10 Dec

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Experts share experiences in field of neurosurgery

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MOHARRAM 26, 1434 AH

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in formation of Cabinet

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18 20 3PM rejects 5 interference Editors-in-chief brief Sheikh Jaber on Iraq visit

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from the editor’s desk

A matter of national unity

By Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan

myopinion@kuwaittimes.net

T

hroughout the elections, it came to my attention that the media and many people categorized candidates by their religious beliefs or their tribal origins and roots. It seems like candidates are no longer considered Kuwaitis and are judged by merit as much as they are judged by their sectarian affiliation. When the election results were being analyzed, it was shameful to watch many TV stations count the winners as 5 from this tribe or 17 from this sect etc.

What makes it worse are attempts by some tribes or sects to interfere in the Cabinet’s selection and comments by some members of parliament stating in a threatening authoritarian tone that they veto this person or that person or that they want a minimum three Shiite ministers or ministers from this tribe or that background.

I hope the government looks at passing a law for national unity as such remarks and categorizations are core to the political problems Kuwait faces and if our recent parliamentary history is recalled, you will easily notice that many grillings are based on sectarian divisions. If it becomes normal for us to categorize Kuwaitis on this basis, then it’s only a matter of time before this volcano explodes to cause further uncontrollable problems.

Luckily the prime minister does not succumb to such voices and in a meeting with the press yesterday, he confirmed that he won’t allow anyone to dictate or affect his selection of the Cabinet. “I will pick the people I see fit to do their best for Kuwait based on merit,” said the PM. HH Sheik Jaber Al-Mubarak seemed optimistic that this parliament has the intention to get Kuwait’s wheel of development rolling again and that the government has no excuse if it fails to deliver. “The ball is in our court,” said the PM. Yes Sir, the ball is in the government’s court and as I have mentioned before, this is a golden opportunity for the government to prove that it was the opposition and their personal agendas and personal rifts that brought Kuwait’s economic development to a near standstill.

KUWAIT: Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah (fourth right) meets editors of local dailies including Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan (second left) yesterday. — KUNA KUWAIT: Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlSabah told editors of local dailies yesterday that the new Cabinet will be announced this week and stressed that he will not accept any interference or veto against any of its members. New MP Safa Al-Hashem however said that lawmakers do not want to see the health, justice and electricity ministers back in the lineup. During the meeting, Sheikh Jaber expressed optimism over the results of the recently-held National Assembly elections, describing the new parliament as “providing positive signs for cooperation with the government through laws and legislations that benefit the nation and the people”. He said that there were no excuses for any obstacles in the path of the country’s development, expressing hope the parliament would focus on “accomplishments” rather than “lectures” in the Abdullah Al-Salem Hall.

The prime minister was briefed on the visit of the Kuwaiti group of local editors-in-chief of print media headed by President of Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) Ahmad Behbehani - and their meetings with top Iraqi officials. Sheikh Jaber hailed the visit as “an initiative that supports enhancing bilateral relations between the

two countries”, and stressed the role of the media in alleviating obstacles that could interfere with the future of the ever-growing and blossoming relationship between the neighbouring states.

On his own upcoming visit to Iraq, Sheikh Jaber expected it to be marked by “positive and tangible steps” on issues related to the economy as well as closing pending issues between the two countries. “Future generations should not be found guilty for the acts and crimes committed by the brutal former regime, during a period that has passed and one that we wish to leave behind,” he said. He expressed the new Kuwaiti government’s keenness in cooperating on anything that could allow Iraq to remove itself off the UN charter’s article seven in accordance to diplomatic channels and international resolutions set forth by the United Nations. At the same time, he appreciated the Iraqi government’s efforts in cooperating on the matter. Sheikh Jaber also stressed the government’s support of the private sector in any attempts to invest in Iraq and opening up new channels for trade exchange with Iraqi companies for the greater benefit of both nations. — KUNA

Oppn to camp outside Assembly

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The cassation court, the highest court in the country, yesterday suspended the implementation of a ruling scrapping the membership of two newly-elected MPs until it has issued the final verdict on the case. The two MPs, Khaled Al-Shulaimi and Khalaf Dumaitheer, were initially disqualified last month from contesting the elections by the National Election Commission among 37 candidates for not fulfilling the condition of having good conduct. The commission’s decision was however overturned by Continued on Page 13

Morsi scraps decree, not referendum Opposition scorns president’s concession, plans protests

Pacquiao loss stuns storm-hit Filipinos

Chavez admits cancer relapse, designates heir CARACAS: Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez admitted a relapse of his cancer late Saturday and designated vice president Nicolas Maduro as his heir apparent in case “something happened” to him. Speaking on national television, an emotional Chavez said a return of cancer cells was detected during his most recent visit to Cuba for medical examination, and he was to return to the communist-ruled island as early as yesterday for another round of surgery.

“During this thorough examination, they again detected some malignant cells in the same area as before,” Chavez said.

He did not offer details, but his cancer was first detected in the pelvic area.

Neither the Venezuelan leader, nor his Cuban doctors have ever disclosed what kind of cancer that was. He admitted he was suffering “somewhat strong” pain and was taking tranquilizers as part of preparation for his upcoming surgery. Chavez acknowledged that his Continued on Page 13 Hugo Chavez

Court suspends ruling against disbarred MPs

MANILA: Filipino fans were stunned by Manny Pacquiao’s knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez, dampening the spirit of a nation battered by a powerful typhoon that killed more than 600 people in the southern region where the boxing champion lives. In New Bataan township, which was ravaged

by Typhoon Bopha last week, refugees, rescuers and aid workers took a break from a grueling search for bodies and survivors to watch the fight on a big TV screen - only to be disappointed by

their hero’s sixth-round knockout.

The fight took place Saturday night in Las Vegas, or yesterday in the Philippines. Town spokesman Marlon Esperanza said hundreds of villagers, most of whom lost their homes to mud- and rock-laden flash floods, packed the local gymnasium used as a temporary shelter. Many had hoped Pacquiao would triumph and share his earnings with the typhoon victims.

“People were really dismayed,” Continued on Page 13

CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi shout slogans as they hold banners bearing his portrait and reading in Arabic “Support the decisions of the President” during a demonstration outside a mosque yesterday. — AFP CAIRO: A concession offered by President Mohamed Morsi failed to placate opponents who accused him yesterday of plunging Egypt deeper into crisis by refusing to postpone a vote on a constitution shaped by Islamists. Islamists say they see the referendum as sealing a democratic transition that began when a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak 22 months ago after three decades of military-backed one-man rule. Their liberal, leftist and Christian adversaries say the document being fast-tracked to a vote could threaten freedoms and fails to

embrace the diversity of Egypt’s 83 million people.

More protests were planned near Morsi’s palace, despite tanks, barbed wire and other barriers installed last week after clashes between Islamists and their rivals killed seven people. Morsi had given some ground the previous day when he retracted a fiercely contested decree giving himself extra powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review. But the president insisted the constitutional referendum go ahead next Saturday and Continued on Page 13

LAS VEGAS: Referee Kenny Bayless holds back Juan Manuel Marquez as Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines lies face down on the mat after being knocked out

by Marquez on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden. — AFP (See Page 20)

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

LOCAL

Kuwait-Iraq relations move in right direction Forget the past, look into bright future

Iraq’s Deputy Premier for Energy Affairs Hassan Al-Shahrastani with Kuwait Journalist delegation.

Iraq’s transportation minister (center) with Kuwait Journalists delegation, KJA President Ahmad Behbehani is seen to his right.

Iraqi deputy PM calls to look to the future KUWAIT: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Dr Hassan Al-Shahrastani called upon journalists and writers in Kuwait and Iraq to focus on the interests of the people of the two countries and publish the real picture to explain the link that connects the two neighbours, to help overcome the past and look forward to the peoples’ ambitions.

Al-Shahrastani spoke during a reception hosted for the Kuwaiti media delegation that visited Iraq, accompanied by Iraqi Journalist Union leader Moayyid Al-Lami and a delegation from the union. He emphasized on the need to take a responsible stand instead of raising old topics. Al-Shahrastani focused on the necessity to concentrate on the interests of the people of the two countries, and the political and economic aspects with a sincere intention to overcome the past and build the East Arab countries based on respect for freedom of expression.

Al-Shahrastani said that there are issues which can pose problems for the two countries in the Iraqi Parliament and Kuwaiti National Assembly but also said that the right intention helps to solve the problems.

Regarding the issue of electricity in his countr y, he said that shor tage in power was before 2003 and after the fall of the previous regime, the need for electrical power has increased greatly. He attributed this to the economy opening up and the rising income of the Iraqi families. He added that contracts have been signed to build new power stations with capacity that reaches 15,000 megawatts, and some of them have been functioning since last month while others are expec ted to work this month. AlShahrastani said that these stations are set to meet the power needs of his country.

Al-Shahrastani pointed that all these stations operate on gas, especially since the Baghdad government intends to increase oil production over the coming years. He pointed out that Kuwait needs Iraqi gas like Saudi and Oman, and explained that Iraqi government considers local demand as top priority in petrochemical industry and only after that, supplies to its neighbours.

He hailed cooperation in the field of energy with Kuwait government as more than one contract has been signed with (Kuwait Energy) to develop the oil fields. One among them is the Ghazi field which is close to the Kuwaiti border and another field is close to the Iranian border. Al-Shahrastani added that he personally wanted to give the chance to Kuwaiti companies which he considered as good motivation for economic integration between both the countries.

Al-Shahrastani said oil reserves in Iraq are now at 143 billion barrels and this figure does not include possible reser ves and expected reserves. Pointing that Iraqi government has signed oil contracts with large international companies to increase Iraqi production to 12 million barrels a day, he accused local authorities in Kurdistan province of attempting to smuggle oil, and revealed that the new attempt this time is via Turkey. About Kurdistan province reaching agreements with foreign companies directly, he said the Iraqi government’s stand is fixed and cannot change and is based on the constitution which states that oil and gas is the property of all Iraqis, and no party can contract to produce it and export it - except through the government.

The Kuwaiti media delegation included the Chairman of Kuwaiti Journalist

Association Ahmad Yousuf Behbehani, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Anbaa Daily Yousuf AlMarzouq, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Nahar Daily Emad Bu Khamseen, Chairman of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Rashed Al-Ruwaished, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Rai Daily Majid Al-Ali and Editor-in-Chief of Kuwait Times Daily Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan and Deputy Editorin- Chief of Al-Yaqtha magazine Dalia Behbehani in addition to the Director of Kuwait Journalist Association and coordinator of the delegation visit Adnan Al-Rashed and member of Kuwait Journalist Board of Director Jassem Kamal and photographer Majid Al-Sabeji.

Iraq’s Transportation Minister Hadi AlAmeri expressed optimism about better Kuwait-Iraq relations in the future and said Iraq wished to improve its relations with the state of Kuwait at all levels to secure a better future based on mutual interests.

Speaking during a meeting with Kuwaiti journalists’ delegation, headed by Kuwait Journalists’ Association chief Ahmad Behbehani, Al-Ameri said, “Relations with Kuwait began moving in the right direction and both countries should now be looking towards a bright future in which mutual economic interests could be achieved, and forget the past which was caused by the former regime.” He said the Iraqi people were also a victim of their own regime.

Giving the example of Europe, which he said was today moving ahead to secure common economic interests despite the fact that it went through a period of wars, the Iraqi minister expressed optimism that Kuwait and Iraq will also similarly overcome the painful past and boost mutual confidence.

He said the former regime heaped untold

suffering upon both Kuwaiti and Iraqi people by detaining many whose fate was still unclear. He said both the countries were working to resolve their differences under international supervision. In this context, he mentioned Iraq Airways dispute and said both sides have agreed to settle it by following certain conditions.

Al-Ameri expressed hope that the KuwaitBaghdad and Baghdad-Kuwait line will be opened soon to move the mutual relations to a new level, adding that Arab Aviation companies were demanding an increase in the number of flights.

He said Iraq was looking forward to build the second or third largest port in the world in Al-Fao area with a capacity of 23 million containers per year, including 23 piers. He said the Mubarak port that Kuwait plans to build does not affect Al-Fao port, but it does affect the ports of Um Qasr south and north in addition to Khan Al-Zubair, which is in a narrow and shallow sea area where Iraq dug the water passage during the 1970s.

He said Iraq believes Kuwait has full sovereignty and a right to build Mubarak Port, but only wished that the location of the port be moved a little so as not to harm the traffic of Iraqi ports. He said the two countries have discussed this issue and agreed to go in for international arbitration.

Al-Ameri spoke about railroad links with Kuwait and said it was important to have a railroad that connected the countries of eastern Arab world, as this will serve the region in many ways.

He called for linking east with west at a later stage to strengthen relations between countries even further. He said Iraq was keen on developing relations with Kuwait and there was not one Iraqi political bloc that

was against this. He urged the Kuwaiti businessmen to avail the investment opportunities in Iraq.

Meanwhile, KJA Director and Coordinator of the visit, Adnan Al-Rashid, lauded the visit, which followed close on the heels of a similar visit by Iraqi journalists to Kuwait and was in continuation of the media and popular contacts between both countries.

Al-Rashid also lauded the support of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, along with that of information and foreign ministers to ensure the visit’s success. Al-Rashid also thanked the Iraqi and Kuwaiti embassies of both countries for facilitating the visit. He lauded the efforts that made it possible to meet Iraqi officials in the media office of the prime minister, the president and the parliament.

Al-Rashid lauded the information and culture committee in the Iraqi parliament and President of Iraqi Journalists Union for their efforts to make sure the visit was a success as it came ahead of a visit by HH the Prime Minister of Kuwait to Iraq.

The Kuwait Journalist delegation included Al-Anbaa Editor-in-Chief Yousuf Al-Marzouq, Annahar Editor-in-Chief Emad Bukhamseen, Kuna Editor-in-Chief Rashid Al-Ruwaished, Al-Rai Editor-in-Chief Majid Al-Ali, Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman AlAlyan, Deputy Editor-in- Chief of Yaqza Magazine Dalia Behbehani, as well as Director of K JA, Coordinator of the visit Adnan Al-Rashid, member of KJA Board of Directors Jassim Kamal and Photographer Majid Al-Sabej.

The meeting was attended by Charge-de Affairs at Kuwait Embassy Khalid Al-Qinae and President of Iraq Journalists Union Moayad Al-Lami. — KUNA

GCC Inmates Week begins KUWAIT: The activities of GCC inmate week began yesterday and will continue till December 13th and will also feature two exhibitions for products made by inmates. The exhibitions will be held at Marina Mall and Souq Sharq. The event is being held under the patronage of the Assistant Undersecretary for reform establishments Lt General Khalil Al Shamali. The General Director of Reform Establishments, Lt General Khalid Abdullah Al Dayyeen and delegates from GCC states were present as it took off.

Addressing the audience, Al Shamali said several changes were happening at the reforms establishments including developments in the qualification system.

Simple prisons have now become reform establishments. He said by availing the services of experts, doctors, social scientists, researchers and religious men, authorities are trying to ensure that inmates change from within and become good citizens.

Al Shamali explained that the participation of such specialists in the reform process will strengthen the work of reform. He appreciated the efforts of such experts so far and wished all the

participants a good stay in Kuwait, hoping that they achieve the goals set for the week. The director of reform establishment said that the event could be organized after a nod from the GCC ministers of interior at an invitation of the reform establishments’ directors, adding that such an event was being held for the first time. The Chairman of Basheer Al Khair society, Sheikh Abdul Hameed Al Bilali, said that the holy Quran indicated that human is specialized with his brain working differently than the rest of creatures.

He said when a human being commits

crime, his brain is totally closed from thinking about the consequences of the crime. He said jail was a result of the inmates not using their brains at a crucial moment.

The director of central jail hospital, Dr Mahmoud Al Khaldi, said that medical services for inmates have greatly developed, especially as far as prevention was concerned, which is the first line of defence for inmates.

Participants proceeded to the spring camp for inmates and toured the exhibition held on this occasion.

Gulf Bank receives two quality recognition awards from Citibank KUWAIT: Gulf Bank recently received two quality recognition awards from Citibank for achievements in ‘straight through processing’ (STP) on USD Dollar payments sent to Citibank NA, New York throughout the year on Customer transfers and Bank to Bank transfers.

Ozgur Kutay, Chief Country Officer at Citi Kuwait (Director), Sager Alghanim, Head of Financial Institutions’ (Vice President), and Mohamad Ahmed, Bank Services Group ( Vice President) at Citibank presented the award to Khaled Al-Mutawa, General Manager, International Banking and Investments, Mona Mansour, Deputy General Manager, Operations, Faisal AlMarzouq, Assistant General Manager, International Banking and Investments and Ma’ab Al-Qassem, Manager, International Banking and Investments at Gulf Bank’s headquarters on Nov 28. Upon receiving the award, Khaled Al-Mutawa, General Manager, International Banking and Investments at Gulf Bank said: “We are proud to receive these two awards from such a renowned financial institution such as Citibank. Gulf Bank originally set out to make a longterm commitment to customer service, growth and product innovation.

Receiving these awards is acknowl-

KUWAIT: A group photo of Gulf Bank’s team receiving two Quality Recognition awards from Citibank representatives . edgment for being one of the top Banker, ‘Bank of the Year ’ from correspondent banks and it rein- Arabian Business, ‘Banker of the Year’ forces our reputation as a market (Michel Accad -CEO) by Banker leader in operations and ser vice Middle East, and ‘Best Retail Bank’ from Asian Banker. quality.”

The Citi Performance Excellence Gulf Bank has been internationally recognized as a leading Kuwaiti Awards are presented to leading employer and holds the Localization financial institutions worldwide Award from the GCC Council of which have state-of-the-art internaMinisters for Social Affairs and tional ‘straight-through-processing’ (STP) electronic payment services Labour for eight consecutive years.

The Bank has also won a host of and meet Citibank’s stringent correother impor tant awards in 2012, spondent banking and processing including: ‘Bank of the Year’ from The accuracy criteria.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Dr Yousef Al-Awadhi speaking to one of the exhibitors while other doctors look on. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Secretary General of Kims Dr Ibrahim Hadi, Dr Yousef Al-Awadhi and Dr Ali.

KUWAIT: A partial view of the attendants of the conference.

Experts share experiences in field of neurosurgery Kuwait hosts four-day conference

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The four-day 9th Pan Arab Neurological Congress which was inaugurated yesterday at the Shiekha Salwa Al-Sabah Hall in Salmiya under the patronage of Minister of Health Dr Ali Al-Obeidi, aims to acquaint experts with the latest updates and recent advances in the areas of cardiovascular, CNS tumor and spine surgeries.

The Kuwait Society of Neurological Surgeons, which is organizing the event and will be heading the Pan Arab Neurological Congress for the next two years, has invited various highly respected medical experts and professors from around the world to share their experiences in the field of neurosurgery from basic to difficult cases.

“We believed that by sharing the insights and the expertise of those distinguished specialists, it will be a

very fruitful opportunity and we would be able learn from each other,” Dr Yousef Al-Awadhi, President of the Kuwait Society for Neurological Surgeons, said.

Al-Awadhi noted that the biennial has already helped usher in many changes when it comes to improving the facilities and bringing new technology to the Arab world.

“In Kuwait for example, the cooperation we have developed through the Pan Arab Neurological Congress has been tremendous. We have been able to develop new techniques in neurosurgery and have now new machines and equipment. We are now using highly sophisticated microscopes and endoscopes in our hospitals and are looking forward to have new generations of highly trained neurosurgeons,” he added.

The conference also follows the rules set by PANS to establish cooperation among neurosurgical organi-

KUWAIT: Dr Yousef Al-Awadhi during his opening speech.

Kuwaiti woman fights BP through craft

Officer held for firing shots at police chopper KUWAIT: A non-commissioned officer was held for investigations after he was suspected of firing shots towards a helicopter that was monitoring a night demonstration in Sabahiya recently, a local newspaper reported yesterday quoting a security source.

“The suspect was followed after he was seen aiming an AK47 out of his car’s window and firing multiple shots at a Ministry of Interior helicopter hovering above,” explained the security insider who spoke to Al-Rai on the condition of anonymity.

Police reportedly followed the man until his house, where the weapon was found “while the suspect still emanated gunpowder smell,” the source said. The man, identified as a Lance Corporal in the Interior Ministry, has categorically denied the accusations despite the evidence against him.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary Assistant for Criminal Security Affairs, Major General Abdulhameed AlAwadhi, assigned a security team to carry out crackdowns in Kabad, the chalets area and at the Friday Market after investigations revealed that it was from these areas that “the demonstrators bought fireworks that were used against police officers” during the night demonstrations.

In the meantime, other security sources told AlRai that a journalist working for the German Press Agency was detained in Al-Ahmadi for covering demonstrations without a license. The man, a Lebanese-German citizen, is reportedly going to be deported, according to the sources.

The report came one day after the opposition organized a procession at the Gulf Road against an emergency decree that altered the voting mechanism, as well as the subsequent parliamentary elections. The officially licensed demonstration could probably have opened the door for different types of ac tivities to take place. Political ac tivist Mohammad Ashour, who happens to be the brother of Shiite MP Saleh Ashour, told Al-Rai that he plans to request a license for a procession on January 3rd which marks forty days since the anniversary of Imam Al-Husain’s martyrdom. Ashour added that the event is planned to take place from the Safir Hotel towards the Kuwait Tower, the same route that the opposition’s licensed protest had taken.

Meanwhile, 18 lawmakers met at a lunch banquet hosted by MP Nawaf Al-Fuzai’a at his farm in Al-Wafra, where discussions were held on issues that focused on “development and achievement instead of preparations for how to vote for top parliamentary posts as well as the cabinet’s formation,” according to sources familiar with the talks.

In statements made to reporters following the gathering, MP Ashour urged people to be optimistic since “an era of achievement has begun.” He explained that the lawmakers agreed to give priority to focussing on issues which were top priority for the citizens. Meanwhile, MP Ali Al-Rashid insisted that the parliament will last for its entire four-year tenure by saying during his address to the voters that “our next date is on 2016”.

MP Mubarak Al-Najadah spoke in the meantime about an “initiative aimed at bringing conflicting parties to a converging position” without providing too many details.

Meanwhile, Al-Qabas newspaper reported quoting sources with knowledge of the meeting that the lawmakers agreed to assign MP Mubarak AlKhurainej to meet HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah in order to apprise him of their point of view regarding expectations for the cabinet. In that regard, the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that the MPs could have a ‘veto’ on reappointing the interior, defense, justice, oil and health ministers, adding at the same time that the lawmakers wanted to have ministers “in line with demands and goals of the upcoming phase.”

Al-Qabas also reported unconfirmed news about a potential return for former finance minister Mustafa Al-Shamali “to handle privatization projects” pertaining to housing, electricity and the Kuwait Airways.

zations in the Arab World as this also encourages standardization of education and research in the field of surgery. Among the subjects being tackled are the cerebrovascular, pediatric neurosurgery and cranial base.

In a speech delivered on the minister’s behalf, Secretary General of the Kuwait Medical Institutions Society, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Hadi, explained that the conference was a part of the ministry’s commitment to improving the technical and professional performance “and prepare new generations of specialized neurosurgeons.”

The event is being held for the first time since Kuwait won chairmanship of the PAN in 2010. “This is an opportunity [for Kuwait] to become updated with the latest technologies in the field of neurosurgery, which would subsequently leave positive effect on the quality of medical services in Kuwait,” Hadi said.

By Sunil Cherian

Nabeela Al-Anjari

Raunda Abramz

US expert to present training workshop KUWAIT: International American expert Raunda Abramz will present tomorrow morning a training workshop on how to “Start, operate and develop your private project with success”.

The workshop, to be held at JW Mariot Kuwait Hotel, is being organized by a Kuwaiti company for the development of small projects and Leaders Group for consultations and development company.

About 70 trainees will participate in the workshop from the Kuwaiti company for the development of small projects, the Banks Union, Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor and Awqaf besides Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and Kuwait Petroleum organization. Trainees from the Supreme Council for Planning, and Work and Employment Services group, American Mattress, Kuwait International Bank add Arab Institute for Planning, apart from some participants in their individual capacity, will also take part.

Abramz, who arrived in Kuwait yesterday, was greeted

by Leaders Group’s company director Nabeela Al-Anjari.

Al-Anjari expressed faith that the workshop will make a quality addition with respect to training and experience in the field of establishing small projects. She called upon the participants to participate proactively and earn enough knowledge, both theoretical and practical, to enrich the national experience.

KUWAIT: Till five years ago, Rajaa Al-Waelly was afflicted by a series of health problems, including blood pressure, being overweight and suffering joint pains. Her doctor, apart from prescribing allopathic medicines, advised her some ‘home’ remedies like activities that would engage both body and mind. Next day her husband, Zyad AlThamimi bought a Singer machine since he knew that she loved to stitch clothes for their only child. Rajaa taught herself tailoring, thanks to the sophisticated modern machine, and combined her skills of drawing on broadcloth and other woolen textiles.

Today, she is a happy mother, teaching the same skills to her 7th grader child. Both the mother and daughter held an exhibition last weekend of their items - bags, shawls, scarves, tissue box covers, hair bands and purses - at Dasman Model School.

“Now that I am busy person, I am less anxious,” said Rajaa, flanked by her beaming daughter, Ghazal. “My blood pressure is normal, I’m connecting to the world in a more meaningful way and guess what, my daughter is giving me ideas on what to draw and make. I would oblige. After all, how much creativity can you get beyond making your child happy?” said Rajaa at the exhibition counter, letting Ghazal deal with the curious enquirers. Ghazal, a special needs student at Dasman, seemed happy being at the exhibition counter on Saturday. Many people visited them before noon as Dasman had organized Professional Educators Around Kuwait (PEAK) conference on Saturday where teachers and school administrators had gathered for a full day workshop. “What I just heard in the classroom is actually happening here,” exclaimed a visitor.

Rajaa Al-Waelly with her daughter Ghazal during the exhibition of their handmade broadcloth art, Saturday, December 8, 2012.

Nonpaying officials to go without water KUWAIT: The Ministr y of Interior yesterday started disconnecting water supply to houses of senior state officials who failed to pay their accumulated bill arrears despite repeated calls to do so, a senior ministry official announced on Saturday. “The water disconnection process will proceed gradually starting with five to six persons,” Undersecretary Assistant for Consumers Affairs, Abdullah

Al-Hajri, said. In a press statement, he said that “eighty percent” of the debtors from among senior state officials have already paid their bills after receiving warnings.

Meanwhile, Al-Hajri indicated that legal action will be taken against those officials who would fail to pay their dues, after which their names would be referred to the cabinet “to take whatever action necessary.”

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

kuwait digest

Prize for EU’s contribution to peace

Dissolution of the council

By Thaar Al Rashidi bservers are of the opinion that the current council will not last for more than three months, that is 130,000 minutes to be exact, time that separates us from dissolution of the council.

Therefore, keep an eye on your watch and wait to see when, how and why the council will be dissolved.

If the situation remains as it is currently and escalation continues, the council will not last more than 30,000 minutes, something the opposition wishes would happen. However, I believe, the opposition is making a mistake in calling for rallies at night in the residential areas.

Dissolution of the council is not only a wish of the opposition or a desire of the public, but has today become a necessity. The reason is that what happened during the rallies has proved that the new council is totally disconnected from what is happening in Kuwait. There are several kinds of mistakes. In fact, mistakes can be graded. Something could be a simple mistake while someone could kill another human being, which also is a mistake. The opposition made a mistake in calling for nightly rallies in residential areas, but to deal with these as purely an issue of law and order was a mistake far more disastrous.

The statements of the Ministry of Interior about rallies at Sabah Al Nasser, Sabahiya and Jahra were not politically neutral declarations. The Ministry of Interior seems to have given up its neutrality while it was supposed to work in an objective fashion.

Calling in those who post their opinion through Twitter for interrogation does not per se make us a police state, since the state has to implement the law properly. We are with the state in this matter and law must be implemented against anyone who violates it.

