance spokesman Ed Balls. Finance minister George Osborne is expected to either announce deeper cuts or to further extend his deficit reduction plan beyond the fiscal year 2016/17 when he delivers updated economic growth and borrowing forecasts on Dec 5. —Reuters

NEW DELHI: US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met yesterday with India’s finance minister to discuss lowering trade and investment barriers just weeks after the Indian government started a drive to reignite the nation’s declining economic growth.

Last month, the Cabinet agreed to allow foreign retail giants, such as US-based Wal-Mart, into the Indian market, a move the US government had long advocated. India has also moved to allow greater foreign investment in the broadcasting, airlines, insurance and pension industries. The government also cut fuel subsidies that were contributing to its growing debt.

“The reforms outlined by the government of India offer a very promising path to improving growth outcomes for the Indian economy,” Geithner said after the meeting with Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram. The meeting also included US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the head of India’s central bank.

The two sides also discussed further cooperation in fighting money laundering and terror financing as well as tax issues between the two nations, Geithner said. When asked about Indian companies’ concerns about the increased difficulties in obtaining visas for employees who need to travel to the US, Geithner offered no solution but expressed hope for increasing business ties. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner praised recent measures to combat the euro-zone’s debt problems yesterday, saying the bloc was on “a more promising

path” to resolving the crisis.

Geithner said he was looking forward to meeting his European colleagues there and “seeing where they are going next”.

He highlighted action by the European Central Bank (ECB) to reassure financial markets and also

terpart, Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

These and other developments “offer a more promising path to a resolution of the crisis than we have seen to date”, he added. On Monday, the euro-zone unlocked the 500-billion-euro ($650 billion)

delayed by a challenge at the German Constitutional Court, is not yet operational.

Last month, the ECB revealed its Outright Monetary Transactions program, under which the central bank will buy up the sovereign bonds of debt-wracked countries

NEW DELHI: US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (right) exchanges documents with Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram after a meeting in New Delhi yesterday. Geithner is on a twoday visit to the country. —AFP reform efforts in Spain and Italy, which have been battling high borrowing costs as a result of fears about their finances. “There are very important reforms underway in Spain and Italy, across Europe, to lay a foundation for better growth,” he told a news conference in New Delhi along with his Indian coun-

OECD: Jobless rate in rich countries at 7.9% PARIS: The unemployment rate in advanced countries edged very slightly down to 7.9 percent in August from 8.0 percent in July, with the differences from one region to another remaining large, the OECD said yesterday.

It cautioned drop in the headline rate was mostly due to rounding, with the monthly change extremely slight, and should be considered as statistically stable.

In the OECD area, 47.8 million people were ranked as unemployed, an increase of 13.1 million from the onset of the financial crises in July 2008, the OECD said.

Of these unemployed people, 11.9 million were classed as youths. Data for September showed the rate in the United States falling by 0.3 points to 7.8 percent, while unemployment in Canada edged up 0.1 percent to 7.4 percent. In the euro-zone, the rate was steady for the second consecutive month at 11.4 percent in August.

This followed 13 months in a row of a rising rate and meant that the ratio of unemployed to the workforce was 4.1 percentage points above a record low rate of 7.3 percent in March 2008.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which provides analysis and policy guidance for 34 leading countries, noted that unemployment rates continued to vary widely in August. —AFP

European Stability Mechanism that Luxembourg Prime Minister and fund chairman Jean-Claude Juncker called “an historic milestone in shaping the future of monetary union”.

The permanent rescue fund, which had been initially due to enter service on July 1 but was

under strict conditions.

The US officials were to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later. Geithner was then to head to Mumbai before leaving for Japan to attend the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetar y Fund. —Agencies

Stalled growth exposes burden of French largesse PARIS: Savoring a long lunch after a morning tending to baby quince and pear trees, the French Senate’s 78 gardeners are blissfully untouched by the economic crisis gnawing at Europe’s core.

They have jobs for life that pay 40 percent above the average French takehome salar y and get “wet weather ” bonuses when they work in drizzle, storms or snow.

Stalled growth in Europe’s No 2 economy has exposed the strain on public finances from the benefits lavished on these and other civil servants, and a growing chorus of opinion says it is time they were radically pruned back. “I won’t lie, we do very well,” said one of the gardeners, who gave her name only as Natalie. “We earn much more than in the private sector and we basically can’t be fired.”

Even more comfortable are the hundreds of administrative staff inside who get bonuses if lawmaker debates run over into the night - regardless of whether they stayed late themselves.

They all rank as “functionaries”, a sta-

tus held by 5.3 million state-employed teachers, medics, magistrates and clerks in a labyrinthine French administration running from the president’s office to the furthest-flung town hall. The system has cushioned the households of one in five French workers from an economic crisis that has battered industry and bled private -sector jobs across most of Europe.

But with a public debt of 90 percent of output and Socialist President Francois Hollande battling to slash a 4.5 percent deficit, the question is whether France can still afford it.

France must tackle its debt mountain as part of efforts to end the three-year crisis over euro zone sovereign debt that has raised doubts over the survival of the currency.

Hollande stuck to taxing the rich and a mere freeze on public spending in his first budget last month but investors are looking for much deeper cuts to the state system. “It’s the reform we keep putting off,” Gerard Dussillol, an investment adviser and author of a 2012 book, “La Crise, enfin” (“At Last, The Crisis”). —Reuters

26

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

BUSINESS

Audi sets Middle East all-time sales record 2012 overall up 18.3%, 3rd quarter plus 12.5% DUBAI: Audi is on the way to a new sales record for the Middle East in 2012, reporting sales records for the month of September, for the third quarter and for 2012 year-to-date overall. Sales for the first nine months of 2012 increased by 18.3 percent compared to the same period in 2011 to 6,629 units (2011: 5,602). In the third quarter alone Audi delivered 2,355 vehicles to customers (2011: 1,877); an increase of 12.5 percent. The month of September was also the highest ever recorded month with 902 units sold, breaking the 900 units barrier for the first time.

The UAE is the most important Middle Eastern market in terms of volume for the brand with the four rings. 2,747 units were sold 2012 year-to-date (2011: 2,245), representing an increase of 12.2 percent. Symbolic of the market’s potential, Al-Nabooda

Jeff Mannering, Managing Director Audi Middle East

Automobiles, official dealer for Dubai and the Northern Emirates, is set to open the world’s largest Audi showroom in Dubai in November.

GCC sales overall increased by 26.5 percent to 6,629 units sold in 2012 year-to-date (2011: 5,602). While all GCC markets registered double-digit growth, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were the most important markets after the UAE with sales of 1,420 and 948 units and growth of 36.1 and 29.7 percent respectively. The Near Eastern markets remained largely stable, apart from Syria, where sales have come to a halt.

Sales were driven by the Audi C & D segment sedans and SUV models. Audi’s momentum benefitted strongly from robust demand for the technologically advanced Audi A6, generating a 70.3 percent sales

Burgan Bank launches new multi-currency X-Change Card Another service to meet customers’ financial needs KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the launch of its new multi-currency X-change card from MasterCard , which has been tailormade specifically for frequent travelers, students studying abroad, online shoppers, and expatriates sending money back to their home countries. The multi-currency X-change card is accepted across 23 million locations around the world.

Customers are given a selection of the top currencies when using the card, and these include US dollars, Euro, British Pound, Saudi Riyal, UAE Dirhams, Egyptian Pound as well as the Filipino Peso. The card, which provides its users with easy access to online shopping, ticket booking and hotel reservations, retains the value of the exchange rate at which it was bought to enable customers to capitalize on their preferred currency rates.

The bank continuously works to update its services with an objective to accommodate the lifestyle

requirements of its customers.

These features have been developed to cater to a wide audience ranging from frequent travelers, online shoppers, university students, teachers, college professors, individuals seeking medical treat-

any of the bank’s branches, or contact the call center on 1804080. For more information, customers can also log onto the bank’s website on www.burgan.com Established in 1977, Burgan Bank is the youngest commercial

ment abroad, and Hajj travelers.

Customers do not need to visit their local branch to apply for the card; they can apply online by following 3 easy steps that are illustrated in the banks website.

To find out more about Burgan Bank’s latest X-Change card from MasterCard, or any of its products and services, customers can visit

Bank based in Kuwait, with a significant focus on the corporate and financial institutions sectors, as well as having a growing retail and private bank customer base.

Burgan Bank has four majority owned subsidiaries: Gulf Bank Algeria - AGB (Algeria), Bank of Baghdad - BOB (Iraq), Jordan Kuwait Bank - JKB (Jordan) and Tunis

VIVA launches Samsung’s GALAXY Note II in Kuwait KUWAIT: Driven by its promise to bring customers the most up-to-date devices and services and under the umbrella VIVA Festiva, VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, yesterday announced the much anticipated launch of Samsung’s GALAXY Note II in Kuwait, tailored to suit its customer’s expectations and needs.

Customers can now enjoy a whole new technological experience with VIVA’s Samsung GALAXY Note II promotion. The choice of packages includes local calls, local SMS text messages and internet data services, where customers can obtain the device for KD75 when subscribing to the KD30 package with an annual plan. As for those who subscribe to the KD55 package with an annual plan, the device will be obtained free of charge. Customers can also choose the postpaid installment plans that start at KD17 per month with a 12 month contract and KD30 paid in advance, and enjoy an exceptional high speed internet service.

Eng Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Badran, VIVA’s Chief Executive Officer said: “We promised our customers that we would always try to offer them the most up-todate services and products, and this launch is a reminder of how seriously we take our commitment. Our customers are

very important to us and their satisfaction with our products and services is crucial.

VIVA is continually seeking to raise the bar by offering unique high end services, the latest products at competitive prices, and great payment package choices to ensure maximum customer satisfaction and we will continue to do so in the future.”

The Samsung Galaxy Note II, which is presently only officially available through VIVA, is powered by a ground-breaking 1.6GHz quad core processor and an Android 4.0 Jelly Bean operating system.

Customers can enjoy an enhanced Samsung Galaxy Note II experience by viewing content on the device’s enhanced 5.5 inches Super AMOLED screen which delivers incredibly vibrant colors. The device comes with an 8MP main camera and 2MP front-facing image sensor to ensure your special moments are captured easily and instantly. This device also serves up new enhancements to the ‘S Pen’ feature as to create a virtual cursor to the Galaxy Note II screen.

For more information about VIVA’s latest Samsung Galaxy Note II promotion, and any other VIVA promotion, customers can visit any of VIVA’s 14 branches or authorized dealers, or simply visit the website www.viva.com.kw or contact its 24 hour call center at 55102102.

International Bank - TIB (Tunisia), (collectively known as the “Burgan Bank Group”).

The Bank has continuously improved its performance over the years through an expanded revenue structure, diversified funding sources, and a strong capital base.

The adoption of state-of-the-art services and technology has positioned it as a trendsetter in the domestic market and within the MENA region.

Burgan Bank’s brand has been created on a foundation of real values - of trust, commitment, excellence and progression, to remind us of the high standards to which we aspire. ‘People come first’ is the foundation on which its products and services are developed. Earlier this year, ‘Brand Finance’ - the international brand valuation company- rated Burgan Bank brand as AA with positive outlook. The rating places Burgan Bank Brand at 2nd amongst the most valuable banking brands in Kuwait.

increase year-to-date (2012: 1,306; 2011: 767).

Audi’s flagship vehicle, the Audi A8 L sedan, is up 32.3 percent (2012: 1,261; 2011: 953). Audi Q7 luxury SUV marginally slowed down to 1,137 units sold year-to-date (2011: 1,237).

Consumers awaiting the model update can expect the new Audi Q7 in the second quarter of 2015. The Audi Q5 SUV fared well with an 11.9 percent increase over 2011 and 969 units sold (2011: 866).

“We are on track for a record year in 2012,” said Jeff Mannering, Managing Director Audi Middle East. “Several markets of the region were affected by political unrest, however, the larger countries, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are pulling ahead on the back of strong core models, new model launches and improved infrastructure in sales and after sales service.”

ABK rewards its loyal customers KUWAIT: Two years ago Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait created its ABK Advantage Program to offer the very latest deals and promotions at various retail outlets to its loyal customers.

ABK is now proud to announce new partnerships with The Lebanese Soap House, NBar Beauty Salon and Fleur for Flowers. ABK customers will be offered up to 15% discount if they use their ABK cards while purchasing at the latest outlets to join the program.

Stewart Lockie, GM, Retail at ABK explained that, “It is with great pleasure that we have forged partnerships with such prestigious companies. Them joining our directory as part of the Ahli Advantage Program is a great way to reward our customers that use their ABK credit or debit cards.”

Lockie further elaborated, “ The Lebanese Soap House, NBar Beauty Salon and Fleur for Flowers join a wide and varied selection of companies that are part of the ABK Advantage Program.

Many companies offer our customers up to a massive 45% discount on their purchases if they use their ABK cards as the preferred choice of payment. Hotels and resorts, fashion, jewelry and watches. furniture, restaurants and cafes, health and

beauty, gifts and services, lifestyle and so much more are all offered at discounted prices but only to ABK customers. That’s a great advantage to banking with ABK! “

Stewart Lockie, GM, Retail at ABK For more information on how to join the ABK Advantage Program please visit www.eahli.com to talk directly with one of our Account Managers through Al Ahli Chat Service or call Ahlan Ahli on 1899899.

Millennium & Copthorne raises presence in China SINGAPORE: Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) yesterday signed a contract to manage its first resort hotel in China. The 151-room Millennium Hangzhou Resort is situated in a forested hillside in Jiuxi Ping Feng or Nine Creek Mountain in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The 5star resort is located within a tranquil tea plantation, famous for growing Chinese teas like the Longjing or Dragon Well Tea and is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2013.

Since the successful entry into China in 2006, M&C has expanded its footprint with 6 other properties Millennium Hotel Chengdu, Millennium Harbourview Hotel Xiamen, Millennium Hotel Wuxi, Copthorne Hotel Qingdao and the luxury Grand Millennium Beijing Hotel. It also operates the 329room serviced apartment complex Millennium Residences Beijing Fortune Plaza, located in the capital’s CBD. Over the next three years, M&C will continue its expansion into China with two other new properties located in popular tourist and business destinations - M Hotel Chengdu in Sichuan Province (194 rooms), and

Millennium Fuqing in Fujian Province (510 rooms).

Together with Millennium Hangzhou Resor t, these new properties will add 855 rooms to M&C’s current portfolio in China.

This current phase of expansion will see a total of M&C’s hospitality portfolio increase to 10 properties in China with over 3,500 rooms.

“This is in line with M&C’s strategy of expanding its footprint in China by owning, or managing hotels in the world’s fastest growing economy and potentially the largest global tourist market,” said M&C Chairman, Kwek Leng Beng at the signing ceremony for Millennium Hangzhou Resort, today (27 September 2012) at the Tower Club on the top floor of Republic Plaza, Singapore.

For the Chinese owners, Shanghai Seagull Holding Group, today’s signing of the management contract is its second with M&C. The Millennium Hongqiao Hotel in Shanghai, which it owns, was also M&C’s first hotel that it managed in China in 2006.

Shanghai Seagull Holding Group

President, Yang Weijian speaking at the signing ceremony said, “We have a strong and established long-term relationship with M&C since the signing of Millennium Hongqiao in 2006. Since then, the results have been impressive. The hotel has won various awards and has made an outstanding mark among Shanghai’s many other 5-star hotels.”

M&C also announced that it will also expand in Taiwan soon when Millennium Vee Hotel Taichung opens there next month. Located in downtown Taichung, the 267-room hotel aims at business and leisure travelers, offering convenient access to major travel links including business, shopping and cultural attractions. With a population of over 2.6 million people, Taichung is Taiwan’s third largest city after Taipei and Kaohsiung. M&C currently owns Grand Hyatt Taipei. Following the signing ceremony, Chairman Kwek disclosed that M&C was committed to refurbishing its major properties as part of its global strategy to stay ahead of the competition. “We have committed and have already begun

refurbishing works of M&C’s hotels in gateway cities,” said Kwek.

M&C expects to spend more than S$360 million ($300 million) in refurbishing several of its global properties where some have been completed or in progress, while plans are being developed for others. These include Millennium UN Plaza (recently re-branded to ONE UN) which this month completes the first phase of a three-part major renovation; Millennium Minneapolis, another M&C property in the US; Millennium Mayfair in London; and Grand Hyatt Taipei in Asia. “Our asset management strategy has delivered good returns on investment, and has made us even more competitive.

Although we cannot be immune to the ongoing Euro crisis and global economic uncertainty, we are wellpositioned to take advantage of strategic opportunities,” added Kwek.