But such an application of law should be without any discrimination. Before the state decides to implement the law against those posting on the Twitter or political activists airing their opinion, it should first implement the law on those big fish looted the country wealth. A Twitter post is just an opinion. It is not equivalent to stealing a tender, robbing a bank or establishing a fake company whose owners are fly-bynight operators who decamp with hard earned savings of millions of small investors and then go beyond the jurisdictional reach of the sovereign state of Kuwait.

A Twitter post is an opinion and not equivalent to building a hospital in violation of all the laws of the state. People write an opinion on Twitter, a lesser crime surely than opening a TV channel which broadcasts opinions that incessantly abuse the public.

On the Twitter a post is merely an opinion in which a person believes. It is certainly a lesser crime that establishing a company and bringing in thousands of laborers and then dumping them in the streets while no police officer or even the director of security dares to object because of the influence that such corrupt people wield. Let the state first put all such people on trial, only then should it start prosecuting the Twitterers. — Al-Anbaa

By Adam Kulach (Head of the delegation of European Union, Riyadh)

O

kuwait digest

55% in three constituencies is not enough?

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij had thought I could take a long and well-earned break after writing for over a year, but apparently I was wrong. I left the country after casting my vote, catching a depressing flu in the process which was made even worse by travel fatigue, and also the ignorance of some boycotters. I feel that my ability to think is limited, just like Abdullah Al-Naibari’s must have been when he wrote his column, published last Wednesday, wherein he claimed that the boycott campaign was a success. Unfortunately, it appears that some (former) democratic activists did not receive the memo and insist that more than 60 percent of the Kuwaiti people boycotted the elections despite the final results showing that more than 43 percent voted. According to those I can no longer refer to as democrats, all 60 percent decided to boycott the elections of their own volition. This can only mean that no one fell sick, no one was outside the country at the time, no one was being treated overseas and had people accompanying him, and there were no Kuwaiti students studying abroad. Perhaps we do not have hundreds of diplomats located at Kuwaiti embassies around the world as well.

We have thousands of Kuwaiti citizens who could not have voted due to many reasons or who have always chosen not to vote. These could very well make up at least 20 percent of the total number of voters. In their attempt to justify their decision of boycotting the elections, the Kuwait Democratic Forum and National Democratic Alliance took the average 40 percent of citizens who usually fail to vote, and added 15 percent which actually boycotted, and then ‘stole’ another five percent from the voters’ percentage to ‘back up’ their claim that the campaign had succeeded. The boycotting groups and their new democratic allies consider perhaps that Kuwait is restricted to the fourth and fifth constituencies and others do not deserve citizenship.

Let me explain.

Voting in the first constituency reached 57.7 percent, which could be rounded up to 58 percent. In the second, it reached 56 percent while it reached 53 percent in the third. So democratically speaking, the number of citizens who voted in the first three constituencies reached 55 percent, meaning that the boycott campaign failed in three of the five constituencies. Regardless of the average, the fact that the campaign fell far short of what it had claimed is what is important. The voting percentage in the last few elections could be the best proof of that.

My question to the KDF and NDA is, why do you ignore voters in the first, second and third constituencies while favoring voters in the fourth and fifth? If this is not discrimination, then I do not know what is.

In the meantime, I urge the government to ‘wake up’ and release details of the 2009 and February 2012 elections, as the results of these two elections are enough to silence the boycotters. — Al-Qabas

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ast October’s news about awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 to the European Union came as a surprise for many, and was greeted with mixed reactions. Some commended the decision of the Nobel Committee as timely and the award well deserved, while others saw it as biased and politicized. Supporters of other hopeful awardees were disappointed and all sorts of politicians used the opportunity to remind the public of their existence by making critical, and often harsh, statements that made for headlines.

But as time passed, more and more Europeans and people around the globe started realizing that the prize for EU’s contribution to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights, was not just for its work in Europe but in many other regions in the world, and that it was based on merit. The many congratulatory messages we received from leaders and individual citizens can be seen as proof that despite the recent state of gloom hovering over the EU, as far as external observers were concerned, the commitment to peace never goes out of fashion.

The award should be considered as a timely reminder of what our Union stands for and the fundamental principle it was built around - transforming a war torn continent into a prosperous union of democracies. A place where a miracle was made to happen and the wounds of conflict could be overcome to give former enemies a common future. Since then, the EU has embraced country after country as its member. Next year, our membership will expand to 28 nations, integrating them into the world’s largest internal market and a community of joint institutions. Today, the EU continues to attract potential candidate countries from both its southern and eastern neighborhoods. Also, it is in a position to serve as a stabilizing force far beyond its borders. European integration has been a source of inspiration for thinking about regional cooperation for numerous organisations and bodies - from the African Union to the GCC, just to give two examples.

For all our achievements, we should not be complacent. With their prestigious recognition that resonates with all generations of Europeans, the Nobel Committee also sent a clear message to the EU: we must protect a Union built over six decades spent in the pursuit of peace at a time when some even try to portray the EU as a “has been”.

We should also consider the award as an encouragement to step up our engagement for enduring peace and prosperity everywhere in the world. I am happy and proud to be part of a new chapter in the EU’s external relations through a unique creation - the European External Action Service. The Nobel Peace Prize puts new wind in our sails to reach out and help all those who do not enjoy the same scope of freedoms as we do and whose lives might be endangered by war, deprivation or hunger.

From Afghanistan to Somalia, the EU will continue to work, hand in hand with other partners, to champion peace and fundamental human rights around the globe. To do so, it deploys all of its capacities, its expertise in crisis prevention and resolution, the diplomatic skills of its staff on the ground, the development assistance and humanitarian aid to assist those in need. In the wake of the Arab Spring, we have refashioned our approach to step up our engagement with our closest Arab neighbors on a renewed platform of shared democratic principles and values. Europe has also been lending its strongest diplomatic efforts in leading international negotiations with Iran and, as part of the Quartet and the biggest collective aid donor to the Palestinian people, to secure lasting peace in the Middle East.

I hope the EU’s success in achieving peace amongst warring nations will continue to serve as an inspiration to others to overcome sectarian strife and deeply ingrained hatred, often seen as insurmountable obstacles in the way of a more future-oriented development. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that people around the globe can continue to count on the EU to give them a helping hand when need be.

There could probably not be a better date to hold the Award Ceremony in Oslo than today, as Dec 10 has been designated by the United Nations as the Human Rights Day to mark the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

European Union has adopted promotion of human rights and their protection as one of its most cherished and core values and put it at the very heart of any interaction with others.

People in the Gulf sometimes wonder why does the European Union engage itself with human rights issues in other parts of the world and they often consider our actions as interference in the internal affairs of other nations (one of my dear Saudi friends put it bluntly a few days ago: “Why are you guys doing all this?”). The answer is simple.

Remembering our own complicated history, both distant and recent, we, Europeans, are particularly attached to the idea of universality of human rights. It should never be understood as lack of respect for other cultures, traditions, customs or values. We basically need a common language, not only to understand each other properly but to have real meaningful dialogue and fruitful global cooperation for the sake of a peaceful world for our children and next generations to come. If we continue to speak in other quite distant languages without an effort to overcome this, it will definitely be much more difficult to achieve.

Along with the EU high-ranking officials, the delegation designated to receive the award on behalf of European citizens includes four young people from Italy, Poland, Malta and Spain - winners of the EU-wide competition. One of them wrote in her 120 word winning essay that peace is like fresh air which we need to breathe and stay alive, but in our everyday life we tend not to think about it too much, taking it for granted.

Proud to be a European. Let us breathe peace.

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kuwait digest

Good old days and today

By Fuad Al-Hashim am grateful to Allah for having returned home time, tanks, signal corps and artillery would start safely and been once again able to experience the marching towards information ministry buildings joy of seeing all friends and family. I also hope I will and TV stations while air force personnel would start live until new American Boeings or European Air striking governmental establishments and republiBuses capable of flying from Kuwait to London in 30 can or royal guard forces. Chaos would prevail and minutes flat or flying from London to New York in 45 gun shots would ring out everywhere in a capital. minutes are invented, since that will ensure that one People would seek refuge in foreign embassies, currencies would collapse and can return to one’s own bed foreigners flock towards the instead of sleeping in a seat HH the PM is under pres- borders to flee home. inside a metal object flying stray cats and at an altitude of 35,000 feet. sure to appoint some mem- Meanwhile, dogs would rummage The science fiction of the past is becoming the reality bers of the so-called opposi- through empty buildings where windows and doors of today. Fifteen years ago, an American movie depicted tion that boycotted the elec- would slam or squeak with a man being virtually tions as members of his new the wind drafts.

Today, coups are no beamed from one place to the other through a tech- Cabinet. If such a thing hap- longer dependent on tanks.

Facebook has replaced nique similar to that used in pens, it would be akin to artillery. These are the times fax machines. The man of Twitter. Coups nowadays would get into a booth and tying the arms of the are dressed up more temptpush the right buttons to determine his destination Kuwaiti people to two vehi- ingly and in vibrant colours, like the women’s lingerie and then click OK. And cles headed in opposite tempting many a plotter in presto! He would be transported within seconds to a directions to divide them the long nights of the Third World countries. distant place, say the lobby when the truth is that they Ojairi said: If you want of a Brazilian hotel. Who something done well, do it knows when it would are already divided. yourself. And if you want a become a reality? favor, ask someone who In the good old days, people used to write letters, put them in envelopes, buy knows your caliber.

He also said that the first time when electricity was stamps to stick on them, go to post office to pay an additional fee to make them arrive faster and then go supplied to houses and stores in Kuwait was on April back home to wait for a reply that would take weeks 1, 1934. Those were the good old days when the govor, sometimes, months. If one of the dead old timers ernment probably worked well because we did not was to be resurrected and shown how fast an SMS have the ‘Nation’s Uromastyx’, the ‘All Except the can travel and be responded to, he would surely faint Constitution’ nor the ‘Tunnels Rat’.

Finally, I heard that HH the PM is under pressure to and drop dead again.

Similarly, coups in Arab countries, Latin America, appoint some members of the so-called opposition Africa and the Third World countries would often that boycotted the elections as members of his new take place with a group of army officers meeting at cabinet. If such a thing happens, it would be akin to the house of one of the generals to plot it and then tying the arms of the Kuwaiti people to two vehicles set a zero hour for action, which would often be headed in opposite directions to divide them when some wee hour of the morning. At the appointed the truth is that they are already divided. —Al-Watan

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kuwait digest

A temporary solution

By Thaar Al-Rashidi he shift from four votes per voter to single vote system has reduced the choice available to a voter to elect his constituency MPs from 40 percent to just 10 percent. Although the rationale behind the change is that the voter gets to choose 10 MPs and not only one as per the current election whereas in earlier elections he could choose only four MPs. This is the final logic to justify the change, but how each voter will cast ten votes has been left to the specialists; specialists who Kuwait simply does not have or who have been isolated and no one wants to listen to them. In general, that is my understanding of the rationale.

My vision is that the solution to our political problem is to shift towards having two constituencies or one constituency as per lists systems.

The principle of justice in elections is being fulfilled better in the clubs and cooperative societies and non-profit organizations where voters choose all the members of the board of directors. The voter exercises his right to choose the entire board of directors, and not 10 percent of it, as happens in one voter-one vote system.

Therefore, logic says, that either the voter is given the right to choose all the 10 MPs in his constituency as per the five constituency system, or reduce the choice available to him even in the cooperative societies and non-profit organizations and clubs and ask him to cast one vote only. At least, our democracy

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will become equal then at least in the matter of having the same election mechanism.

The one man-one vote might be a temporary solution for a short term political gain, but in the long run, it cannot be a solution to all our political problems. It might solve a problem here and there and all of the problems that the government encounters in its dealings with the opposition, but it will not solve the problems that government faces in dealing with democracy. This is the difference.

The one man-one vote might be in favor of the minorities who were not represented in the previous elections and that we have noticed in the results of the last elections. The absence of any representation in the country is also wrong, whether it happens as a result of partial boycott or in spite of total participation.

One of the friends, commenting on the reason about his nephew nominating himself for the elections, said: “He wants to bid farewell to poverty.” It meant that in case his nephew makes it to the NA hall, he will become a millionaire. I do not know who put that idea into people’s heads that the NA council is simply an “Ali Baba’s Cave.”

Note: Dealing with any political problem as a matter of law and order is a huge mistake, although going out to participate in rallies was also a mistake on the part of the opposition. It was a catastrophe to deal with this situation by lobbing teargas shells.

That was an even bigger blunder. — Al-Anbaa

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

LOCAL

KU hosts health week exhibition

Dr Al-Khayat opening the exhibition

By Abdellatif Sharaa

School children at the sebamed stand

KUWAIT: “Your Health, Your Life” is the slogan chosen by the organizers of the second health week exhibition being held at the College of Engineering and Petroleum. The exhibition was opened by the Dean of the College, Prof Hussein AlKhayat, yesterday morning at Kuwait University, Khaldiya campus.

The Central Blood Bank, Medical Emergencies, Nutrition Department and Physiotherapy department from the Health Ministry are participating.

The exhibition organizers planned activities such as First Aid courses to be organized during Dec 10 and 11, 2012 while a lecture on nutrition titled “How do I know my ideal weight” will be delivered by nutrition consultant Bashayer Al-

Dr Hussein Al-Khayat at Sebamed Stand

Bader today morning and a lecture on the effectof colors on human beings will be delivered on Dec 12.

Dr Hussein Al-Khayat said it was important for the exhibition to continue for the 12th year as it helps increase awareness about health issues among students, employees and workers at the university.

He said the exhibition was aimed at spreading awareness among visitors and students as well among the university staff about health, safety and security, and advising them on the importance of periodical preventive tests to avoid diseases.

The exhibition will receive visitors at the College of Engineering Building, Kuwait University, Khaldiya Campus until Dec 13, 2012.

New efforts ‘to develop Kuwait City into a model city’ KUWAIT: The Industries and Construction 2nd Exhibition got underway yesterday with participation of 43 large companies and government agencies.

The event was officially opened by the Minister of State for Housing Affairs and Minister of Trade and Industry Anas Al-Saleh and Chairman and Managing Director of National Industries Company (NIC) Adel Al-Subeeh.

The agencies are the General Organization for Housing Welfare, Kuwait’s municipality, Ministry of Electricity and Water, Public Authority for Industry and Savings and Credit Bank (SCB).

SCB is participating in the exhibition to highlight the role played by the bank since the early

sixties and its contribution to the implementation of the construction projects such as building low-income houses in Jahra, Riqa and Mina Abdullah with mosques and schools until the establishment of the Public Authority for Housing in 1974, said Salah Al-Mudhaf, Director General of SCB. For his part, Al-Subeeh said that the municipality continues its responsibility toward preserving the historical identity and heritage of the country through creating a special department for the country’s structural diagram and the implementation of some projects such as renovating Souk Al-Mubarikiya.

“We are carrying out our goal to develop Kuwait City to make it a model city and a fine

example through a partnership with the Arab Towns Organization, which is based in Kuwait,” added Al-Subeeh.

He noted that the main obstacles that have hampered the projects of the development plan was the delay of the land allocation and validity course, calling for coordination between the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development and the municipality.

He said that Kuwait is entering a construction renaissance, and it is expected to have more than 60,000 housing units built during the next four years, in addition to a railway station, Bubyan International Port, labor cities and several other projects. The organization sheds light on

Madinah Amir honors Kuwaiti student MADINAH: The Amir of Holy Madinah and the Kuwaiti ambassador have honored a brave Kuwaiti citizen who rescued a Saudi female child in recent floods. Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Majed, late on Saturday, held an honoring reception for Ramah Mohammad AlQahtani, praising the courageous young man and his father.

Al-Qahtani has recently braved roaring waters and salvaged the young girl who was on the verge of

losing her life in floods that swamped low regions in a valley near Madinah.

For his part, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the kingdom, Sheikh Thamer Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, expressed gratitude to to the Amir of Madinah, noting the warm and historic ties bounding the Kuwaiti and Saudi peoples. Sheikh Thamer, yesterday honored the Kuwaiti student at his bureau in Riyadh, lauding his courage for saving the life of the girl who was taken

away by water torrents. Recalling the accident, Al-Qahtani, a master ’s degree student, said the girl had slipped into the water while he and other spectators were watching the roaring waters that swamped parts of the low-level region for the first since a long time ago. Many Kuwaiti students study in the kingdom. The two neighboring countries are bound with historic close ties and share traditions, beliefs and customs.—KUNA

ICRC hails cooperation with KRCS KUWAIT: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head of operations for the Near and Middle East, Robert Mardini, yesterday stressed on importance of cooperation with Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS).

Mardini said in remarks to the press, following a meeting with the Chairman of KRCS Barjas Al-Barjas, the society should enhance its programs in facing effects of wars and disasters, improving the training courses, as well as sending relief to people in need at the right time and at maximum speed. ICRC is monitoring with pride and appreciation the humanitarian programs and developmental projects, implemented by the KRCS in various countries affected by natural disasters, Mardini affirmed.

The meeting with Al-Barjas tackled humanitarian issues, and means of facing natural disasters and effects of political unrest in a number of countries, and the role of KRSC in offering relief to such countries, Mardini added.

They also discussed the current circumstances in the region, especially in Syria, regarding the large number of refugees in neighboring countries, namely Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

KRCS possess best qualifications and human cadres needed to practice its humanitarian role, Al-Barjas said.

KRCS is an independent humanitarian body that is committed to strict neutrality in its tasks, and it is keen on distributing relief to all people in need without any discrimination, he stated.—KUNA

the last enterprise projects through a detailed explanation about its new housing projects such as Jaber Al-Ahmad and Saad Al-Abdullah City, northwest Sulaibikhat, Sabah Al-Ahmad City, Khiran, Mitlaa and other new projects, said Tahani Al-Azmi, Director of Media and Public Relations at the General Organization for Housing Welfare. On the housing rights of Kuwaiti women, Al-Azmi said that many of the women who meet the terms of the housing loans are currently preparing the necessary documents to get this loan from SCB. The organization’s role is to provide SCB with the information required in order for the Kuwaiti women to get their loans. In addition, the Deputy Director

General of the Export Development in the Public Authority for Industry Saqer Al-Anezi, said that the exhibition is of great significance due to several reasons, including the fact that it had made the National Industries Company, one of the first industrial companies in Kuwait, organize it.

For his part, Director of Public Relations and Information in the Ministr y of Electricity Mohammed Al-Mulla said the ministry controls streets lighting, which contributes to the provision of electric power for the streets and a saving corner that includes several publications that aim to deliver an awareness message on the importance of saving electricity and water. — KUNA

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

LOCAL

Drunken passenger on board lands behind bars Middle-aged man tortured dead KUWAIT: Officers at the Kuwait International Airport arrested a passenger who arrived drunk on a plane coming from a Gulf state on Saturday. The Pakistani man was placed under arrest by officers who waited outside after the pilot of the Kuwait Airways flight radioed ahead about the inebriated passenger. The suspect had reportedly caused chaos during flight and damaged his seat while being under the influence of liquor. He remains in custody pending legal procedures.

Kuwaiti dead A middle -aged Kuwaiti man who was reportedly tortured and injected with some lethal substance later died in a hospital where he was rushed by his son but his tormentors remain unknown. The victim, a Kuwaiti in his fifties, was rushed to the Sabah Hospital in a critical condition after he arrived at his son’s house barely conscious last Friday night. He was admitted to the intensive care unit after being diagnosed with burn injuries on his hands and feet, as well as having being repeatedly injected with some lethal substance. He died a few hours later. The victim’s son could not name anyone as a potential suspect. The body was taken for an autopsy to determine the cause of death and identify the unknown substance.

Road accidents A pedestrian was killed after he was hit by a senior Kuwaiti citizen driving a car on the

Jahra Road recently. The Jordanian man was crossing the street in front of the Sulaibikhat Cemetery when a Kuwaiti woman in her sixties driving a car hit him. She was taken into custody for investigations. The body was taken to the coroner after investigations were carried out on the scene.

Meanwhile, a domestic worker died while her female employer and the latter’s children were injured when their vehicle overturned following an accident on early Saturday morning at the Salmi Road. The Asian woman was pronounced dead on the scene while her Kuwaiti employer and the children were rushed to the Jahra Hospital. An investigation was opened to determine the circumstances behind the accident.

Attempted suicide A domestic helper from India who tried to commit suicide by slashing his wrists with a knife was rushed to the Jahra Hospital by his Kuwaiti employer who found him in a pool of his own blood inside his room at their Waha house. Doctors were able to stop the bleeding and later confirmed that the man indeed used a knife to cut his wrist. A case was filed at the area’s police station while police wait for the man to be discharged from the hospital in order to be held for investigations.

Suspicious helicopter The Ahmadi police are carrying out investigations to reveal the mystery behind a radio-

controlled helicopter equipped with a camera and a memory chip that was found near an oil facility in the area recently. Police had arrived at the scene in response to a call made by a security guard who grew suspicious upon finding the plane on the ground just outside the facility. Officers took the plane to a nearby club for owners of radio-controlled helicopters and were able to identify its owner, who was not present at the time. The Ahmadi detectives were assigned to look for the man to be held for investigations in order to clear any suspicions.

Fugitive disappears A pedestrian who was hit by a car and knocked down with a head injury regained consciousness and fled from the scene while still bleeding all over after he noticed the police officers on the spot. The accident happened late Saturday night. Paramedics and police rushed to a street in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh where the accident was reported. The 30year-old Indian man was knocked down but regained consciousness soon after the medics arrived. As soon as he saw police officers, he ran away while bleeding heavily from the head wound and managed to disappear.

However, though the police failed to catch up with him, the man left his ID papers behind.

Police later found that he was wanted for felony charges. Now, a search is on for him.

Meanwhile, police apprehended the Arab driver who had hit him for legal procedures.

NBK recognized for commitment to Information Security KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is recognized for its commitment to information security by a leading panel in the Information Technology and Information Security industry.

The StarLink Security Advisory Summit 2012 acknowledged NBK’s commitment to Information Security and for adopting world-class security standards and best practices to best protect its customers from the latest security threats.

Tamer Gamali, NBK Chief Information Security Officer, was awarded the CISO of the Year Award 2012 during the summit that was recently held in Dubai.

“Receiving this award demonstrates NBK’s commitment to providing a secure banking environment and protecting our customer data. We live in an environment where new threats are constantly emerging, recent escala-

tions within the region in terms of cyber related activity have raised awareness.” said Gamali.

The StarLink Security Advisory

Summit is an annual gathering of the industry’s Chief Information Officers (CIO), Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) and

Senior IT Security key decision makers.

Under the theme “A Visionary Approach to Next-Generation Threat Response”, this year’s summit focused on discussions, analysis and deep understanding of IT Security challenges surrounding next-generation threats in the present era which target banks, financial institutions, government entities, and companies from different areas.

In addition, NBK played a key role in establishing the first official chapter in the GCC for the International Information Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2, one of the most reputed Information Security organizations in the world. This comes in line with NBK’s efforts to raise awareness and provide support to further develop the field of information security within Kuwait.

Strong need for companies to enhance capabilities system DUBAI: Today, concerns about privacy are lower than ever before. Unstructured data - stemming from online behavior, purchases, mobile devices, location tracking, sensors, and other sources-has been growing at a rate of more than 50 percent per year. As a result, companiesare positioning themselves to compete based on their access to and use of big data.In line with this, Management consulting firmBooz & Company have found that-for companies to truly gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace -they must adopt a capabilities-driven strategy.

The amount of data availableto businesses from sensors, accumulations of digital text and video, electronic transactions, observed online behavior, and other forms of recorded activity has grown significantly over the last few years.Today, leaders in many industries are looking to gain valuable insights through the gathering of big data; they believe that it will lead to more intelligent decisions about which customers to target, how to target them, how to price, what products and services to launch, how to manage risk, whom to recruit, and much, much more.

However, to date, very few enterprises have found a way to embrace big data in a manner that yields better business results within a practical time frame. This gap between concept and practice reflects the notion that big data is still a relatively new functional specialty, and that there is much to learn about its real-world use and value. “In order to achieve this, CIOs mustn’t solely consider an IT strategy, they also need to focus on the strategic priorities and value propositions of their company, and gain awareness of how these tools might fit,” said Olaf Acker, a Partner with Booz & Company. “They should evaluate their company’s overall strategy -and, in particular, the capabilities system that can help it reliably and sustainably outpace its competitors -to see what contribution big data can make to it.

Then, they should put in place the processes and practices that best fit the purpose of the enterprise.”

In our digital world, a significant part of big data growth is unstructured; it consists of material including Web content, news and social feeds, message board postings, video clips, and other data that cannot easily be grouped into recurring fields. In reality, the data from location-aware mobile devices has exacerbated the overall amount of data, and thetypes of data, to be gathered. We are truly looking at a data deluge never seen before.

It is understandable that many CIOs and business executives resist jumping in to make major investments in this opportunity. They arewary of

adopting another “intellectual” initiative or repackaging their traditional business intelligence and data mining efforts under a new buzzword. Hence, most CIOs are torn. Should they embrace the big data trend? Or should they wait for the hype to settle down and risk losing competitive edge to other industry players?

In making that decision for their enterprise, there are four fundamental questions that CIOs must ask, and largely in this order:

Olaf Acker 1. How does this technology fit with our strategy, and especially with our capabilities system?

To define big data in an actionable way, it is critical to understand what data sets are relevant to your enterprise -and especially to the drivers of its capabilities, and therefore,its profitability and growth.

In effect, the universe of possible data to consider can be divided along two dimensions: data type (from tightly structured to loose and unstructured) and data source (from internal to external). Different types of information will be valuable to different companies, based on the purpose of the enterprise.If your biggest areas of growth and strategic focus are linked to internal and external unstructured data sources then pursuing a big data strategy may be right for you.

For business-to-consumer companies, external unstructured data offers the largest area of opportunity to discover new consumer insights and ultimately transform products, marketing, and customer engagement strategies. In the business-to-business world, internal unstructured data is a prime learning ground for enter-

prises to understand how to mine value from unstructured data formats.

2. Where and how can we put big data to use?

You can find the most value in big data in functional areas such as customer and marketing analytics, electronic media analytics, operational effectiveness, performance management, and fraud and risk management. The fact is, to uncover the full value of big data, you should focus on the business needs of your company and customers. Although identifying the right use for big data is pivotal, it is equally important to clearly define expected outcomes and benefits from pilot initiatives- in a quantifiable and verifiable manner.

3. What tools do I need to buy, build, and implement?

When looking for big data tools to implement, a CIO must first transform the enterprise’s information management technology stack to include non-relational databases, new data distribution architecture, in-memory processing, machine learning-based analytics, businessprocess management software with embedded analytics, bi-directional real-time data provisioning to channels and interactions, full population analytics, and so on. This presents a paradigm shift in the way information should be managed to make big data useful and fully integrated into internal information environments. Indeed, there are several choices in the marketplace for investing in the rapidly evolving big data technology stack; and, each of these technologies and related products can be adopted in different ways, depending on your business needs and capabilities. For most companies, the best way to start is with a small, niche-oriented, and flexible approach.

4. What aspects of our operating model need to be in place?

Successful execution of a big data road map requires an operating model that incorporates the right skills, practices, processes, and funding patterns. The business leaders need to understand the value of data and how it can enable the strategy and winning capabilities system.

More so, there should be technology experts who know how to collect, organize, structure, and store data for use. You also need “usage” experts, sometimes known as “data scientists,” who can bridge the business and technology areas and know how to architect big data, use the data, create required insights, and embed the insights into operational business processes that enable the target business capabilities.

VIVA honors winners of Quran contest KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, announced that it held an honorary ceremony for the distinguished memorizers of the Holy Quran and awarded the winners in the youth category with monetary prizes during a ceremony. The event was held on Wednesday at Hotel Missoni, and was attended by VIVA’s management, senior executives and Awqaf officials.

Commenting on this honorable initiative, Eng. Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Badran, Chief Executive Officer at VIVA said: “Supporting such a sanctified event is a source of pride for VIVA. This initiative has allowed for all segments of youth to participate in an intellectual activity and shine. Supporting such a competition is very rewarding and we encourage and invite everyone to aspire to the same accomplishment.”