“M&C’s refurbishment plans together with other asset management initiatives will help the Group sustain and improve on our strong financial performance,” he said.

27

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

GM moves to bring computer technology in-house DETROIT: Now hiring in Detroit: Software developers and programmers. General Motors is moving past layoffs and the Motor City’s rusty, lowtech image. It’s setting out on its own to develop software and invent the most advanced gizmos for your car.

America’s biggest automaker plans to hire up to 10,000 computer professionals in the next three-to-five years as it tries to lead the auto industry with cutting-edge technology. It’s a bold and expensive move, counter to the industry’s history of buying software and other electronic applications from outside companies. Experts say it’s also the start of a trend as manufacturers realize that software is among the few things that will set them apart from competitors.

“The companies that build the software themselves in general are going to have an advantage,” says David Kirkpatrick, author of a book about Facebook and CEO of Techonomy Media Inc, a New York firm that specializes in setting up technology conferences. “If you outsource the development of software in particular to others, you can risk ... your own ability to compete in the future.” General Motors Co isn’t alone in trying to move more technology development under its roof. But the plans of its biggest competitor, Ford Motor Co., aren’t nearly as ambitious.

GM’s aims to bring 90 percent of its

computer technology work into the company by recruiting workers to four new information technology centers around the nation. Ford recently joined GM, BMW AG and RenaultNissan in opening a technology office in California’s Silicon Valley, although it’s staffed by only about 15 people.

tech center. GM already has product designers, engineers and other technical experts at the site, including the team that created the Chevrolet Volt electric car.

The other two sites haven’t been revealed. Staff at the centers will try to stay on top of software trends. They’ll

ONTARRIO: In this Monday, file photo, a sign stands outside Oshawa’s General Motors car assembly plant in Oshawa. —AP GM’s first “Information Technology develop the latest ways to link smartInnovation Center” was announced phones with cars or control a vehicle’s last month in Austin, Texas, with plans heating and air conditioning with to hire 500 programmers and software voice commands. They’ll also be experts. And Monday the carmaker counted on to invent technology that unveiled plans to hire 1,500 more at a no one’s thought of yet. And GM also second computer center in Warren, sees long-term cost savings when the Michigan, on the campus of its big centers are fully in operation.

“We’re currently seeking the next generation of game-changers to help us usher in a new age of automotive innovation,” says GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott, who was Hewlett-Packard’s CIO until he joined GM in February. Although there are shortages of programmers and software engineers in some parts of the country, GM should be able to recruit enough talent by setting up shop in four different regions, experts say.

With the tech-hub of Austin and GM’s home base in Detroit already covered, the most likely locations for the next two centers are on the West Coast, experts say. GM says it will offer competitive wages and benefits to pull in recent college graduates and experienced information technology professionals. The company’s iconic brand status will help attract people, experts say. But offering competitive pay will cost GM. Software engineers make $60,000 to $70,000 a year right out of college, and experienced workers can make more, says James Stoeckmann, senior compensation specialist for World at Work, an organization of human resources executives who deal with pay issues.

Expensive or not, the strategy is correct for GM as it tries to differentiate its products from other automakers, says Michael Robinet, managing director of IHS Automotive, an indus-

try consulting firm. With the gap in quality between brands shrinking, the way a car drives and its electronics soon will be the only things that set a company apart, he says. Currently, GM and most automakers rely on outside companies for touch screen and other technology. But often those companies sell the technology to multiple carmakers, or new software is sold in an expensive bidding war, Robinet says.

“If they have their own skunk works and they find a new technology, they are guaranteed to bring it to market first,” he says. Ford, for instance, worked with Microsoft Inc. on its pioneering Sync system, which brought voice activation technology into cars ahead of most competitors. But Ford only had exclusive use of the system for a year before Microsoft was able to license it to other companies, namely Hyundai and Kia. Outside companies have so much expertise that it will take years for GM to catch up, making it unlikely that the company will completely walk away from outside firms, Robinet says. Yet with software gaining so much importance in the way all companies operate, it’s even possible that GM will find its next generation of leaders somewhere in the computer centers, says Kirkpatrick. “CEOs of every company in the future are going to have to be software thinkers,” he says. —AP

YouTube takes original programming venture abroad LONDON: YouTube is extending its original programming initiative into Europe, with at least 60 new video channels from media companies including Britain’s BBC, London-based FreemantleMedia and the Netherlands’ Endemol. The Google Inc.owned video site said Monday the new channels, with content from Britain, Germany, France, and the United States, will be in addition to the 100 channels launched in the US last year. Like the preexisting American offerings, the European channels will have a mix of celebrity-oriented, niche, and established programs.

“Some of the channels are personalitydriven, others are from partners who are totally passionate about a subject,” Ben McOwen Wilson, who manages YouTube’s northern European partnerships, said in a telephone interview ahead of the announcement. He said the goal was to let content producers come up with something they couldn’t deliver on TV. The expansion into Europe marks another step in YouTube’s move into the

territory normally occupied by traditional media companies. McOwen Wilson said the new channels would include programming from BBC Worldwide, the British public broadcaster’s commercial arm; Endemol, the Dutch company behind the “Big Brother” reality television franchise; and FreemantleMedia, an arm of German media giant Bertelsmann responsible for “American Idol.” Factual programming includes “Euronews Knowledge,” from rolling news channel Euronews and “Truthloader,” by ITN Productions.

The channels will also count content from more niche players: the British offerings include co-productions such as “Guinness World Records: OMG” and “The Jamie Oliver Food Channel”. Other British channels range from programs on drum and bass (Mixmag TV) to childcare (Netmums) and makeup tips, fashion, royalty, and more. McOwen Wilson declined to say how much YouTube was investing in the European expansion. — AP

NORTH CAROLINA: With guidance from physical therapists Nancy Hicks, right, and Nicolle Lang, behind, David Ayscue, 56, wears a robotic exoskeleton to help him walk at WakeMed Rehab in Raleigh. —MCT photos

Wearable robot can help patients walk again For patients who spend time in wheelchairs

GERMANY: File photo taken through a magnifying glass shows a video of German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivering her New Year’s speech beside the Youtube channel of the German government. —AP

US report highlights unease about Chinese firms BEIJING: China’s biggest technology companies are eager to expand in the United States but face American anxiety about possible threats to jobs and national security. The latest blow: A US report that says telecom equipment makers Huawei Technologies Inc. and ZTE Corp. are potential security threats that Americans should avoid doing business with.

The report comes amid an American presidential race in which trade tensions

with Beijing are a prominent issue. It highlights conflicting US sentiments toward China - an important trading partner but a potential strategic rival.

US companies see China as both a crucial growth market and a source of competition and industrial spying.

Huawei and ZTE rejected the security threat accusation and complained the committee failed to provide evidence to back it up. —AP

CHINA: In this Monday photo, an employee works at a reception counter of a R&D center of Huawei Technologies Inc in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei province. —AP

RALEIGH: A team of physical therapists strapped the robot onto him, one hit a button and with a faint electronic whir, David Ayscue was suddenly 6 feet tall again. Then Ayscue took a step, and a different future came just a little bit closer for him and millions of others who can’t walk on their own. “I guess this is how a baby feels taking its first steps,” he said. “I can’t describe it. It’s just overwhelming.” Ayscue, 56, was learning how to use a new robotic exoskeleton called an Ekso. The state Department of Transportation maintenance worker suffered a spinal cord injury on the job while cutting up a dead tree two and a half years ago.

The device that he was wearing is an outgrowth of Pentagon-sponsored research into robotic devices to help soldiers carry heavy loads.

The civilian model was developed to help people who use wheelchairs to stand and walk again.

WakeMed’s rehabilitation hospital is the first in the Carolinas and one of just 16 in the country to get the device since it went on the market in February, said Eythor Bender, CEO of Ekso Bionics, based near San Francisco. For now, the Ekso is an aid for physical therapy clinics with the help of therapists trained in its use, but the company is working on a sleeker, cheaper model for home use, which it hopes to begin selling in two years.

WakeMed began using the device this week. Initially the hospital is using it on patients with spinal cord injuries who can’t walk on their own, but it plans to eventually use it on other kinds of cases, such as stroke patients. Elsewhere, the device is already used for patients with other health problems, including multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and traumatic brain injuries. For patients who spend significant amounts of time in wheelchairs, being able to spend at least a little time in the device regularly is likely to offer improvements in a host of functions, such as circulation, respiration and digestion, said Cathy Smith, director of outpatient rehabilitation at WakeMed. It may help those with partial spinal cord injuries regain some function more easily. Harder to

quantify are intangible benefits, such as what it means for someone who has been in a wheelchair for decades to simply to be able to stand, walk around and look people in the eye again. The Ekso looks like a kind of mechanized, computerized combination of a backpack and leg braces. Patients wear it with straps below the knees, on the thighs, around the stomach and over the shoulders. Plates under each foot are attached to motors and lift up. More than two dozen sensors feed information into the Ekso’s computer, which uses it to decide how and when to step.

Patients must have at least some

while as they and the WakeMed therapists learn how to use it.

Eventually he will transition to trigger his own steps with buttons on one crutch. The batteries last about three hours, but can be quickly swapped out for fresh ones. The Ekso is designed to carry its entire weight, about 45 pounds, but the patient’s weight goes through the patient’s own legs, something the company believes will help fight the loss of bone density, a common problem for those who spend significant time in wheelchairs. About 350 patients nationwide have used the device so far, said Bender, the company CEO. So far, there have

NORTH CAROLINA: A robotic exoskeleton that patients learning or re-learning to walk. upper body strength to use Ekso because they must use a walker or crutches when wearing the device to ensure their balance. For the current model, they also must be lighter than 220 pounds and between 5 feet 2 inches and 6 feet 2 inches in height.

The device has three modes. In the most advanced, fully automatic mode, the device takes a step when the patient shifts his weight to the side and leans forward. They have to work up to that, though. In the most basic mode, therapists talk the patient through the proper motions, and one of them uses a hand-held remote control to trigger each step. In an intermediate mode, the patient triggers each step via a button on one crutch. Ayscue was still in the first mode Thursday, and all the patients using it will be for a

been no falls. But using it in a controlled environment with trained experts just inches away is much different from using it at home. A home model will be more elaborate in its function, but lighter, slimmer, and have a look that’s more lowkey, he said. “We have to design a system that’s comfortable enough and appealing enough that’s it’s something you would be proud to wear,” he said. “There could be more than one model, and eventually it could become like when we choose our pants in the morning, the jeans of the future.” That first “personal unit” also will need to have fall-prevention features. Also, cost and who pays are key issues.

The current model costs $140,000, with a $10,000 annual service contract, Bender said. The company is trying to reduce the cost and work-

ing with several rehab hospitals on research into the health benefits of getting people back on their feet and walking each day. If the various health benefits can be quantified, he said, the device could become a reasonable thing for insurance companies to cover.

The long-term potential that the Ekso suggests is limited by little more than the speed of improvements and imagination, Bender said. “Maybe devices could help arthritis suffers with their mobility, or help people like you and me do something outrageous like climb Mount Kilimanjaro,” he said. The potential market is huge, with nearly 70 million people worldwide who need wheelchairs, many in a position to benefit from assisted walking. The company has a couple of competitors, Bender said, but it expects more. “It’s just too obvious,” he said. “Just look at all the unbelievable developments we have seen for amputees. “Now it’s time for people with neurological problems-their time is now and this is just the beginning.”

As Ayscue was being strapped into the Ekso he quipped that he felt like astronaut John Glenn. And WakeMed’s CEO, Bill Atkinson, who had joined a small crowd of other hospital employees marveled at what he was seeing. “A lifetime of changes in health care and rarely does it walk right in front of you,” Atkinson said. “For these patients, this is like the first steps on the moon.” After a few dozen steps, the motors overheated and Ayscue had to pause and sit until they cooled.

Company technicians said the problem was that Ayscue still has limited muscle function and his own muscles were fighting the machine, which has been programmed to take relatively slow, short steps until he’s adept enough to go faster.

New software is on the way that will allow them to dial down the assist from the robot so it can more easily accommodate patients with at least limited function. For now, he needs to dial down himself. If he can. “The motion just feels so natural, I guess in my mind I think I can walk just like I used to,” he said.

“That’s the deal with the machine. I need to get used to it so that we can work together.” —MCT

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

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

Tomatoes can lower stroke risk WASHINGTON: Eating tomatoes can dramatically reduce the risk of having a stroke, according to a new study out Monday that provided more support for diets rich in fruits and vegetables.

The key factor appears to be the powerful antioxident lycopene, according to the Finnish study published in the Neurology journal. The research-based on data from more than 1,000 middle-aged men, followed for an average of 12 yearsindicates that people with the highest levels of lycopene in their blood have a 55 percent lower chance of suffering a stroke.

“This study adds to the evidence that a diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of stroke,” emphasized study author Jouni Karppi, of the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio.

Among the 258 men with the lowest levels of lycopene in their blood, nearly one in 10 had a stroke. But among the 259 with the highest levels of the antioxident, that number fell to around one in 25. The correlation between lycopene levels and stroke risk was even stronger when the researchers only included strokes due to blood clots, leaving

Can expired, but potent, drugs cut US health bill?

NEW YORK: A few old boxes of medicine in the back of a pharmacy got poison control expert Lee Cantrell thinking. With dozens of drugs in short supply in the United States and a bloated national health bill, what if expired medications were still effective? What if instead of throwing out the drugs, patients and pharmacists could keep them on the shelves for several more years?

So Cantrell and his colleagues went about testing the contents of those boxes, which had expired 28 to 40 years earlier. Out of the 14 compounds they analyzed, 12 still fulfilled government requirements for potency, according to the team’s report, published on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine. “The vast majority of the samples tested contained at least their stated potency and therefore their active ingredient would still be viable,” said Cantrell, director of the California Poison Control System, San Diego Division, and a professor of clinical pharmacy at University of California, San Francisco.

“At least some of them, 50 years and they are still potent!” he told Reuters Health.

The boxed drugs included the narcotic painkillers hydrocodone and codeine as well as the sedatives pentobarbital and butalbital. Aspirin and amphetamine were the only two drugs that appeared to have degraded to less than 90 percent of their declared amount, the minimum accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration.

According to the report, drug shelf lives usually range between one and five years from production. But that’s an arbitrary expiration set by the manufacturer, said Cantrell, because the FDA doesn’t require companies to determine how long the medicine retains its potency.

“If manufacturers were required to do longer-term stability tests, it could be an enormous cost-saver for consumers,” he said, adding that it could also “be an answer to some of the world’s drug shortages.”

Americans spend more than $300 billion on drugs every year. Cantrell said it is unclear how much medicine is thrown out because it’s too old, but suggested it would be an “enormous amount.” Officials at the FDA and the National Institutes of Health were not available for immediate comment. The new study did not examine the safety of the old drugs, which had been kept in sealed containers in a controlled environment. “When the average reader reads this, the take-home message is not, ‘Your expired medications are safe to take,’” warned Cantrell.

Still, he said, to his knowledge there has only been one report of a drug that became toxic after it had expired, and that was due to an inert ingredient in one particular manufacturer’s formulation.

“Beyond that there has never been a well-documented case of any expired medication that became toxic,” Cantrell said.

Since 1986, the FDA has been testing drugs stockpiled by the military to check their stability under the so-called Shelf Life Extension Program. Many of those drugs have had their original expiration dates extended by several years and that has saved between $13 and $94 for every $1 spent on testing, according to recent research.

He also said that if shelf lives were to be extended, that would slow down the product turnover at pharmacies across the globe, cutting manufacturer revenues.

“I know that big industry doesn’t want to hear that,” Cantrell said. He added that his report had been rejected by a number of major medical journals and that the one that finally published it had removed references to drug shortages. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry’s main trade group, said they were still reviewing the new study and could not comment yet. —Reuters

Australians trial Botox to treat hay fever SYDNEY: The best-selling wrinkle erasing drug Botox will be used in an Australian study to treat hay fever, researchers said yesterday after it showed promise in providing relief in early trials. Philip Bardin, a professor at the Monash Medical Centre which is linked to Melbourne’s Monash University, said Botox was already widely used in medicine to reduce spasms in muscles following strokes and in treating cerebral palsy. “This is very new way to use an old medication,” he said.

Under the trial, a Botox gel will be applied to the nose to hopefully give hay fever sufferers relief from sneezing, itchy eyes and runny noses for up to three months. “Part of why this is possible is that the Botox molecule has been re-engineered to be able to penetrate through the skin but also through the lining of the nose,” Bardin told AFP. “That’s really the crucial development that has taken place.

So consequently it is going to be possible in the future to extend its use from being mostly a cosmetic product... to become possibly even more useful.” In treating hay fever, the botulinum toxin will affect the nerves in the nose and potentially block some of the chemicals released by the nerve endings which play a large role in causing symptoms, he said.

Seventy people will be recruited for the study following a preliminary trial that suggested the drug provided relief.

Botox, which makes muscles relax, is a purified form of a nerve poison produced by a bacteria that causes a disease which paralyses muscles and can be fatal. It was first used to treat disorders of the eye muscle-uncontrollable blinking and misaligned eyes. Its cosmetic use took off in the 1990s after a Canadian ophthalmologist noticed her patients were losing their frown lines after using the medication. — AFP

out those caused by hemorrhages.

The participants with the highest levels of lycopene had a 59 percent lower risk of stroke from a blood clot than the men with the lowest levels of the antioxident.

In total, 67 of the men suffered strokes during the course of the study. Researchers looked at a number of other antioxidents-alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, which is a form of vitamin E, and vitamin A, or retinol-but did not find any link with stroke risk.

But other researchers said the study does not prove that tomatoes alone can cut anyone’s stroke risk, noting that there may be other things about men with high lycopene levels that could explain the lower chances of having a stroke.

The study looked at 1,031 men aged 46 to 55 who had their blood levels of lycopene, alpha- and beta-carotene, and vitamins E and A measured.

Over the next 12 years, there were 11 strokes among the one-quarter of men with the highest lycopene levels, compared to 25 among the onequarter with the lowest levels.

The researchers also accounted for some major

factors that affect stroke risk, like smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes - and the highlycopene group still had a 55 percent lower risk of suffering a stroke.

“Studies like this are interesting, but they have significant limitations,” said Larry Goldstein, director of the Duke Stroke Center and a professor at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. The current study lacked information on the men’s overall diet habits, for example, that might explain why lycopene was linked to the lower risk. But Karppi said the findings support the current advice to get plenty of fruits and vegetables.

“These findings do reinforce the current recommendations for people to get a well-balanced diet, with fruits and vegetables,” Goldstein agreed.

He said the best example of a diet that might cut stroke risk is the “DASH” diet that has been shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. It advocates cutting salt and getting more fiber-rich grains, nuts and legumes, and low-fat dairy, as well as four to five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. “If you want to eat tomatoes as part of that, that’s fine,” Goldstein added. —Agencies

Mother’s fish intake tied to kids’ ADHD risk: Study ‘Stay away from big fishes that contain mercury’ BOSTON: Children’s risk of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in life may be tied to how much fish their mothers ate while pregnant, according to a US study.

Researchers writing in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that eating at least two servings of fish per week was linked to about a 60 percent lower risk of kids developing cer tain ADHD-like symptoms. But elevated mercury levels, which can also come from eating more fish - depending on the fish - were tied to a higher risk of developing the symptoms, such as hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattentiveness.

Though the study did not prove cause and effect, and did not use a formal diagnosis of ADHD, it may offer insights into a condition that’s estimated to have an impact on one in 10 children in the United States, researchers say.

“The really important message is to eat fish,” said Sharon Sagiv, the study’s lead author from the Boston University School of Public Health. “Just stay away from mercury-containing fish, because these protective effects are pretty important.”

Sagiv said it’s best to stay away from “big fishes,” such as tuna and swordfish, which typically contain the most mercury.

Instead, stick to fishes such as haddock

and salmon. Past studies looking at the link between mercury and ADHD have produced conflicting results.

For the new study, the researchers followed 788 children who were born near New Bedford, Massachusetts, between 1993 and 1998. They used hair samples taken from the mothers right after delivery to test their mercury levels, and food

Scientists find blood signatures for aggressive prostate cancer LONDON: Scientists have found two distinct genetic “signatures” for prostate cancer that may help doctors predict which patients have aggressive tumors, and designed experimental blood tests to read those genetic signs like barcodes. The teams, whose work was published yesterday in the Lancet Oncology journal, believe tests developed from the signatures could eventually be used to tell which patients need immediate treatment. “Prostate cancer is a very diverse disease - some people live with it for years without symptoms but for others it can be aggressive and life-threatening,” said Johann de Bono, who led a study at Britain’s Institute of Cancer Research. “So it’s vital we develop reliable tests to tell the different types apart.” Researchers in Britain and the United States found that by reading the patterns of genes switched on and off in blood cells, they could accurately detect which advanced prostate cancer patients had the worst survival rates.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer. There were 899,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide in 2008, the last year for which there is full global data, according to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.

While many cases can progress quickly, spreading to other organs and becoming deadly, experts say as many as half of prostate cancers are likely to remain confined to the prostate and are unlikely to become life-threatening.

The problem has always been knowing accurately, and at an early stage, which tumors are most likely to kill.

Although tests for aggressive forms of prostate cancer already exist, experts say they are only moderately accurate.

De Bono said scientists can learn more about prostate cancers by the signs they leave in blood. This allowed his team to develop a test potentially more accurate than those available now and easier for patients than taking a biopsy, he said.

“Our test reads the pattern of genetic

activity like a barcode, picking up signs that a patient is likely to have a more aggressive cancer. Doctors should then be able to adjust the treatment they give accordingly,” he said in a statement.

For his study, De Bono’s team scanned all the genes in blood samples from 100 patients in London and Glasgow with prostate cancer. They included some already diagnosed with advanced cancer and some thought to have low-risk, early-stage cancer.

Using statistical modelling, the team divided the patients into four groups according to patterns of gene activity and, after almost two-and-a-half years, they found patients in one group had died significantly earlier than those in the others.

They pinpointed nine key active genes shared by all patients in that group, and when they tested another 70 Americans with prostate cancer, they again found these genes identified patients who survived for a shorter time - around 9 months compared to over 21 months for those without the gene pattern. The second study by researchers in the United States identified a set of six genes linked to a more aggressive form of prostate cancer in a group of 62 patients at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The signature divided patients into two groups: one with an average survival time of 7.8 months and the other with an average survival of at least 34.9 months.

The British team said their signature included several genes involved in the immune system - suggesting the immune system is suppressed in patients whose cancers spread around the body.

Commenting on the work in The Lancet Oncology, Karina Dalsgaard Sorensen at Denmark’s Aarhus University Hospital, who was not involved in either study, said the findings were welcome and significant. “These results suggest that a few selected genes in blood samples from patients...can significantly improve the prediction of outcomes,” she said. — Reuters

diaries to see how much fish they ate.

Then, once the children were about 8 years old, the researchers asked their teachers to evaluate the kids’ behaviors to see how many exhibited ADHD-like symptoms.

After taking all of the information into account, the researchers found 1 microgram of mercury per gram of a mother’s

hair - about eight times the average levels found in similar women’s hair in another analysis - was tied to about a 60 percent increase in the risk of their child exhibiting ADHD-like behaviors.

But there was no link below 1 microgram of mercury per gram of a mother’s hair.

Sagiv added that the negative effects from lower levels of mercury may be canceled out by the benefits from eating fish.

The children appeared to be 60 percent less likely to exhibit impulsive or hyperactive behaviors if their mothers ate two or more servings of fish per week.

That finding conflicts with the US government’s recommendation that says pregnant women should eat no more than two six-ounce servings of fish per week to limit their exposure to mercury.

“I think it does call into question those guidelines, but this is only one study and the results should be confirmed,” Sagiv told Reuters health. In an editorial that appeared with the study, Bruce Lanphear at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, echoed Sagiv’s advice on avoiding “big fishes.”

In the long term, we have to really find ways to fight contamination levels in fish so years from now we don’t have to give this advice,” he added. — Reuters

Study: Cannabis eases sclerosis stiffness PARIS: Use of cannabis extract helps ease painful muscle stiffness among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a large trial published yesterday in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. The “Phase III” test-the final stage in a process to vet a new drug or medical process-took place among 22 centres in Britain.

Over 12 weeks, 144 patients were given daily tablets of tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the active ingredient in cannabis, and 135 were given a dummy pill, also called a placebo.

Doses were gradually escalated, from 2.5 milligrams to a maximum of 25 mg for two weeks, following topup doses for the remaining two weeks. At the end of the study, 29.4 percent of people in the cannabis group said they had experienced relief from muscle spasms, compared to 15.7 percent in the placebo group,

according to an 11-point rating.

They also reported improvement in sleep quality. Side effects were nervous system disorders and gut problems, but none was severe. MS, a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, occurs when the immune system attacks the fatty myelin sheaths that insulate nerve cells.

Painful stiffness in the muscles occurs among up to 90 percent of patients at some time, often leading to poor sleep and impaired mobility.

The trial, led by John Peter Zajicek of Britain’s Clinical Neurology Research Group, says standardized doses of cannabis extract can be useful in easing pain and spasms in this disease.

Previous Phase III trials on cannabis and MS have thrown up conflicting results, partly because of the scale by which users report any change in their symptoms, the MUSEC researchers said.—AFP

SEOUL: Tourists walk towards a large mannequin decorated to mark an upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness campaign in downtown Seoul yesterday. The World Health Organization said there are some 1.3 million new cases of breast cancer each year, as well as about 450,000 deaths annually from the disease, which is the most common cancer among women. — AFP

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

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

Meningitis-linked steroid shots given to 13,000 US patients Drug used as painkiller in back injections: CDC NASHVILLE, Tennessee: About 13,000 people in 23 US states may have received steroid injections linked to a rare fungal meningitis outbreak that has killed eight people, but far fewer are likely to contract the disease, the Centers for Disease Control said on Monday.

It was the first time the CDC has given an estimate of the number of patients potentially affected, having previously said only that it could be in the thousands.

So far, 105 cases of the rare form of meningitis have been confirmed in nine states. In worst-hit Tennessee another person has died, bringing the national death toll to eight, the CDC and Tennessee state authorities said on Monday.

The Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgery Center in Nashville received about 2,000 of the 17,676 vials of potentially tainted steroid, more than any other facility in the country, said Tennessee Health Commissioner Dr John Dreyzehner.

Dealing with patients who received the injections has been an “horrific experience” in many ways, said Dr

Robert Latham, director of the Infectious Diseases Program at Saint Thomas.

“We’ve seen upwards of 40 to 50 patients a day since last Monday through the emergency room that have had to be extensively evaluated,” he said. The widening outbreak has alarmed health officials and focused attention on regulation of pharmaceutical compounding companies such as the one that produced the drugs - the New England Compounding Center Inc in Framingham, Massachusetts.

“We anticipate finding some additional infections,” said CDC spokesman Curtis Allen. He could not say if all 13,000 people had been contacted, but said efforts had been made to find them in the last few days and the recall should limit the outbreak.

In Ohio, health officials said they were mobilizing community resources, including sheriff’s offices, to check on patients who have received the injections.

“If that means knocking on doors, then that’s what they will do,” Beth Bickford, executive director at the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners, said in a

NASHVILLE: Workers can be seen inside the State Health Operations Center in the Tennessee Department of Health on Monday in Nashville. Health officials in Tennessee are reviewing recent deaths that were not initially linked to a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak. —AP

statement. The steroid is used as a painkiller, usually for the back. Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Patients can begin to show symptoms up to a month after injection. The potentially tainted drugs were produced as early as May 2 1 and shipped to 76 facilities in 23 states through September, the CDC and Massachusetts Health Department said.

The company has suspended its operations while an investigation proceeds. It initially recalled the three lots of the drug, and expanded its recall on Saturday to all products compounded and distributed at its Framingham facility.

The address listed in state records for the company is a rundown two-storey complex in a scruffy area of Framingham, Massachusetts, Reuters journalists who visited the site said. The journalists who tried to visit the building were ordered off the property by a security officer.

A compounding pharmacy takes medications from pharmaceutical manufacturers and makes them into specific dosages and strengths for use by doctors.

Complaints against the company in 2002 and 2003 about the processing of medication resulted in an agreement with government agencies in 2006 to correct deficiencies, the Massachusetts Health Department said.

In 2011, there was another inspection of the facility and no problems were found. In March 2012, a complaint was made about the potency of a product used in eye surgery procedures. That investigation is continuing, state officials said.The US Food and Drug administration has limited authority over the operations of compounding pharmacies, which are regulated primarily by state boards that oversee the practices, licensing and certification of pharmacies and pharmacists.

Compounded products do not have to win FDA approval before they are sold, and the agency has no jurisdiction over how the products are manufactured or labeled for use. The FDA probes cases of adulterated drugs in cooperation with state regulators.

The FDA has tried to exert greater authority over compounded drug products. But those efforts led to federal court challenges that resulted in conflicting court rulings. Massachusetts Democratic Congressman

A vial of injectable steroids from the New England Compounding Center is displayed in the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville, Tennessee, Monday.— AP Edward Markey said compounders fall into a federal regulatory “black hole.” “If compounding is done on a large scale and is not done properly, compounders can expose large numbers of patients to health risks associated with unsafe or ineffective medications,” he said in a letter to the FDA on Monday.

The nine states where fungal meningitis cases have been reported are Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.

Tennessee accounted for most of the cases, with 35 and four deaths. Virginia has 23 cases and one death, Michigan 21 cases and two deaths and one person has died in Maryland.

Fungal meningitis symptoms include fever, headache, nausea and neurological problems consistent with deep brain stroke. The steroid was sent to California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia, the CDC said. — Reuters

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

WHAT’S ON

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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Safir Hotel & IAA host First Shrimp & BBQ festival Dar Suad Al-Sabah

Dr Suad Al-Sabah

Dar Suad Al-Sabah receives applications for awards undreds of Arab authors submitted to participate in the Dar Suad Al-Sabah Literature Creativity Award which takes place in Kuwait. The participants compete in four different categories: poetry, writing about the ‘Cairo, the Capital of Egypt’ theme, the best ten modern Arab poems and Kuwaiti story composition.

Meanwhile, the Dar Suad Al-Sabah for Publishing received a large number of applications to participate in the 2011-2012 Abdulla Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah Award for Scientific Innovation, which help encourage Arab young people to pursue scientific research. This year’s award focuses on four main topics: Diabetes, peaceful use of atomic energy, prosthodontics and global warm-

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Open football tournament fter a successful inaugural tournament which had teams participating from Kuwait and the GCC countries, Real Betalbatim Football Club are all set once again for the second edition, which is scheduled on 27th October 2012. The tournament is organized in fond memory of Late Sheikha Huda Bader Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, and is a much awaited feature in the expatriate football circuit in Kuwait.

Among others who shone during the tournaments were teams: Vaxim Divar from Dubai (UAE), Fahaheel Bros. from Kuwait, CRC Chinchinim from Kuwait and DHL FC, Kuwait whose players were declared to receive special citation and prizes among the 22 teams who equally gave their best during the one day tournament which was cheered by hundreds of spectators and jointly expressed their fondness of celebrating the golden jubilee of Kuwait’s independence.

This year we are expecting many teams from Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar and Goa. Hence, we will have to minimize teams from Kuwait so it will be on first come first serve basis. A total of 22 teams participated in the fiesta which coincided with the 50 years of National Day Celebrations of Kuwait, last year, and more teams are envisaged to join in this year to claim the glittering trophy and valuable prizes.

Last year, Aldona Football Club took flight with the prestigious trophy to the United Arab Emirates to add to their collection, together with one of the ‘Man of the Match’ awards and the best goalkeeper award.

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he International Advertising Agencies (IAA) and Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait Fintas hosted a ‘joint venture’ called Shrimp & BBQ festival on Thursday 4th October 2012 in the Beach Garden at the Safir Hotel & Residences Fintas. The event was attended with VIP officials, advertising agencies, Hotel guests and visitors, public relations companies, consultancy firms and market researchers.

The General Manager of Safir Hotel & Residences Fintas Saif Eddin Mohammed together with the President of IAA Waleed Kanafani and Board Members of IAA-Kuwait chapter received and welcomed over 400 guests attending the event and wished them all to enjoy the night. Saif Mohammed also pointed out that Shrimp & BBQ festival is available every Thursday starting from October 4, 2012 at the beach garden of the hotel.

The festival combines celebration of the finest Gulf Shrimps dishes and BBQ, the world of Shish Taouks and Shish Kebabs.

The target is to create a unique and cozy venue at the Beach Garden, appealing to walk in guests as well as to external customers like open days for companies from Kuwait and neighborhoods with the objectives to be recognized as the best place combining good quality of Shisha, food, variety of beverage and a friendly , attentive, market style set up with helpful and professional service.

The President of the IAA Kuwait Chapter Waleed Kanafani and Board members of IAA-Kuwait chapter Adnan Saad, Marwan Farah, Michel Barakat, Zeina Mokaddam welcomed and extend their wishes to everybody, especially Kuwait’s advertising agencies and other company’s working in the same field.