The contestants honoured at VIVA’s ceremony participated under five different categories, namely; Elementary Students Boys, Elementary Students Girls, Middle School Students Boys, Middle School Students Girls and the special category which included the Kuwait Autism Center, the Kuwait Society for the Blind and others. VIVA had taken the initiative to support the Holy Quran Memorizing contest that was held by the General Secretariat of Awqaf under the patronage of His Highness the Emir of

Kuwait. Earlier this year VIVA representatives attended a ceremony held in Bayan palace to honour the participants of this contest.

VIVA will spare no efforts in supporting initiatives that promote an academic challenge, especially one that results in the memorization of the Holy Quran. It will continue to offer its support to further develop and encourage similar initiatives that allows Kuwait’s youth to unleash its intellectual potential. VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider in Kuwait. Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things Possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences. The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach. VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling. VIVA continues to take a considerable share of the market by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and world-class service.

VIVA offers Internet speed up to 42.2Mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.

New containers for collecting garbage

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The director of cleaning administration at Farwaniya Municipality, Bader AlQattan, said that containers of 240 liter capacity each, which were specially meant for collecting garbage as per contracts 21, 22, and 23 have been distributed in Khaitan area, Andalus and Jleeb.

Al-Qattan told reporters that other kinds of containers will be distributed within a period not exceeding 60 days from the start of the second year of the contract in Farwaniya, Omariya, Ardiya, and Sabah AlNasser.

This will be followed by a third phase for container distribution when again the period will not exceed 60 days from the start of the third year of the contract, in Rabiya,

Firdous and Abdullah Al Mubarak.

Al Qattan added that contract no. 21 contained a provision for container distribution in Al Rihab within a period not exceeding 60 days from the beginning of the 4th year. These will also be distributed in Isbelia area within a period not exceeding 60 days from the 5th year.

Al Qattan pointed out that the administration was currently distributing plastic containers of 240 liters capacity. The gray colored containers were meant for each residential unit. These were in addition to the distribution of metallic containers of 11000 liter capacity for buildings, investment buildings, government organizations and public markets. For any further enquiries, the hotline of municipality responds at number 139 round the clock.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

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

Israel politicians trade barbs over Meshaal visit JERUSALEM: With a snap election looming next month, the Israeli government and opposition traded barbs yesterday over Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal’s landmark weekend visit to Gaza. The Hamas leader-inexile’s first-ever visit to the territory, during which he gave a speech pledging the movement would not cede “an inch” of historic Palestine, prompted anger in Israel and political recriminations.

Government and opposition politicians alike said the visit made the case for their candidates in the January 22 general election. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Meshaal’s remarks proved that “our enemies”

want “to destroy our state.” Speaking at the beginning of his weekly cabinet meeting, he also slammed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for not condemning “the remarks about the destruction of Israel.” “He is unfortunately striving for unity with the same Hamas that is supported by Iran,” Netanyahu said of Abbas.

The premier said the situation in Gaza, where Israel dismantled its settlements in 2005, showed unilateral concessions of land would not help peace. “We are not prepared to repeat the same mistake of a unilateral withdrawal,” he said. “We must, and can, oppose it. We are also opposing the international pressure... that is what is

required from Israeli leadership.”

Education Minister Gideon Saar, a member of Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud party, recalled that the party had opposed the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. “All those parties that promise new withdrawals from Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank) want to elevate Hamas to power,” he charged.

Ultra-nationalist Naftali Bennet, who heads the Jewish Home party, told public radio his faction had pressured the government to prevent Meshaal from visiting Gaza. “I don’t understand why we allowed him to enter Gaza and why, once he was there, we didn’t liquidate him, because he deser ves to die,” said Bennet,

whose faction is allied with the Likud and, polls suggest, could win as many as 12 seats in the 120-seat parliament.

Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who will contest the elections at the head of a new party, HaTnua ( The Movement), said Hamas “on Saturday celebrated the defeat of the Israeli government.” “Every day that passes under this government, Hamas is strengthened and Israel is weakened,” she said in a statement.

“This government negotiated with Hamas,” she said, referring to Egyptianbrokered talks that led to a ceasefire ending eight days of bloodshed in and around Gaza last month. “ What’s worse, they allowed them to gain

international legitimacy,” she added, alluding to a succession of solidarity visits to the territory by Arab and regional top diplomats.

On Saturday, Shaul Mofaz-who heads the centre-right Kadima faction that Livni once led-said the Israeli government should have killed Meshaal in Gaza. “We should have taken advantage of the opportunity to slice the head off the serpent. Meshaal deserves to die,” said Mofaz, who is a former defence minister.

“If Israel continues to weaken Abu Mazen (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas) and does not deal firmly with Hamas, we will soon see Meshaal in Judaea and Samaria,” he added. — AFP

Feuding Palestinian groups call for unity Netanyahu says Abbas should criticise Hamas

MINIEH: Lebanese women mourn during the funeral of Khodr Mustafa Alameddine, who was among a group of Sunni Muslims killed by the Syrian army after they crossed into Syria to fight alongside rebels, in Minieh in northern Lebanon yesterday. — AFP

Syria-linked clashes kill four in Lebanon TRIPOLI: Sectarian clashes linked to the 21-month conflict in Syria killed four people and wounded 40 in neighbouring Lebanon before dawn yesterday, a security official said. The latest fighting in the northern city of Tripoli between Sunni Muslims and Alawite co-religionists of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad came amid growing international concern about the potential for neighbouring countries to be dragged into the conflict.

Sunni residents of the port city’s Bab al-Tebbaneh district exchanged machinegun and rocket fire with Alawite residents of the neighbouring Jabal Mohsen district leaving two members of each community dead, the security official said.

The fighting broke a tense calm that had held since the army deployed troops between the two impoverished neighbourhoods early on Friday. During the night, troops held their positions on sidestreets but not on the ironically named Syria Street that forms the frontline. “The clashes are light now,” the security official said yesterday morning, adding that no decision had yet been taken on whether to send in more troops. The latest deaths brought the toll from fighting in the city since Tuesday to 17, including two children.

Longstanding tensions in Tripoli escalated when 22 Sunnis from the Tripoli area who had crossed into Syria to join the armed rebellion against Assad’s rule were ambushed by troops in the town of Tal Kalakh on November 30.

Damascus later agreed to repatriate the bodies at the request of the Lebanese foreign ministry, and on Sunday the bodies of three of the slain fighters were received at the Arida border crossing, a security source said.

The atmosphere was tense with shots fired into the air as the bodies of Khader al-Din, Abdel Hakim al-Salah and Mohammed al-Mir were handed over, an AFP correspondent reported. The body of Mir was initially given to the wrong family but later returned to his father.

The others were buried straight after funeral prayers.

A Lebanese official told AFP that Syrian authorities told their counterparts that some members of the group had survived the ambush and were being

interrogated. Opposition activists posted video footage on the Internet on Saturday, with the caption: “Abuse of the corpses of the Tripoli martyrs in Tal Kalakh.”

In the video, a man is seen kicking at least five lifeless bodies lain out on the ground, while others can be heard cracking jokes in the background. Its authenticity could not be verified.

Meanwhile, Lebanese authorities received yesterday the first three bodies from a group of 14 Lebanese gunmen killed in Syria, local clerics said, as fighting triggered by their death continued to shake the northern port town of Tripoli.

A Reuters reporter in the area said fighting overnight killed at least one person, bringing the total to over 14 dead in a week, and more than 120 wounded.

Tensions in northern Lebanon have been high since at least 14 Sunni Muslim Lebanese and Palestinian gunmen from the area were killed by Syrian security forces a week ago in a Syrian border town. The men appeared to have joined the armed insurgency against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Militants from northern Lebanon had long been suspected of entering neighbouring Syria, but the killing of the gunmen sparked tensions Tripoli’s long simmering tensions.

Syria’s conflict has not only stirred sectarian fighting in its own population, it has also revived sectarian clashes in Tripoli, whose communal makeup reflects that of Syria. Majority Sunnis in the city support Syria’s mostly Sunni-led uprising, while Alawites, the Shi’itelinked minority sect to which Assad belongs, are generally supportive of the Syrian president.

Syrian state television aired graphic video of the dead Lebanese gunmen, their bloodied corpses riddled with bullet holes. Families of the dead demonstrated last week to demand the return of the bodies, as clashes resumed in Tripoli.

An agreement was eventually reached between Syrian and Lebanese officials to transfer the bodies gradually, with the first three being delivered yesterday. Cars brought the bodies up to the northern Lebanese border, where security forces and local religious authorities came to receive them. — Agencies

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, center, places medals on the coffin of Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Ignatius Hazim IV, during his funeral at the Saint Nicolas Church in Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday. The patriarch of a Damascusbased Eastern Orthodox Church, Ignatius Hazim, has died in a Beirut hospital. He was 92, his remains will be taken from Lebanon to Syria for burial. — AP

GAZA/RAMALLAH: Leaders of the feuding Palestinian factions, the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza and the secular Fatah government in the West Bank, urged reconciliation between the two former foes yesterday despite diverging policies on Israel.

Fatah and Hamas have been at loggerheads since the latter pulled off a surprise win in 2006 parliamentar y polls. A brief, bloody civil war a year later saw Hamas eject Fatah from Gaza, leaving Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah, to consolidate his power base in the West Bank.

The two groups are hoping to boost ties on the heels of an eight-day war with Israel last month, which buoyed Hamas, and a Fatah-led initiative at the United Nations General Assembly, that recognised a de facto Palestinian state.

But Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, visiting the Gaza Strip for the first time, struck a hard line against recognising Israel or negotiating with it for a state on the lines pre-dating the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, just as Fatah’s Abbas pledged himself to diplomacy and non-violence.

“Let bygones be bygones,” Meshaal told an audience at Gaza’s Islamic University.

“Responsibility for Palestine is bigger than one faction alone ...

Hamas cannot do without Fatah and Fatah cannot do without Hamas,” he added.

Hamas and Fatah have sought unity before, but a succession of Arab-brokered plans have repeatedly run aground over issues such as the holding of new elections, releasing prisoners and the make-up of Palestinian security forces.

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, attends the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem office, yesterday. — AP In the days before Meshaal’s homecoming, Hamas eased curbs on Fatah partisans in Gaza.

However, the Hamas leader made no concrete proposals for reconciliation and stuck to the party line on Israel, saying he would never recognise the Jewish State even in its original 1948 borders, telling Fatah that “resistance” was the way forward.

Abbas on Sunday told Arab League diplomats that the two groups wanted to overcome their differences. “The reconciliation is dear to us and to the unity of our people, especially in the present time, when we are talking about a Palestinian state and about getting something new,” he said, but

6 hurt in Sudan protests over student deaths KHARTOUM: Six people were injured yesterday as Sudanese police clashed with hundreds of protesters showing support for four dead students originally from the conflict-plagued Darfur region, an AFP reporter said.

Many people were also detained by the security forces, and a bus owned by the Khartoum city government was torched, the reporter said. At least two people suffered head wounds while one was injured in the leg and two women had trouble breathing, apparently from tear gas fired by police, he said.

The death of the four students last week, following an alleged crackdown on a tuition protest, has prompted a re-emergence of Arab Spring-inspired demands for the downfall of the government. “The people want the fall of the regime,” protesters shouted, in a call last heard in Sudan in June and July when scattered anti-regime demonstrations sparked by inflation spread around the country. They later petered out following a security clampdown. “Killing students is the killing of the nation!” demonstrators called as they converged on the capital’s main public bus terminal, the reporter witnessed.

“Peace, justice, freedom!” About 100 demonstrators walked three kilometres (two miles) from the riverfront University of Khartoum to Nilien University where hundreds more joined them before they moved into the bus terminal. Police then fired tear gas but the protesters regrouped, and lobbed back stones before more tear gas was fired. Thick clouds, apparently from the gas, wafted over the western edge of the city as the sun set.

Earlier, about 500 students held a mock funeral at the University of Khartoum for the four Gezira University students, whose deaths a student group blamed on authorities and their “militia.”

A student witness said many mourners then marched into the street near the campus, where police beat them with batons. Students also demonstrated to show their support in Port Sudan on the Red Sea, a witness there said.

In 1964, the death of student activist Ahmed alQureshi sparked the “October Revolution” which ended the military regime then in power after tens of thousands protested. The Darfur Students Association of Gezira University announced on Saturday that Al Sadiq Yakoub Abdullah and Al Noman Ahmed Gorshi had been found dead along with Mohammed Yunis Neil and Adel Mohammed Ahmed Hammad.— AFP

stressed talks with Israel.

“If we put aside the negotiating table, the alternative would be war,” Abbas told envoys at a meeting in Doha. “Are we ready for war? I say no.”

Their fundamental differences aside, top Fatah leader Azzam alAhmed praised Meshaal’s reconciliation push as “positive,” but cautioned his remarks contained nothing new.

Meshaal and other top Hamas leaders have earlier mooted a long-term truce with Israel based on the 1967 lines, but say this does not mean they are ready to recognise Israel’s right to exist in the rest of the territory.

Israel says it will only accept a

demilitarised Palestinian state, and says Hamas’s history of suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israeli towns makes it a terrorist group-a stance the United States and European Union endorse.

Israel criticised Abbas for not condemning Meshaal’s comments and for seeking unity with the Islamist group.

“What is interesting is that (Abbas), of all people, did not condemn the (Hamas) words calling for Israel’s destruction, just as previously he did not condemn the rockets fired at Israel (from Gaza),” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. —Reuters

African Union, Somali troops capture Islamist stronghold NAIROBI: African Union troops and Somali forces seized the formerly Islamist-held town of Jowhar yesterday, wresting control of one of the largest remaining towns held by the Al-Qaeda linked Shebab, officials said.

“We took control this morning and are now establishing security in Jowhar,” Colonel Ali Houmed, a spokesman for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), told AFP. “AMISOM troops alongside Somali National Forces entered the town, there was little fighting as the Shebab largely fled ahead of us.”

The loss of Jowhar is a significant blow to the Shebab, who have lost a string of towns in recent months to the 17,000strong AMISOM force, as well as to Ethiopian troops who invaded Somalia last year from the west.

Shebab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Musab confirmed to AFP that the extremist forces had pulled out of the town, which lies some 90 kilometres (55 miles) north on a key road from the capital Mogadishu.

“We have withdrawn our troops from Jowhar for strategic reasons,” Abu Musab said, adding that the forces had pulled out without suffering any casualties and remained “close by” to the town.

“We will hunt the invaders from inside and outside Jowhar,” he added. Jowhar, the regional capital of Middle Shabelle region, had been under the Islamists’ control since 2009, after Ethiopian troops in a US-backed invasion pulled out in the face of a bloody insurgency.

Its capture brings a step closer the prospect of AU troops pushing northwards being able to link up with Ethiopian soldiers ahead in the Hiraan region. Shebab fighters are on the back foot, with AU troops also battling to open up the road northwest from Mogadishu to link the capital with Baidoa, which is held by Ethiopian soldiers.

The fighters have largely retreated ahead of each assault, with some reported-

ly relocating to the Galgala region of the northern Golis mountains in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.

The Golis mountains, straddling the porous border between the autonomous state of Puntland and self-declared independent Somaliland, are honeycombed with caves and difficult to access. The northern mountains have been under longtime control of warlord, arms dealer and Shebab ally Mohamed Said Atom, on UN Security Council sanctions for “kidnapping, piracy and terrorism.”

Kenyan troops-who invaded Somalia a year ago before later integrating into AMISOM-have also pushed up from the south, and seized the Shebab bastion and major port of Kismayo in September.

But the Shebab remain a potent threat, still controlling rural areas as well as carrying out guerrilla attacks-including suicide bombings-in areas apparently under government control. The Shebab, who abandoned fixed positions in the war-torn capital Mogadishu last year, have also carried out a series of guerrilla attacks there.

The hardline insurgents still control the small port town of Barawe, lying some 180 kilometres south from the capital. Somalia has been in political chaos and deprived of an effective central government since the fall of President Siad Barre in 1991.

However, a new administration took office in September, ending eight years of transitional rule by a corruption-riddled government. Over a million Somalis are displaced inside the country while over a million are refugees in neighbouring nations, according to UN figures.

The United Nations this month appealed for $1.3 billion to support 3.8 million people-about half the population of the war-torn country-it said are in need.

In 2011, famine in the country caused by extreme drought exacerbated by conflict caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people and affected more than four million people, according to the UN. — AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

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

Obama request for Sandy aid could face hurdles WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama’s proposal for $60.4 billion in federal aid for states hit by Superstorm Sandy adds a huge new item to an end-of-year congressional agenda already packed with controversy.

The president’s request to Congress on Friday followed weeks of discussions with lawmakers and officials from New York, New Jersey and other affected states who requested significantly more money, but generally praised the president’s request as they urged Congress to adopt it without delay.

“It’s not everything we wanted, but it’s close enough,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Pushing the request through Congress in the few weeks left before lawmakers adjourn at the end of the year will be no easy task.

Washington’s attention is focused on the looming fiscal cliff of expiring Bushera tax cuts and automatic spending cuts to the Pentagon and domestic programs set to begin at the end of the year. And tea party House Republicans are likely to press for budget cuts elsewhere to offset some or even all disaster costs.

Those complications raised the prospects that the measure will be delayed in whole or in part until next year, although Schumer said the goal is to get it done by Dec. 31. The measure is likely to advance first in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where supporters hope it can be quickly analyzed and brought the floor as early as next week. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has also received the request and is reviewing it, a spokesman said.

The massive request blends aid for homeowners, businesses, and state and local governments walloped by Sandy, a disaster whose cost is rivaled only by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005.

The aid will help states rebuild public infrastructure like roads and tunnels and help thousands of people displaced from their homes. Most of the money - $47.4 billion - is for immediate help for victims and other recovery and rebuilding efforts. Another $13 billion would be used for mitigation efforts to

protect against future storms.

“We are committed to ensuring federal resources are used responsibly and that the recovery effort is a shared undertaking,” Jeffrey D. Zients, deputy director of Obama’s budget office, wrote to congressional leaders.

Obama’s request was met with praise from two governors who had traveled to Washington last week to press for as much help as possible: New York’s Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey’s Chris Christie. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut together are seeking about $83 billion in aid.

“We thank President Obama for his steadfast commitment of support and look forward to continuing our partnership in the recovery effort,” Cuomo and Christie said in a joint statement.

Friday’s request was at the top end of what had been expected and came after Obama allies like Schumer had criticized the White House following reports it had settled on a $50 billion figure. As is traditional in natural disasters, the request was not accompanied by offsetting spending cuts to defray its cost.

The measure contains $11.5 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s chief disaster relief fund and $17 billion for community development block grants, much of which would help homeowners repair or replace their homes.

Another $11.7 billion would help repair New York City’s subways and other mass transit damage and protect them from future storms. Some $9.7 billion would go toward the government’s flood insurance program. The Army Corps of Engineers would receive $5.3 billion to mitigate flood future risks and rebuild damaged projects.

Dozens of other smaller items are also included in the 73-page official justification.

Praise for the proposal was not universal. “We should not shortchange nor add strings to the support residents, businesses and communities in my district and across the region desperately need,” said Republican Rep. Frank LoBiondo, whose southern New Jersey district includes hard-hit Atlantic City. “I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure the federal aid pack-

age passed by Congress realistically matches the needs identified by the states on the ground.”

The late October storm flooded parts of the East Coast when it roared ashore, creating a storm surge that left parts of New York City underwater and millions of people in several states without heat or electricity for weeks.

Superstorm Sandy is blamed for at least 125 deaths, including 60 in New York, 34 in New Jersey and 16 in Pennsylvania.

At least seven people died in West Virginia, where the storm dropped heavy snow. Sandy damaged or destroyed more than 72,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey. In New York, 305,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed and more than 265,000 businesses affected.

On Tuesday, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate, said the government’s disaster relief fund still has $4.8 billion, enough to pay for recovery efforts into early spring. So far, the government has spent about $2 billion in the 11 states struck by the storm. — AP

Nurse death sparks anger in Britain ‘It’s tragic beyond words’

LIMA: In this Oct. 17, 2012 photo, Alma Ticona eats lunch as her husband Jaime sits nearby in their home in San Juan de Lurigancho on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Seismologists, engineers and civil defense officials agree that Lima is due for an earthquake but is acutely vulnerable and sorely unprepared. — AP

Peru’s capital highly vulnerable to quake LIMA: The earthquake all but flattened colonial Lima, the shaking so violent that people tossed to the ground couldn’t get back up. Minutes later, a 50-foot (15meter) wall of Pacific Ocean crashed into the adjacent port of Callao, killing all but 200 of its 5,000 inhabitants. Bodies washed ashore for weeks.

Plenty of earthquakes have shaken Peru’s capital in the 266 years since that fateful night of Oct. 28, 1746, though none with anything near the violence.

The relatively long “seismic silence” means that Lima, set astride one of the most volatile ruptures in the Earth’s crust, is increasingly at risk of being hammered by a one-two, quake-tsunami punch as calamitous as what devastated Japan last year and traumatized Santiago, Chile, and its nearby coast a year earlier, seismologists say.

Yet this city of 9 million people is sorely unprepared. Its acute vulnerability, from densely clustered, unstable housing to a dearth of first-responders, is unmatched regionally. Peru’s National Civil Defense Institute forecasts up to 50,000 dead, 686,000 injured and 200,000 homes destroyed if Lima is hit by a magnitude-8.0 quake.

“In South America, it is the most at risk,” said architect Jose Sato, director of the Center for Disaster Study and Prevention, or PREDES, a non-governmental group financed by the charity Oxfam that is working on reducing Lima’s quake vulnerability. Lima is home to a third of Peru’s population, 70 percent of its industry, 85 percent of its financial sector, its entire central government and the bulk of international commerce.

“A quake similar to what happened in Santiago would break the country economically,” said Gabriel Prado, Lima’s top official for quake preparedness. That quake had a magnitude of 8.8.

Quakes are frequent in Peru, with about 170 felt by people annually, said Hernando Tavera, director of seismology at the country’s Geophysical Institute. A big one is due, and the chances of it striking increase daily, he said. The same collision of tectonic plates responsible for the most powerful quake ever recorded, a magnitude-9.5 quake that hit Chile in 1960, occurs just off Lima’s coast, where about 3 inches of oceanic crust slides annually beneath the continent.

A 7.5-magnitude quake in 1974 a day’s drive from Lima in the Cordillera Blanca range killed about 70,000 people as landslides buried villages. Seventy-eight people died in the capital. In 2007, a 7.9-magnitude quake struck even closer, killing 596 people in the south-central coastal city of Pisco.

A shallow, direct hit is the big danger.

More than two in five Lima residents live either in rickety structures on unstable, sandy soil and wetlands that amplify a quake’s destructive power or in hillside settlements that sprang up over a genera-

tion as people fled conflict and poverty in Peru’s interior. Thousands are built of colonial-era adobe.

Most quake-prone countries have rigorous building codes to resist seismic events. In Chile, if engineers and builders don’t adhere to them they can face prison.

Not so in Peru. “People are building with adobe just as they did in the 17th century,” said Carlos Zavala, director of Lima’s Japanese-Peruvian Center for Seismic Investigation and Disaster Mitigation.

Environmental and human-made perils compound the danger. Situated in a coastal desert, Lima gets its water from a single river, the Rimac, which a landslide could easily block. That risk is compounded by a containment pond full of toxic heavy metals from an old mine that could rupture and contaminate the Rimac, said Agustin Gonzalez, a PREDES official advising Lima’s government.

Most of Lima’s food supply arrives via a two-lane highway that parallels the river, another potential chokepoint. Lima’s airport and seaport, the key entry points for international aid, are also vulnerable. Both are in Callao, which seismologists expect to be scoured by a 20-foot (6-meter) tsunami if a big quake is centered offshore, the most likely scenario.

Mayor Susana Villaran’s administration is Lima’s first to organize a quake-response and disaster mitigation plan. A February 2011 law obliged Peru’s municipalities to do so. Yet Lima’s remains incipient. “How are the injured going to be attended to?

What is the ability of hospitals to respond?

Of basic services? Water, energy, food reserves? I don’t think this is being addressed with enough responsibility,” said Tavera of the Geophysical Institute. By necessity, most injured will be treated where they fall, but Peru’s police have no comprehensive first-aid training. Only Lima’s 4,000 firefighters, all volunteers, have such training, as does a 1,000-officer police emergency squadron.

But because the firefighters are volunteers, a quake’s timing could influence rescue efforts.”If you go to a fire station at 10 in the morning there’s hardly anyone there,” said Gonzalez, who advocates a full-time professional force.

In the next two months, Lima will spend nearly $2 million on the three fire companies that cover downtown Lima, its first direct investment in firefighters in 25 years, Prado said. The national government is spending $18 million citywide for 50 new fire trucks and ambulances.

But where would the ambulances go?

A 1997 study by the Pan American Health Organization found that three of Lima’s principal public hospitals would likely collapse in a major quake, but nothing has been done to reinforce them.

And there are no free beds. One public hospital, Maria Auxiliadora, serves more than 1.2 million people in Lima’s south but has just 400 beds, and they are always full. — AP

LONDON: The London hospital that treated Prince William’s wife Catherine has condemned the Australian radio station whose hoax call apparently led to a nurse’s suicide, calling the stunt “appalling”.

Britain has reacted with horror to the death of mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha, 46, who is believed to have taken her own life after she was duped by two Australian radio presenters seeking news on Kate’s pregnancy.

Saldanha was found dead on Friday, days after answering a call to the hospital from hosts at Sydney’s 2Day FM radio posing as Queen Elizabeth II and William’s father Prince Charles.

She had put them through to a colleague who then divulged details of Kate’s recovery from severe morning sickness. The nurse’s death has triggered a global wave of anger at the Australian presenters behind the hoax, Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

Flowers were placed on Saturday outside the nurses’ accommodation block where Saldanha’s body was discovered. There was no receptionist on duty at 5:30 am on Tuesday when Greig and Christian called the private King Edward VII’s Hospital where Kate was being treated, and Saldanha had answered the phone.

On Saturday, hospital chairman Lord Simon Glenarthur wrote to Max Moore-Wilton, chairman of broadcasting group Southern Cross Austereo which owns 2Day FM, to protest “in the strongest possible terms” about the hoax.

“It was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call,” he wrote.

“Then to discover that, not only had this happened, but that the call had been prerecorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station’s management, was truly appalling.

“The immediate consequence of these premeditated and ill-considered actions was the humiliation of two dedicated and caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their patients. “The longer-term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words.”

At the family home in Bristol, southwest England, relatives and friends gathered round to comfort Saldanha’s husband Benedict Barboza and the couple’s son and daughter, aged 14 and 16. Reports said the family had moved from India around a decade ago. In a

BANGALORE: Relatives of Jacintha Saldanha, the Indian-origin nurse who died after being hoaxed by an Australian radio show trying to reach Prince William’s wife in London, look on outside their residence in Shirva town, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the southern Indian city of Bangalore, yesterday, and (inset) the nurse who died. — AFP message posted on his Facebook page, Barboza reportedly wrote: “I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances, She will be laid to rest in Shirva, India.”

Neighbour Mary Atwell, 56, said: “She was a lovely, lovely person who always spoke to you when you saw her. You could always see that she was very dedicated to her job.

“Both DJs should be sacked they should never have been allowed to do what they did,” she added. “She would be alive today if they hadn’t have made that call.” Several British newspapers reported that Greig and Christian face questioning from British police.

“Officers have been in touch with Australian authorities, but we’re not prepared to discuss it any further than that,” a Scotland Yard spokesman told AFP. Australian presenters ‘shattered’ by newsRhys Holleran, chief executive of Southern Cross Austereo, said the pair would be taken off-air until further notice, “out of respect”.

“This is a tragic event that could not have been reasonably foreseen and we’re deeply saddened by it,” Holleran said, adding that the

presenters who made the hoax call were “shattered” by the news and were undergoing counselling.

But he also said he did not believe the station had broken the law.

The British press condemned the hoax yesterday, while Australian media said it was not the time for “hysterical finger-pointing”.