Kanafani shared also to the audience that lots of events for IAA will be announced in future.

The event was very delightful with contemporary open space overlooking the Beach Bar area while smoking a Shisha pipe.

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Felicitous birthday celebration at IIS irthdays are celebrated for fun and enjoyment. September was a special month at India International School, as it was the birthdays of Mrs Shifana Muizz. KG (HOD), Council members Mrs Sapna Raouf and Saleem. The management of IIS has always been generous to celebrate the joyous occasion of its family member. The celebration was a pleasant one as it was an escape from mundane routine to refreshing and rejoicing the cherished moments.

The occasion was graced by the presence of the Director Malayil Moosa Koya, Principal F.M Basheer Ahmed, Vice Principal Narinder Kaur, council members, Mrs Sameena, Mrs

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Sophy John and Mrs Indulekha respectively.

A birthday surprise was well planned and carried out successfully. The celebration was a modest one which included cutting of cake, presentation of gift followed by lunch at a grand restaurant.

The members were thankful with the magnanimity of the management for making this day a memorable one. Infact it was a heartening occasion for everyone as they shared their lighter moments with each other and were able to know each other.

IOC holds Gandhidharsan photo exhibition andhidharsan photo exhibition organized by Indian Overseas Congress mesmerized thousands of people in Kuwait. The show was organized to encourage the new generation to study and disseminate the thoughts, values and ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and to spread the ideals of non-violence which is highly relevant at this time where violence, murders and terrorism prevails.

Hundreds of students and parents witnessed the exhibition from morning till evening throughout the two days.

250 photos from the childhood of Gandhiji to his tragic death were exhibited. His African life, India’s freedom struggle and other exclusive photos with world leaders were there.

The exhibition which lasted for two days from 5th and 6th Oct. 2012 at United Indian School, Abbasiya was inaugurated by Smt. Aleyamma Thomas, retired teacher who met Gandhiji in person and also a freedom fighter. Prof.

Mary Jose cut the inaugural ribbon at the exhibition.

Hundreds of elders and children witnessed the exhibition in high enthusiasm. Somu Mathew, Gen. Secretary of IOC made the Gandhi remembrance speech. Geevarghese Abraham presided and Raju Zakarias, welcomed the gathering. K.J.John and John Abraham gave the felicitations.

Gen Convenor Varghese Mamparamban proposed the vote of thanks and Joshy Ullatil compered the programme. Tony Mathew, Santhosh Eayo, Tomychen Puthiyaparmbil, Roy Kuttanad, Sunil Sonny, Raju Karunakaran, Sen M.P., Shaji Kavalam, Reji C. Ninan led various committees.

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WHAT’S ON

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

Embassy Information

GUST hosts KISR video conference on Communicating Science he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) hosted the Communicating Science Video Workshop, an event sponsored by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.

The videos featured a workshop hosted

by Dr. Howard Schneider, the Founding Dean of the State University of New York’s Stony Brook School of Journalism and Dr. Arthur Lupia, American political scientist and Professor at the University of Michigan. Dr Schneider’s workshop, titled “Distilling Your Message,” and Dr. Lupia’s lecture, “Why We Can’t Trust Our Intuitions: Communication as a Science”

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both discussed the importance of understanding how to keep a complex scientific message simple while keeping true to the science.

Dr. Schneider’s virtual workshop focused on how best to distill your message, emphasizing the importance of simplification and translating science in a way that caters to your intended audience. He explained that there are four basics ways to distill a message: know your audience, keep the message simple but accurate, don’t assume your audience is familiar with your subject, and eliminate jargon from your mes-

sage. Dr Schneider’s workshop stressed the importance of making sure your message has a point by emphasize on meaning instead of detail. By doing so, a message can be understood and appreciated across a variety of platforms of communication.

The second video, Dr. Lupia’s lecture, examined the biology behind how people make decisions. He explained that people can only balance a certain number of things at a time and that every time a person is exposed to new information it is competing with what that person may already be thinking about.

His message stressed that those hoping to share information with an audience should understand that people are limited to the amount of new information they can retain. Dr. Lupia’s concluded by stating that in order to properly communicate your message and persuade audiences effectively you have to base our technique on the sciences of attention and memory.

Jean Gabriel Peres honoured for his inspirational success story ean Gabriel Peres, the President and CEO of Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, has been chosen as ‘Travel Personality of the Year 2012’ in the influential TTG Asia Travel Awards.

The award is recognised as one of the ‘Oscars’ of the travel industry in Asia and PÈrËs was selected for his “outstanding achievement in transforming Movenpick Hotels & Resorts into an inspiring success story”.

“Together with his team, he has set an industry example of what having true passion and dedication to the industry, integrity to the brand and respect for people can do,” said the TTG Asia editorial team that chose PÈrËs for the prestigious award. “One of the most inspiring aspects of this success story is Peres’s ability to find the right talent and motivate them to real breakthroughs.”

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When Peres joined Movenpick Hotels & Resorts in 1999 he inherited a portfolio of 36 hotels. Now there are 76. By

2015 he aims to have 100 properties open worldwide with more than half of the company’s 30 new hotels in devel-

opment opening in Asia.

The Swiss upscale hospitality company currently manages two properties in Thailand, two in Vietnam and one each in the Philippines, India and Singapore, but in 2013 alone it will open new resorts in Pattaya, Thailand; Sanya, China; and the private island resort Huma Island Palawan in the Philippines.

The renovated Movenpick Resort & Spa Cebu and the historic Heritage Wing with 62 suites at the Movenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa are to open later this year.

“I wish to share this award with our Middle East and Asia team, headed by Chief Operating Officer Andreas Mattm¸ller.” said Mr Peres. “It is wonderful motivation for everyone as we expand throughout Asia.”

Peres has contributed significantly to the hospitality industry in Asia. Before

leading Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, he was Le MÈridien’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific where he played a key role establishing the group in the region.

“The TTG editorial team could not have picked a more deserving leader than Jean Gabriel PÈrËs for this award,” said Darren Ng, managing director, TTG Asia Media.

Peres added: “The award means a lot to me because I started my hospitality career in Asia and spent 12 very happy years here. I am looking forward to deepening my relationship with the region through the continued expansion of Movenpick Hotels & Resorts.”

Spellbinding annual day at LOA f winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Spring is always seen as a time of growth, renewal of new life being born and a metaphor for the start of better times. After an unbearable climatic phase of extreme heat, LOA was all set for the annual day celebrations on the beautiful evening of September 29.

Perfection is not attainable but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.

LOA always strives for excellence which is a journey and not a destination. It is not an occasional or episodic event. It is a relentless, ethical and value driven pursuit towards better performance and results every year.

LOA was honoured to have Mrs Souzan Al Khaleel, the head of KG and Primary department in the Ministry of Private Education as the chief guest for the auspicious occasion. With their benign presence the school sponsors, Sheik Omar Al Ghurair, Ibrahim Al Ghurair, Chairman DK Sharma and Dr Shobha Vadaddi added grace to the event.

Recitation of the holy Quran, special prayer for the occasion and the Kuwait and Indian national anthems metamorphosed the whole venue into a sanctum.

The cultural extravaganza was unveiled with a beautiful welcome song in perfect harmony from a celestial band. The orchestra miracle followed, held the audience spellbound in a beautiful resonance lingering in their minds. Graceful dancers invoked god’s blessings on the evening’s proceedings through a wonderfully woven welcome dance. It was a mesmerizing poetry of symmetrical and beautiful footsteps blending divine music in a cosmic tune.

The auspicious Lamp Lighting, the symbolic portrayal of the triumph of good over evil, was adorably done by the chief guest.

School principal, Mrs Sharma extended a warm welcome to the chief guest, the other dignitaries, LOA staff and the all time precious parent community. School’s annual

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report presented by the principal threw light on the commendable achievements of LOA which has already carved a remarkable name in the educational arena.

She extolled the management team for providing a comfortable learning environment for her students. The high expectations of the parents are not only being met but surpassed on a larger scale. The great effort taken by the industrious teachers is already rewarded by the outstanding performance of LOA students in international

non-scholastic fields.

The highlight of the programme, the felicitation of the talented students for excellence in both curricular and co-curricular activities was bestowed upon the respected chief guest. The vice principal, Sridhar announced the names of the students who bagged the precious prizes.

The chief guest appreciated the team spirit of the management, principal, teachers and the students who played a pivotal role in bringing stunning success to the

hardly wait to present their well knit pantomime on the sober theme evolution. It was a reminiscence of the past, a journey through the present, and a glance to the future. The mime portrayed man’s abuse of nature’s bounty of gifts.

The fantastic potpourri of classical dance forms by class VIII students fetched the audience not centuries but aeons back.

They took us for a cultural tour through India. The fabulous dance item from the French corner gave deep insights into the

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday.

Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF ARGENTINE The Embassy of Argentina requests all Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in order to register or update contact information. The embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the embassy.

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

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EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on short-stay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database.

Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, first-time applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF FRANCE The Embassy would like to inform that starting September 2nd, 2012, visa demands for France will be handled by the outsourcing company “Capago - MENA Company”. Capago - MENA’S Call Center will be operational starting Sunday August 26 for setting appointments beginning September 2nd (+965 22270555).

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EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on OCT 24, 2012 -Wednesday-Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami) ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk.

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assessment tests. The incredible results in IBT, IAS & ASSET reflect the academic enhancement of the school. The stupendous result is a testament to the dedication and commitment of all concerned. She added that enthralling performance of the sports stars in the inter school lawn tennis cluster tournament added diamonds to the treasure. Mrs Sharma sincerely appreciated the students who brought laurels to the school.

LOA has stamped its seal of authority in the firmament of Kuwait with academic excellence. She promised that even if LOA has proudly become a synonym for quality education, it will not sit on the laurels but strive for perfection in both scholastic and

school in a flash. She said that the programme was amazing and she really liked it.

The confident, eloquent anchors Maha Khot, Manu Hari, Charutha Joy, Duaa Ahamed, Sarah Mary Paul and Karan Sanal lead the audience throughout the journey.

The fascinating fusion dance by VI A students was a flamboyant toast to our motherland——the land which has many firsts to her credit. The sinuous movements executed by the Thiruvadira dancers from class VI B embodied lasya or the amorous charm and grace of the feminine. The enthusiastic dancers of VIIA did ample justice to the refined, rich raks sharki, the oriental dance form enviously possessed by the Arabic world. By the time, VII B students could

culture of the region. It was piece of meticulous point of work flowing with precise and easy movements. Robotics from the senior wing with their rapid and acrobatic movements kept the audience glued to their seats. The programme rose to a final crescendo with the grand finale, spontaneous and elegant Rajastani dance once again from the senior most students. They illuminated the stage with their reverberating footsteps. The whole episode bore a stamp of novelty and the parents left beaming with pride for, their children are part of an institution which is a jewel in the crown.

The head girl proposed a vote of thanks to the August gathering.

EMBASSY OF PERU The Embassy of Peru is located in Sharq, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Al Arabiya Tower, 6th Floor. Working days / hours: Sunday-Thursday /9 am - 4 pm. Residents in Kuwait interested in getting a visa to travel to Peru and companies attracted to invest in Peru are invited to visit the permanent exposition room located in the Embassy. For more information, please contact: (+965) 22267250/1.

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EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” - (+ 965) 972-79-206.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Killer Jellyfish 01:35 I’m Alive 02:25 Wild Animal Repo 03:15 Safari Vet School 03:40 Safari Vet School 04:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 04:55 Animal Battlegrounds 05:20 Dark Days In Monkey City 05:45 Wild Africa Rescue 06:10 Wild Africa Rescue 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Talk To The Animals 07:25 Growing Up...

08:15 Dogs 101 09:10 Bad Dog 10:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 11:00 World Wild Vet 11:55 Vet On The Loose 12:20 Vet On The Loose 12:50 Wildlife SOS 13:15 Rescue Vet 13:45 Animal Cops Houston 14:40 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 15:35 Dark Days In Monkey City 16:00 Talk To The Animals 16:30 America’s Cutest...

17:25 The Jeff Corwin Experience 18:20 Dogs 101 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Rescue Vet 20:10 Animal Battlegrounds 20:35 Dark Days In Monkey City 21:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 22:00 The Magic Of The Big Blue 22:55 Monster Bug Wars 23:50 Animal Cops Miami

00:30 Antiques Roadshow 01:25 Holmes On Homes 02:15 Holmes On Homes 03:05 Living In The Sun 04:00 Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 04:25 MasterChef 05:20 Living In The Sun 06:10 MasterChef 06:35 Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 07:00 MasterChef Australia 07:45 MasterChef Australia 08:30 Holmes On Homes 09:20 Holmes On Homes 10:10 Bargain Hunt 10:55 Antiques Roadshow 11:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 12:25 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 13:15 Twiggy’s Frock Exchange 14:05 10 Years Younger 14:55 Bargain Hunt 15:40 Antiques Roadshow 16:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:10 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 18:00 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 18:30 Gino D’acampo: An Italian In Mexico 18:55 Rhodes Across Italy 19:40 Coastal Kitchen 20:05 Antiques Roadshow 21:00 Open House 21:25 Holmes On Homes 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 23:45 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow

00:00 Psychic Detectives 00:30 Psychic Detectives 01:00 Snapped 01:30 Snapped 02:00 Born To Kill 03:00 Vanished With Beth Holloway 04:00 Psychic Detectives 04:30 Psychic Detectives 05:00 Snapped 05:30 Snapped 06:00 The First 48 07:00 Crime Town USA 07:30 Parking Wars 08:00 Snapped 09:00 Crime Stories 10:00 The FBI Files 11:00 Vanished With Beth Holloway 12:00 Born To Kill 13:00 Psychic Detectives 13:30 Psychic Detectives 14:00 The First 48 15:00 Crime Town USA 15:30 Parking Wars 16:00 Snapped 17:00 Crime Stories 18:00 The FBI Files 19:00 The First 48 20:00 Psychic Detectives 20:30 Psychic Detectives 21:00 Vanished With Beth Holloway 22:00 Snapped 22:30 Snapped 23:00 The Devil You Know

00:15 River Monsters: Lair Of Giants 01:10 Body Invaders 02:05 Rattlesnake Republic 03:00 Mythbusters 03:55 Border Security 04:20 Dealers 05:15 How Do They Do It? 05:40 How It’s Made 06:05 Extreme Fishing 07:00 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 07:50 Mythbusters 08:45 Ultimate Survival 09:40 Border Security 10:05 Dealers 10:55 How It’s Made 11:25 River Monsters: Lair Of Giants 12:20 Body Invaders 13:15 Rattlesnake Republic 14:10 Border Security 14:35 Dealers 15:30 Ultimate Survival 16:25 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 17:20 Extreme Fishing 18:15 Mythbusters 19:10 How Do They Do It? 19:40 How It’s Made 20:05 Border Security 20:35 Dealers 21:30 Deception With Keith Barry 22:25 Mythbusters 23:20 Mythbusters

00:30 01:15 02:05 02:50 03:40 04:30

Deadliest Catch Science Of The Movies Cafe Racer Northwest Wild Way Of Life City Chic

05:20 Alaska: Surviving The Last Frontier 06:10 Science Of The Movies 07:00 Sunrise Earth 07:55 Northwest Wild 08:40 Way Of Life 09:30 How Do They Do It? 09:55 City Chic 10:40 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 11:30 Science Of The Movies 12:15 Northwest Wild 13:05 Way Of Life 13:50 Alaska: Surviving The Last Frontier 14:35 Cafe Racer 15:00 Cafe Racer 15:25 City Chic 16:15 Deadliest Catch 17:00 Motor City Motors 17:50 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 18:40 Science Of The Movies 19:30 Cafe Racer 20:20 City Chic

00:35 Mega Builders 01:25 Stuck With Hackett 01:50 Stuck With Hackett 02:15 Moon Machines 03:05 The Gadget Show 03:35 Sport Science 04:25 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 05:15 Scrapheap Challenge 06:05 Mega Builders 07:00 Catch It Keep It 07:50 Moon Machines 08:40 Head Rush 08:43 Weird Connections 09:12 How Does That Work?

09:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 10:30 The Gadget Show 10:55 The Gadget Show 11:20 Mega Builders 12:10 Scrapheap Challenge 13:00 Catch It Keep It 13:50 Moon Machines 14:45 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Weird Connections 16:32 How Does That Work?