“Radio hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian did not kill British nurse Jacintha Saldanha,” said Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, hitting out at the “predictable British media frenzy”. Meanwhile Jenny McCartney, a columnist for Britain’s Sunday Telegraph, blamed the foreign media for the worst invasions of William and Kate’s privacy in recent months, including the publication of topless photos of Kate in a French magazine.

“This most recent incident, one must hope, might come as an international wake-up call to back off,” she wrote.

The widespread shock at Saldanha’s death was in a sharp contrast to the excitement that greeted Monday’s announcement of Kate’s first pregnancy. The baby will be third in line to the British throne. — AFP

Obama maintains standing with Cuban-Americans MIAMI: The door for travel to Cuba cracked open during President Barack Obama’s first term. CubanAmericans can now visit family on the island as often as they like.

Americans can travel legally as part of an academic or religious trip.

Perhaps it’s for this reason that Obama’s standing with the CubanAmerican community in Florida stayed largely steady on Election Day last month, even though the modest openings with Cuba have riled some of South Florida’s more conservative exiles. Exit polling showed that 49 percent of CubanAmericans voted for the Democrat, roughly the same percentage as four years ago. In 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush received more than 70 percent of the CubanAmerican vote, according to some polls.

At the same time, Florida voters sent to the House a CubanAmerican Democrat from Miami who supports Obama’s expansion

of travel and remittances to Cuba while still favoring the 50-year-old embargo that limits American trade with the communist country.

Joe Garcia defeated Republican Rep. David Rivera, who was implicated in a campaign finance scandal and had supported a traditional, isolationist stance toward Cuba.

The victories by supporters of looser restrictions on Cuba travel illustrate changing attitudes of Americans who hail from the Caribbean island nation: They seem to be less resistant to politicians who promote travel to Cuba and more focused on more traditional American concerns such as the economy, rather than Cuba policy. Those shifting attitudes could have implications for US policy toward Cuba in the next four years, as well as how presidential candidates and politicians approach Cuban-Americans in Florida, an important swing state, in the future. — AP

MIAMI: In this Dec. 19, 2011, photo, travelers wait in line with their luggage at Miami International Airport before traveling Cuba in Miami. The door for travel to Cuba cracked open during President Barack Obama’s first term. Cuban-Americans can now visit family on the island as often as they like. Americans can travel legally as part of an academic or religious trip. — AP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

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

US rights bill ‘extremely unfriendly move’ MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide yesterday called the passing by the US Senate of legislation targeting Russian officials implicated in the death of a lawyer “an extremely unfriendly move.”

“Americans have made an extremely unfriendly move against us,” former ambassador to the United States Yury Ushakov said yesterday. “Americans have shown us before the New Year’s how Russia is perceived on Capitol Hill.

“I will remind you that stereotypes about our country still persist and no one can get rid of them,” Russian news agencies quoted Ushakov as saying. He noted Russia did not have a choice

but to respond in kind. “The worst thing is, we are forced to make similar unconstructive retaliatory moves because we live in a pragmatic world where diplomacy and the principle of reciprocity reign and we should respond and we will of course respond,” Ushakov was quoted as saying.

The legislation, passed by the US Senate on Thursday, established permanent normal trade relations with Russia, ending Cold War-era restrictions.

But it would also compel the US government to freeze the assets of anyone tied to the 2009 death in jail of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky

and deny them entry to the United States.

Russian officials have vowed to retaliate, with Alexei Pushkov, the chairman of the international affairs committee at the country’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, saying lawmakers were considering tweaking the existing legislation and adopting new measures.

“In the State Duma, the majority is leaning towards adopting a bill that would be focused on the United States,” the state RIA Novosti news agency quoted Pushkov as saying yesterday.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added that he expected all Russian lawmakers to support the anti-US measures.

“The Magnitsky bill is an attempt to meddle in our domestic affairs,” RIA Novosti quoted Lavrov as saying. “That is why I am very much interested in seeing a collective, multi-party reaction from the State Duma.”

Magnitsky worked for a Western firm and claimed to have discovered a major tax fraud covered up by government officials.

He died in a Moscow prison at 37 after spending almost a year under pre-trial arrest that his mother said had exposed him to “torture conditions” and which his employer called retribution for his testimony against interior ministry officers. — AFP

Ghana awaits new leader in test of democracy Ghana cited as model democracy in Africa

JOHANNESBURG: A man readies his shop near a mural showing former South African President Nelson Mandela in the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday. South Africa’s presidency says that Mandela, 94, was admitted to a hospital Saturday in the nationís capital for tests. — AP

S Africans await word on Mandela’s health JOHANNESBURG: South Africans prayed Sunday for the health of former President Nelson Mandela and anxiously awaited further word about the anti-apartheid leader after he was admitted to a military hospital.

Yesterday morning, worshipers gathered at the Regina Mundi Catholic church in the Soweto area of Johannesburg to pray for the frail 94-year-old icon. The church was a center of anti-apartheid protests and funerals.

“Yes, it really worries us because he is a great person,” church goer Shainet Mnkomo said as she left an early morning service. “He did so many things to the country, he’s one of those persons who we remember most.”

Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term. He later retired from public life to live in his remote village of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape area, and last made a public appearance when his country hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament.

Many in this country of 50 million people view Mandela, who led the African National Congress into power, as a father figure and an icon of integrity and magnanimity amid the nation’s increasingly messy politics. Inside the church, a stained glass window depicts Mandela, in a dark suit and blue tie, raising his hands to wave at a crowd. His image stands just next to another portraying a man carrying the corpse 13-year-old, Hector Pieterson, who was gunned down by police in the black township of Soweto in June, 1976, as students protested peace-

fully against the white government. A statement Saturday from President Jacob Zuma’s office said Mandela was doing well after being hospitalized for tests and was receiving medical care “which is consistent for his age.” It did not say what those tests were for.

In February, Mandela spent a night in a hospital for a minor diagnostic surgery to determine the cause of an abdominal complaint. In January 2011, however, Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but what turned out to be an acute respiratory infection. He was discharged days later.

Mandela contracted tuberculosis during his years in prison. He also had surgery for an enlarged prostate gland in 1985.

While Zuma’s statement offered no further details about who would provide medical attention for Mandela, the nation’s military has taken over medical care for the aging leader since the 2011 respiratory infection. At 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Saturday night, the facility that previously cared for Mandela in February, everything appeared calm, without any additional security present.

Yesterday morning, soldiers set up a checkpoint to search vehicles heading into the hospital’s grounds. Mandela’s hospitalization comes after the crash Thursday of a military aircraft flying on an unknown mission near Mandela’s rural home in which all 11 onboard were killed.

The plane was flying to a military air base in Mthatha, which is about 30 kilometers (17 miles) north of Qunu. — AP

LIVRY-GARGAN: Diane Lazarevic, daughter of Serge Lazarevic, one of the French hostage seized in northern Mali on November 24, 2011 in a kidnapping claimed

by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), poses yesterday in Livry-Gargan.

Diane Lazarevic said she deplored the lack of information provided to families

by French authorities. AQIM is holding six French hostages out of nine Europeans snatched in countries of the Sahel region. — AFP

ACCRA: Ghanaians waited anxiously yesterday for results to a leadership election that was fraught with technical problems, but which officials hope will still burnish the country’s reputation as a pillar of African democracy. A leading local news outlet that was compiling results credited incumbent John Dramani Mahama with victory on Sunday, contradicting claims from the party of his top rival, Nana Akufo-Addo.

“I’m not so interested in hearing it from them. I want to hear it from the electoral commission,” said Godwin Gone, a 42 year-old electrical engineer in the sprawling capital Accra. “I hope they will speak soon.”

The poll is seen as a test of whether Ghana can maintain 30 years of stability and progress in a region better known for coups, civil wars and corruption.

An oil-driven economic boom has brought more wealth to Ghana but also fears that it could suffer the corruption and instability that often plagues energy-rich developing nations.

A cliff-hanger election in 2008, in which Akufo-Addo lost by less than 1 percent, pushed Ghana to the brink of chaos, with initial disputes over results driving hundreds of people into the streets with clubs and machetes.

“Peace cannot be taken for granted. So we are all working towards it,” said Miranda Greenstreet, co-chairman of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers, which deployed around 4,000 monitors for the vote.

Voting was plagued by delays after hundreds of newly-introduced electronic fingerprint readers - used to identify voters - failed on Friday and forced some polling stations to reopen on Saturday to clear the backlog.

But the problems were met calmly by the rival parties and ordinary Ghanaians, calming worries of the kind of street violence still common during elections in West Africa.

“This election has been hard, but we must remember Ghanaians are one and we must love each other and remain peaceful,” said Wellington Dadzie, 69, a former soldier who lives on the outskirts of the capital Accra.

Late on Saturday, the General Secretary of Akufo-Addo’s party said he had seen figures showing Akufo-Addo had won the vote with

ACCRA: Ghana President John Dramani Mahama, center right, speaks with election observers and ruling party members following a press conference at the presidential residence in Accra, Ghana, yesterday. As voting continued for an unplanned second day on Saturday, international observers endorsed Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary polls, despite the delays at some polling stations that led to the extended vote. — AP 51 percent - a statement immediately criti- son of a former president, has criticised the cised by Mahama’s party as “reckless and ruling party for the slow pace of job creation provocative”. A spokesman for Ghana’s elec- and has promised to provide free primary and tion commission was not available Sunday secondary school education. morning, but officials said results are widely But in a country where campaign messages expected later Sunday or on Monday. A run- rarely influence voting choices, many believe off is possible Dec. 28 if no candidate wins an most of the 14 million voters will cast their baloutright majority. Ghanaians are also choosing lots based on ethnic, social or regional ties. a new parliament, in which Mahama’s National Ghana has had five peaceful and constitutionDemocratic Party enjoyed a small majority. al transfers of power since its last coup in Mahama was the vice president to John Atta 1981, in stark contrast to the turmoil that surMills and replaced him as president in July rounds it in the region. after he died of an illness.

Neighbouring Ivory Coast tipped into civil He has vowed to use the growing oil wealth war last year after a disputed 2010 poll and to boost incomes and jumpstart development regional neighbours Mali and Guinea-Bissau in a country where the average person lives on have both suffered coups this year. $4 a day.

“These elections are important not just Oil production in Ghana - which is also a big to Ghana but for the growing number of cocoa and gold producer - started two years states and actors seeking to benefit from ago and oil field operator Tullow Oil says it increasing confidence in Africa,” said Alex expects to boost output further in 2013.

Vines, Africa Research Director at Chatham Akufo-Addo, a British-trained lawyer and House. —Reuters

Romanians vote in poll that may reopen political spat BUCHAREST: Romania’s prime minister was headed for victory in parliamentary elections yesterday that could set off another round of a power struggle with the rightist president and complicate talks for a new IMF deal.

Victor Ponta’s leftist Social Liberal Union (USL) will win the most votes and possibly a clear majority, opinion polls showed.

But analysts said President Traian Basescu might use his powers to ask one of his own allies to try to form a government.

Any prolonged period without a new administration in place would unnerve markets and raise questions about how Romania would obtain a new International Monetary Fund deal once the current agreement expires in early 2013.

Heavy snow, rain and fog across the Balkan country delayed the opening of some polling stations but Ponta said all citizens were able to cast ballots.

Polls will close at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) with first results due early today.

“I am convinced that today Romania will write a new page in its history and things will get better,” he said in his Targu Jiu constituency, a mining town a few hours from Bucharest.

The former communist country has made progress in some areas since the 1989 revolution that overthrew dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, but although it joined the European Union in 2007, it remains the bloc’s second poorest member.

Romania lags regional peers Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic and struggles to supply

running water and reliable electricity to some of its 19 million people. Long-term reforms such as privatisation of inefficient state companies and an overhaul of health care have failed to materialise, and the economy is struggling to recover from a deep recession.

The leu fell to a record low against the euro in August during an attempt by Ponta to remove the conservative Basescu from office, using tactics which the EU and United States said undermined the rule of law.

At the time, Basescu said he would never again name Ponta as prime minister. This week, he said only that he would appoint someone in the best interests of the country. The USL has benefited from disenchantment with Basescu and the previous government, which pushed through unpopular austerity measures such as salary cuts and higher sales tax. But lacklustre economic growth will give the next administration little room to ease cost cuts and tax rises.

“I gave a chance to the team which is now ruling (USL),” said former textile worker Doina Isopescu, speaking in freezing rain outside a polling station in a communist-era Bucharest neighbourhood. I’m fed up with cuts, cuts and again cuts.”

The USL has scored at least 57 percent in three opinion polls published in December and Romania’s complicated electoral system - combining constituencies and proportional representation - favours large parties.

One possibility would be for Basescu to ask someone other

than Ponta from within the USL to become prime minister, using the argument that it is a coalition of different political groups rather than a party, according to analysts.

If the USL falls short of a majority, he could also ask an ally from the Right Romania Alliance (ARD) - in second place in polls with about 20 percent - to try to form a coalition.

“It is unlikely that the process of electing a new cabinet will be a smooth one and we expect temporary leu depreciation and high-

er leu yields until Romania has a new government,” said UniCredit analyst Dan Bucsa.

Less than half of electorate, estimated at 18.3 million, was likely to vote, analysts said, due to a deep dissatisfaction with politicians, many of whom voters view as corrupt.

“Romania’s political class is all horrible,” said Anton Popescu, who lives off a pension of 900 lei ($250) a month. “I have no hope for better times after the election.

I just hope it won’t be worse than it already is.” — Reuters

BUCHAREST: Romania’s President Traian Basescu, left, exits a voting cabin as his wife Maria, right, stands by, in Bucharest, Romania, yesterday. Millions of Romanians braved rain and snow yesterday as they went to the polls for a parliamentary election that center-left government is expected to win, but the result could lead to more of the political instability that has plagued the impoverished Balkan nation this year. — AP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

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

Bangladesh police fire tear gas at election protest DHAKA: Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse armed protesters staging blockades across Bangladesh yesterday as part of an opposition push to get an independent administration to oversee next year’s general election.

Activists from the country’s two main political parties hurled homemade bombs and threatened to use guns and other weapons, Reuters witnesses and local television said. Police and witnesses said supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, and its allies set ablaze about 30 buses, trucks and cars in the capital Dhaka and other parts of the country.

“We are trying to contain the battles between activists and police, which has prevented movement of vehicles and forced residents from the

streets,” a police officer said. Witnesses said the highway from Dhaka to the main port of Chittagong was deserted after the road had been barricaded.

Other roads around the country were also blocked.

At least two people were killed and about 100 injured, police said. Dozens of activists were detained across the country. The political scene in Bangladesh has been dominated for decades by bitter rivals Khaleda Zia and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose electoral campaigns have sparked violent clashes and on occasions prompted military intervention. The two women, both in their mid 60s and who have served two terms each as the country’s leader, are likely to face each other again in the next election due by end of 2013.

The BNP called for yesterday’s blockade to force Sheikh Hasina to

restore a system of holding parliamentary elections under a non-party caretaker administration, instead of it being supervised by the party in power. Hasina’s government over-ruled the caretaker provision in a constitutional amendment last year.

The BNP and allies including Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamic party, want the caretaker system to be re-instated to guard against what they say would be an attempt by Hasina’s Awami League party to steal the election results.

In 2007, the army was forced to intervene amid an election standoff between the two main parties. It formed a caretaker administration after the then BNP-led government failed to hold fresh elections by the end of its parliamentary mandate. A military-led interim government organised fresh elections in 2008. — Reuters

KACHPUR: A Bangladeshi man tries to extinguish fire set on a bus by main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists during a protest in Kachpur, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, yesterday. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas yesterday to disperse stone-throwing protesters who set fire to vehicles and tried to block roads across Bangladesh to demand restoration of caretaker administration to oversee upcoming national elections. — AP

Troops rescue kidnapped US doctor in Afghanistan Doctor involved in building clinics in Afghanistan

HERAT: An Afghan policeman walks in front of Iranian consulate at a rally protesting the alleged killing of Afghans by Iranian forces, in Herat yesterday.

About 200 residents in a western Afghanistan city angrily tried to storm the Iranian consulate protesting the alleged killing of Afghans by Iranian security forces. The crowd in the city of Herat on the Iranian border threw rocks before security forces pushed them back by firing warning shots into the air, an AFP correspondent at the scene said. — AFP

Afghans attack Iran consulate over killings HEART: Hundreds of angry demonstrators tried to storm the Iranian consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat yesterday in protest at the alleged killing of Afghan immigrants by Iranian security forces.

The 200-strong crowd threw rocks and broke consulate windows before security forces drove them back by firing warning shots into the air, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.

The crowd claimed 13 Afghans who had crossed the border into Iran were seized and later shot dead by Iranian security forces about three months ago.

“Over the past several months we have been demanding the Iranians return the bodies of our relatives but they are not returning them,” one protester told AFP. Protesters shouted slogans against Iran and its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and said they would “support the United States if it invades Iran”.

Dozens of police blocked the crowd as it tried to storm the Iranian consulate, the AFP reporter said. The mob later gathered around the governor’s house and continued shouting anti-Iran slogans, he

added. A consulate official, quoted by Iran’s ISNA news agency, said Tehran had “no proof” that these immigrants had entered the country-whether legally or illegally-or that they had died in Iran.

“Several months ago we delivered visas, at the request of the Afghan foreign ministry, to three or four individuals who wanted to enter Iran to clarify the situation,” the official said.

“They came and upon their return provided no proof to back their accusations,” he added.

About 2.4 million Afghans-refugees and illegal immigrants-live in Iran, many of whom moved after the 1979 Soviet invasion. Afghans continue to migrate to Iran and Pakistan in search of work and for political reasons.

Crossing the border with the help of local human traffickers, migrants sometimes end up being jailed by Iranian border guards.

Relations between Tehran and Kabul are apparently normal but ordinary Afghans accuse Iran of committing atrocities against Afghan refugees and executing Afghan prisoners. — AFP

Pakistan hits back over Afghan spy attack claims ISLAMABAD: Islamabad has hit back after Afghan President Hamid Karzai claimed an attack on the Afghan intelligence chief was planned in Pakistan, asking him to share evidence instead of levelling allegations.

The assassination attempt on National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief Asadullah Khalid was carried out Thursday by an attacker who claimed to be a Taleban peace envoy but had a bomb hidden in his underwear. President Karzai did not directly blame Pakistan for the attack but said the Taliban would not have been able to carry out the bombing and that “bigger hands were involved”.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry rejected the claim and said it was ready to help investigate what it called “this criminal act”. “Before levelling charges the Afghan government would do well if they shared information or evidence with Pakistan that they might have with regard to the cowardly attack,” the foreign ministry said in a statement issued late Saturday.

The ministry said Kabul would “also do well by ordering an investigation into any lapses in the security arrangements around the NDS chief”. Khalid was being treated at a US-run military hospital at Bagram airbase outside Kabul, where he is in a stable condition, security sources said. Karzai said the attacker, who came in the name of a guest to meet Khalid, came from Pakistan, adding the “attack was plotted... from the (southwestern) city of Quetta in Pakistan. I will raise this

issue with Pakistan.” Kabul last year blamed Pakistan for the assassination of the head of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, Burhanuddin Rabbani, who also killed by a bomber posing as a Taleban peace envoy. Islamabad rejected that claim.

Relations between the neighbours are often tense and Kabul has accused Pakistan of supporting the Taleban, accusations Islamabad has always rejected, insisting it is committed to fighting the insurgents. In a statement claiming responsibility for Thursday’s bombing, several hours after it took place at a spy agency guesthouse, the Taliban named the attacker as “hero mujahid Hafiz Mohammad”.

Meanwhile, the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan will hold talks in Turkey tomorrow and Wednesday in a bid to resolve a row after Kabul claimed an attack against its spy chief was planned in Pakistan, an official said.

The assassination attempt on National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief Asadullah Khalid was carried out Thursday by an attacker who claimed to be a Taleban peace envoy but had a bomb hidden in his underwear.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai did not directly blame Pakistan for the attack but said the Taleban alone would not have been able to carry out the bombing and that “bigger hands were involved”. The Pakistani foreign ministry rejected the claim and said it was ready to help inves-

KABUL: US soldiers killed seven Taleban insurgents in a successful pre-dawn raid to rescue a kidnapped American doctor in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, the NATO force in the war-torn country said.

The mission was launched when intelligence showed that Dr Dilip Joseph was in “imminent danger of injury or death”, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. Joseph was abducted on December 5 by Taleban insurgents in the Surobi district of Kabul province. “Today’s mission exemplifies our unwavering commitment to defeating the Taleban,” said General John Allen, the commander of US and ISAF forces in Afghanistan. “I’m proud of the American and Afghan forces that planned, rehearsed and successfully conducted this operation. Thanks to them, Dr Joseph will soon be rejoining his family and loved ones.”

Joseph was now “undergoing evaluations”, the statement said, without giving further details. A security source told AFP that the doctor had been involved in building clinics in Afghanistan but details of his capture were not immediately available.

Hazrat Mohammad Haqbeen, the district governor of Surobi told AFP that the man was kidnapped along with an Afghan colleague

who was released in return for a ransom earlier in the week. And “today the American national was freed in an operation. We don’t know the details of the operation,” Haqbeen told AFP. He said the men were kidnapped in Surobi but were held in a village in the Qarghayi district of the neighbouring province of Laghman. The governor said the US citizen was visiting a clinic when captured.

An ISAF spokesman said the rescue had been launched when multiple intelligence sources indicated that he was in immediate danger. “We felt we had to act now,” he told AFP. Seven of the doctor’s captors were killed in the operation, which involved combined US and Afghan forces, he said.

He gave no further details of where the doctor had been held or on the rescue operation itself, saying they could be announced later in the day.

Surobi outside Kabul had been under the control of French troops until April this year, when responsibility for security was handed to Afghan forces as part of France’s accelerated withdrawal from the country.

France ended its combat mission in Afghanistan last month, two years before allied nations contributing to the 100,000strong US-led NATO force are due to depart.

Surobi, about 50 kilometres east of Kabul and along a key highway linking the capital to neighbouring Pakistan, experiences sporadic Taleban-linked terrorism.

General Emam Nazar, the former commander of the 3rd Brigade of the Afghan army, told AFP in April that 80 to 100 insurgents were based in Surobi.

“Sometimes our enemies appear on the highway, but they can’t resist us. Our forces smash them. It happened several times but they never got out of it alive,” he added.

When French troops were stationed there, two French journalists were abducted in December 2009 and held for more than 500 days before being released in a secret deal which reportedly involved ransom.

Westerners are a prize target for the Taleban Islamists, who have waged an 11-year insurgency since being toppled from power in a US-led invasion in 2001. Regular gangsters not linked to the rebels are also involved in the kidnappings.

In June, NATO special forces rescued two foreign women working for a Swiss-based charity who had been kidnapped and held in a cave in Afghanistan’s remote and mountainous northern Badakhshan province. Five captors were killed in the raid. — AFP

Opposition seeks Commonwealth probe of Sri Lanka COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main opposition party asked the Commonwealth yesterday to investigate the impeachment of the country’s chief justice in what it called a breach of the bloc’s democratic values.

Opposition spokesman and former foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera urged the group’s secretary general Kamelesh Sharma to order his disciplinary body, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, to probe Sri Lanka.

Samaraweera released a copy of his letter to Sharma a day after President Mahinda Rajapakse’s lawmakers found the nation’s first woman chief justice, Shirani Bandaranayake, guilty of three charges of professional misconduct. The charges have raised international concerns that the government is trying to control the judiciary after crushing Tamil rebels in 2009 and consolidating its hold on power. “It was becoming increasingly clear that the Rajapakse regime was moving away from Commonwealth values and principles,” Samaraweera said in the letter. The “impeachment

process-more akin to a witch trial of the dark ages-unleashed against the chief justice has now exposed the true agenda of the regime at its worst,” it said.

The Commonwealth is an association of 54 countries, mainly former British colonies, and includes Sri Lanka. Bandaranayake, 54, walked out of the hearing on Thursday, saying she was not getting a fair trial. The opposition MPs in the impeachment panel joined her in the walkout, but the ruling party went ahead to declare her guilty on Saturday.

The charges on which she was found guilty include failing to declare nine bank accounts and interfering in a case involving a company from which her sister had bought an apartment. The panel cleared her, however, of stashing away $250,000 in an undeclared bank account.

The chief justice has said there is “not one iota of truth” to the charges. Under parliamentary procedure, if the chief justice is found guilty of even one charge and a majority of the 225-member house votes for her removal, the president can dismiss her

within a month.

The ruling party holds twothirds of the house. But the legality of the process used to try to force out Bandaranayake is being

challenged before the Supreme Court by the country’s Bar Association, which represents nearly all the nation’s 11,000 lawyers. — AFP

BIRMINGHAM: In this photo provided by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, left, and his daughter Asifa Bhutto, center back, meet with Malala Yousufzai, where she is undergoing treatment for injuries sustained when a Taleban gunman opened fire on her and her friends outside the Khushal School for Girls in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, yesterday. — AP

AHMEDABAD: Indian brides and grooms hold their voter identity cards as they pledge to cast their vote in the forthcoming Gujarat Assembly elections after the marriage ceremony in Ahmedabad yesterday. Some 51 couples were married and pledged to vote along with their relatives in an event organised by Balkeshwar Mahadev Trust. Gujarat state goes to the polls in two phases, December 13 and 17. — AFP

12

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

international

Vietnam breaks up anti-China protest

HANOI: Vietnamese protesters hold signs with anti-China slogans while marching during a demonstration demanding China to stay out of waters claimed by Vietnam following China’s increased activities around the Spratly Islands and other disputed areas, in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday. —AP

HANOI: Vietnamese police broke up antiChina protests in two cities yesterday and made about 20 arrests in the first such demonstrations since tensions between the communist neighbors flared anew over rival claims to the oil and gas-rich South China Sea. Any sign of popular anger in tightly controlled Vietnam causes unease among the leadership, but anti-Chinese sentiment is especially sensitive. The country has longstanding ideological and economic ties with its giant neighbor, but many of those criticizing China are also the ones calling for political, religious and social freedoms at home.

Police initially allowed about 200 protesters to march from Hanoi’s iconic Opera House through the streets, but after 30 minutes ordered them to disperse. When some continued, they pushed about 20 of them into a large bus which then drove quickly from the scene.

As foreign tourists and Sunday morning strollers looked on, protesters shouted “Down

with China” and carried banners bearing the slogan “China’s military expansion threatens world peace and security.”

Using loudspeakers, authorities urged them to disperse and tried to reassure them.

“The Communist Party and government are resolutely determined to defend our country’s sovereignty and territory through peaceful means based on international law,” it said.

“Your gathering causes disorder and affects the party’s and government’s foreign policy.”

A smaller protest also took place in Ho Chi Minh city, according to blogger and activist Huynh Ngoc Chenh. He said he was ordered to leave by police, but about 100 people gathered for 10 minutes before being dispersed.

“I’m frustrated,” he said by telephone.

“There’s nothing to ban, the government should allow people to express their patriotism peacefully.” Vietnam and China have long sparred over who owns the South China Sea, a dispute that the Philippines,

Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also parties to. Over the last two years, America’s diplomatic tilt to Southeast Asia and energy-hungry China’s growing assertiveness has focused international attention on the issue.

Vietnam last week alleged that Chinese shipping vessels sabotaged one of its seismic survey vessels in the South China Sea. This week the government warned Beijing not to do that again and presented a list of its violations in the disputed sea. China recently issued new passports containing a map showing the sea as belonging to it, causing anger in Hanoi and other regional states.

In the summer of 2011, there were two months of weekly protests in Hanoi, an unprecedented show of popular anger in the country. Earlier this year, there were also some demonstrations. Police dispersed them, gradually using more force as it become clear they were becoming a source of domestic opposition to the party. —AP

Victims beg for food after deadly typhoon Storm Bopha returns to Philippines NEW BATAAN: Desperate families begged for food yesterday, days after a typhoon brought death and destruction to parts of a southern Philippine island, as the storm returned to the north of the country.

Northern areas escaped with heavy rain after the storm weakened. But scenes of hardship were everywhere in southern areas that

ging for food. “Have mercy on us, please donate,” read one sign held by a group of ragged children.

“We need food,” read another sign displayed by a group standing amid ruined banana plantations. Farmer’s wife Madeline Blanco, 36, said her family was trying to make do while sheltering in a tent on a bas-

NEW BATAAN: Victims of devastating Typhoon Bopha jostle for position as they beg for relief food being distributed by members of a private company in New Bataan in Compostela Valley province yesterday, five days after the storm hit the southern Philippines. Desperate families begged for food yesterday 9 days after the typhoon brought death and destruction to parts of a southern Philippine island, as the storm returned to the north of the country. —AFP last week felt the full fury of the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.

Officials said 548 people are confirmed dead, most of them in the southern island of Mindanao. Civil defence chief Benito Ramos said the number of missing had shot up to 827 from previous figures of 500 unaccounted for, after reports of more missing fishermen came in.

In the Mindanao mountain town of New Bataan, which took the brunt of the typhoon, families lined the roads holding signs beg-

ketball court.

“We were given rations but it was not enough. Just rice, bread and noodles. It is not enough for me and my four children,” she told AFP. “All we can do is wait for donations. There are cars passing by and sometimes drivers give us something,” she said.

Another farmer’s wife, Emma Toledo, 59, complained that the relief supplies from the national government had yet to arrive. “We have not been given anything yet. Only the local government and the village officials

China police accuse monk of inciting immolations BEIJING: Police detained a monk and his nephew in China’s Sichuan province and accused them of instigating the selfimmolations of eight ethnic Tibetans on the instructions of the Dalai Lama and his followers, state media said yesterday.

The report in the official Xinhua News Agency did not detail what evidence police had of the exiled Buddhist spiritual leader’s involvement - which was denied by the self-declared Tibetan governmentin-exile in northern India.

The report cited a police statement as saying that confessions and an investigation showed that the detained monk, Lorang Konchok , 40, from Kirti Monastery in Sichuan’s Aba county, kept in frequent contact with supporters of the Dalai Lama overseas and had recruited eight volunteers for self -immolations since 2009, telling them they would be “heroes.” Three of the protesters died, the report said.

It said Lorang Konchok collected photos and personal information of volunteers who agreed to go ahead with the protests. “He also promised to spread their ‘deeds’ abroad so they and their families would be acknowledged and honored,” the police statement said, according to Xinhua.

The monk’s nephew, Lorang Tsering, 31, helped recruit volunteers and also was arrested, the report said. Activists say more than 90 ethnic Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 in dramatic protests against authoritarian Chinese rule. Chinese officials have called the

protests “cruel and inhuman” and sought to blame them on the Dalai Lama and other instigators, while activists call them home-grown expressions of desperation over oppression. The Dalai Lama has said he opposes all violence.

The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in Dharmsala, India, said it “strongly denied” any accusations of involvement by its representatives or the Dalai Lama.

“We believe that (the suspects) have been forced to make these confessions,” spokesman Lobsang Choedak said. “We would welcome the Chinese government investigating whether we are instigating these immolations.”

Police in Sichuan declined to comment on the case. Tibet and surrounding ethnically Tibetan regions have been closed off to most outsiders, and firsthand information from the areas is extremely difficult to obtain.

The Chinese government says it has improved the well-being of Tibetan areas through rapid economic development over the past 30 years, but Tibetan activists complain that their culture, language and Buddhist religion are under threat.

The United States last week accused Beijing of responding to the self-immolations by tightening controls over freedom of religion, expression and assembly in Tibetan areas, drawing an angry response from Beijing, which said those freedoms were guaranteed under the Chinese Constitution. —AP

gave us something, just some rice, noodles and dried fish,” said the mother of three.

Drivers of private vehicles also handed out donations but the lack of coordination led to more confusion.

When a truck from a local power company arrived to distribute relief supplies, it was mobbed by hungry villagers and many children were almost trampled in the chaos.

“I’ve been here for a long time. I am hungry and my children need food,” one angry woman yelled as she pushed her way to the front.

Regional civil defence operations officer Antonio Cloma said many relief agencies, both government and non-government, were entering the area with supplies for typhoon victims. “The government is doing its best to support the requirements for these victims,” he insisted.

The local head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, David Carden said there was a pressing need for food, shelter and other basic items, but also for generators.

“People are scared at night and whenever it rains,” in the darkness, he said. However he conceded that there were “huge logistical challenges” in bringing in the aid. “Bridges have fallen, roads have been blocked by fallen trees,” he told AFP. Elsewhere, the main church of New Bataan finally reopened after roads leading to it were cleared but only a few of the faithful came to the first mass since the storm as many were too busy attending to their dead and missing.

“The others are too busy looking for their missing and attending to their dead,” said church lay worker Florena Jimenez, 58. The church, dedicated to Saint Anthony de Padua, credited with miracles in finding missing people, will also be holding special prayers for the many who died without receiving last rites, she told AFP. In the northern Philippines, the typhoon had weakened to a tropical storm and only brought a few downpours with no reports of any floods. The government weather station said it would dissipate by today.

Typhoon Bopha had been headed out to the South China Sea when it made a U-turn towards the north this weekend, initially raising fears of another disaster. —AFP

Japan tunnel disaster sounds global investment warning TOKYO: A deadly tunnel collapse in Japan should serve as a wake-up call to developed nations whose ageing infrastructure is in dire need of updating, experts say.

Trillions of dollars need to be spent across the globe just to stand still they warn, adding current fiscal belt tightening is pushing vital repairs dangerously far down the list.

“Maintenance work is often neglected because you cannot easily see the urgent need for it,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute.

Nine people were killed when concrete ceiling panels crashed onto three vehicles, setting at least one ablaze inside the Sasago tunnel, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Tokyo on December 2.

The exact cause of the cave-in is not yet known, but an initial probe has pointed to decay in the fixtures that held the more than one-tonne panels to the roof of the 35-year-old tunnel.

The government ordered immediate inspections of all structures with the same design and Japanese police began a criminal investigation, with an eye to bringing negligence charges.

The incident sent jitters through Japan, one of the most engineered countries in the world, which saw a huge infrastructure boom in the decades after World War II. At least eight percent of the 155,000 major bridges in Japan are already older than 50 years, the infrastructure ministry said. By 2030, more than half of them will be.

The ministry estimates it needs to spend 190 trillion yen ($2.3 trillion) over the next five decades just to maintain the infrastructure it already has.

But with debts more than double its GDP, which Japan’s shrinking workforce cannot easily repay, finding new cash is a tough ask. The tunnel collapse was not the first time a lack of investment has caused problems. —AFP

SEOUL: South Koreans watch a TV news program about North Korea’s rocket launch plans at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday.

North Korea may postpone the controversial launch of a long-range rocket that had been slated for liftoff as early as this week, state media said yesterday, as international pressure on Pyongyang to cancel the provocative move intensified. —AP

North Korea says it may delay controversial rocket launch SEOUL: North Korea said it may delay a much-criticised rocket launch originally scheduled for as early as today, as analysts say its efforts to mark a key anniversary were hampered by technical troubles.

Scientists were “now seriously examining the issue of readjusting the launching time of the satellite for some reasons”, the Korean Committee of Space Technology said in a statement carried by state media yesterday. The committee gave no further details.

In a report late yesterday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing a government official in Seoul, said the North had stopped all preparations at the launch site in the country’s northwest.

Analysts said technical problems or snow, rather than overseas political pressure, are likely to be behind the delay in what the North calls a satellite launch, originally scheduled for between December 10 and 22.

Some said the North’s new leader, Kim Jong-Un, may have been rushing the blastoff in a bid to mark the first anniversary of the death of his father and ex-ruler Kim Jong-Il on December 17.

The impoverished but nuclear-armed nation insists the long-range rocket launch-its second this year after a muchhyped but botched mission in April-is for peaceful scientific purposes.

But the United States, and allies South Korea and Japan, say Pyongyang plans a disguised ballistic missile test that violates UN resolutions triggered by its two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

“Sunday’s announcement was only made by scientific authorities, meaning the most likely reason is either technical issues or weather conditions,” said Jang YongSeok from the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University.

A US think-tank, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said Friday that preparations may have been delayed by heavy snow.

There had been “abnormal signs” indicating technical problems in launch preparations since Saturday afternoon, said Yonhap, citing an unidentified senior Seoul official.

“It looks like the problem is a technical one,” said the official quoted by Yonhap.

Pyongyang has apparently “rushed too fast” to time the launch to mark the December 17 anniversary in a bid to drum up support for the young and inexperienced Jong-Un, said Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.

“It showed how desperate and timepressed the North was to showcase its scientific breakthrough to its people on the key anniversary and subsequently rally support for the new leader,” Yang told AFP. The North would have made the announcement of a potential delay via “a top party or military organ,” instead of the space committee, if it was intended to be a concession to the international pressure, he added.

Kim Jong-Un took over from his late father last December, the second father-toson power transfer by the Kim dynasty that has ruled the isolated state with an iron fist for some 60 years.

Analysts said the December 10-22 launch window was twice as long as the period set before the failed April launch, reflecting the difficulties technicians may encounter in the harsh winter weather of the Korean peninsula.

Washington and Seoul have urged Pyongyang to scrap the launch while Tokyo has postponed talks originally planned this week with North Korea.

UN diplomats inside and outside the Security Council have reportedly started consultations behind the scenes on what action to take if Pyongyang goes ahead. Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed to demand the UN Security Council strengthen sanctions on Nor th Korea to levels that match those on Iran, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper said. —AFP

GUNPO: Opposition Democratic United Party’s Presidential Candidate Moon Jae-in, right, and a former independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheolsoo wave during their joint campaign in Gunpo, South Korea, yesterday.

Ahn announced Nov. 23 his abrupt withdrawal from the presidential campaign, endorses Moon who will face off with ruling Saenuri Party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye in the Dec 19 polls. —AP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

NEWS Chavez admits...

Morsi scraps decree, not referendum

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

Cuban medical team had conveyed to him a sense of urgency about the operation, which he said was now “absolutely necessary”. “The doctor recommended that I undergo surgery yesterday (Friday) at the latest, or this weekend,” he noted. “But I did not agree and came back home.”

Chavez returned from Havana on Friday after a 10-day stay in Cuba. He had not been seen in public for three weeks. The Venezuelan leader also said that in the event “something happened” and he were incapacitated, vice president Nicolas Maduro would step in and assume control of the government for the rest of the 2013-2019 term, as required by the constitution. But in what appeared like a presentation of his final will, the president also indicated he would like Maduro to take over the reins of power in a post-Cavez period, urging Venezuelans to vote for him in the next presidential elections.

“You choose Maduro as president of the republic,” said Chavez told the nation. “I am asking you this from all my heart.” Maduro, who has been serving as Venezuela’s foreign minister for the past six years, was appointed vice president in the wake of the October presidential elections. He has held both portfolios since. Firebrand leader Chavez made his latest announcement despite frequent assurances on the campaign trail before his re-election in October that he had been cured of cancer.

Recurring bouts of the disease have dogged Chavez’s presidency for the past couple of years, requiring him to spend weeks at a time being treated in Cuba. He had a cancerous tumor removed from near his pelvic area last year. The Venezuelan leader, 58, has repeatedly claimed to have beaten the cancer that was diagnosed in 2011 and shrugged off his illness to see off a unified opposition and secure another six-year term on Oct 7.

In Cuba last week, the official newspaper Granma explained that Chavez’s treatment consisted of oxygenation. The American Cancer Society says there is no evidence that this oxygen treatment - in which a patient gets inside a pressurized chamber and breathes pure oxygen for an hour - works against cancer. But the society says it can serve as treatment for ailments stemming from radiation treatment. — AFP

the Muslim Brotherhood, from which he sprang, urged the opposition to accept the poll’s verdict.

Ahmed Said, a liberal leader of the main opposition National Salvation Front, described the race to a referendum as “shocking” and an “act of war ” against Egyptians. The Front had promised a formal response later yesterday.

Egypt is torn between Islamists, who were suppressed for decades, and their rivals, who fear religious conservatives want to squeeze out other voices and restrict social freedoms. Many Egyptians just crave stability and economic recovery. Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said the scrapping of Morsi’s decree had removed any reason for controversy. “We ask others to announce their acceptance of the referendum result,” he said on the group’s Facebook page, asking whether the opposition would accept “the basics of democracy”.

The retraction of Morsi’s Nov 22 decree, announced around midnight after a “national dialogue” boycotted by almost all the president’s critics, has not bridged a deep political divide. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, a technocrat with Islamist leanings, said the referendum was the best test of opinion. “The people are the makers of the future as long as they have the freedom to resort to the ballot box in a democratic, free and fair vote,” he said in a cabinet statement.

But opposition factions, uncertain of their ability to vote down the constitution against the Islamists’ organisational muscle, want the document redrafted before any vote. “A constitution without consensus can’t go to a referendum,” said Hermes Fawzi, 28, a protester outside the palace. “It’s not logical that just one part of society makes the constitution.” Egypt tipped into turmoil after Morsi grabbed powers to stop any court action aimed at

Pacquiao loss stuns storm-hit Filipinos Kuwaiti singer Shams attends the opening ceremony of the Dubai International Film Festival in Dubai yesterday. — AFP

Court suspends ruling against...

Continued from Page 1 the administrative court but the appeals court against reversed the lower court’s decision and confirmed their disqualification after they were declared winners in the election.

The case finally went to the cassation court, whose verdicts are final, and yesterday it ruled that the appeals court’s verdict should not be implemented until it (the cassation court) had issued its ruling on the case without setting a new date. The case of the rest of candidates, some of whom have won seats in the election, will be reviewed by the appeals court in February.

In a related issue, the criminal court today holds a new hearing into the case against former opposition MP Musallam Al-Barrak over charges he undermined the status of HH the Amir during a speech at a public gathering on Oct 15. Barrak was detained for four days last month before charges were pressed against him. Also, the criminal court set Dec 16 to issue its verdict against

hindering the transition. An assembly led by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists then swiftly approved the constitution it had spent six months drafting.

Opponents, including minority Christians, had already quit the assembly in dismay, saying their voices were being ignored. A leftist group led by defeated presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy demanded the referendum be deferred until a consensus could be reached on a new draft, saying there could be “no dialogue while blood is being spilled in the streets”. After the dialogue hosted by Morsi, a spokesman announced that the president had issued a new decree whose first article “cancels the constitutional declaration” of Nov 22.

He said the referendum could not be delayed for legal reasons.

The decree ignited more than two weeks of sometimes bloody protests and counter-rallies in Egypt.

Morsi’s foes have chanted for his downfall. Islamists fear a plot to oust the most populous Arab nation’s first freely elected leader. The April 6 movement, prominent in the anti-Mubarak revolt, derided the result of Saturday’s talks as “manipulation and a continuation of deception in the name of law and legitimacy”. Islamists reckon they can win the referendum and, once the new constitution is in place, a parliamentary poll about two months later. The Islamist-led lower house elected this year was dissolved after a few months by a court order.

Investors appeared relieved at Morsi’s retraction of his decree, sending Egyptian stocks 4.4 percent higher on Sunday. Markets are awaiting approval of a $4.8 billion IMF loan later this month designed to support the budget and economic reforms. The military, which led Egypt’s transition for 16 turbulent months after Mubarak fell, told feuding factions on Saturday that only dialogue could avert “catastrophe”. But a military source said these remarks did not herald an army takeover. —Reuters

Mohammad Al-Juwaihel, a former member of the scrapped 2012 National Assembly, on charges of insulting the Mutairi tribe.

In other developments, opposition activists have announced that they plan to camp out outside the Assembly building the night of Dec 15 on the eve of the Assembly’s inaugural session. The organizers warned the Interior Ministry against using violence against them and vowed that they will use alternate plans if it did. The camping will take place at Irada Square, opposite the Assembly building. The activists said they will announce further activities later. The opposition boycotted the Assembly election and has been pressing for scrapping the new Assembly and for repealing the amendment of the electoral law which they claim is unconstitutional.

The public prosecution meanwhile freed 14 teenagers on KD 1,000 bail each after they were arrested a few days ago during night confrontations between riot police and youth activists who were demonstrating against the election and the new Assembly.

Continued from Page 1 Esperanza told AP by telephone.

“It was like they were hit by another typhoon.”

Elementary math teacher Constancio Olivar said people were cheering for Pacquiao in the sixth round, then fell silent when Marquez landed a shot flush to the jaw of Pacquiao, who fell heavily to the canvas and remained motionless for some time. “It was like a double blow for me - this disaster and this defeat,” said Olivar, whose house was destroyed in the storm. “We were all crestfallen. Everyone fell silent, stunned. It was like we saw a tsunami.” In Manila, President Benigno Aquino III’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Pacquiao’s defeat “cannot set aside the many honors Manny has given to the Filipino people”. “Nothing has changed, the Filipino people continue to admire and support Manny,” he said.

Boxing analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz said the defeat could demoralize Filipinos, particularly those in the typhoon-hit areas on the main southern island of Mindanao where Pacquiao is from.

“It’s a double tragedy,” he said.

“People were looking at Pacquiao winning to give them some joy, some hope, some satisfaction. It didn’t happen. On top of that, their anguish is further heightened as a result of his loss. ... This is like (Bopha) took a U-turn and came back to hit us with a Pacquiao knockout.” Nathanielsz said Pacquiao, who trained for two months, may not have spent enough time for physical conditioning unlike Marquez, who spent twice as many months preparing for the fight. “The problem is when you get older, everything else must flow from the basic foundation of strength and conditioning. If you are not in condition, you have a prob-

lem,” he said.

At the Baclaran Central Elementary School hall in the Manila suburb of Paranaque, where hundreds watched the fight, government employee Jacqueline Gabriel said she was dismayed by Pacquiao’s performance. “Pacman is weaker now,” she said, using Pacquiao’s nickname. “He is no longer like what he used to be. ... He should retire now.” But factory worker Charlie Cerillo, 37, said Pacquiao, who is also a congressman, should not retire yet. “He should not have been a congressman. He should focus on sports and if he wants to be a congressman, he should focus on being a congressman,” he said.

Pacquiao’s mother, Dionisia, said that if it was up to her, she wanted her son to stop boxing. “I want him to rest now, to relax,” she told DZMM radio. “If he wants to be a politician, let him serve and pour everything into that. ... Only God will make him stop.” — AP

14

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

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Issues

Nepal in judicial crisis as another deadline slips by

By Frankie Taggart he political deadlock preventing Nepal from holding elections and writing a post-war constitution is threatening to paralyse its legal system and other vital facets of public life, according to analysts. Almost half of the country’s Supreme Court bench is lying vacant after the terms of five justices expired this week, while the remaining two members of the election commission are due to retire next month, with three already gone. None of these vital public roles can be filled, according to legal experts, because Nepal has no parliament to rubber-stamp constitutional appointments.

Meanwhile the apex court, a vital legal check on government decisions as well as the country’s top criminal appeals tribunal, is drowning under a caseload of up to 200 new cases a day, clearing an average of just 20. Although a budget has been agreed to take the country through the next seven months, no cash for development projects can be approved in a country in desperate need of roads, schools and hospitals without a green light from lawmakers.

Meanwhile international donors, who let go of money on the condition of matched funding from the government, are expressing concerns behind the scenes that their money could be better spend in more stable regimes. Resolving the deadlock has assumed an added urgency since a deal on the make-up of a new government and clearing the legal and constitutional hurdles for spring elections is essential by mid-December. “Nepali politics has been locked in suspended animation since the monsoon planting season and the autumn harvest festivals,” said Himal Southasian magazine editor Kanak Mani Dixit in a recent commentary. “As we enter the traditional winter of discontent, before an accident occurs, the path must be cleared for elections.”

Nepal has been run by a caretaker Maoist-led government since the collapse in May of an interim Constituent Assembly that had failed in its main task of drawing up a new constitution following a 10-year civil war that ended in 2006. Despite talks, a deal on power-sharing continues to elude the two biggest political forces, the former rebel Maoists and the opposition Nepali Congress (NC). Leaders of all the main parties failed for a second time Thursday to strike a deal on the political make-up of a proposed cabinet to take Nepal into polls for a new parliament set for next April or May. Political commentator Yubaraj Ghimire said the Maoists were the main beneficiaries of the judicial crisis, with the Supreme Court the only real obstacle to their clinging to power. Another six-day extension to the deadline for agreement has been granted but experts expect parties to miss that too. The introduction of a republican constitution and elections were key conditions of a deal that ended the civil war in which more than 16,000 died. But the transition to democracy has been beset by the ethnic, caste, religious and ideological differences that have made agreement among the countr y ’s powerbrokers impossible.

Nepal has more than 100 ethnic groups, speaking 135 languages, and the average income is around $3 per day. Unemployment is above 40 percent.

Marginalised lower castes are pushing for more power and increased access to jobs and education after the abolition of the monarchy four years ago. While the Maoists want the creation of up to 14 states named after ethnic groups, their rivals say the plan would fuel unrest. Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his number two, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, are locked in a power struggle with neither seemingly keen on polls.

Dahal, better k nown by his nom- de -guerre Prachanda, has floated the idea of a “neutral figure” leading the country but the plan has not gone down well in the Bhattarai camp or the Nepali Congress.

“Prachanda is still the decisive player and a dramatic development is possible if he asks Bhattarai to resign and accepts the NC-led government,” said political analyst Bishnu Sapkota. “Another option would be a voluntary step-down by the prime minister without any new deal. In this case parties could conduct further talks and reach a compromise within three to four weeks. “But they will not be able to meet the proposed time line for conducting polls by April or May.” —AFP

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Is Nobel Peace Prize losing its prestige?

By Pierre-Henry Deshayes ften described as the most prestigious award in the world, the Nobel Peace Prize risks losing some of its lustre because of the prize committee’s unexpected and controversial choices of late, some observers warn. The European Union, which will pick up the 2012 prize at a formal ceremony in Oslo today, is the latest in a string of such laureates. “Farce”, “scandal”, “joke”, “ridiculous” and “absurd”: those are a few of the terms detractors have used to brand the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s picks in recent years, mixed in with the usual praise heaped on Oslo.

“Some of the recent choices have tarnished the reputation of the award and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Norwegian Nobel Committee,” a US journalist and expert on the prize, Scott London, told AFP. “The peace prize is no stranger to controversy ... but I think the blunders and bad choices have become more common in recent years,” he added.

After the bombshell announcement that US President Barack Obama was to win the 2009 prize in his first year in office, the prize committee this year raised eyebrows again by giving the nod to a crisis-ridden European Union plagued by divisions. The choice prompted some unexpected swipes, including from previous laureates. In between those two jaw-dropping laureates came the 2010 winner, jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was generally hailed with the exception of Beijing which called the committee “clowns”.

But the 2011 edition, which honoured three women, also courted controversy, with laureate Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee accusing her co-laureate, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, of corruption and nepotism. For Norwegian lawyer Fredrik Heffermehl, author of the book “The Nobel Peace Prize: What Nobel Really Wanted” and a relentless critic of the committee, the damage has been done. “The prize doesn’t go to those who work for a global peace order made up of demilitarised nations, and it has lost its credibility, both legally and morally, by obstructing and sabotaging for years that which Nobel stood for,” he told AFP. Much of the criticism about the peace prize is aimed at the prize committee’s chairman, Thorbjoern Jagland.

Since his arrival in 2009, he is believed to have influenced the four other members of the committee, with the help of its longstanding secretary, Geir Lundestad, who does not have the right to vote but whose voice carries much weight. By straying from the instructions outlined in the 1895 will of Swedish philanthropist and inventor Alfred Nobel that created the prize, “they have in reality stolen

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the prize”, Heffermehl claimed.

So is the Nobel discredited? “The prize? Probably not,” responded Antoine Jacob, the author of a book on the history of the Nobel prizes. “It’s still highly-awaited each year and is well-anchored in a tradition that has had its highs and survived its lows,” he said. “That said, the credibility of the committee ... has eroded since 2009 in the eyes of those who follow world affairs closely,” he explained. Jagland “wants to use the prize as a tool for his personal convictions, because he is deeply convinced that he is in the right”, Jacob said.

Some have called for a reform of the committee, whose members are usually former politicians designated

by the Norwegian parliament. Among the proposals have been to open the committee to less political figures - to further increase its independence - and to include people more specialised in foreign affairs, possibly even foreigners. The head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, Kristian Berg Harpviken, said he favoured such a reform even though he is not concerned about the Nobel’s prestige. “The controversial choices are not what threatens the status of the Nobel Prize the most. The threat comes from the consensual prizes, the rather boring ones,” he said. “The Nobel Peace Prize is so well-anchored as the most prestigious prize in the world that it can survive a good dose of controversy,” he said. —AFP

Zuma set to survive vote

By Susan Njanji outh African President Jacob Zuma looks almost certain to keep his job as ANC party leader at a key meeting next week, but his re-election may yet spell trouble for the storied organisation. With less than two weeks until the African National Congress opens its elective conference in the central region of Mangaung, the tea leaves look promising for comrade Zuma. All the party’s nine regions have indicated their preference for who should lead the ANC and Zuma has been endorsed by six. His deputy and potential rival Kgalema Motlanthe won backing in the other three.

The numbers suggest the majority of the 4,500 delegates to the conference, which kicks off Dec 16, will allow Zuma to remain head of the party and by extension leader of South Africa for the next five years. But all is not well within the 100-year-old revolutionary movement once led by anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, analysts say. Fissures within the ANC at its last conference in 2007 still rankle. Then Zuma was victorious in ousting president Thabo Mbeki, but five years on he is scandal-tarnished and increasingly unpopular.

Zuma “will win at Mangaung but he remains a fragile political leader,” said independent analyst Daniel Silke, predicting his victory could seriously damage the ANC’s national standings. Recently Zuma has appeared to lurch from one crisis to another, pilloried for a $28-million renovation of his homestead, paid for by taxpayers, and his handling of deadly labour unrest. In the latest scandal, the Mail and Guardian newspaper on Friday revealed Zuma needed payments totalling almost a mil-

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lion dollars from political allies to repair his tattered finances.

“There will be people in the party who would wish that the party doesn’t do well so that Zuma and camp can learn a lesson,” said Prince Mashele of the Centre for Politics and Research. “The party will lack energy going to the 2014 election. The party won’t do well in the 2014 election, but will retain its majority,“ he said, while adding that “it’s going to be a reduced majority.”

Zuma’s faction has listed respected former trade unionist and now businessman Cyril Ramaphosa as his running mate in a bid “to inject a measure of credibility into its camp because they know that they suffer a huge credibility deficit ”, said Mashele. By roping in Ramaphosa, the ANC is trying “to legitimise itself, to coat itself in a modicum of respectability, to staunch the smell of . . . scandals,” said columnist and TV political presenter Justice Malala. “So Jacob Zuma may well secure his second term at Mangaung, but this can still change in the run-up to the 2014 general elections,” said Silke.

Observers believe the party, renowned for waging the tough battle to end apartheid in South Africa, will see its support slump to below 60 percent in the national elections due in 2014. “The reason will be Zuma,” said Malala in an article in The Times. With the scandals hanging over his head and his general ineffectiveness in running the government, “he would be unelectable anywhere else in the world.” Those looking for signs of things to come point to local by-elections on Wednesday, which saw the ANC lose control of a ward in Zuma’s home municipality of Nkandla where his controversial homestead is located. —AFP

Egypt’s Morsi overplayed his hand

By Marc Burleigh gypt’s Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, overreached by giving himself broad powers and trying to ram through a new constitution without sufficient consultation, analysts say. His abrupt annulment on the weekend of a November decree putting himself above judicial review - after weeks of sometimes bloody protests at his perceived “power grab”- was reluctant recognition of that. But even then, it came only after the army stepped in to demand negotiations to solve the country’s dire crisis. And Morsi’s referendum on the draft constitution is still scheduled for next Saturday, leaving open the prospect of further upheaval and division.