17:00 Mega Builders 17:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 18:40 Scrapheap Challenge 19:30 Space Pioneer 20:20 Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design 21:10 The Gadget Show

00:10 Kim Possible 01:00 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 01:50 Replacements 02:40 Emperor’s New School 03:30 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 04:20 Replacements 05:10 Kim Possible 06:00 Phineas And Ferb 06:15 Suite Life On Deck 07:05 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 07:30 Recess 07:55 So Random 08:20 Good Luck Charlie 08:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:10 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:25 Handy Manny 09:35 The Hive 09:45 Mouk 10:00 Jonas Los Angeles 10:25 So Random 10:50 Hannah Montana 11:15 Fish Hooks 11:40 Kim Possible 12:05 Shake It Up 12:30 Wizards Of Waverly Place 12:55 Phineas And Ferb 13:20 Hannah Montana 13:45 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 14:10 So Random 14:35 Suite Life On Deck 15:00 Austin And Ally 15:25 Phineas And Ferb 16:15 Jessie 16:40 A.N.T. Farm 17:00 Good Luck Charlie 17:30 My Babysitter’s A Vampire 17:55 Suite Life On Deck 18:20 Austin And Ally 18:45 Phineas And Ferb 18:55 Phineas And Ferb 19:10 A.N.T. Farm 19:35 Good Luck Charlie 20:00 Jessie 20:25 Suite Life On Deck

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:45 Guy’s Big Bite 02:10 Guy’s Big Bite 02:35 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 03:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:15 Guy’s Big Bite 04:40 Outrageous Food 05:05 Crave 05:30 Chopped 06:10 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Iron Chef America 07:50 Barefoot Contessa 08:40 Crave 09:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 09:30 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 09:55 Cooking For Real 10:45 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 11:10 Unwrapped 11:35 United Tastes Of America 12:00 Chopped 12:50 Guy’s Big Bite 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:30 Crave 14:55 Charly’s Cake Angels 15:20 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 15:45 Food(Ography) 16:10 Unwrapped 16:35 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Guy’s Big Bite 18:40 Unique Sweets 19:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 22:00 Unique Sweets 22:50 Kid In A Candy Store 23:40 Guy’s Big Bite

01:15 01:30 03:10 05:10 07:00 08:30 11:00 12:30 14:00

Mgm’s Big Screen Rolling Thunder Thieves Like Us Toy Soldiers The Setup It’s A Mad Mad World Submarine X - 1 Rage (1992) Carry On Columbus

15:30 17:00 18:30 18:45 20:25 22:00 23:35

Blacula Mannequin Mgm’s Big Screen Ned Kelly Bermuda Grace A Star For Two Coming Home

00:15 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 00:45 By Any Means 01:40 Wheel2Wheel 02:35 Which Way To 03:30 Don’t Tell My Mother 04:25 Long Way Down 05:20 Bondi Rescue: Bali 05:45 Bondi Rescue: Bali 06:15 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 06:40 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 07:10 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 07:35 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 08:05 By Any Means 09:00 Wheel2Wheel 09:55 Which Way To 10:50 Don’t Tell My Mother 11:45 Long Way Down 12:40 Bondi Rescue 13:05 Bondi Rescue 13:35 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 14:55 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 15:25 By Any Means 16:20 Ultimate Traveller 17:15 Which Way To 18:10 Don’t Tell My Mother 19:05 Long Way Down 20:00 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 20:30 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 21:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet

00:00 Megastructures 01:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 02:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 03:00 A Traveler’s Guide To The Planets 04:00 Jurassic C.S.I. 05:00 Shark Men 06:00 Great Migrations 07:00 Departures 08:00 Megastructures 09:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 10:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 11:00 Great Migrations 12:00 Jurassic C.S.I. 13:00 Shark Men 14:00 Great Migrations 15:00 Departures 16:00 Megastructures 17:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 18:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 19:00 A Traveler’s Guide To The Planets 20:00 Evolutions 21:00 Shark Men 22:00 Hooked 23:00 Departures

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

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

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

Philly Undercover Monster Fish Kingdom Of The Forest Ultimate Predator Mother Croc The Living Edens Secret Shark Pits Kingdom Of The Forest Ultimate Predator Mother Croc Dangerous Encounters Space Crab Hunter Hunted Hooked Untamed Americas World’s Deadliest GPU Prehistoric Predators Phantom Wolverine City Of Ants Hunter Hunted Kingdom Of The Forest Ultimate Predator Mother Croc Dangerous Encounters Space Crab

Hell-18 Fright Night-PG15 Legendary Assassin-PG15 Anaconda-PG15 Kull The Conqueror-PG15 The Rocketeer-PG15 Across The Hall-PG15 Kull The Conqueror-PG15 Fatal Secrets-PG15 Across The Hall-PG15 Faster-PG15 Piranha-R

The Way Back-PG15 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 The Borrowers-PG Spud-PG15 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 Black Forest-PG15 16 To Life-PG15 Love Hurts-PG15 Teen Spirit-PG15 Fast Five-PG15 A Separation-PG15 Bridesmaids-18

02:00 The Ricky Gervais Show 03:00 30 Rock 03:30 Breaking In 04:00 Two And A Half Men 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 06:00 Friends 06:30 Til Death 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Two And A Half Men 08:30 30 Rock 09:30 Cougar Town 10:30 Til Death 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Friends 12:30 Two And A Half Men 14:00 Breaking In 15:00 Cougar Town 16:30 Friends 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 30 Rock 18:30 Breaking In 19:00 Cougar Town 19:30 New Girl 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The Boondocks 22:30 The Big C 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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

White Collar Breaking Bad Homeland Grimm Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice White Collar Emmerdale Coronation Street Castle The Ellen DeGeneres Show Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Castle White Collar Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Castle Bunheads Franklin & Bash Combat Hospital

01:00 The Untouchables-PG15 03:00 Legendary Assassin-PG15 05:00 The Recruit-PG15 07:00 Master And CommanderPG15 09:30 Tremors-PG15 11:15 The Recruit-PG15 13:15 Enter The Phoenix-PG15 15:00 Tremors-PG15 16:45 Kingdom Of Heaven-PG15 19:15 Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown-18 21:00 The Godfather II-18

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

01:00 03:00 05:00 06:45 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Nothing To Lose-PG15 The Family Stone-PG15 The Ladykillers-PG15 Melinda And Melinda-PG15 Flipped-PG Letters To Juliet-PG15 My Last Five Girlfriends-PG15 How Do You Know-PG15 Letters To Juliet-PG15 The Answer Man-PG15 Rebound-PG Rag Tale-18

Jane Eyre-PG15 Witness-PG15 Desperately Seeking Santa Miracle-PG15 Light It Up-PG15 An Invisible Sign Of My Own Miles From Nowhere-PG15 Light It Up-PG15 The Game Of Their Lives The Color Of Money-PG15 I Capture The Castle-18 The Roommate-PG15

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

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

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

SHARQIA-3 ARBITRAGE :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SUN+TUE+WED WON’T BACK DOWN :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D ARBITRAGE :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-1 ARBITRAGE :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-2 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) FRI AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FANAR-4 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

Pelican Blood-18 Battle For Terra-PG The Bad News Bears (2005)-

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

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

Courageous-PG15 The Smurfs-PG The Nanny Express-PG15 Puss In Boots-PG Senna-PG15 The Smurfs-PG The Help-PG15 Extract-PG15 The Tree Of Life-PG15

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

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

01:00 Witness-PG15 03:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG 05:00 Kung Fu Panda 2-PG 07:00 Glee: The Concert Movie09:00 Michael Jackson: The Life Of An Icon-PG15 11:30 Winnie The Pooh-FAM 12:45 Country Strong-PG15 14:45 Mars Needs Moms-PG 16:15 Michael Jackson: The Life Of An Icon-PG15 18:45 Captain America: The First Avenger-PG15 21:00 A Separation-PG15 23:15 Unknown-PG15

00:00 D’fenders-PG 02:00 The Three Bears: The Amazing Adventurers-FAM 04:00 Emperor’s Secret-PG 06:00 Treasure Buddies-PG 08:15 Supertramps-FAM 10:00 Legend Of The Guardians-PG 12:00 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed-PG 14:00 The Lucky Dragon-PG 16:00 Marco Antonio-PG 18:00 Legend Of The Guardians-PG 20:00 Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back-PG 22:00 The Lucky Dragon-PG

00:05 02:00 03:45 PG 05:45 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 17:45 20:15 22:00

KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (04/10/2012 TO 10/10/2012) SHARQIA-1 THE APPARITION :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

01:00 Trans World Sport 02:00 Wake The Line 02:30 Kiteboard World Cup 03:00 Downtown Showdown 03:30 Premier League Snooker 07:00 Darts Grand Prix 11:00 Super League 13:00 Trans World Sport 14:00 Premier League Snooker 17:03 Challenge Series Golf Highlights 17:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 18:30 ITM Cup 21:00 Live Darts Grand Prix

00:00 WWE Experience 01:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 02:00 Darts 06:00 Kiteboard World Cup 06:30 Downtown Showdown 07:00 Top 14 09:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 10:00 Challenge Series Golf Highlights 10:30 Live ITM Cup 12:30 Darts 16:30 ITM Cup 18:30 Trans World Sport 19:30 Super League 21:30 PGA European Tour Weekly 22:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 23:00 Trans World Sport OSN SPORT 3 02:00 Golfing World 03:00 Top 14 Highlights 03:30 Asian Tour Highlights

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AVENUES-3 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D

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

AVENUES-4 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-5 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D

TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED 12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AVENUES-9 DARLING COMPANION :2D 1:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital)3 : 4 5 PM DARLING COMPANION :2D 6:00 PM DARLING COMPANION :2D 8:15 PM DARLING COMPANION :2D 10:30 PM DARLING COMPANION :2D 12:45 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-10 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE WORDS :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 AM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

360 º- 15 THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.1 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

AL-KOUT.2 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D ARBITRAGE :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D

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

AL-KOUT.3 DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

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

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

AL-KOUT.4 THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D THE WORDS :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

BAIRAQ-1 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D DREDD :3D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D BAIT (3D- Digital) TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

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

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

BAIRAQ-2 DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE APPARITION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE APPARITION :2D THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

BAIRAQ-3 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 4:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

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

360º- 4 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) 12:45 PM PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) 2:45 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital)4 : 4 5 PM PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) 6:45 PM PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) 9:00 PM PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) 11:15 PM PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) 1:15 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 5 ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) FRI+SAT ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 6 DREDD :3D DREDD :3D DREDD :3D DREDD :3D DREDD :3D DREDD :3D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

360 º-10(VIP-2) TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D

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

1:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:30 PM 11:00 PM

PLAZA TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D

4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM

LAILA TAKEN2 :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D TAKEN2 :2D

3:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM

AJIAL.1 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D THAANDAVAM :2D(Tamil) AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D

4:00 PM 7:00 PM 10:00 PM

AJIAL.2 RUN BABY RUN: 2D (Malayalam) RUN BABY RUN: 2D (Malayalam) RUN BABY RUN: 2D (Malayalam)

3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM

AJIAL.3 BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi)

3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:00 PM

AJIAL.4 REBEL :2D(Telugu) REBEL :2D(Telugu) REBEL :2D(Telugu)

3:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

METRO-1 RUN BABY RUN: 2D (Malayalam) RUN BABY RUN: 2D (Malayalam) RUN BABY RUN: 2D (Malayalam)

3:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

METRO-2 THAANDAVAM :2D(Tamil) THAANDAVAM :2D(Tamil) NO FRI REBEL :2D(Telugu) FRI REBEL :2D(Telugu) GRANADA REBEL (Telugu) REBEL (Telugu) REBEL (Telugu)

3:30 PM 6:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:45 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

URGENTLY REQUIRED Sales Executives (2 Nos.) For a Reputed Building Materials Company in Kuwait

• Valid Kuwait Driving License is essential with transferable visa No.18 • Knowledge of English is must and Arabic speaking will be an advantage.

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Interested candidates please send your CV to Email: aluglass@aluglasskuwait.com Fax No: 24725248

Airlines JZR QTR JZR RJA GFA UAE ETD OMA FDB MSR RBG QTR JZR KAC THY DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD GFA IRA UAE MEA JZR MSR MSC JZR MSR KAC FDB QTR SVA KAC RJA KAC QTR JZR ETD JZR UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY KAC QTR SYR KAC KAC FDB KAC MSR MSC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK KLM UAE ETD ABY QTR AIC FDB GFA UAL JZR DLH MSR THY PIA

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 10/10/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 3553 ALEXANDRIA 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 605 ISFAHAN 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 619 LAR 871 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 401 ALEXANDRIA 561 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 562 AMMAN 640 AMMAN 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 535 CAIRO 303 ABU DHABI 787 RIYADH 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 542 CAIRO 144 DOHA 341 DAMASCUS 166 PARIS 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 104 LONDON 624 SOHAG 403 ASSIUT 325 NAJAF 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 614 BAHRAIN 742 DAMMAM 572 MUMBAI 774 RIYADH 389 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 229 COLOMBO 415 AMSTERDAM 859 DUBAI 307 ABU DHABI 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 981 CHENNAI 59 DUBAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 614 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 205 LAHORE

Time 0:15 0:20 0:30 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 3:10 3:20 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:10 4:35 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:35 7:15 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:15 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:20 9:30 10:00 10:40 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:25 12:00 12:25 13:30 13:40 13:45 14:25 14:30 14:30 14:55 15:05 15:15 16:00 16:35 16:40 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:59

Airlines AIC UAL DLH KLM PIA THY UAE FDB OMA RBG ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR RJA JZR GFA THY KAC BAW FDB ABY JZR KAC KAC UAE QTR KAC FDB ETD IRA GFA KAC IRA KAC MEA JZR UAE MSR MSC KAC JZR JZR FDB MSR KAC KAC SVA RJA JZR QTR KAC KAC KAC ETD JZR JZR QTR UAE GFA ABY UAL SVA JZR QTR FDB SYR MSR MSC JZR KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA GFA DHX ALK KLM ABY ETD KAC UAE QTR KAC KAC QTR AXB FDB GFA KAC JZR

Depature Flights on Wednesday 10/10/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 411 AMSTERDAM 240 SIALKOT 773 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 644 MUSCAT 3554 ALEXANDRIA 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 643 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 671 DUBAI 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 101 LONDON 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 604 ISFAHAN 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 618 LAR 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 872 DUBAI 623 SOHAG 404 ASSIUT 785 JEDDAH 786 RIYADH 176 DUBAI 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 673 DUBAI 617 DOHA 501 JEDDAH 641 AMMAN 324 AL NAJAF 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 613 BAHRAIN 741 DAMMAM 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 538 CAIRO 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 982 BAHRAIN 511 RIYADH 266 BEIRUT 145 DOHA 64 DUBAI 342 DAMASCUS 607 LUXOR 402 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 361 COLOMBO 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 343 CHENNAI 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 222 BAHRAIN 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 415 DAMMAM 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 381 DELHI 860 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 147 DOHA 390 MANGALORE 60 DUBAI 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 528 ASSIUT

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

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

FOR RENT New residential floors in Salmiya and Dasman. Super Deluxe in new building, with balcony, sea view, other features.

For more details call 97878129 ACCOMMODATION accommodation available, near Jabriya Indian School, Jabriya. Central A/C flat, decent Muslim couple or two working ladies only. Call 66795253. (C 4173) 10-10-2012 Sharing accommodation in Khaifan bloc 4 from Nov 1st in one room, KD 70 only for one working lady. Contact: 60413536.

8-10-2012 Apartment to share decent working ladies, Salmiyah, restaurant street, exactly behind Platinum. Contact 66920590. (C 4161) 7-10-2012

high roof, 2008 model.

Lancer 2009 GLX. Phone: 66052331. (C 4166) 8-10-2012 Used 2 sofa bed, color brown, good condition, in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. Price each KD 15. Call 66762737.

(C 4163) 6-10-2012 Galant 1997 model, blue color, good condition, A/C, price KD 400, passing valid for one year. Contact: 96975726.

SITUATION VACANT Live-in maid wanted for a small family in Farwaniya.

Full time.

Contact: 50833103.

10-10-2012

FOR SALE

Complete household furniture, crockery, electronics, salon items, going for a give -away price. Call: 50693289. (C 4167) 9-10-2012 Box delivery van Nissan

SITUATION WANTED Australian Engineer with two-Engineering (Civil/Elect) & four Master Degrees (Engg/Prog Mgmt/ Education/MBA). 23 years experience in Dubai/ Qatar/

Australia, looking project Mgr / QHSE Mgr job.

Contact: 65695468.