Wayne White, a former senior US State Department intelligence official now a policy expert with Washington’s Middle East Policy Council, said the involvement of the powerful military was key to Morsi’s concession.

Perception that opposition had grown to Morsi’s rule likely pushed the generals to “inform him that they cannot continue to keep the peace and that he should make serious concessions to the opposition”, he said. A demand by the army on Saturday for Morsi and the opposition to open dialogue to avert a “disastrous” worsening of the crisis - which the military said it “will not allow” - was a warning to both sides, observers said. It was

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addressed “as much to the Muslim Brotherhood as to the liberals (the opposition),” Hassan Nafaa, an Egyptian political watcher and columnist, told AFP. Analysts agreed that Morsi, elected with a slim mandate in June, would probably see the referendum adopt the constitution drafted mostly by his Islamist allies, in no small part thanks to his Muslim Brotherhood. But they warned the effects of that would be damaging. “The Muslim Brotherhood believes that it has majority support so it can win the constitutional referendum,” said Eric Trager, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. If that occurred, it would “set up the country for prolonged instability,” he warned.

Morsi, still inexperienced in power, saw himself and the Brotherhood as the sole best defenders of Egypt’s fledgling democracy post-Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s strongman for 30 years who was toppled early last year, according to analysts. “Morsi’s miscalculation... was to think that everyone understood the results of the Egyptian elections the way the Brothers did,” Steven Cook wrote in the Foreign Affairs magazine published by the American Council on Foreign Relations. “In other words, that they gave him and his party a mandate to rule with little regard to those who might disagree.”

But Yasser El-Shimy, an Egypt-based analyst

for the International Crisis Group, judged that the Brotherhood’s trench mentality stemmed from “all the attacks against it” - both in the media and physically - against its members and offices.

Morsi saw an initial outreach to the opposition spurned, so felt he was right in trying to bulldoze ahead, Shimy said. Circumstances forced the last-minute concessions, but “whether they will be enough for hardline opposition figures remains to be seen”.

The anti-Morsi mood in Cairo’s streets in recent days has swung close to the revolutionary zeal seen during Mubarak’s ouster in early 2011. Bringing both camps back to a democratic forum, with its inevitable compromises and horse-trading, requires overcoming ideological stands and a mutual mistrust that has been hardened by the weeks of confrontation. Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Centre said in a paper on the Brookings Institute website that the crisis “isn’t really about Morsi and his surprise decree” but rather about a more fundamental difference: should Egypt become more Islamist or maintain secular, more neutral underpinnings?”

“The (draft) constitution has a few Islamically flavoured articles, but for the most part it is a mediocre - and somewhat boring document, based as it was on the similarly mediocre 1971 constitution,” Hamid said. “‘Islamists’ and ‘non-Islamists’ may hate each other, but, on substance, the gap isn’t currently as large as it might be ... In the longer run, however, the consensus that so many seem to be searching and hoping for may not actually exist.” —AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

sp orts Green lifts lid on nightmare LONDON: England goalkeeper Rob Green admits his dream move to QPR quickly became a nightmare when the Premier League club signed Brazilian Julio Cesar to replace him just weeks after his arrival at Loftus Road. Green agreed to join QPR in July despite helping West Ham win promotion from the Championship last season because he was assured he would be boss Mark Hughes’s first-choice goalkeeper.

But the 32-year-old quickly saw the transfer turn sour as he conceded five goals on his debut against Swansea and then learned that Hughes was planning to sign Cesar to replace him. Green was initially told that reports of Cesar’s arrival from Inter Milan were not true, but the former Norwich star’s worst fears were confirmed when he turned on the television to see footage of the Brazilian walking into Loftus Road. “I came to QPR looking for a new challenge after six years at West Ham, a wonderful time capped off by promotion at Wembley,” Green told the Mail yesterday. “Kevin Hitchcock, the goalkeeping coach at QPR, is an old mate and I came to work for him on the understanding that I was first choice. “If he’d said to me we’re also going to sign someone who’s won Serie A five times and the Champions League and is one of the biggest names in South American football, I would have thought twice before signing. “I’d read rumours in the press about Julio coming, but when I asked officials at the club they dismissed it as paper talk and said he wasn’t going to sign.” Inevitably Green soon lost his place to Cesar and when he confronted Hughes he was told he could leave if he was unhappy with the situation. “Now that the Brazilian had joined the club I needed to know where I stood,” Green said.

“I asked Mark Hughes. He told me Julio was going to play, that I’d done nothing wrong and that he wanted two top keepers competing for the position. —AFP

Pakistan cricket chiefs happy with India tour arrangements KARACHI: Pakistani cricket chiefs said yesterday they were happy with arrangements for their side’s tour of India later this month-the arch-rivals’ first series for five years. A four-member Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) delegation returned home after inspecting the five venues where the hotly-anticipated one-day and Twenty20 clashes will rekindle one of the greatest rivalries in world sport.

“India is eagerly waiting to host the Pakistan team,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said on his return. “We are satisfied with the arrangements put in place and hope that it will be a fantastic series.” The delegation was headed by Ehsan Sadiq, PCB’s director of security and vigilance and also included Usman Wahla, manager of international cricket and Sohail Khan, a senior officer with the Punjab Police. India suspended all bilateral sporting ties with Pakistan in the aftermath of the 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai, which left 166 people killed and were blamed on militants based across the border.

But in July this year the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) invited Pakistan to play a limited-overs series and the tour was cleared by New Delhi in October. Pakistan team will fly to New Delhi on December 22 and will play the first Twenty20 in Bangalore three days later. The second Twenty20 will be played in Ahmedabad on December 27 followed by one-day matches in Chennai (December 30), Kolkata (January 3) and New Delhi (January 6). Sarwar said Pakistan expects the best security arrangements for the team. “What we expect is fool-proof security for our players, and we expect that the capability that these cities have will provide that. A visa policy is also announced so it will be a great series,” said Sarwar. —AFP

California Memory triumphs HONG KONG: California Memory swept to victory for the second year in a row in the 2000-metre Hong Kong Cup yesterday in the most prestigious event at the Longines Hong Kong International Races. The home-team horse was ridden by Matthew Chadwick, who also steered him to a win last year. Describing how it felt to win two Cups in a row, the Hong Kong jockey said: “It’s unbelievable, the best feeling in the world.” The lane one draw worked in the jockey’s favour and California Memory got a good start, holding on before galloping to victory in the final straight. “Lane one was a great draw, the best draw you could pick. He jumped out of the gate then it was a question of being patient. He put it to bed in three or four strides,” said Chadwick.

The local hero had been left favourite to scoop the title after the world’s top-rated horse French gelding Cirrus des Aigles had to withdraw injured on Friday. The US$2.8 million Cup is the highlight of four Group One turf events at the annual meet and the richest turf race over 2000 metres, with a first prize worth US$1.6 million.

Second place was taken by French horse Giofra with third going to Australia’s Alcopop and fourth place taken by Hong Kong’s Dan Excel. Carlton House, the first horse belonging to Queen Elizabeth II to run at the Hong Kong meet, came in sixth. After a wet week, the sun shone down with around 60,000 fans gathering for the biggest racing event on the Hong Kong calendar and one of the world’s richest, worth a total US$9.2 million.

In one of the day’s most dramatic races, Britain’s Red Cadeaux, ridden by Gerald Mosse, triumphed in the 2,400-metre Hong Kong Vase after a fight to the finish with Japan’s Jaguar Mail. —AFP

Mavericks defuse Rockets HOUSTON: OJ Mayo scored 40 points, including 10 in the last three minutes, to lift the Dallas Mavericks to a 116-109 victory over the Rockets on Saturday night in coach Kevin McHale’s return to the Houston bench.

James Harden had 30 points at halftime, but the Mavericks slowed him down in the second half. He scored just nine points in the second half. McHale rejoined the team on Saturday after almost a month away from the team, and two weeks after the death of his daughter. Chris Kaman added 20 points for Dallas, and Vince Carter and Darren Collison had 12 apiece.

THAILAND: Charl Schwartzel of South Africa poses with the trophy for photographers after winning the Thailand Golf Championship. —AP

Schwartzel cruises to Thailand victory CHONBURI: Charl Schwartzel decimated a star field at the Thailand Golf Championship yesterday, cruising to an 11shot victory and ending a miserable 20month spell without a title.

Five-shots ahead overnight, the South African more than doubled his winning margin with a blistering final round 65, leaving him seven under par for the day and 25-under overall. He dropped only a single shot all week. In a display of precision putting, he hit eight final round birdies as he avenged last year’s defeat to Lee Westwood and smashed the Englishman’s tournament record score by three shots with a total of 263.

US Masters champion Bubba Watson finished strongly with 14-under overall, putting him tied second with 20-year-old Thai sensation Thitiphun Chuayprakong, while Ryder Cup star Sergio Garcia was two shots back in fourth.

It was Schwartzel’s first win since claiming the 2011 US Masters, with the South African enduring a frustrating time since then due to injuries and poor form. “It’s been a good week.

I’ve come close a few times but winning is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be,” a beaming Schwartzel said of his ninth professional title.

“It’s been a difficult year especially in the middle, it’s nice to put things in place and get the win I’ve been looking for for a while.”Making one bogey all week pretty much sums up how I played. I played pretty flawless golf. That’s my personal best.”

Schwartzel made a high-class field look

ordinary as he breezed to the title, his 11under the third-biggest winning margin ever recorded on the Asian Tour. A birdie at the first banished any thoughts of a final day wobble. It was his nearest rival, Sweden’s Daniel Chopra, who quickly felt the nerves, bogeying the first as he wilted in the Chonburi heat.

After seven dropped shots in a horror front nine, Chopra finished at 10-under, joining a clutch of players including Simon Dyson of England who finished a shot ahead of compatriot and world number six Lee Westwood.

Home favorite Thitiphun led the chasing pack for much of the day hitting three birdies and delighting the crowd with a stunning eagle out off the bunker on the eleventh.

“I’m so proud of how I played because I played with one of the best players in the world,” the affable Thitiphun said, after claiming his near $85,000 prize for coming joint second. “The way he (Schwartzel) handled himself was fantastic. This is something I’m working on... we are getting there.”

Watson posted a flawless seven under 65 for the last round, but he conceded his late charge was doomed to failure after a patchy first three days against the red-hot South African.

“Schwartzel played pretty good and my best stuff probably wouldn’t have been as good,” he said, adding error-strewn Friday and Saturday rounds stymied a genuine title challenge. —AFP

SYDNEY: Australia’s Peter Senior holds his trophy after the final round of the Australian Open golf tournament at the Lakes Golf Club. —AP

Senior, oldest Open winner at windy finale SYDNEY: Tour elder Peter Senior overcame galeforce winds to become the oldest Australian Open golf champion with a onestroke victory at The Lakes yesterday. The 53year-old Australian held his game together after a three-hour wind delay to post a dogged par 72 final round to win his second Stonehaven Cup at four-under 284 from compatriot Brendan Jones (71).

Another Australian, Cameron Percy (73), was third, with English world number four Justin Rose in a group of three golfers at one-under.

Senior’s second Open victory came 23 years after his first national open triumph in 1989.

The previous oldest Open winner was fivetime British Open champion Peter Thomson at 43 at South Australia’s Kooyonga in 1972. “I’m getting a bit long in the tooth now. I really

thought these days were over,” Senior said.

“God, golf is such a funny game. One minute you think you’re down, the next minute you’re up. This is probably the most special. “I can’t believe how many people stuck it out. I would have been at home in bed by now,” he said after the tournament finished in near darkness following the lengthy delay. As virtually the entire field went backwards in winds gusting up to 80 kilometres an hour (50mph), Senior dropped just two shots all day, at the fifth and seventh holes. Birdies on the par-4 10th and 12th holes proved decisive. Japan-based Jones almost snatched victory with a spectacular finish. In his first national championship in four years, Jones nearly overcame a 12-shot deficit early in his round after going five under through his last 13 holes. —AFP

behind the arc.

Tony Parker had 22 points and nine assists as the Spurs won for the ninth time in 10 games to push their record to 17-4. Green and Parker were a combined 18 of 22 from the field. Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 23 points and Gerald Henderson chipped in with 13.

Warriors 101, Wizards 97 In Washington, David Lee had 24 points

straight loss.

Blake Griffin added 24 points, and Chris Paul had 16 points and 11 assists. Crawford made all four of his free throws to extend his streak to 55 in a row since Nov. 3. Michael Beasley scored 21 points off the bench, and Shannon Brown added 19 for Phoenix, which hadn’t lost six in a row since March 3-12, 2009.

The Clippers broke out in the final quarter after not leading by more than seven points through the first three periods. And they did it

Heat 106, Hornets 90 In Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, LeBron James finished with 24 points and seven assists, and Miami snapped a two-game slide by topping New Orleans. Chris Bosh scored 13, and Ray Allen and Shane Battier each added 11 for Miami, which took control by outscoring the Hornets 33-10 over the final 11 minutes of the first half. New Orleans started the game 10 for 12 from the floor, then shot 9 for 31 over the rest of the half.

Ryan Anderson scored 24 for New Orleans, which got 20 from Robin Lopez and 12 from Jason Smith. Miami shot a season-best 58 percent and turned 19 New Orleans turnovers into 22 points.

Bulls 93, Knicks 85 In Chicago, Marco Belinelli and Luol Deng scored 22 points apiece as Chicago snapped New York’s five-game winning streak. Belinelli scored 15 points in the first quarter, while Deng had 10 in the fourth, giving the Bulls their first three-game winning streak of the season. Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago.

Raymond Felton led the Knicks with 27 points, matching his season high set on Thursday in a victory at Miami. However, Felton was just 9 for 30 from the field, exceeding his career high for field-goal attempts by six shots.

Hawks 93, Grizzlies 83 In Memphis, Josh Smith had 24 points, Lou Williams scored 18 of his 21 in the second half, and Atlanta won for the nine time in 10 games. Al Horford had 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Atlanta, while Jeff Teague finished with 13 points and six assists.

Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol scored 18 points apiece, Randolph grabbing 13 rebounds as Memphis lost at home for only the second time this season. Rudy Gay scored 17 points, but was 7 of 25 from the field. Mike Conley finished with 12 points.

Pistons 104, Cavaliers 97 In Cleveland, Brandon Knight scored a career-high 30 points and Detroit beat Cleveland for the second time in six days. The Pistons, who won for just the second time in 12 road games this season, took control with a run that began late in the third quarter and carried into the fourth period.

Tayshaun Prince scored 14 points while Jason Maxiell added 11 for the Pistons, who defeated the Cavaliers 89-79 on Monday in Auburn Hills, Mich. Jeremy Pargo scored 24 points for Cleveland, which has lost five straight, nine of 10 and 15 of 17.

Celtics 92, 76ers 79 In Boston, Kevin Garnett scored 19 points, Jeff Green added 16, and Boston won the back end of a home-and-home with Philadelphia.

Paul Pierce finished with 13 points and Rajon Rondo dished out 11 assists and collected nine rebounds, one night after his first triple-double of the season. Rondo had just seven points.

Thaddeus Young led Philadelphia with 22 points and Evan Turner scored 13. The 76ers have lost three of four. Philadelphia won Friday when Turner hit the go-ahead basket in the lane with 3.9 seconds left in overtime and Rondo missed a game-ending shot after he slipped along the left baseline.

Spurs 132, Bobcats 102 In Charlotte, Danny Green scored 23 points and San Antonio set a franchise record with 19 3-pointers to hand Charlotte its seventh straight loss. Green was 7 of 9 from 3-point range and the Spurs shot 56 percent from

CHICAGO: Bulls’ Luol Deng of Sudan (right) looks to pass around New York Knicks’ JR Smith (left) during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game. —AP and 17 rebounds, Klay Thompson added 23 points and Golden State beat Washington for its third straight road win.

Stephen Curry scored 22 points for the Warriors, who won the first three games of a road trip for the first time since February, 2003. Golden State is 13-7, the first time it’s been six games over .500 since the end of the 2007-08 season.

Jordan Crawford had 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, tying a season high for points and assists. Bradley Beal scored 17 points, Kevin Seraphin and Cartier Martin both had 14.

Clippers 117, Suns 99 In Los Angeles, Jamal Crawford led a fourth-quarter rally with 13 of his 21 points, and Los Angeles won its fifth in a row while sending Phoenix to a season-worst sixth

with their reserves, who scored every point.

Trail Blazers 99, Kings 80 In Portland, DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 12 rebounds, John Salmons added 19 points and 11 assists, and Sacramento snapped a six-game road losing streak.

Aaron Brooks had 14 for the Kings, who have won three in a row for the first time this season. Francisco Garcia and Jason Thompson added 12 each. The Kings overcame a dismal second quarter and steadily pulled away, outscoring Portland by 19 points in the second half.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 10 rebounds and J. J. Hickson added 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Trail Blazers. Wesley Matthews scored 14 points, but suffered a left hip contusion and did not finish the game. —AP

NBA results/standings LA Clippers 117, Phoenix 99; Golden State 101, Washington 97; San Antonio 132, Charlotte 102; Boston 92, Philadelphia 79; Miami 106, New Orleans 90; Detroit 104, Cleveland 97; Chicago 93, NY Knicks 85; Atlanta 93, Memphis 83; Dallas 116, Houston 109; Sacramento 99, Portland 80.

Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Northwest Division W L PCT GB Oklahoma City 16 4 .800 NY Knicks 14 5 .737 Utah 11 10 .524 5.5 Brooklyn 11 7 .611 2.5 Denver 10 10 .500 6 Philadelphia 11 9 .550 3.5 Minnesota 9 9 .500 6 Boston 11 9 .550 3.5 Portland 8 12 .400 8 Toronto 4 16 .200 10.5 Chicago Milwaukee Indiana Detroit Cleveland Miami Atlanta Charlotte Orlando Washington

Central Division 11 8 .579 9 9 .500 10 10 .500 7 15 .318 4 17 .190 Southeast Division 13 5 .722 12 5 .706 7 12 .368 7 12 .368 2 15 .118

Pacific Division 13 6 .684 13 7 .650 9 11 .450 7 12 .368 7 14 .333

0.5 4.5 6 7

Southwest Division 17 4 .810 14 4 .778 10 10 .500 9 10 .474 5 14 .263

1.5 6.5 7 11

1.5 1.5 5.5 8

LA Clippers Golden State LA Lakers Sacramento Phoenix

0.5 6.5 6.5 10.5

San Antonio Memphis Dallas Houston New Orleans

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

S P ORT S

Hirscher storms to giant slalom win VAL D’ISERE: Austrian Marcel Hirscher stormed to victory in the men’s World Cup giant slalom here yesterday, but there was heartbreak for home favorite Alexis Pinturault.

The 23-year-old Hirscher, the defending overall World Cup champion, led after the first leg and clocked a combined total time of 1min 54.10sec down the steep, exacting Bellevarde course in sunny, but extremely

weather, good conditions, good course, good skiing,” beamed Hirscher, expressing hope that the victory would shut his critics up. “It’s perfect to win, a first victory of the season.

There were a lot of questions beforehand like ‘What’s going on, you’re only second?’ “There’s a first place and all those questions are over now.”

Germany’s Stefan Luitz finished second at

FRANCE: Austria’s Marcel Hirscher speeds past a gate on his way to win an alpine ski, men’s World Cup giant slalom. —AP cold conditions.

It was Hirscher’s 10th World Cup victory in the last two seasons, with no other male rival having won more than six in that time. The win was also the Austrian’ s third on the Bellevarde, having previously won a giant and a slalom in recent years.

“This is what people want to see: good

1.16sec, an impressive first podium placing on the World Cup circuit for the 20-year-old who was 25th after the first leg. And American Ted Ligety, winner of the season’s two opening giant slaloms and world champion in the discipline, was third at 1.42sec.

French tyro Pinturault, winner of Saturday’s slalom in which Hirscher finished third behind

Germany’s Felix Neureuther, was left shellshocked after a drastic error.

Sitting in second after the first leg, the 21year-old should have made the podium but missed a gate just metres from the finish line while he was more than 2sec up on Luitz, eventually finishing at 5.61sec.

“I started with bib number 35 and benefited from some good early visibility,” said Luitz.

“I really attacked the course. I was aggressive and had confidence in myself. “It’s a major surprise and I’m still finding it hard to believe I made the podium.”

Ligety was left ruing the “very unforgiving” nature of the Bellevarde slope. “If you’re off by just a tiny, tiny bit on a normal course, you’d have a little bobble, but on this hill it becomes a big mistake,” he said.

“It’s not a hill I particularly like. It’s very steep, a very tight set: it’s very, very different from a normal giant slalom. It was more like a super-slalom. “My first run I didn’t have anywhere near the correct approach, but I’m happy to salvage it with a third place - it could easily have been a DNF (did not finish).”

Ligety added: “Had Pinturault made it to the finish line, he would have been more than one second and a half ahead and would have blown us away by a long shot, so I guess we’re sat here lucky that he didn’t.”

“I’m really gutted,” Pinturault acknowledged. “To see everything blow up so close to the finish is a bit of a shame. “It’s now up to me to focus and bounce back for the upcoming races.”

Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, the current leader of the World Cup overall standings, scored more valuable points when coming in sixth behind Neureuther and Italian Massimiliano Blardone.

Svindal, who skipped the slalom to go powder skiing, has now accumulated 440 overall points, Ligety sitting second on 402pts with Hirscher in third on 380. —AFP

ST. MORITZ: Winner Tina Maze of Slovenia celebrates on the podium after a women’s giant slalom race of the Alpine Skiing World Cup.—AP

Tina clinches World Cup giant slalom SAINT MORITZ: Tina Maze of Slovenia won the women’s World Cup giant slalom at St Moritz yesterday to consolidate her lead in the overall standings. She led by over half a second after the first run and held on to take top spot and 100 World Cup points ahead of Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg and Tessa Worley of France.

It was Maze’s fourth World Cup victory since October and the 15th of her career.

In St Moritz she won Friday’s opening super-combined, finished second behind Lindsey Vonn in Saturday’s super-G and wrapped it all up with another win.

That almost matched Vonn’s efforts of the previous week at Lake Louise, Canada when she swept the three races

on the programme-two downhills and a super-G. Maze went fastest on the first run and was over half a second clear of Rebensburg and Worley and the threat from Vonn, who was fifth fastest, soon vanished as the American champion made a bad mistake halfway down the piste to fall out of contention.

But Rebensburg, the reigning World Cup giant slalom champion, posted an impressive second leg time and Maze only just managed to hold onto her lead, winning by a wafer-thin margin of 00.08secs. For Worley it was her first podium placing since she won in Andorra in February. —AFP

Manziel is first freshman to win Heisman Trophy

FRANCE: Clermont Ferrand’s Wesley Fofana (right) powers his way through the Leinsterís defense during their European Cup rugby match. —AP

Clermont end champions Leinster’s unbeaten run PARIS: French side Clermont ended two-time defending European Cup champions Leinster’s 17match unbeaten run in the competition yesterday beating the Irish province 15-12 in a gripping encounter.

Clermont’s win-their 51st successive home win and who were the last side to beat Leinster in 2010 — puts them five points clear of the Irish side ahead of the return fixture in Dublin next weekend.

Morgan Parra gave Clermont a 9-6 lead by the half hour mark with three penalties while his Leinster counterpart Jonathan Sexton-playing his 100th competitive game for the Irish provinceconverted two. Sexton pulled them level in the 33rd minute as Leinster dominated the game without being able to turn it into tries.

Referee Nigel Owens was forced to give the two captains Leo Cullen and Aurelien Rougerie

a warning that he would be forced to sin bin someone soon with the number of infringements taking place in the teams’ 22.

It was from the latest offence that Parra restored the hosts lead with another penalty for 12-9 and Australian fly-half Brock James dropped a goal on the stroke of half-time to give Clermont a 15-9 lead. Sexton reduced the deficit in the 53rd minute as Leinster dominated again, but still came up short in crossing the line - replacement hooker Richardt Strauss not helping with three terrible throws at line-outs close to the Clermont line.

Clermont coach Vern Cotter said it had been an engrossing physical contest. “It was a good old boxing battle out there from the start,” said the New Zealander.

“We got what we wanted which was the four points and I’m happy with the win if not with the second-half performance. “Hopefully this will raise our confidence levels

and we won’t be as badly beaten as we were in Dublin two years ago.”

His Leinster counterpart Joe Schmidt, who was assistant to Cotter at Clermont from 20072010, took defeat graciously. “It’s incredibly disappointing, we dominated the game but lost three crucial lineouts,” said the Kiwi. “I couldn’t have asked for more from the players. Hopefully we will get some of our injured players back and salvage one of the qualifying spots.”

Earlier French side Montpellier ran out 35-24 winners over Cardiff Blues in their pool match but they made hard work of winning it playing against 14 men for 55 minutes of the match.

Victory kept Montpellier, coached by former France captain Fabien Galthie, in with a chance of reaching the knockout stage, though, they trail Top 14 rivals Toulon by five points with three games remaining.

Defeat for Cardiff left them on just one point and continued the miserable run of Welsh clubs in this season’s competition with only one win in nine matches for the three sides involved.

Cardiff put up a spirited display despite being reduced to 14 men in the 25th minute as scrum-half Lloyd Williams got a deserved red card from Irish referee John Lacey for a terrible spear tackle on his opposite number Benoit Paillaugue.

However, the hosts shrugged off that setback and stayed in touching distance of the 2011 French rugby finalists till the very end - their 19-year-old fly-half Rhys Patchell putting in a superb performance with all their points.

The visitors put a unfair hue on the final score with their third try in the dying seconds, Timoci Nagusa touching down in the corner after he was set up by man of the match Mamuka Gorgadze. —AFP

Le Cleac’h regains Vendee Globe lead PARIS: Frenchman Armel Le Cleac’h was back in command of the the round-the-world Vendee Globe race yesterday, taking advantage of stiffer winds on the more southerly course he charted.

Le Cleac’h had led the ocean-going epic for over two weeks until he slipped to fourth place behind countrymen Francois Gabart and Jean-Pierre Dick and Swiss sailor Bernard

Stamm on Friday. But with the three leading boats coming out of the Crozet “ice-gate” in the southern Indian Ocean into calmer conditions, Le Cleac’h was able to move back ahead having sailed further south to boost his speed.

At 0400 GMT on Sunday, the leading five boats were all within 127 nautical miles of each other, Britain’s Alex Thomson holding steady in fifth place.

In all 13 boats remain in the hunt for sailing’s toughest test 29 days after the race, which is held every four years, set off from the French port of Les Sables d’Olonne. They are due to arrive back in about two months time.

Seven boats have pulled out, including the only woman skipper in the race, Britain’s Samantha Davies, who came fourth in the last edition two years ago. —AFP

NEW YORK: He’s Johnny Best in Football now - and a freshman, at that. Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first newcomer to win the Heisman Trophy, taking college football’s top individual prize Saturday night after a record-breaking debut.

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o finished a distant second in the voting and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein was third. In a Heisman race with two nontraditional candidates, Manziel broke through the class ceiling and kept Te’o from becoming the first purely defensive player to win the award. “That barrier’s broken now,” Manziel said. “It’s starting to become more of a trend that freshmen are coming in early and that they are ready to play. And they are really just taking the world by storm.”

None more than the guy they call Johnny Football. Manziel drew 474 first-place votes and 2,029 points from the panel of media members and former winners. Te’o had 321 first-place votes and 1,706 points and Klein received 60 firsts and 894 points.

“I have been dreaming about this since I was a kid, running around the backyard pretending I was Doug Flutie, throwing Hail Marys to my dad,” he said after hugging his parents and kid sister. Flutie was one of many Heisman winners standing behind Manziel as he gave his speech on stage at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square. “I always wanted to be in a fraternity,” Manziel said later. “Now I get to be in the most prestigious one in the entire world.”

Manziel was so nervous waiting for the winner to be announced, he wondered if the television cameras could see his heart pounding beneath his navy blue pinstripe suit. But he seemed incredibly calm after, hardly resembling the guy who dashes around the football field on Saturday. He simply bowed his head, and later gave the trophy a quick kiss.