(C 4160) 7-10-2012 CHANGE OF NAME I, Mr Achankunju Baby, son of Mr Baby Mathew, Ancy Villa, Bharanickavu P.O., Alappuzha District, Kerala, holder of Indian Passport No: J4441990 hereby changed my name to Mathew Achankunju Baby. (C 4174) 10-10-2012 I have changed my name from Maria Vilfrida Alzira Monteiro to Alzira Wilfrida Maria Monteiro as per Gazette No. U-9920.

(C 4169) I, Faustino Rosario Monteiro holder of Indian Passport No: F2522327 have change my name to alias Bobby to Faustino Rosario Bobby Monteiro as per Gazette No. U-9921.

(C 4170) I have changed my name from Vita Quirino Monteiro to Vita De Jusus Maria

Monteiro as per Gazette No. X-18770. (C 4171)

TUITION A 22 years (moderator and examiner) highly experienced Math, teacher in IB, SAT ’s, IGCSE available.

Contact: 66920590.

(C 4162) 7-10-2012 MATRIMONIAL 24 year old daughter BSc passed Pakistani/ Canadian dual citizen. Highly qualified professionals from Pakistan age up to 29 years can contact at email: d3sak@yahoo.com (C 4172) 9-10-2012 LOST Indian Passport, name: Shaikh Ali, No: F3606335, date of issue: 10/05/2005, date of birth: 20/06/1981, has been lost, finder please contact: 69694619/ (C 4164) 7-10-2012

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

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Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

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Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Kaizen center

25716707

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

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

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

ST TAT TE OF KUW K WA AIT

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GENERAL GEN OF CIVIL AV VIA ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT

WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

Humid weather especially over coastal areas with light to moderate south easterly to southerly wind, with speed of 12 - 32 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear

BY Y DA AY:

Humid weather especially over coastal areas with light to moderate southerly to south easterly wind, with speed of 10 - 32 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear

WA ARNING

No Current Warnings arnin a

KUW WA AIT CITY

40 °C

27 °C

KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

41 °C

23 °C

22456536

NUW WA AISEEB

41 °C

22 °C

Sharq

22465401

WAFRA A

43 °C

22 °C

Salmiya

25746401

SALMI

41 °C

21 °C

Jabriya

25316254

ABDAL LY

42 °C

22 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

JAL ALIY YA AH

41 °C

23 °C

Bayan

25388462

FA AILAKA

36 °C

26 °C

AHMADI POR RT

32 °C

27 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

33 °C

31 °C

W.Hawally

22630786

WARBA A A - BUBY YAN A

34 °C

29 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

DA AY

DA ATE T

West Jahra

24772608

Weednesday

10/10

Thursday

11/10

Friday

12/10

humid over coasts

Saturday

13/10

hot + raising dust

SFC. CHART

09/10/2012 1200 UTC

4 DA AY YS FORECAST Temperatures WEA AT THER

Wind Speed

Wind Direction

MAX.

MIN.

humid + scattered clouds

40 °C

23 °C

S-SE

10 - 32 km/h

humid + scattered clouds

39 °C

22 °C

VRB-SE

08 - 26 km/h

38 °C

21 °C

VRB-SE

08 - 28 km/h

37 °C

20 °C

NW-N

15 - 40 km/h

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Fajr

04:28

MAX. Temp.

41 °C

24892674

Sunrise

05:47

MIN. Temp.

22 °C

Zuhr

11:35

MAX. RH

74 %

24719048

Asr

14:54

MIN. RH

05 %

N.Kheitan

24710044

Sunset

17:23

MAX. Wind

S 43 km/h

Isha

18:39

TOT TAL AL RA AINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

Fintas

23900322

PRA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

00 mm V1.00

09/10/12 14:30 UTC

T1.06

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

BY Y NIGHT:

MIN. N. EXP P.

Al-Omariya

Al-Shohada’a

Fax: 24348714

MAX. REC.

Firdous

22418714

Ext.: 26 2627 - 2630

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours

ST TAT TION

Al-Madena

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

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

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 20120

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Kid Rock helps VP hopeful Ryan, risks irking fans id Rock hasn’t been shy about supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan, even if it costs him some fans. The madein-Michigan rock musician and rapper introduced Ryan during a rally Monday night in the Detroit suburb of Rochester. Born Robert Ritchie, Rock told the raucous crowd gathered at Oakland University that he believes “you have to stand for something” even if it may alienate a few fans. Rock added that it was OK to disagree, particularly in a music business that he says “leans very left.” He quieted the crowd a bit when he shared his pride over the election of Barack Obama as the first black president. But he quickly added he was sorry Obama “didn’t do a better job.”

K

Bollywood singer’s daughter commits suicide

DeVito

olice say the daughter of a popular Hindi film singer has died from a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide in Mumbai. Commissioner Krishna Prakash said police were investigating the death of Varsha, daughter of Bollywood’s most prolific singer, Asha Bhosle. Bhosle was away in Singapore for a regional film award ceremony when the shooting occurred. Friends and relatives who attended Varsha’s cremation early yesterday said she had been suffering from depression for several years.

Asha Bhosle began her career in 1943 as a playback singer pre-recording songs so Bollywood actors could lip sync to them in their films. She has sung more than 12,000 songs in her seven-decade career. In 2011, the Guinness Book of World Records named Bhosle the world’s most recorded musical artist.

and

Perlman separate

P

anny DeVito and Rhea Perlman are separating. The 67-year-old actor and the ‘Cheers’ actress - who met in 1970 and tied the knot in 1982 - are splitting after 30 years of marriage, a representative for the couple has confirmed to gossip website TMZ.com.

Danny and Rhea, 64, met when she went to see off-Broadway play, ‘The Shrinking Bride’, which the ‘Twins’ actor was appearing in. The couple who have three children Lucy, Grace and Jacob, together - founded production company Jersey Films, which is behind 1994 crime movie ‘Pulp Fiction’ as well as ‘Garden State’ and ‘Freedom Writers’. In 1996 fantasy film ‘Matilda’ Danny starred as Harry Wormwood with Rhea portraying his on-screen wife Zinnia Wormwood.

Danny and Rhea are both known for their short statures and the ‘Batman Returns’ star previously admitted his five-foot height may have felt like a disadvantage when he was a teenager, but it made him learn other skills to impress ladies. He explained: “I learned how to dance real good. I had to, because [girls didn’t want to] slow dance [with me].”

D

Osbourne almost steps on a turtle elly Osbourne almost stepped on a turtle while walking on the beach. The ‘Fashion Police’ presenter was taking a stroll on the sand in Hawaii where she has been enjoying a shirt break - but she was so distracted by the beautiful views of the sea she didn’t notice the aquatic reptile was right in front of her. She wrote on her twitter page: “Look what I almost tripped over yesterday on the beach! This turtle was so peaceful/beautiful! (sic)” Although she’s been having a great time, Kelly did suffer a sun screen mishap which left her in agony. She tweeted: “Sun screen in the eye is not fun! #ItsBurning (sic)” The 27-year-old star was in Hawaii with her boyfriend Matthew Mosshart - the brother of The Kills musician Alison Mosshart - and her brother Jack and his fiancee Lisa and their seven-month-old daughter Pearl. The siblings’ mother Sharon also joined them at the luxury resort.

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Lawrence

won’t lose weight for her career

he ‘Hunger Games’ actress hates the pressure in Hollywood for female stars to conform to an ideal of beauty and be a certain size and she refuses to be made to feel overweight for eating normally. Jennifer ranted: “Oh god, yes, I’m so tied of the lollipops. I mean, if I looked like that I wouldn’t be tired of it, obviously, but it’s hilarious, the way I’m supposedly the overweight one. “Like, they (the paparazzi) got me at the movies yesterday and the caption read something like, ‘Curvy star cannot wait to dig into a tub of popcorn’. I mean come on! I’m just a normal girl who likes to eat! At least they got me using me hands.” The 22-year-old blonde beauty takes the responsibility of playing teen idol Katniss Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’ very seriously and wants to be a good role model to her fans, but admitted she has little in common with her tough onscreen alter-ego and is far from a natural leader in real life. Jennifer told the UK edition of VOGUE magazine: “I guess people expect that of me, and if I had to kill something for survival, maybe I would and yeah, maybe I was a tomboy when I was growing up. But I’m definitely a girl now ... Of course, there’s a responsibility I’m aware of. In one sense, luckily, it comes naturally because I can’t stay out beyond midnight. I don’t really have an exciting life. “But if you mean, am I natural leader? No. I just appear that way.”

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Kidman feels ‘awkward’

Jada thought she’d

on the red carpet icole Kidman feels “very awkward” posing on the red carpet. The 45year-old actress has admitted she gets nervous being photographed in revealing haute couture dresses at events and is especially insecure about her stomach, even though her body confidence has grown over time. Nicole told the November issue of Harper’s Bazaar: “I find standing and posing for photos very awkward. Red-carpet truths!” “As you get older ... all of that other stuff becomes less important. Like, I’ve always had a little belly. I mean, now that I’m 45, they don’t say, ‘Oh, she’s pregnant!’ as much. “But I’ve got skinny arms and legs, and then I’ve got a little belly.” ‘The Paperboy’ actress - who has Sunday Rose, four, and 22-monthold Faith with country singer Keith Urban - said her young girls are already taking a keen interest in fashion and she plans to hand down her designer pieces to whichever daughter proves to be more of a trendsetter. She revealed: “Whichever daughter loves clothes more will get dibs on those”, before adding that Sunday is currently the biggest fashionista and likes to watch her mother trying on dresses in the mirror. As for the iconic Dior dress the flame-haired beauty wore to the 1997 Oscars, Nicole said: “It’s packed in a box with tissue paper, and it will be donated to a museum.”

be dead by 21

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ada Pinkett Smith thought she’d be dead by the age of 21. The ‘Madagascar 3’ star who raises Trey, 19, Jaden, 14, and 11-year-old Willow with husband Will Smith admits turning 40 in September 2011 was “surreal” because she grew up in such a tough neighborhood, she never expected to live so long. She said: “I grew up in a druginfested neighborhood where you walk out each day and you just hope that you make it. I came from a war zone. “There was a possibility that I wouldn’t make it past 21 - that was the reality. When I turned 40 it was a surreal moment because I had never imagined reaching 40. I looked at my husband and said, ‘Oh my God, I’m 40! What am I going to do now?’ So yes, it does put things in perspective.” Jada - who was raised by her drugaddicted mother Adrienne and grandmother Marion - is thankful her own children don’t have the upbringing she had and she has no idea how she would cope if she were in her mother’s situation. She told You magazine:”I’d be terrified if I had to raise my kids in the environment I grew up in. When I look at them, I see them flourishing at such young ages and I wish to God I could have had the luxury to sit back and think, ‘Mum, I want to go out and get my vocal lessons today because I have this new song that I want to write.’ “What I had to think about was, ‘Oh man, I wonder what I’m going to eat tonight because there’s no food here. How am I going to get to school? And is my mum going to be OK today? Will this be one more day she survives her addiction?’ That’s the kind of stuff I had to think about at 11.” —Agencies

J Hemsworth is ‘fascinated’ by his baby hris Hemsworth wants to spend all his spare time with his “fascinating” baby. The ‘Thor’ star and his wife, Spanish-born actress Elsa Pataky, welcomed India Rose into the world in May and Chris insists his five-month-old daughter is the most important thing in his life. When asked what he does to relax, he said: “At the moment, I hang out with my little baby. It’s fascinating watching her; every day there’s something different. “Now she’s becoming more and more aware of the world and that’s incredible. Also I surf, train and see movies: regular stuff. My wife and I are pretty outdoorsy and adventurous; we like to keep moving.” The couple met through mutual friends in 2010, marrying in December the same year and the pair have kept their relationship out of the public eye for the last two years. Chris, 29, also avoids social networking sites like twitter because he values his privacy. He added in an interview with Prestige magazine: “I think there’s a danger of being overexposed with that stuff. The mystery of who you are is what keeps people interested in wanting to see you on the screen. “Also, it’s easier for them to believe you as that character if they don’t know too much about you. It’s hard not to be overexposed these days with the internet, and especially when you do a tour for something like ‘The Avengers’ or ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’, where you’re contracted to do an incredible amount of press. “Besides, I’d rather be hanging out with my family than updating to people I don’t know about what I had for lunch. Also, there are so many fake ones out there, which is pretty frustrating.”

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

lifestyle M U S I C

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M O V I E S

French, Austrian films in Oscars foreign long-list

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This film image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez, center, in “Argo,” a rescue thriller about the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.—AP

Review: Ambitious ‘Argo’ one of year’s best films A

movie about the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis probably doesn’t sound like it would be a laugh riot or should be - but that’s just one of the many ways in which “Argo” is a glorious, gripping surprise. Directing his third feature, Ben Affleck has come up with a seamless blend of detailed international drama and breathtaking suspense, with just the right amount of dry humor to provide context and levity. He shows a deft handling of tone, especially in making difficult transitions between scenes in Tehran, Washington and Hollywood, but also gives one of his strongest performances yet in front of the camera as the film’s star.

It’s exciting to see the confidence with which Affleck expands his ambition and scope as a filmmaker. His first two movies, “Gone Baby Gone” (2007) and “The Town” (2010), were both smart and suspenseful, but both were intimate crime thrillers set within the familiarity of his hometown of Boston. “Argo” reveals his further mastery of pacing and storytelling, even as he juggles complicated set pieces, various locations and a cast featuring 120 speaking parts.

And the story he’s telling sounds impossible, but it’s absolutely true (with a few third-act tweaks to magnify the drama).

Finally declassified in 1997, the daring res-

cue mission depicted here still didn’t make a huge splash even then. (Chris Terrio’s intelligent script is based on a selection from “The Master of Disguise” by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman.)

It’s a fascinating tale of bravery, international friendship and plain old moxie, one that’s serious-minded but crowd-pleasing.

Affleck cleverly foreshadows the Hollywood angle with a prelude told in storyboard form, efficiently providing background on the mounting dissent in Iran over the United States’ sympathetic stance toward the Shah. When protestors stormed the US embassy in Tehran - recreated here frighteningly, viscerally - 52 people became hostages for the first of 444 days. But six employees sneaked out a back door and sought refuge at the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber).

They became known as “the houseguests,” and with each passing week they spent there, their safety was in increasing danger. Surely their absence would be discovered, with deadly consequences not just for them but for their Canadian allies.

Someone had to get them out ... but how?

Enter Tony Mendez, a longtime CIA operative who specialized in such rescues - only he’d never had an assignment this perilous

before. With the long, shaggy hair and full beard of the era (which makes him a dead ringer for Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters), Affleck plays the part of the quiet, worldweary force who comes up with the craziest of schemes.

Mendez would fly to Tehran under a false name and pretend he’d come there with the six US officials. They’d all pose as a film crew scouting locations for a sci-fi action flick called “Argo.” With fake passports in hand (provided by the cooperative Canadian government), they’d walk right out the front door, get on a plane to Switzerland and fly home to safety. As Mendez’s boss at the CIA (a commanding Bryan Cranston) puts it, “This is the best bad idea we have.”

It could all go wrong at any second, of course, with the capriciousness of those in power creating a dangerous variable. But the Americans had to know their parts inside and out, and the film at least had to look real enough to fool people - and for that, Mendez turns to an old friend, makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman, with a wonderful mix of warmth and sarcasm). Chambers in turn hooks him up with veteran Hollywood producer Lester Siegel (a hilariously no-nonsense Alan Arkin), who puts the wheels in motion to give “Argo”

the necessary authenticity: big ads in the trades, a production office on the Warner Bros. lot, even the media circus of a script read-through.

A cheesy “Star Wars” rip-off, “Argo” would have been total schlock if it had actually seen the light of day, and that’s a major source of humor that’s inside-Hollywood without being alienating. As Siegel says, if he’s going to make a fake movie, “it’s going to be a fake hit.” Working with a top-notch production team, including cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and composer Alexandre Desplat, Affleck creates a vivid ‘70s vibe while moving fluidly between these intersecting storylines. While steeped in the trends and filmmaking style of the decade, “Argo” still feels immediate and relevant. Affleck’s best film yet is also one of the best films of the year. “Argo,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release, is rated R for language and some violent images. Running time: 120 minutes. Four stars out of four.

Motion Picture Association of America rating definition for R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.—AP

rench blockbuster “Les Intouchables” and Austrian Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner “Love” are hot tips for best foreign language Oscar, from a long-list of candidates published Monday. Hong Kong movie master Johnnie To and China’s Chen Kaige-whose “Farewell my Concubine” won the top Cannes film festival prize in 1993 — are also among films from 71 countries which could be vying for an Academy statuette.