“It’s such an honor to represent Texas A&M, and my teammates here tonight. I wish they could be on the stage with me,” he said with a wide smile, concluding his speech like any good Aggie: “Gig’ em.” Just a few days after turning 20, Manziel proved times have truly changed in college football, and that experience can be really overrated.

For years, seniors dominated the award named after John Heisman, the pioneering Georgia Tech coach from the early 1900s. In the 1980s, juniors started becoming common winners. Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win it in 2007, and two more won it in the next two seasons.

Adrian Peterson had come closest as a freshman, finishing second to Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart in 2004.

But it took 78 years for a newbie to take home the big bronze statue. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said.

Peterson was a true freshman for Oklahoma. As a redshirt freshmen, Manziel

attended school and practiced with the team last year, but did not play in any games.

He’s the second player from Texas A&M to win the Heisman, joining John David Crow from 1957, and did so without the slightest hint of preseason hype. Manziel didn’t even win the starting job until two weeks before the season.

Who needs hype when you can fill-up a highlight reel the way Manziel can? With daring runs and elusive improvisation, Manziel broke 2010 Heisman winner Cam Newton’s Southeastern Conference record with 4,600 total yards, led the Aggies to a 10-2 in their first season in the SEC and orchestrated an

NEW YORK: Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel poses with the Heisman Trophy after becoming the first freshman to win the college football award. —AP upset at then-No. 1 Alabama in November that stamped him as legit.

He has thrown for 3,419 yards and 24 touchdowns and run for 1,181 yards and 19 more scores to become the first freshman, first SEC player and fifth player overall to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a season.

“You can put his numbers up against anybody who has ever played the game,” Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. Manziel has one more game this season, when the No. 10 Aggies play Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4. As for the Heisman, Manziel said he’d like to keep it right next to his bed.

“But I’m in college. A lot of people come through the house. We live in a college neighborhood. It might not be a good idea.

If I can get a case that’s indestructible, locked and looks pretty good, we’ll see where I keep it,” he said.—AP

17

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

S P ORT S

India seeks change after IOC suspension NEW DELHI: The administration of Olympic sports in India could face a major overhaul after world bodies and the government cracked down on the power games played by self-seeking politicians.

In a week of dramatic developments, India was suspended from the Olympic movement, the boxing federation was thrown out of world meets and the government withdrew recognition from the archery association.

Until the suspensions are lifted, Indian athletes will be barred from the Olympics, and the boxers and archers excluded from world meets. But many see the current mess as an opportunity to clean up the system.

“Indian sports DETOX begins,” tweeted rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra, India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist

who won the 10m event at the 2008 Beijing Games. Tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi told the espnstar.com website that it was a “culmination of dirty politics”.

But the doubles specialist added the suspensions would be a blessing in disguise for Indian sports “as long as someone in a position to make a difference takes the lead and starts cleaning up the mess one by one”.

Politicians and officials, who regarded national sports federations as their personal fiefdoms, suddenly found themselves cornered-but typically remained unrepentant.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended India’s membership on Tuesday for unethical practices during a controversial election process in the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The IOA still went ahead with the polls

a day later, despite the IOC insisting they were unauthorised and illegal, and even elected tainted official Lalit Bhanot as its secretary-general unopposed. Bhanot is on bail after serving 11 months in jail last year on corruption charges during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, when he was secretary-general of the organising committee.

Haryana state politician Abhey Singh Chautala was elected IOA president, also unopposed, but found his position as chairman of the national boxing federation under scrutiny by the sport’s world governing body.

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) provisionally suspended the Indian federation on Thursday, saying Chautala had manipulated rules to ease himself into the newly-created post of chairman after having his brother-in-law

elected president.

The Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) suffered a double blow when it was also suspended by the federal sports ministry, which provides financial backing, and ordered to hold fresh elections within 15 days.

Chautala said he was willing to give up the chairman’s post if the impasse could be resolved. “We are ready for a reelection,” Chautala told AFP. “The AIBA can send its observer and fix a new date. I am clear that we have not done anything wrong.”

The sports ministry further waded into the mess by withdrawing recognition from the national archery association for flouting age and tenure guidelines of the government’s sports code.

The archery association has been headed for the past 40 years by 81-year-

old Vijay Kumar Malhotra, a senior member of India’s main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party.

An unrepentant Malhotra lashed out at the ministry’s action, saying his body did not recognise the sports code, which limits the age of office-bearers to 70 and a tenure of not more than 12 years. “The sports code has no legal sanctity,” he said.

“It is not an act, nor is it a part of the constitution.”

All sports federations in India, barring the cash-rich cricket board, depend on the government for funding training facilities and taking part in meets both in the country and abroad. India secured its biggest ever Olympic medal haul at the London Games this year, winning two silver and four bronze medals. —AFP

Love keeps Willstrop on world title course DOHA: Romance has helped put James Willstrop in pole position to win his first world title after the tall Englishman raced into the last 16 of the world championships in less than half an hour by beating Canada’s Shawn Delierre.

The helpful woman is Vanessa Atkinson, the former world champion from The Netherlands, and the man making the claim is the world number one’s father, Malcolm Willstrop, Britain’s most successful coach.

“He could have no better ally than his girlfriend,” Willstrop senior said of Atkinson,

James Willstrop whose world title came seven years ago in Kuala Lumpur, and who is often in or near her boyfriend’s corner.

“She understands, she’s very intelligent, and she’s been through it-he’ll never meet anyone better for him,” the enthusiastic dad continued after his son’s 11-2, 11-0, 11-7 win over the world number 43. “They are ever so well suited.”

But when asked if Atkinson sometimes offers coaching tips-as Egypt’s Engy Kheirullah sometimes has with former world number one Karim Darwish-the comments

were rather different.

“I think he knows who to take advice from,” retorted Willstrop, who has coached his 29-year-old son from the moment he picked up a racquet. “I don’t think she knows enough about it,” he added humorously.

James Willstrop certainly made up for his faltering start of two days ago.

Then he was a game and 0-2 down to a qualifier. Now he took the first eight points and 22 of the first 24 to put the outcome beyond doubt inside quarter of an hour. The unlucky Delierre was constantly moved around and put off balance by Willstrop’s accuracy and changes of direction.

By the start of the second game he was hitting the ball away in anger and by the end of it was being told by the referee to mind his language. But this was never an unpleasant contest, and afterwards Willstrop commiserated with his opponent.

“This glass court takes some serious getting used to,” he said, referring to the fact that Delierre had previously been playing on the plaster-walled courts. Willstrop next plays Saurav Ghosal, who became the first Indian ever to make the last 16 of the world championships.

Ghosal took the first two games 11-4, 11-8 from Karim Abdel Gawad, and then saw the talented young Egyptian retire with a calf injury with Ghosal 6-1 up in the third.

Others who could make a significant challenge in Willstrop’s half are Karim Darwish, the former world number one from Egypt, who quelled Simon Rosner, the top 20 German, by 11-5, 11-5, 11-4, and Peter Barker, the sixth seed and a fellow member of England’s 2007 world title winning team.

Barker was made to battle unexpectedly hard however. He twice had to save points to avoid going two games to one down in a 2-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-4 win against Mathieu Castagnet, the world number 37 from France whose team was warned for illegal coaching during the third game. World champion Nick Matthew, four times former world champion Amr Shabana, former world number one Gregory Gaultier, and unofficial tournament favorite Ramy Ashour all play matches in the other half today. —AFP

Martial arts group aims knockout blow for peace SYDNEY: The barefoot, black-belted martial arts experts flick high kicks and aim straight-elbowed arm thrusts at each other, but it is their handshakes that draw gasps and applause from spectators.

Taking its name from the Japanese expression for “the way of stopping conflict”, an organisation called Budo for Peace gave crowds at last month’s Shotokan Karate-do International Federation world championships in Sydney more than just a physical exhibition.

An Israeli group, it brings together Jews, Arabs and Palestinians in its mission to use traditional martial arts to build trust between people and help engender a more tolerant global society. “We teach moral values based on the philosophy of martial arts, like respect, self-control, harmony,” said Danny Hakim, founder of the group.

“The whole idea is to be able to create harmony within yourself, and with that you are able to create harmony with other people.” The organisation started off in the Middle East and Australian-born Hakim said given the recent violence in Gaza, his mission was more important than ever despite worries about loved ones back home.

“When things flared up... it was very difficult for us, all of us,” he said. “My wife and two kids are there (in Israel), and they cannot sleep. And Abed, my Palestinian (Budo) partner, all his kids and grandkids.... We’re all very worried.

“But it brought us even closer together and it gives our mission stronger importance.” Hakim stresses the group-which started in Israel with Arab, Jewish and Palestinian chapters-is not a political organisation, saying: “We’re just doing our thing.”

About 400 people are now involved in

Israel and a further 300 in Jordan, while there is a fledgling group in Turkey. Budo for Peace plans to expand globally after interest from countries such as Morocco, Kenya and Tunisia.

Hakim says while the group brings together people from very different groups-bedouins and orthodox Jews being among instructors-when they come together to practise martial arts, such differences are forgotten.

“What we do in Budo for Peace, it doesn’t matter what you are, Jewish or Arab or Ethiopian or anything else, or what is your religion,” said Arab Israeli Hanan Drawshi, who is an instructor with the group. “But in this special language, this unique language we do together, we can bring peace to ourselves and to others in the community.”

The 25-year-old, who is from northern Israel near Nazareth, said she became interested in karate as a child after watching it on television. As an adult, she sees not only its physical but also its personal benefits.

“Martial arts is also a way to do many things, not just sport,” she said. “We have many conflicts between Jewish and Arab people and between ourselves also, so I think to do these things in a difficult political space... is a unique thing.”

But there was a bittersweet catch for Drawshi in her visit to Australia, where she had been set to compete at the world championships at Sydney’s Olympic Park Sports Centre.

Because her white hijab did not meet the Shotokan Karate-do International Federation regulations, she could not take to the mats. Other Muslim women were able to compete wearing an approved headscarf, but because it exposes the neck Drawshi does not wear it. —AFP

MELBOURNE: Captain Eddie Ockenden of Australia (center) holds the Champions Trophy aloft after Australia beat the Netherlands in the gold medal match at the men’s Hockey Champions Trophy tournament. —AFP

Australia wins record 5th Champions Trophy MELBOURNE: Australia went some way to erasing the pain of their London Olympics flop by winning a record fifth consecutive Champions Trophy in a 2-1 extra-time victory over the Netherlands yesterday.

An early Dutch goal was cancelled out by Russell Ford four minutes before half-time, with the final going into golden point extra time. Kieran Govers clinched victory with a brilliant field goal from the top of the circle five minutes into extra time to give the Kookaburras victory.

Five-times world player of the year Jamie Dwyer said it was the perfect response to the disappointment of finishing with the bronze medal at this year’s Olympics, after going in as strong gold medal favorites.

“After London the whole team was disappointed and we started having a few doubts go through our heads both as a team and individually. So to come back out and play like we did this week, it was very good,” Dwyer said.

Australian assistant coach Graham Reid felt the result was deserved. “I thought it was a

dominant performance. The first half we started really well and then we let them back in,” Reid said.

“We started to come good again at the end of the first half and then the second half we dominated but we just couldn’t put the ball in.” Netherlands coach Paul van Ass conceded the Kookaburras deserved the win. “Australia played very good and it was their quality that we couldn’t play the game that we wanted to play. We were maybe lucky to get into the extra time. It was a well-deserved victory,” he said.

Although Australia controlled the opening stages, it was the Netherlands who struck first, with Sander Baart converting a penalty corner in the 18th minute. Ford levelled the game four minutes before half-time. Australia then had a chance to take the lead but Dwyer missed a penalty stroke just before the break.

Australia dominated the second half but found Dutch goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann a stubborn obstacle. But in echoes of the Kookaburras’ unforgettable golden goal win over the Dutch at the 2004 Athens Olympics,

Govers’s reverse stick shot from an Eddie Ockenden pass sealed gold for Australia.

Earlier Pakistan won their first Champions Trophy medal since 2004 when they defeated India 3-2 in the bronze medal match. Pakistani champion Shakeel Abbasi said that for his team the win was as good as winning gold.

“For us this is a gold medal because after such a long time between winning medals, but also winning against India, so for me and my team and for Pakistan, this is a gold medal,” he said.

Indian midfielder Yuvraj Walmiki said despite losing, his team would take a lot away from the tournament. “Coming out from the Olympics we finished 12th and now at the Champions Trophy, after the Olympics and World Cup it is one of the top tournaments so finishing fourth is a good achievement,” he said.

In the classification matches, Belgium pulled off a 5-4 upset against world number one Germany to claim fifth spot, while New Zealand defeated England 3-2 in the 7th-8th place playoff. —AFP

NOVI SAD: Montenegro’s Jovanka Radicevic celebrates after scoring against Hungary during the 2012 EHF European Women’s Handball Championship Group II match of main round. —AFP

MANSOORI

18

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

SPORTS

Van Persie stuns City in derby thriller Man United 3

Man City 2 MANCHESTER: Robin van Persie scored a sensational stoppage-time winner to give Manchester United a 3-2 win at Manchester City yesterday that sent them six points clear in the Premier League.

Pablo Zabaleta looked to have rescued a point for City with an 86th-minute equaliser but in the second minute of injury time, van Persie’s free-kick flicked off Samir Nasri and crept in to put United in control of the

City substitute Carlos Tevez was also fortunate to escape censure for a wild kick at Phil Jones in the dying stages, but the final whistle prompted full-bodied celebrations from Alex Ferguson’s visiting players.

“City always come back, we knew that, and it is a really special way to end this game in a dramatic way with the three points,” van Persie told Sky Sports. “Wazza (Rooney) asked if I was going to shoot or cross from the free-kick, and I chose to shoot. “It was a great atmosphere and everyone was supporting their team. But what you saw happen to Rio should not happen on the football pitch.”

City had not been beaten at home in the league since December 2010 and were protecting the last unbeaten record in English league football, but they now find their hold on the

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez and Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand (background) battle for the ball, during their Premier League soccer match at the Etihad Stadium. —AP title race.

Wayne Rooney had put the visitors 2-0 up with a first-half brace, before Yaya Toure replied for City on the hour. There were unruly scenes in the aftermath of van Persie’s winner, with United centre-back Rio Ferdinand left bleeding after appearing to be struck in the face by an object thrown from the crowd.

title slipping after a week that also saw them eliminated from all European competition.

“We won the league with the last touch of the ball last year,” said City coach Roberto Mancini.

“This can happen. But we didn’t deserve to lose this game. We played very well.”

Mancini handed a surprise start to Mario

Balotelli and he had City’s first two openings, forcing David de Gea into a scrambling save with a low free-kick and then ballooning Gael Clichy’s cutback over the bar. United had not been near the hosts’ area, but in the 16th minute they drew first blood.

Van Persie’s chested lay-off freed Ashley Young down the left and his pass found Rooney, who cut inside Clichy before hitting a low shot that wrong-footed England colleague Joe Hart.

There was more woe for the hosts four minutes later when captain Vincent Kompany, scorer of the only goal in last season’s corresponding fixture, had to go off with an apparent groin injury.

Hart had to race from his line to thwart Young and although Sergio Aguero then worked De Gea after barrelling through three challenges, the game’s complexion had been altered and in the 29th minute, United extended their lead.

Rafael crossed from the right and with City’s centre-backs distracted by van Persie’s dart into the six-yard box, Rooney had time to sweep a right-foot shot into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards.

Rooney’s brace made him the youngest player to reach 150 goals in the Premier League era and took this season’s tally to seven in the league-and four in two games-despite recent criticism that he was losing his scoring touch.

Both sides made changes early in the second half, with Chris Smalling replacing Jonny Evans at centre-back for United and Tevez coming on for Balotelli, who stalked straight down the tunnel in trademark fashion.

Van Persie came within inches of making it 30 in the 59th minute, his glorious, bending effort coming back off the post before Young’s tap-in was ruled out for offside despite television replays suggesting otherwise.

Seconds later City were back in the game, Yaya Toure rolling home from Tevez’s cutback after De Gea had thwarted the substitute and then Silva in quick succession. As the noise inside the Etihad Stadium increased, the drama swayed from end to end.

Patrice Evra had a penalty appeal turned down, van Persie headed over the bar, and moments later, De Gea produced a miraculous reaction save to divert Silva’s ferocious shot onto the bar from close-range.

Zabaleta drove home from Tevez’s corner to send the home fans into delirium but van Persie’s last-ditch intervention ensured there was one final twist. —AFP

FA probe ‘appalling’ Ferdinand coin attack MANCHESTER: The Football Association have opened an investigation into the incident that saw Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand hit by a coin during his side’s 3-2 win at Manchester City yesterday.

The English centre-back was left with blood pouring from his face after being hit by the coin apparently thrown from the crowd in the aftermath of Robin van Persie’s injury-time winner for United at the Etihad Stadium.

“It is disappointing that after a great game and advert for the Premier League, that we are discussing this issue,” said an FA spokesman. “We will work with the clubs and authorities to identify those responsible and support the strongest sanctions available, including life bans. “We condemn any such acts and it is simply unacceptable that any player is exposed to injury in this way. “To witness Rio Ferdinand leaving the field with a cut above his eye to receive treatment is appalling.”

The FA added that they would liaise with Greater Manchester Police and were awaiting reports from the crowd control advisor and match referee Martin Atkinson. Greater Manchester Police have also opened an investigation into the incident, while City issued an official apology to Ferdinand.

“We apologise to Rio,” said a spokesman from the club. “We condemn the actions of the individual concerned. We are reviewing the CCTV with the police and our normal security. “We will support the police with any investigation and hopefully identify the person as soon as possible.”

Ferdinand himself made light of what had happened, writing on Twitter: “what a result,3points!

Sweet! Whoever threw that coin,what a shot! Can’t believe it was a copper 2p....could have at least been a £1 coin!” City manager Roberto Mancini claimed not to have witnessed the incident, but he condemned it nonetheless. “I didn’t see, so I don’t know what happened,” said the Italian. “We have fantastic support but we can’t do what that person did, because it’s not good.”

A fan wearing City colours also had to be restrained by home goalkeeper Joe Hart after walking onto the pitch and making his way towards Ferdinand after van Persie’s goal. Ferdinand later thanked his one-time England colleague.

“Respect to Joe Hart for protecting that idiot who ran on!!” he wrote on Twitter. “Love the banter between fans but there is a point when it goes too far...calm it!” United manager Alex Ferguson said the scenes witnessed in the aftermath of van Persie’s winning goal were regrettable.

“It was disappointing that a supporter ran on the field after Rio had been hit by a coin in the eye,” he told the club’s in-house television station, MUTV. “It’s a bit disappointing. The game didn’t deserve that.”

City had not lost a home game in the Premier League for two years and their defeat saw United establish a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League table. —AFP

LONDON: West Ham’s Carlton Cole (below) vies for the ball with Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel during the English Premier League soccer match. —AP

Liverpool fight back to sink Hammers West Ham 2

Liverpool 3

LONDON: Everton’s English midfielder Leon Osman (right) vies with Tottenham Hotspur’s English defender Kyle Walker (left) during the English Premier League football match. —AP

Everton late show rocks Spurs Everton 2

Tottenham 1 LIVERPOOL: Nikica Jelavic and Steven Pienaar grabbed late goals to complete a remarkable fightback as Everton beat Tottenham 2-1 at Goodison Park to go fourth in the Premier League yesterday.

Clint Dempsey struck for Tottenham in the 76th minute with the help of a deflection off Everton defender Sylvain Distin and that goal looked set to win it for the north London side.

But David Moyes’ men snatched a deserved victory thanks to an equaliser from South Africa midfielder Pienaar in the 90th minute and Croatia striker Jelavic’s winner in the second minute of stoppage-time.

The sensational finale lifted Everton above Tottenham on goal difference and ended a run of three successive wins for Andre VillasBoas’s side. “It was the right conclusion. We found ourselves 1-0 down after playing really well,” Moyes said.

“The effort and commitment the players showed was terrific. When you get to the 90th minute you think this isn’t going to be your day but credit to the boys as they kept going.” Villas-Boas added: “It’s difficult to take and in the end we didn’t deserve this. We didn’t see it coming.”

After seven draws from the last nine, Everton desperately needed a win and their cause was aided by the return from injury of Belgian forward Kevin Mirallas, who was instrumental in the early exchanges. Mirallas created a chance for Leon Osman but the England international saw his shot blocked

by William Gallas.

Darron Gibson, who had been playing some sublime passes, slipped Seamus Coleman down the right and he crossed for Jelavic, but Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris blocked the forward at the near post.

Tottenham threatened with a powerful low effort from Mousa Dembele that was just too close to Tim Howard. Jelavic, who has only managed one goal in his last eight outings, found himself clean through on Lloris in the ninth minute. But as the Croatian went to round Lloris, the Frenchman managed to get his hands on the ball to divert it away from danger.

Moyes, in his pre-match programme notes, called for an improvement from the Premier League’s match officials after a number of decisions went against his sides in recent time.

And the Scot will have been furious again after referee Kevin Friend turned away two penalty shouts before the break. First Dempsey appeared to use the top half of his arm and shoulder to control the ball in his own area. Then Pienaar’s cross seemed to be blocked by Gallas’ arm, but again Friend shook his head while Moyes went mad on the touchline.

Mirallas had to make way at half-time as he tweaked his hamstring but his replacement Steven Naismith missed a glorious chance within a minute of the restart.

Leighton Baines’ free-kick flew into the wall and his follow-up deflected into the path of Naismith who was free on the right but he side-footed wide.

Jan Vertonghen gave Everton goalkeeper Howard his first test of the second half as the American had to palm over a rasping freekick from the Tottenham full-back. Osman forced another good stop from Lloris with 15 minutes to go as the game looked destined to end in a draw despite all Everton’s dominance. —AFP

LONDON: Liverpool staged an impressive fightback as the Reds scored twice in the closing stages to secure a 3-2 win over West Ham at Upton Park yesterday.

Brendan Rodgers’ side were in danger of suffering the latest setback of a disappointing campaign after Mark Noble’s penalty and a Steven Gerrard own goal put the Hammers 2-1 up following former West Ham player Glen Johnson’s early opener.

But, to their credit, Liverpool dug deep to equalise through another Hammers old boy Joe Cole before West Ham defender James Collins turned a Jordan Henderson cross into his own net with 11 minutes remaining.

Liverpool’s second successive Premier League win lifted them up to 10th place and remarkably they are now within four points of the top four despite their earlyseason struggles. The result was all the more impressive as they achieved it without suspended star striker Luis Suarez.

“It was a brilliant win for us. West Ham have been terrific this year but I thought our team were outstanding,” Rodgers said. “We’ve threatened to score three, four and five goals through most of this season, but through not being ruthless or having bad luck we haven’t scored as many as we would have liked.”

Hammers boss Sam Allardyce added: “You are never in control of a game completely against a Liverpool side. We knew it would be difficult. “We lost (Mohamed) Diame with a hamstring injury which didn’t help and then we lost some of our forward momentum.”

Rodgers’ team took the lead in the

11th minute when Gerrard played the ball out to Johnson on the touchline and the England right-back cut inside Matt Jarvis with ease before arrowing a strike into the top corner of Jussi Jaaskelainen’s goal. Johnson did not celebrate out of respect for his former club, but Liverpool should have been further ahead soon after.

Raheem Sterling had two chances to double Liverpool’s advantage, the teenager first firing wide of Jaaskelainen’s near post and then sending a low drive just off target. But, after a tepid start, West Ham started to threaten and they equalised in the 36th minute.

A set-piece was cleared as far as Guy Demel whose shot hit the arm of Joe Allen as the Liverpool midfielder closed him down. Referee Lee Probert deemed the block to be intentional and pointed to the spot, with Noble stepping up to convert the penalty.

It got worse for Liverpool two minutes before half-time when they switched off after conceding a free-kick which Noble took quickly to find Jarvis in space on the left. Jarvis sent over a cross and Gerrard rose to nod clear, but instead powered his header past the stunned Jose Reina and into his own net. Sterling came close to equalising after the break as his effort from the edge of the area forced Jaaskelainen to flick the ball over his bar.

Rodgers sent on Henderson for Brazilian midfielder Lucas in the 71st minute and the change sparked Liverpool’s late revival. It was Cole, who has endured a miserable time with Liverpool since joining from Chelsea three years ago, who equalised in the 76th minute when he took Sterling’s pass and curled a superb shot past Jaaskelainen.

And Liverpool completed their great escape three minutes later when Henderson whipped a low cross towards Shelvey and Collins got there first to accidently deflect the ball over Jaaskelainen into his own net. —AFP

English League results/standings Everton 2 (Pienaar 90, Jelavic 90+2) Tottenham 1 (Dempsey 76); Man City 2 (Y.Toure 60, Zabaleta 86) Man Utd 3 (Rooney 16, 29, Van Persie 90+2); West Ham 2 (Noble 36-pen, Gerrard 43-og) Liverpool 3 (Johnson 11, Cole 76, Collins 79-og).

Played Saturday Arsenal 2 (Arteta 26-pen, 64-pen) West

Brom 0; Aston Villa 0,Stoke 0; Southampton 1 (Puncheon 61) Reading 0; Sunderland 1 (Johnson 66) Chelsea 3 (Torres 11, 45-pen, Mata 49); Swansea 3 (Michu 51, 90, De Guzman 59) Norwich 4 (Whittaker 16, Bassong 40, Holt 44, Snodgrass 77); Wigan 2 (McCarthy 19, 74) QPR 2 (Nelsen 26, Cisse 71).

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd Man City Chelsea Everton Tottenham West Brom Arsenal Swansea Stoke Liverpool

16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16

13 9 8 6 8 8 6 6 5 5

0 6 5 8 2 2 6 5 8 7

3 1 3 2 6 6 4 5 3 4

40 30 28 27 29 24 26 26 14 22

23 14 17 20 25 21 16 21 12 20

39 33 29 26 26 26 24 23 23 22

West Ham Norwich Fulham Newcastle Southampton Aston Villa Wigan Sunderland Reading QPR

16 16 15 15 16 16 16 15 15 16

6 5 4 4 4 3 4 2 1 0

4 7 5 5 3 6 3 7 6 7

6 4 6 6 9 7 9 6 8 9

21 17 25 17 22 12 17 14 19 13

20 24 26 21 32 23 30 21 28 29

22 22 17 17 15 15 15 13 9 7

19

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

SPORTS Italian League results/standings Palermo 0, Juventus 1 (Lichsteiner 50); Pescara 2 (Abbruscato 52, Vukusic 73) Genoa 0; Cagliari 0, Chievo 2 (Paloschi 67, Thereau 87); Siena 1 (Rosina 10) Catania 3 (Castro 50, Bergessio 66, 82); Torino 2 (Santana 28, Bianchi 80) AC Milan 4 (Robinho 40, Nocerino 53, Pazzini 61, El Shaarawy 76).

Played Saturday Atalanta 2 (German Gustavo 4, Peluso 38) Parma 1 (Amauri 45) Roma 4 (Castan 7, Totti 19, 45+1, Osvaldo 89) Fiorentina 2 (Ronacaglia 14, El Hamdaoui 46) Italian league table after yesterday’s early matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Juventus 16 12 2 2 33 10 38 Napoli 15 10 3 2 28 12 33 Inter Milan 15 10 1 4 27 16 31 Lazio 15 9 2 4 24 18 29 Roma 16 9 2 5 38 26 29 Fiorentina 16 8 5 3 29 18 29 AC Milan 16 6 3 6 28 21 24 Catania 16 6 4 6 22 24 22 Atalanta 16 7 2 7 17 23 21 Parma 16 5 5 6 19 22 20 Udinese 15 4 7 4 22 24 19 Chievo 16 5 3 8 19 27 18 Sampdoria 15 5 3 7 19 21 17 Cagliari 16 4 4 8 14 26 16 Torino 16 3 7 6 17 21 15 Bologna 15 4 2 9 17 20 14 Palermo 16 3 5 8 14 23 14 Pescara 16 4 2 10 12 30 14 Genoa 16 3 3 10 16 28 12 Siena 16 4 5 7 15 20 11 Note: Sampdoria (one point), Torino (one point), Atalanta (two points) and Siena (six points) all docked points for involvement in ‘Calcioscommesse’ illegal betting scandal

Juve survive Palermo battle Milan rout Torino MILAN: Juventus had a Stephan Lichsteiner strike early in the second half to thank for a cagey 1-0 win away to Palermo on Antonio Conte’s return to the touchline as AC Milan dominated a six-goal thriller away to Torino yesterday.