Iran, whose “A Separation” won foreign language Oscar for Asghar Farhadi this year, has no entry after Iranian authorities last month withdrew their candidate due anger at a US-made anti-Islam online film.”Les Intouchables” (“The Intouchables”) by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano has become the second biggest domestic box office and the biggest French film ever at the box office overseas. It tells the moving and poignant story of a wealthy quadriplegic Frenchman who hires a young black man an urban ghetto to look after him following a horrific road crash.

Austrian filmmaker Haneke won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize in May, three years after taking it home for the first time with 2009’s “The White Ribbon.”

“Love” tells the wrenching tale of a man and his dying wife, chronicling the intimate details of Anne’s physical and mental decline, as Georges fulfills a pledge to care for her at home until the end.

The two movies were picked out by the Hollywood Reporter as early frontrunners for the foreign language Oscar statuette. Others on the long-list-which will be cut down to a list of five foreign language films by the time the Oscar nominations are announced on January 10 — include Kaige’s “Caught in the Web,” and To’s “Life Without Principle.” Asia-Pacific hopefuls include South Korean Kim Ki-duk’s “Pieta”-which won the Golden Lion in Venice last month-as well as Afghanistan’s “The Patience Stone,” Australia Cate Shortland’s “Lore” and India’s “Barfi!” by Anurag Basu.

From the Middle East there is lots of buzz surrounding Israeli filmmaker Rama Burshtein’s “Fill the Void” (“Lemale Et Ha’Chalal”), screened in Venice, while Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s “When I Saw You” has been picked. Iran announced last month that it was yanking its entry in the Oscars race, “A Cube of Sugar,” due to the “intolerable insult” of the anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims,” which triggered protests across the Muslim world. The 2013 Academy Awards show will be held in Hollywood’s Dolby Theater on Sunday, February 24.—AFP

Paul Dano

Paul Dano Joins cast of ‘Prisoners’

Review: Kiss’ new album ‘Monster’ is scary good

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aul Dano will join Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman and Melissa Leo in “Prisoners,” to be directed by Denis Villeneuve, it was announced by the producers, Alcon, on Monday. Written by Aaron Guzikowski, the story revolves around a small-town carpenter named Keller (Jackman) whose young daughter and her best friend are kidnapped. After the cops fail to find them, Keller takes the law into his own hands, but in the process runs up against Loki (Gyllenhaal), a detective assigned to the case.

Alcon is producing, along with 8:38 Productions Kira Davis and Madhouse Entertainment’s Adam Kolbrenner. Ed McDonnell and John Stark will executive produce.

Production is scheduled to begin in early 2013. Alcon is targeting a Fall 2013 release through its output deal with Warner Bros Dano recently wrapped Steve McQueen’s “Twelve Years a Slave” and is currently starring in Sony’s “Looper” alongside Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Emily Blunt. He most recently starred in “Ruby Sparks” with Zoe Kazan for Fox Searchlight and is known for his roles in the Academy Award-winning “Little Miss Sunshine” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood.—Reuters

Kiss, “Monster” (Universal)

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early 40 years after first slapping on the makeup, donning the costumes and changing forever the way a live concert is performed, Kiss can still bring it.

“Monster” is the caped crusaders’ 20th studio album, and one that fans of old school ‘70s classic rock will be just as comfortable with as those who cut their teeth on later material.

It opens with a bang in “Hell or Hallelujah,” a fast-paced rocker that could be the band’s best concert opener since “I Stole Your Love,” way back in 1977 (though they put it in the middle of the set this summer).

Imagine a mash-up of “Helter Skelter” and Kiss’ 1992 track “Spit,” and you’ve got “Wall of Sound,” a dramatic, groundpounder. “Freak” uses a grungier distorted sound to showcase the band’s longstanding philosophy of not caring what anyone else thinks of them. And “Back To The Stone Age” features Eric Singer’s pounding drums with a beat reminiscent of the Stones’ “Live With Me.”

This is guitarist Tommy Thayer’s second studio album with Kiss since replacing Ace Frehley in 2003 (and completely stealing his musical identity to the point where the FBI should have been notified). His first outing, 2009’s “Sonic Boom” LP, was marred by rampant theft from Frehley’s classic solos.

This time, Thayer restrains his most larcenous impulses. These solos won’t make anyone forget Eddie Van Halen or Randy Rhoads, but at least most of them are his.

Things bog down somewhat on tracks in the middle of the disc, but finish strong on “Last Chance,” propelled by an AC/DClike “Thunderstruck” chant. This album isn’t “Destroyer” or even “Love Gun,” but it’s still worth having.

Check out this track: “Right Here Right Now” is available only on iTunes or on a Best Buy version of the album, but it should have made the full album cut; it’s better than at least half the tracks on the album.—AP This CD cover released by UMe shows the latest release by KISS, “Monster.”—AP

Borgnine’s Final Film picked up by arclight films

E Lil Wayne talks ‘awesome’ Drake-Aaliyah project

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This June 28, 2009 file photo shows Drake, left, and Lil Wayne performing at the 9th Annual BET Awards in Los Angeles.—AP

il Wayne thinks the late Aaliyah’s music is better than a lot of music out today - and he’s confident that Drake’s plan to produce unreleased Aaliyah songs will be an “awesome collaboration.” Drake - a huge Aaliyah fan - has announced that he is working on a posthumous album of Aaliyah music, and he’s already released the song “Enough Said” featuring himself and the singer, who was killed in a plane crash in 2001.

Some who were close to Aaliyah have not expressed support for the album. Missy Elliott and Timbaland, who produced most of Aaliyah’s music, are not involved, and DMX, who costarred with Aaliyah in the movie “Romeo Must Die” and recorded a song with her, has been critical of the project. Lil Wayne said he hasn’t heard any negative feedback, and added when he first heard that his Young Money protÈgÈ was a part of the project, his first thought was: “Good move.”

“Everybody knows what Aaliyah did and done for music and culture, period, and it’s always good to do that, for

not only for people like that, just for her fans - you know what I mean?” he said in a recent interview. “Drake’s a very thoughtful person. Everyone knows that. It’s an awesome collaboration.”

Lil Wayne said Aaliyah’s music has also stood the test of time. “Her music is still awesome. It’s still better than a lot of music out right now,” he said. As far as his own music, Lil Wayne, who’s last official album was last year’s “Tha Carter IV,” said it’s harder and harder to come up with new things to say: the 30-year-old has been rapping since he was a teen.

“I’ve said everything in every situation in every way, so it’s almost interesting to go into the studio and find new things to talk about and new ways to talk about them and hear it back and say, ‘Wow, you figured it out again,’” he said.—AP

rnest Borgnine’s final film, “The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez,” has been picked up by Arclight Films, the company said Monday. Arclight describes “The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez” as a comedy in the vein of “Grumpy Old Men,” with Borgnine as a washed-up actor who gets a second lease on life after moving into an assisted living facility.

The company claims the film marks the last screen appearance of Borgnine, who died of renal failure last July after a career that spanned six decades and over 200 movies. Arclight will handle international sales; the coming-of-age comedy will be distributed domestically by Indican Pictures. It will open in Los Angeles on Dec 7, 2012.

Borgnine was best known for his Oscar-winning role as a love-struck butcher in 1955’s “Marty” and also had menacing supporting roles in such film classics as “The Wild Bunch” and “From Here to Eternity.” The film is written and directed by Elia Petridis and produced by Darren Brandl and Dave O’Brien.—Reuters

Ernest Borgnine

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

LIFESTYLE T r a v e l

Sarasota: Where culture, nature share the stage

By Marjie Lambert t is a still, hot day on Sarasota Bay as we slide our kayaks into the water. Too lazy to use our oars, we drift a little and watch the mullet jump while we wait for the last members of our tour to arrive. Suddenly a pelican swoops down and grabs a silvery fish, startling us. We set off a few minutes later, seven of us with little or no kayaking experience. Kelly, our guide, points his oar in the direction he wants us to go, then stays in the middle of our disorganized pack, showing us how to paddle, how to turn and stop, calling out encouragement to whoever is trailing.

Kelly talks about the bay’s wildlife-the cormorants that are diving under our kayaks for fish, the sea urchins that would prick our feet if we tried to walk in the shallow water, the manatees that come and go with the seasons. As we pass bayfront mansions, Kelly also tells us about some of the famous people who live-or once lived-in them: Lucille Ball; Jerry Springer; Brian Johnson, the lead singer of AC/ DC. And he talks about John Ringling, who in 1927 moved the winter quarters of the circus that he and his four brothers founded to Sarasota. He had already been spending winters in Sarasota and buying real estate, wanting to turn this city on the bay into a fashionable resort town. At one point, he owned 25 percent of the land in Sarasota.

He and his wife Mable built a winter home here, a Venetian Gothic mansion they called Ca D’Zan-House of John-where they displayed

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part of their art collection. As the collection grew, the Ringlings built an art museum, inspired by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, on their waterfront property. In his will, Ringling left the estate, including more than 600 works of art, to the state of Florida.

I listen attentively because I’ll be at the Ringling-now part of Florida State Universitylater to view an installation piece, SkySpace, in a building created just for that purpose. On my trips to Sarasota, I sample what I find most interesting: nature and the arts. So I kayak the bay, take a boat ride with a marine biologist, explore Myakka State Park, spend a day browsing the Ringling’s various art and circus exhibits and return on another trip to see the sunset transformation of James Turrell’s SkySpace, wander through the historic Towles Court artists colony. And of course watch the sunset from Siesta Key. Woven throughout is the story of Ringling and how he contributed to Sarasota, a city with a rich cultural life that attracts affluent snowbirds and retirees, as he envisioned, but also visitors and residents who are drawn to its bay, rivers, parks, mangrove islands and wildlife. It is Sarasota Bay that drawn me on this day. We look for manatees as we make a leisurely circle around a tiny island.

Cormorants dive and surface around us, unperturbed by the humans jerking at our oars.

Occasionally a light breeze ruffles the water, and I enjoy the peace of being on the bay.

The first part of our tour is just a warm-up.

Our destination is the tunnels through the mangroves that carve a protected section of

Pelicans, roseate spoonbill and other birds at a protected rookery on Sarasota Bay in Florida.

—MCT photos

Kayakers move through mangrove tunnels on Sarasota Bay in Florida.

Bronze statue of David, cast from the original marble by Michelangelo, at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.

the bay into small enclaves. It is shady in the tunnels, the water illuminated by the sunlight that filters through mangroves.

Maneuvering is difficult in these narrow passages, and it’s easy to see why we learned to paddle on open water first. Kelly cautions against correcting our course by grabbing for low branches. He points out tiny tree crabs and large spiders crawling along those branches.

After that warning, I avoid reaching for the branches, instead jabbing my oar at thick clusters of roots to try to change direction.

Another day finds me out on the water again, this time on a “Sea Life Encounter” cruise from the Mote Aquarium, a quasi-educational outing with Stephanie, a marine biologist. We see dolphins within a few minutes after leaving the dock, but it’s Stephanie who spots the tiny fin of a baby dolphin. The little children love that there’s a baby swimming next to us, and there is much oohing and aahing every time the baby surfaces. “I love dolphins,” one little boy pronounces. “I love dolphins, too,” another boy adds fiercely, as if only a limited number of people can love dolphins and he’s competing to be one of them. Our boat circles rookeries in the bay, densely populated with about 900 pairs of nesting birds-roseate spoonbills, brown pelicans, cormorants, egrets and more.

The islands are natural but have been diminished by erosion, so now they are protected by rock breakwaters. There is no connection to land, keeping the birds safe from predators like raccoons that would raid the nests.

On our way back in, Stephanie throws out a fish net that drags the bottom of the bay, then dumps its contents into an aquarium for our last lesson of the day. She puts some of the tiny creatures she caught-brittle starfish, sea anemone, conch, tiny silvery fish-in water in plastic containers and we pass them around, looking for the features that she told us about, gently touching the ones she told us we could.

At the end, she throws everything back into the bay. The view of nature is completely different at Myakka River State Park, which has North America’s first public treetop trail, a walkway suspended 25 feet above the ground.

Only a few other people are on the Boylston Nature Trail, which leads to the canopy walk, and I walk long stretches without encountering anyone. Sometimes it is as if no one else is in the park, and at every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, I wonder who or what is keeping me company. The park has more than two dozen varieties of snakes, as well as animals I’d rather not meet alone in the woods: coyotes; feral pigs; bobcats. There have even been recent Florida panther sightings. But I see nothing other than lizards and squirrels.

The wooden walkway is a sturdy hanging bridge that crosses through the trees to a 74foot-tall tower. Visitors who climb to the top of the tower get a panoramic view of the park.

From this spot high above the treetops, a mass of a thousand shades of green, gray and brown, I can see across the hammock and beyond. I know the trees are full of birds, but I can’t distinguish them through the foliage.

Instead, I am introduced to the park’s population of birds on the Myakka Maiden, an airboat that tours the park’s larger lake. Birds are everywhere. In addition to the usual herons, egrets, cormorants, ibises, anhingas, wood storks, hawks and more, we see rare sandhill cranes as we motor along the lake’s far shore.

We also meet the park’s alligators. At first, the gators are hard to spot, but before long before we realize that they are everywhere around us-dozens of them, floating motionlessly, swimming, sunning themselves on the shore. They are watching us, too.

That evening, I drive into Sarasota’s old downtown for dinner. Every space on the street is taken. The place is hopping, diners spread among restaurants featuring Peruvian, Greek, Vietnamese, Thai, Spanish and Mexican food, plus seafood, sushi and American cuisine.

I have set aside the entire next day for the Ringling Estate, which has more to see in 2012 than it did in John Ringling’s day. The Circus Museum, Historic Asolo Theater, James Turrell’s Joseph’s Coat Skyspace and other features were added after his death in 1936. The art museum has some modern and contemporary art, but most of it is Renaissance art, represented by the 16-foot statue of David, a bronze copy of the original by Michelangelo, that towers over the museum’s courtyard. Just inside the front entrance are enormous tapestries by Peter Paul Rubens. The Ringlings collected much of this art on their trips to Europe, where they scouted circus acts.

The Circus Museum, added in 1948, features a splendid miniature circus, which was created by Howard Tibbals, a master model builder, over 50 years. I could have spent hours looking at the tiny figures-more than 700 animals and 1,500 acrobats, drivers, animal handlers, cooks, clowns and everyone else associated with the Big Top, all in miniature vignettes that together make up the circus. I wander through the rose garden, the sprawling banyan trees, the Ringlings’ gravesites and finally, the first floor of their house, Ca D’Zan. It will take another visit before I get to see James Turrell’s Joseph’s Coat Skyspace, a new addition that is open only a few nights each week. Skyspace is an enclosed space with a square opening in the roof for viewing the sunset, enhanced by lights from within the space that change color and-at least on this nightspotlight the moving patterns of clouds.

About 15 of us sit or lie on benches around the edge of the space, where Sarasota’s art and

A canopy walk is suspended through the trees 25 feet above the ground in Myakka River State Park.

Tapestries by Peter Paul Rubens hang at the Ringling Museum of Art.

Visitors canoe in Myakka River State Park. nature intersect. One man lies on his back in the center of the floor. We watch the interplay of sunlight and artificial light in silence, our necks craned upward, and after a while, I wish I had thought to lie on the floor too so I could stare straight up. Several people nod off, including the guy on the ground. Then white lights come up slowly, and the show is over.

This is an opportunity, in a beach town that celebrates the sunset, to compare an artist’s concept with the real thing, so on another day I go to Siesta Key, one of Sarasota’s barrier islands. The beach is a vast sweep of white sand that “Dr Beach”-Stephen Leatherman, director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research-named the nation’s best beach in 2011. The sky has a faint blush of pink as the sun draws lower.

Couples and families with children walk up and down the sand, some looking for shells.

Others sit in beach chairs at the water’s edge.

Two 50-ish couples near me take turns posing, the sun over their shoulders turning them into silhouettes. Gulls flap by, hoping for scraps from someone’s picnic.

I raise my camera and see that the sun is on the edge of the world, its bottom half already below the horizon. And then it is gone, out of sight. The light is gray, and now it is hard to distinguish where the sky, sand and water begin and end. Just as suddenly, people leave the beach. Even the birds take flight, perhaps knowing that there will be no more picnic scraps tonight.

If you go Information: Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau, 800-800-3906 or www.sarasotafl.org.

Where to stay Hyatt Regency, 1000 Boulevard of the Arts; 941-953-1234; http://sarasota.hyatt.com. AAA four-diamond hotel on Sarasota Bay, in the arts

district. Rooms from $149 weekdays, $179 weekends.

Hotel Indigo, 1233 Boulevard of the Arts; 877-270-1392; www.srqhotel.com. In arts district with water views and Florida decor. Rooms from $121.

Captiva Beach Resort, 6772 Sara Sea Circle on Siesta Key; 800-349-4131; http://captivabeachresort.com. Small resort has access to Crescent Beach; its 20 rooms and suites have fully equipped kitchens. Rooms from $89.

Where to eat Selva Grill, 1345 Main St; 941-362-4427; www.selvagrill.com. Mostly Peruvian menu with an infusion of contemporary American: Steaks, Lomo Saltado, grilled duck breast with cilantro and green pea risotto, Chilean salmon with mango and sweet chile glaze, osso bucco with Peruvian white bean stew and chorizo, and several ceviches to start.

Blu Que Island Grill, 149 Avenida Messina, Siesta Key; 941-346-0738; www.bluqueislandgrill.com. Formerly Blue Smoke, this restaurant offers almost open-air dining on Siesta Key with live music and BBQ, plus a nice variety of grilled fish, shrimp and grits, Kobe beef burgers and Prince Edward Island mussels.

Crab & Fin, 420 St Armands Circle; 941-3883964; http://crabfinrestaurant.com. Raw bar with a variety of oysters. The dinner menu changes daily to take advantage of whatever fresh seafood is available, but on the night I visited, included Mahi Mahi, Arctic char, Maine cod, black grouper, Atlantic amber jack, Nantucket bay scallops, lobster and several varieties of crab.

Treviso Restaurant, 5401 Bay Shore Rd. (in the Ringling Visitors’ Center); 941-360-7390; www.trevisorestaurant.com. A nice place for outdoor dining (museum admission not required); American and Italian cuisine, plus small plates. —MCT

39

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

LIFESTYLE T r a v e l

Hope, Liberty and the pursuit of

relaxation in

Maine

An aerial view of Camden Harbor, Maine. —MCT photos

By Kari Howard he first sign says, “Slow.” Then, about 50 feet down this back road in mid-coast Maine, there’s a second sign. It says, “Slower.” I ease up on the pedal. That about sums up the rhythm of life in this part of Maine, which is about as far as you can get from LA and still be in the same country (and sometimes it feels like another one). On this trip, I’m looking to go slower. Or maybe even go in reverse, to a bit of America that’s like a halfremembered dream-to a time when books cost a dollar, dinner at the drivein was as fast as food got and an overnight suitcase was called a “possibilities bag.”

Sure, Maine has lots of fancy antiques stores and gourmet restaurants. But that’s not on the agenda on this trip. I’m in the mood for places where the floors creak a little. It all starts earlier this summer in a town called Liberty, about half an hour from the coastal towns of Camden and Rockland, along winding roads that take you by old farmhouses, rolling pastures and sagging barns that look as if they may not make it through the next winter.

Not far away, there’s a town called Union. And Freedom. And Hope. There’s even a bumper sticker: Liberty-a bit south of Freedom and a bit beyond Hope. There’s not much to Liberty. On one side of “downtown” there’s Liberty Graphics, which designs and sells cool T-shirts. Next door is the old Mobil station, complete with a perfect-condition Pegasus sign, even though it’s not selling gas anymore.

If I read the old pumps correctly, they’re frozen when gas was 49 cents a gallon. (Gas in Maine is still less than in California.) Across the street is Liberty Tool Co, a three-story clapboard shop where the sexes keep to themselves like teenagers at a junior high dance.

The first floor is for the men: hundreds-thousands? — of vintage tools, most of whose uses I can only imagine.

T

They’re laid out on tables, and guys hunch over them as if they’re at a record shop, pawing over the alphabetically arranged albums. The next two floors are a vast grandmother’s attic filled with used books, almost-antiques and, here and there, tools that have somehow managed to make their way upstairs.

If you really want vast, you have to go about 45 miles up the coast to Ellsworth, maybe stopping for lunch on the way at a fantastic vegetarian restaurant, Chase’s Daily in Belfast. The back of the restaurant is a kind of mini-farmers market, featuring produce from the owners’ farm in Freedom. There’s a bakery too, so make sure you get a treat for the road, and then keep driving. Look for the turnoffs for the classic coastal towns of Castine and Blue Hill, and the sign for Toddy Pond. (I’m never sure why, in Maine, sometimes things that call themselves ponds are bigger than things that call themselves lakes.)

Just a bit farther and you’ll find the Big Chicken Barn, an immense vintage Valhalla that’s chockablock with bargain things of desire. You never realized how much you needed a couple of gauzy “Welcome Shriners” banners or a pair of crisscross wooden snowshoes or a camp stove that looks as if it’s from the ‘30s until you’ve walked through the doors of this building whose name gives you a big hint about its past.

Again, the floors are segregated, but this time by subject, not sexes. The first floor is antiques, the second used books. There may not be a better way to spend a cool, rainy afternoon in Maine than wandering the endless aisles of the Big Chicken Barn.

For the opposite in scale, head down the coast through Camden and Rockland to what may be my favorite used-book store: the Lobster Lane Book Shop in South Thomaston.

It’s a white shack sitting just a few feet from a piece of archetypal Maine coast, all rocky and woody and jutting into waters so cold, I’ve heard some lobstermen don’t learn to swim

Lake St George in Liberty, reportedly one of the clearest and cleanest lakes in Maine, is a lovely spot for a picnic.

because hypothermia will get them first. But inside (think Tardis, if you’re a “Doctor Who” fan), it’s jammed with what the friendly owner guesses are 100,000 books.

It’s the kind of place where you have to hug the shelves if someone wants to get by you, a place filled with the musty smell of mildewed paper that’s a pheromone to vintage book lovers.

The prices are vintage too. Most books cost $2 or less. For that price, you can get that dubious-quality novel

and the bright green of the grass and trees can make your eyes hurt.

If you drive all the way to the endand you must-you’ll hit Port Clyde, a nifty fishing village. And even though the land ends here, you can keep going. The ferry leaves here for Monhegan Island, a famous artists retreat. (Think the Wyeth clan and Edward Hopper.)

Back on the mainland, the St. George Peninsula is studded with places touting the best lobster roll in

mind standing in line, make a pit stop at the legendary Red’s Eats in postcardcome-to-life Wiscasset. When you get to Brunswick, pull into Cameron’s Lobster House. (For eons it was called Morse’s. If you need to ask for directions, that’s the name people will probably know.) It’s a drive-in dream for anyone who loves midcentury Americana.

It’s set in the pines not far from lovely Bowdoin College, and it has a sign saying, “Lights on for Service”-and means it. When you decide what you

Then, how about a little pre-”Mad Men” moment back in Belfast? There, the Colonial Theatre is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year by showing free flicks from decades past. On a Monday when I was there, it was offering two from the late ‘50s: “Vertigo” and “Love in the Afternoon.” I wavered briefly, because it’s hard to top Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper. But it’s even harder to top Hitchcock at the height of his obsessive powers.

After two hours of watching Jimmy Stewart behind the wheel of his old coupe (and noticing that his arty pal Midge drives a sporty Karmann Ghia), it felt a bit odd to step out onto rainslicked streets to see shiny new pickups. But if I squinted a little, it wasn’t hard to imagine it was 1958. And life was just a little bit slower.

If you go The best way to Rockland, Maine: It’s a three-hour drive from Boston, the nearest big airport, to Rockland. Or you can fly little Cape Air from Boston to Rockland (www.capeair.com). If it’s a clear day, you get a wonderful view of the coast. Restricted round-trip fares from Boston begin at $273.

Where to stay: I love the look of the cottages and houses offered by Summer Maine, (207) 596-6295, http://www.summermaine.com, many of them classic beach houses on the St. George Peninsula. Fletcher Hall, the woman who handles the rentals, is very helpful. Weekly prices range from about $800 for a cottage in the off-season to about $3,500 for the bigger houses in peak summer. —MCT

Main Street in Rockland. from the ‘40s just for the cool cover.

And if you’re really lucky and hit closing weekend at the end of the summer season, everything is half off.

After walking out with an armload of books for less than 10 bucks, it’s time for a drive down the rest of the stunning St. George Peninsula, especially on a day when the sky is cornflower blue

The Mobil station in Liberty doesn’t sell gas anymore, but the Pegasus sign is still in perfect condition.

Maine. My mom’s favorite: the Cod End in Tenants Harbor, not only for the overflowing lobster meat in the “proper” split frankfurter roll but also the great shingled building right on the water.

Even though I’m a vegetarian, I have to cast my vote for another lobster shack with a totally different feel. Keep heading down the coast. If you don’t

want, you flick on your car lights and the waitress comes out to take your order. Maybe the “hamburger royal basket”? (Flashback to scene from “Pulp Fiction.”) Or a lobster roll, complete with old-fashioned Utz potato chips?

(Flashback to “Mad Men” and the Don Rickles-like character disastrously selling Utz snacks. Yes, Utz exists.)

The American Veterans hall in Liberty proudly flies the flag on patriotic holidays.

Rusty saws and old license plates reminding people that Maine is “Vacationland” are among the items on offer at Liberty Tool Co.

Bollywood singer’s daughter commits suicide

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

36

Louise Wyatt and Steve Parker from English Heritage stand inside a new art installation called ‘Umbrella Sky’ inside Clifford’s Tower, York yesterday. The installation is made up from 45 colored umbrellas suspended within the historic walls and is a light hearted look on the recent bad weather suffered by the city. It is the first time the medieval tower has had any kind of covering since an explosion blew off the roof in 1684. The umbrellas are hung level with the walk around the ramparts of Clifford’s Tower so that views over the city of York are not interrupted.—AP

Man arrested over Rothko graffiti B

ritish police on Monday arrested a 26year-old man suspected of defacing a mural by US artist Mark Rothko at London’s Tate Modern gallery. The gallery shut for a short time on Sunday after the damage was found on the corner of one of Rothko’s Seagram murals. Sussex police arrested a man in Worthing, southern England, at around 9:00 pm Monday on suspicion of criminal damage

and the suspect was in custody at a Sussex police station said a Metropolitan Police statement. Earlier Monday, Russian Vladimir Umanets had claimed responsibility for writing on the painting. “I believe that from everything bad there’s always a good outcome so I’m prepared for that but obviously I don’t want to spend a few months, even a few weeks, in jail. But I do strongly believe in what

I am doing, I have dedicated my life to this,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

The graffiti appeared to read: “Vladimir Umanets, A Potential Piece of Yellowism.”

“Some people think I’m crazy or a vandal, but my intention was not to destroy or decrease the value, or to go crazy,” he said. “I am not a vandal.” Umanets is a founder of “Yellowism”, which he calls “neither art, nor anti-art” on the

movement’s website. “It’s an element of contemporary visual culture. It’s not an artistic movement,” he said. The Seagram murals, commissioned by New York’s Four Seasons restaurant in 1958, arrived in London for display at Tate Modern’s sister gallery on February 25, 1970 — the day the artist committed suicide aged 66.

A large-scale painting by the artist fetched

David Blaine wraps up high-voltage stunt in NYC D

aredevil David Blaine has finished what could be called his most electrifying stunt. The magician emerged shortly before 9 pm Monday after spending three days and three nights standing in the middle of 1 million volts of electric currents at New York’s Pier 54. A spokesman says Blaine was able to walk with assistance, speak and kiss fiancee Alizee Guinochet (ah-LEE’-zay gwee-noh-SHAY’) before being taken to a hospital to be examined.

The 39-year-old Blaine wore a chainmail bodysuit as a barrier between himself and the currents, emitted by Tesla coils. The stunt was called “Electrified: One Million Volts Always On.” It was streamed on YouTube, with help from Intel Corp. Blaine’s past stunts include hanging upside down over Central Park and being encased in a block of ice.—AP

Magician David Blaine stands inside an apparatus surrounded by a million volts of electric currents streamed by tesla coils during his 72hour “Electrified: 1 Million Volts Always On” stunt on Pier 54, Friday, Oct 5, 2012, in New York.—AP

Tokyo to NYC street-life shines in Tate photo show A toy gun-wielding child, New York high society at play and bored Tokyo commuters are just a few ofthe startling images at a new Tate Modern exhibition exploring the relationship between two of the 20th century’s leading street-life photographers.

“William Klein + Daido Moriyama” features more than 300 vintage prints, paintings, original photo books and installations by US photographers Klein and Japan’s Moriyama in a show which runs from Oct 10 until Jan 20.

“We wanted to do a show where you have the (photo) book at the heart of the exhibition, particularly William Klein’s book about New York, which is probably the most influential photo book of all time...and the idea of combining with Moriyama was natural because he was very influenced by William,” co-curator Simon Baker told Reuters at a preview.

The two photographers are known for

stark and candid photographs of streetlife in the 1960s.

Huge black and white murals pasted to the Tate Modern’s walls greet visitors, depicting the daily lives of people in New York, Tokyo and Moscow, capturing scenes of high society at a ball, children outside a candy store or commuters at a station. Laid out as two halves of a conversation held between the two artists, visitors may recognise one of Klein’s more famous portraits for fashion magazine Vogue on the Piazza di Spagna in Rome, where two elegantly dressed models wearing contrasting monochrome dresses are seen strutting on a zebra crossing surrounded by pedestrians and motorists.

Another picture, daubed with thick yellow paint, shows a young boy holding a toy gun aggressively towards the camera aiming directly at Klein, who produced a series of photo essays on New York, Rome and Tokyo each with his usual trademark

wide-angle lens and candid close-ups of its citizens. Moriyama’s evocative images of Tokyo’s actors and night performers, bored commuters at train stations, and a lone dog, which came to represent the artist in his later years, make up the second half of the show.

Rows of frames each featuring the carefully arranged juxtapositions of photographs from Moriyama’s first photo book, “Japan: A Photo Theatre”, are laid out page by page for visitors against a vast wall. The show also features a series of close-ups of seemingly ordinary objects from clothing, machinery and flowers that are transformed with a play on light and shadow into surreal yet recognisable images.

If visitors manage to get some feeling of Japan or Tokyo in particular, then this would be great, Moriyama told Reuters, whose use of blurring, scratches and grainy visual effects in his book of abstract

compositions “Sayonara Photography” has made it a lasting favorite. “With most artists, they’ll always say that (their) latest work is the best, or the next one they’re producing is the best but at the same time, having looked around here, the one thing that does stick in my memory all the time, is ‘Sayonara Photography’.”

“That book, that collection...those are the ones that stayed with me throughout my career,” Moriyama added. The series has been described as some of the wildest photographs ever made, Baker added, who worked alongside co-curators Juliet Bingham and Kasia Redzisz. “The photograph is being really pushed to the limit of what it can represent and I think this is something that is really important in both artists’ work.”—Reuters

$86.9 million at a New York auction in May, setting a new record for any contemporary work of art. The Russian-born expressionist painter became a giant of the modern art world through his simplified and colorful compositions inspired by mythology and primitive art.—AFP

China tipped to be 2nd biggest luxury market by 2017

C

hina is set to become the world’s second biggest market for luxury goods after the United States in five years, overtaking France, Britain, Italy and Japan, an industry report said yesterday. Developed countries still dominate the personal luxury market but economic woes are reducing demand while rising middle classes in emerging economies take up the slack, consumer research group Euromonitor said. Luxury-goods sales could top $302 billion worldwide this year, up 4.0 percent from 2011, as buyers from developing nations snap up designer handbags, clothes, jewellery, watches, fine wine, champagne and spirits, it said.

“Benefitting from a fast-growing middle class and a fast-developing luxury distribution network, sales of luxury goods in China have consistently outperformed the global market,” Euromonitor said. Japan is currently the world’s second biggest market for luxury goods but its share has been shrinking as the country struggles with economic problems. Demand for luxury goods has been lacklustre this year in developed Western markets and Japan due to rising prices and mounting insecurity over jobs and pensions, Euromonitor said. However, emerging markets led by the so-called BRIC grouping-Brazil, Russia, India and China-are making up for the shortfall.

The BRIC countries will account for 11 percent of total luxury sales with a combined retail value of over $33 billion this year, up from only 4.0 percent in 2007, it said. This is forecast to rise to $59 billion, or 16 percent of global sales, by 2017. The world’s four biggest luxury goods markets-the United States, Japan, Italy and France-still accounted for almost half the value in sales this year, the report said.

Designer apparel are expected to remain the bestselling items, accounting for 42 percent of total luxury goods revenue by 2017, but jewellery and timepieces are fast gaining popularity, it said. While China’s importance to luxury goods makers has soared in recent years, signs have emerged of demand growth easing. Last month saw shares in luxury clothing and accessories group Burberry tumble after the British firm issued a surprise profit warning which analysts blamed on China’s economic slowdown.—AFP