Juventus’s 12th win of the campaign took their lead to five points over Napoli ahead of their crunch visit to Inter Milan, who sit third a further two points off the pace, later yesterday.

However it was a nervous win for the champions, who despite dominating the second half-when Palermo’s Swiss defender Michel Morganella was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 75th minute-failed to convert a number of scoring chances.

Swiss midfielder Lichsteiner settled Juve’s nerves when he broke the deadlock on 50 minutes although most of the work had been done by striker Mirko Vucinic, who latched on to Andrea Pirlo’s long ball and sent Lichsteiner through to beat Albanian ‘keeper Samir Ujkani.

Juve were frustrated by later misses from Vucinic and defender Leonardo Bonucci, who was through on goal but ended up being shown a yellow card for simulation after he had been tackled by Ujkani, but finally managed to take all three points.

The match signalled Conte’s return to the touchline after he served a four-month ban for his alleged role in a match-fixing affair while at former club Siena.

He admitted: “It was a painful four months, but I’ve come out of this stronger.

“Although I’ve been working all week with the team, the excitement of the game is something that you can’t replace. “But the team went about their jobs with the help of a great coaching team who stepped up to

the plate and have been extraordinary in these past four months.”

After going a goal down to Argentinian Mario Santana, Milan scored four through Robinho, Antonio Nocerino, Giampaolo Pazzini and Stephan El Shaarawy before Rolando Bianchi scored a late consolation for the Granate. Milan’s sixth win leaves them seventh in Serie A on 24 points, 14 behind champions Juventus.

Their win, however, was tempered by the loss of Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong for the season after he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon injury, according to coach Massimiliano Allegri. De Jong pulled up after Milan had scored their fourth goal and limped off the pitch.

Speaking to Mediaset channel after the game, Allegri said: “The lads have dedicated the victory to Nigel, who unfortunately has suffered a rupted Achilles tendon injury that will see him out for the season.”

Pescara, meanwhile, moved off the bottom of the table thanks to a 2-0 home win over fellow strugglers Genoa. The Serie A newcomers’ fourth win of the campaign puts them on 14 points, three ahead of new basement side Siena whose 3-1 defeat to Catania was their seventh of the season.

Napoli can restore their two-point deficit to Juventus if they beat Inter however the Partenopei face a determined side which can not afford to slip further behind, especially with Lazio and Roma biting at their heels at only two points adrift. While Lazio are not in action until today the Biancocelesti will be expected to take some reward from their trip to Bologna. Roma, meanwhile, cemented fifth place on Saturday thanks to a 4-2 win over Fiorentina who sit sixth, also on 29 points with Lazio and Roma. — AFP

Bayern clear at the top BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen yesterday joined Borussia Dortmund as the biggest losers of the weekend in watching Bayern Munich extend their lead on top of the Bundesliga.

Szabolcs Hustzi converted two penalties as Hanover beat Leverkusen 3-2 at home in a result which, combined with Dortmund’s 3-2 loss Saturday at home against Wolfsburg, leaves Bayern as the biggest winners.

Bayern beat Augsburg 2-0 at home to move to 41 points to increase their lead to 11 points over Leverkusen and 14 points ahead of defending champions Dortmund.

Leverkusen went ahead after two minutes through Gonzalo Castro but watched Huszti equalise from the spot in the 20th minute and Mame Biram Diouf’s header gave the hosts a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute.

Stefan Kiessling made it 2-2 after 58 minutes but the Hungarian Huszti converted another penalty in the 69th minute to give Hanover victory. “It’s not the end of the world,” said Kiessling. “We were not good enough in the decisive situations.”

Borussia Moenchgladbach clinched a 2-0 victory at home over Mainz. Mike Hanke scored in the 58th minute and Juan Arango added a sensational second in the 63rd minute for Gladbach, who are now eighth after just their second win in the last five games.

Mainz missed a chance to pull into fifth place.

On Saturday, Bayern Munich moved a step closer to the Bundesliga title with Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez scoring in the 2-0 win at Augsburg.

Bayern dominated the proceedings and finally grabbed the lead in the 40th minute from the spot through Mueller after Augsburg’s Gibril Sankoh handled Toni Kroos’ pass.

Gomez doubled the advantage in the 62nd minute, just two minutes after coming into the game to decide the contest. “In order to win the champi-

German League results/standings Hanover 3 (Huszti 20-pen, 69-pen, Mame Biram Diouf 57) Bayer Leverkusen 2 (Castro 2, Kiessling 58); M’gladbach 2 (Hanke 58, Arango 63) Mainz 05 0.

Played Saturday Nuremberg 2 (Polter 27, Feulner 90+1) Fortuna Dusseldorf 0; SC Freiburg 1 (Caligiuri 15) Furth 0; FC Augsburg 0 Bayern Munich 2 (Mueller 39-pen, Gomez 63); Dortmund 2 (Reuss 6, Blaszczykowski 61pen) VfL Wolfsburg 3 (Ribas 36-pen, Naldo 41, Dost 73); VfB Stuttgart 3 (Ibisevic 2, 38-pen, 61) Schalke 04 1 (Marica 12); Eintr. Frankfurt 4 (Meier 47, Schwegler 62, Aigner 63, Inui 90) Werder Bremen 1 (Petersen 54).

German League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals

for, goals against, points): Bayern Munich 16 13 2 Bayer Leverkusen 16 9 3 Dortmund 16 7 6 Eintr. Frankfurt 16 8 3 Schalke 04 16 7 4 VfB Stuttgart 16 7 4 Hamburg 16 7 3 M’gladbach 16 6 6 SC Freiburg 16 6 5 Hanover 16 7 2 Mainz 05 16 7 2 Werder Bremen 16 6 3 Nuremberg 16 5 4 VfL Wolfsburg 16 5 4 Fortuna Dusseldorf 16 4 6 Hoffenheim 16 3 3 FC Augsburg 16 1 5 Furth 16 1 5

1 4 3 5 5 5 6 4 5 7 7 7 7 7 6 10 10 10

43 30 32 31 26 20 18 24 21 31 21 27 16 17 18 22 11 10

6 22 19 27 22 25 18 25 17 29 20 28 21 25 21 38 28 27

41 30 27 27 25 25 24 24 23 23 23 21 19 19 18 12 8 8

10-man Marseille humbled HANOVER: Hannover 96’ Christian Schulz (right) vies with Leverkusen’s Lars Bender during the German First Division Bundesliga match. — AFP onship, we have to win these kinds of games, and we did that,” said Gomez. In Dortmund, Juergen Klopp’s hosts went ahead on a free kick by Marco Reus in the sixth minute.

Wolfsburg equalised in the 36th minute from the spot through Diego one minute after Marcel Schmelzer was red-carded for stopping Bas Dost’s shot at the line with his hand-though replays showed the defender blocked the ball with his knee.

Referee Wolfgang Stark admitted later that upon reviewing television replays he had made an error in ruling a handball. Wolfsburg took the lead 2-1 in the 41st as Naldo volleyed home Diego’s pass.

Jakub Blaszczykowski converted a penalty in the 61st minute as Dortmund pulled even at 2-2 but Dost re-established Wolfsburg’s lead in the 73rd minute. “I am satisfied with our performance but the result hurts us a lot,” said Klopp. — AFP

Monterrey to face Chelsea Al Ahly set up dream last-four tie TOYOTA: European champions Chelsea will face Monterrey in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup after the Mexican side defeated South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai 3-1 in Japan yesterday.

In the intercontinental tournament’s other quarter-final, Al Ahly of Egypt beat J-League winners Sanfrecce Hiroshima to set up a dream last-four tie with Brazilian giants Corinthians.

CONCACAF champions Monterrey went through thanks to two goals from forward Cesar Delgado and one from midfielder Jesus Corona, in a match that saw the camera-based goal-line technology Hawk-Eye used for the first time.

The victory at a largely empty 36,000capacity Toyota Stadium avenged

TURIN: AC Milan’s Robinho jumps past Torino’s Alessandro Gazzi during a Serie A soccer match at the Olympic Stadium.— AP

Monterrey’s defeat in the same round last year when they crashed out on penalties to Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol. “The experience of last year was really helpful to us,” Monterrey coach Victor Vucetich said. “This time we were better prepared.” “Chelsea are a well-known team in the world but we are confident and we are not going to lose any hope. We will be playing to win,” he added.

Monterrey were dealt a blow less than 24 hours before kick-off with the news that star striker Humberto Suazo would not be fit for the match, but the absence of the Chilean was quickly forgotten as the Mexicans started brightly.

Corona opened the scoring after just nine minutes with the easiest of tap-ins

JAPAN: Al-Ahly SC’s Mohamed Aboutrika keeps the ball past Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s Kazuhiko Chiba shortly before scoring a goal, during the quarterfinal at the Club World Cup soccer tournament. — AP

at the back post following an inch-perfect pass across goal by striker Aldo de Nigris.

Monterrey continued to press forward and De Nigris missed a golden opportunity just two minutes later when he headed straight at Ulsan goalkeeper Kim Young-Kwang from close range.

Midway through the first half it was Ulsan centre-forward Kim Shin-Wook who missed when it looked easier to score, the number nine failing to get enough on a header from the edge of the six-yard box following an in-swinging free kick.

Monterrey also started the second half strongest, but it was not until the 77th minute they managed to score a second goal when neat interplay between their forwards ended with Delgado side-footing the ball into the net.

Shortly afterwards the AFC Champions League winners were further behind, when Delgado took the ball round an Ulsan defender and placed it in the corner of the net on the 84th minute.

A strike from long range by Asian player of the year Lee Keun-Ho, which deceived Monterrey goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco, proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

Ulsan coach Kim Ho-Gon said: “Our opponents had really great organisational and individual skill, and we were not able to make the match ours or fully leverage our capabilities.”

Al Ahly, wearing black armbands in memory of the 72 fans who died in the Port Said Stadium disaster in February, started at a frenetic pace and got their

reward after only 15 minutes when Elsayed Hamdi scored from inside the box. Hiroshima levelled on 32 minutes when top scorer in the J-League last season Hisato Sato fired a shot underneath goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy as the Egyptians were down to ten men with Hossam Ghaly receiving treatment off the pitch.

The Japanese champions spurned two opportunities before the half-time whistle blew-chances they would rue 12 minutes into the second half when substitute Mohamed Aboutrika, on for Ghaly, pounced to score after a defensive slip-up.

Al Ahly coach Hossam El Badry said: “We tried to be aggressive at the beginning and we started the match very well... I think we deserved to win.”

Hajime Moriyasu, the Hiroshima coach, said: “In the middle of the first half we started to demonstrate aggressive football in the Hiroshima style but in the second half we suffered from fatigue.”

Al Ahly, seven-time African champions, will take on Copa Libertadores winners Corinthians in Toyota on Wednesday. Monterrey will play Chelsea at Yokohama International Stadium the next day. Ulsan and Hiroshima will compete in a fifth place play-off.

Neither of yesterday’s games appeared to have a contentious goalline incident for Hawk-Eye, which uses seven cameras to determine the trajectory and position of the ball, to judge.

Hawk-Eye is one of two systems FIFA are trialling at the tournament. GoalRef, a magnetic-field-based technology, made its debut Thursday. — AFP

PARIS: Title-challengers Marseille squandered a chance to move provisionally top of Ligue 1 yesterday as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat at home to Lorient. Jeremie Aliadiere scored a first-half penalty after the hosts had Charles Kabore dismissed before strikes from Benjamin Corgnet and Kevin Monnet-Pacquet after the restart handed Lorient just their second win on their travels since the opening game of last season.

“Everything went against us, we didn’t have any luck. There was the penalty conceded by Charles. I was also told there was a penalty that could have been given in our favour,” said midfielder Joey Barton.

“And then the second goal came from a deflection. That was difficult, we were chasing the score and we weren’t able to do much,” he added. A third victory in four for Christian Gourcuff’s side bumped Lorient up to eighth in the table, as Marseille stayed third, level on points with Paris Saint-Germain and two behind leaders Lyon, who are in action against SaintEtienne later on Sunday.

The visitors were awarded a penalty seven minutes before half-time as Burkina Faso midfielder Kabore was sent off for a second yellow card after hauling down Aliadiere inside the area. The former Arsenal striker then sent Steve Mandanda the wrong way from the spot for his sixth goal of the campaign.

Lorient’s second arrived two minutes after the break as Corgnet steered Alain Traore’s cross beyond Mandanda, the ball looping over the helpless France reserve keeper following a deflection off Jeremy Morel.

A string of fine saves from Lorient keeper Fabien Audard to deny Morgan Amalfitano, Nicolas N’Koulou and Souleymane Diawara kept the away side’s two-goal lead intact before MonnetPacquet added a third on 70 minutes, drilling low into the corner from the top of the box to complete the misery for Elie Baup’s men. Earlier, Reims saw their winless run extended to eight matches following a goalless draw at home to sixthplaced Bordeaux. — AFP

FRANCE: Marseille’s Ghanaian forward Jordan J. Ayew (left) challenges for the ball with Lorient’s Togolese midfielder Alaixys Romao during their French League One soccer match. — AP

Tina clinches World Cup giant slalom

16

Liverpool fight back to sink Hammers

18

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

India seeks change after IOC suspension

Page 17

LAS VEGAS: Juan Manuel Marquez, from Mexico (right) lands a right to the head of Manny Pacquiao, from the Philippines, during their WBO world welterweight fight. Marquez won by a knockout. —AP

Marquez knocks out Pacquiao LAS VEGAS: A bloodied Juan Manuel Marquez rallied to knock out eight division champ Manny Pacquiao with one second left in the sixth round Saturday to win in the fourth fight of their epic boxing rivalry.

The 39-year-old Marquez, who suffered a broken nose and possible concussion, dropped Pacquiao face first to the canvas, giving him his first victory over the Filipino superstar. Marquez knocked Pacquiao down in the third round then ended the fight with a savage overhand right that hit Pacquiao flush, sending him down hard.

“I feel great that I leave no doubt in the way I got this victory over Manny,” Marquez said. “I was counter punching him. He was throwing a lot of punches but he was missing and so I would try to counter punch. “The right hand I got under his guard. I threw the right when he missed a punch on me.” Pacquiao, who suffered his second consecutive loss, landed under the ropes and lay there for a couple of minutes before being helped up and back to his corner.

“I got hit with a punch I didn’t see,” said Pacquiao before being taken to the nearby University Medical Center hospital for repairs.

“I thought I was getting him in the last couple of rounds but I got hit by a strong punch. I did not expect that punch.” Pacquiao did not attend the post-fight news conference. His camp said he was undergoing scans of his head area and other medical tests.

The shocking ending stunned the crowd of 16,348 at the MGM Grand Garden arena as Marquez had held his own in their first

three fights but had never even knocked down Pacquiao until Saturday night.

Pacquiao dismissed talk of retirement and said he would like to fight Marquez again. “I am going to rest and come back to fight. I would go for a fifth,” he said.

Marquez said he is not thinking about a rematch at the moment. “I think this fight was one of my best victories absolutely,” Marquez said. “Right now in my future I don’t know what is coming.”

Pacquiao, who was a three-to-one favorite on Friday, dropped to 54-5-2 with 38 knockouts. Pacquiao weighed in at the division’s 147-pound limit (66.67kg) while Marquez, who improved to 55-61 with 40 knockouts, stepped on the scale at 143 pounds (64.86kg).

The fighters set a blistering pace, making it look unlikely this fight would go the distance as their three previous fights had. “He is not an easy opponent,” Pacquiao said. “I was just starting to feel confident and then I got careless.”

Pacquiao was eager to redeem himself after suffering a controversial defeat in his most recent fight to Tim Bradley. He was also tired of Marquez blaming his failure to win in their three previous fights on biased judging. Marquez claims he won all three earlier fights-although two were scored in favor of Pacquiao and one ended in a draw.

This time, four division champion Marquez left no doubt, showing he was willing to go toe-to-toe with Pacquiao even after

getting knocked down in the fifth round. He had knocked Pacquiao down Saturday for the first time in 39 rounds between them in the third round with a right hook over the top. “It was a good shot, but I was able to come back,” Pacquiao said of the third-round knockdown.

Indeed, Pacquiao kept coming and Marquez appeared to be heading to his third defeat to Pacquiao after Marquez was bloodied and knocked down in the fifth. Pacquiao came out attacking from the opening bell throwing lefts over the top of Marquez’s gloves.

Pacquiao was the aggressor early, landing a solid left halfway through the second that jolted Marquez, stopping him in his tracks. By the time the sixth round started Marquez looked a bloody mess, bleeding from a gash over his nose and from the mouth.

Both the third and fourth rounds ended with the boxers slugging it out in the center of the ring in a fight that at times resembled more of a wild street brawl. “After the first knockdown Manny came back and he was in charge,” said Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach. “But he got a little too careless.” Spectators got their money’s worth as the fight more than lived up to its pre-fight hype.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney sat in the front row to watch the fight. Romney was a guest of Nevada boxing chairman Bill Brady. Romney also chatted at ringside with NBA star Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers and rapper Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson.

Messi sets new goal record Falcao scores five goals MADRID: Lionel Messi surpassed Gerd Mueller’s record of 85 goals in a calendar year with a first-half double that helped his side to an important 2-1 win at Real Betis yesterday.

The Argentinian moved up to 86 goals in 2012 but was only given the go-ahead to play against Betis before the game after injuring his knee in the midweek Champions League game against Benfica.

He beats the German legend’s record set in 1972, and now has 22 in the league this season, six more than Radamel Falcao who hit five goals for Atletico in their win. It did not take long for Messi to equal Mueller’s record with his side’s first real attack on 16 minutes, making a diagonal run across the Betis defence before hitting a left footed shot into the right hand corner.

His history-making moment came nine minutes later when he struck from almost an identical position after good play from Adriano and Andres Iniesta. Betis had started and finished the better side in Seville, Salva Sevilla had a header well saved by Victor Valdes on three minutes and they hit the woodwork on three occasions in the second-half.

Adrian in the Betis goal then made an acrobatic save to deny Xavi Hernandez, and the home side appeared out of the game until substitute Alvaro Vadillo played a clever pass to Ruben Castro who finished coolly to reduce Barca’s lead before the interval.

Valdes saved Barca six minutes into the second period, plucking a left-wing volley from Sevilla from under the crossbar. The game continued from end-to-end at a frantic pace without many clear cut chances until

Barca’s Javier Mascherano struck his own post whilst trying to clear a corner with twenty minutes remaining.

Jorge Molina then hit a post with a fierce shot while at the other end Adrian blocked well from Pedro Rodriguez before Jordi Alba hit the bar when he should have scored.

Barca were in danger of conceding until the end but held on for a vital three points where rivals Real Madrid lost 1-0 only two weeks ago. The win keeps Barca six points ahead of Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga who had earlier thrashed Deportivo La Coruna 6-0.

Falcao became the first La Liga player in a decade to score five to keep the pressure on Barca. He had already hit a double along with a Diego Costa header to put Atletico out of sight by half-time, his second smashed on the half-volley direct from a throw-in.

He completed his hat-trick with a secondhalf penalty before hitting two more to make him the first player to hit five in a La Liga game since Fernando Morientes for Real Madrid against Las Palmas in 2002.

It was Atletico’s eighth straight home win of the campaign. A hapless looking Deportivo side remain bottom of the table on 11 points, level with Espanyol. Also yesterday, Levante thrashed Mallorca 4-0 with goals from Obafemi Martins, David Navarro, Ruben Garcia and Vicente Iborra to move into sixth position.

A first-half header from Aritz Aduriz, his ninth of the season, was enough for Athletic to edge a competitive encounter with Celta Vigo. On Saturday Real Madrid kept in touch with a 3-2 win at Valladolid, but remain five points behind Atletico in third. — AFP

SPAIN: This combo of two file photographs shows at top; FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, from Argentina, scoring his second goal against Zaragoza during a Spanish La Liga soccer match, in a Nov. 17, 2012 file photo, and at bottom; a June 18, 1972 file photo of Gerd Mueller (left) of West Germany, scoring a goal against the Soviet Union in the Heysel Stadium, in Brussels. Messi scored his 86th goal during the Spanish League game with Betis yesterday. — AP

Magic Johnson, Steven Seagal and Mike Tyson were also watching the fight at ringside. Much of the pre-fight buzz centered around the judging after Marquez claimed he had been cheated out of previous wins.

In the end, Marquez took matters into his own hands making sure referee Kenny Bayless and the three judges-Adalaide Byrd, Steve Weisfeld and John Keane-weren’t going to decide it.

Meanwhile, Miguel Angel Vazquez retained his International Boxing Federation world lightweight title with a one-sided unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Mercito Gesta on Saturday. Vazquez, of Guadalajara, Mexico, improved to 33-3 after a 12-round fight in which he was never threatened. Vazquez defended the title he first won in 2010 for the fifth time. He came out throwing punches from the opening bell while Gesta looked to be testing the waters, the Filipino tossing very few punches in the first few rounds.

Vazquez seemed content to establish his left jab early while Gesta looked for the big knockout punch that never came. When Gesta tried to move in and land big combinations Vazquez would then backpedal and counter with his right.

Prior to the fight, Gesta had been touted as the heir-apparent to MGM Grand Garden card headliner Manny Pacquiao. Gesta suffered the first loss of his career after 26 victories and one draw.

This was the first time Gesta had been taken the distance in his three fights this year. The bout was on the undercard of Pacquiao’s welterweight fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. — AFP

How ‘Der Bomber’ crashed BERLIN: Lionel Messi broke Gerd Mueller’s 40-year-old record yesterday for the most goals scored in a single year, but the lifestyles of ‘Der Bomber’ and the magical Argentine could not be more different.

Messi was in double form for Barcelona at Real Betis to put his goal tally for the calendar year onto an incredible 86 — one more than the previous record of 85 set by Mueller in 1972 for Bayern Munich and West Germany.

At the peak of his career-when he scored the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final-Mueller basked in the same god-like status Messi now enjoys.

But having battled alcoholism since his retirement in 1981, his public appearances are limited now to the occasional Munich match and a German television milkshake advert alongside current Bayern and Germany star Thomas Mueller.

“I ruined my life,” ‘Der Bomber’ admits having blasted an incredible 68 goals in his 62 appearances for his country. He bowed out on the international stage at just 28 years of age after hitting the winning goal in Munich as West Germany beat Holland 2-1 to win the 1974 World Cup. Mueller finished with 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games. While Messi has been instrumental in helping Barcelona enjoy a golden era in the club’s rich history, the same was true for Mueller and Bayern in the 1970s.

In 1965, Muller, Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer inspired the club to promotion to the Bundesliga. Munich became champions for the first time in 1969, before claiming a hat-trick of

domestic titles in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

The dream team then won the European Cup three times in succession from 1974 to 1976. “Everything that FC Bayern has become is due to Gerd Mueller and his goals,” said Beckenbauer, who captained Germany to the 1974 World Cup win and coached the 1990-title winning team.

Mueller was the club’s top scorer every season from 1964-65 to 1977-78, and the Bundesliga’s leading marksman seven times. His collection of personal awards is just as impressive as the titles Bayern won.

Aged 21, he was first voted German Player of the Year in 1967, then in 1970, he became the first German to be crowned European Footballer of the Year after winning the top scorer award at the Mexico 1970 World Cup. He appeared three times in FIFA Select XIs (1971, 1972, 1973) as further proof of his exceptional status.

When his playing career ended after a three-year spell in the North American League, Mueller admits he descended into deep crisis and began drinking heavily.

Bayern’s current president Uli Hoeness helped get him back on his feet by offering him a contract in 1992; initially to look after sponsors, scout for talent and coach strikers and goalkeepers.

He later became a youth coach and first team assistant, earning his coaching badge and coached Bayern’s amateur team in the 1990s. He still helps to this day and has been known to be a favourite table football opponent for Germany’s Bayern star Bastian Schweinsteiger. — AFP

Mada completes 2 phases of its network expansion Page 22

On the edge of the ‘cliff’ Page 24

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Instead of black gold, Libya eyes olive oil Page 25

London fights for its coveted financial crown Page 23

MADRID: Protestors shout slogans during a demonstration against government-imposed austerity measures and labor reforms in the public healthcare sector in Madrid yesterday. — AP

US needs balanced approach to tackle fiscal woes Lagarde prescribes blend of spending cuts, revenue increases WASHINGTON: The United States needs a balanced, comprehensive approach to tackle its fiscal woes that should include a mix of spending cuts and revenue increases, the head of the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.

“My view, personally, is that the best way to go forward is to have a balanced approach that takes into account both increasing the revenue, which means, you know, either raising taxes or creating new sources of revenue, and cutting spending,” IMF Managing Director

Christine Lagarde said in a pre-taped interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” which aired yesterday.

Lagarde discussed her views about Washington’s impending “fiscal cliff,” a combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases that will simultaneously take effect in early 2013 if lawmakers cannot arrive at a deal.

President Barack Obama’s administration and congressional leaders are still trying to negotiate a way to avoid the cliff of $600 billion in tax hikes and federal spending. Failure to do so could

likely tip the US economy back into a recession.

In her interview on CNN, Lagarde cited the fiscal cliff as the biggest threat to the US economy, saying America is more vulnerable to its own domestic troubles than to anything else happening in the euro-zone or China.

The US economy “is less vulnerable to what happens outside, for instance in Europe,” Lagarde said.

“I’m not saying that there will be no consequences out of a crisis that could happen in Europe. But the conse -

quences would be relatively minor.” “It is more exposed to its own difficulties and to its own issues than to what happens elsewhere in the world, because it is such a large player.”

She told CNN she remains optimistic that lawmakers will come up with a plan before the fiscal cliff deadline. “My confidence is deeply rooted in the affection that I have for the United States,” she said. “I believe that there is a sense of being practical, addressing the issues rather than, you know, dancing around and avoiding issues.” — Reuters

Dubai unveils residential project, first in MBR City DUBAI: Dubai developer Emaar Properties and an arm of Dubai Holding, the ruler’s conglomerate, launched the first project in a planned multi-billion dollar flagship development yesterday - a complex of luxury residences and a golf course.

Dubai Hills will be part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid (MBR) City, the mega tourism and retail development project announced by the emirate in November, Emaar and Dubai Holding said in a joint statement. The project’s villas, each to be built on plots of 20,000 to 30,000 square feet, would be designed around a new 18hole championship course to be developed by world golf course experts, it said.

The statement provided no information on the number of villas, the value or the time frame for completion of the project. MBR city is also expected to include 100 hotels and the world’s biggest shopping mall.

Dubai has recently begun to announce big projects and revive some earlier plans that had been shelved following the collapse of its property markets.

Dubai Holding’s real estate arm, Dubai Properties, had previously planned to develop Tiger Woods Dubai, a residential and golf course project, in conjunction with the former world number one golfer, but shelved the project in January 2011.

The average apartment price in Dubai rose by 13 percent this year and is expected to grow at the same rate next year as speculative buyers prop up demand, a study released yesterday showed. —Reuters

IMF chief Christine Lagarde

Egypt rebounds after Morsi scraps decree MIDEAST STOCK MARKET

BEIJING: A vendor checks his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a grocery store in Beijing yesterday. China’s main gauge of inflation rose 2.0 percent in November, up from the previous month’s 1.7 percent, driven largely by food price increases, the government said. — AP

Greek PM on Bavarian charm offensive BERLIN: Greece’s prime minister travels to Bavaria in southern Germany yesterday, home to some of the harshest critics of his country, with the aim of “resetting” relations between Athens and Munich.

Antonis Samaras will hold talks with Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer at around 6:00 pm local time (1700 GMT ) and both will brief reporters ahead of the meeting. The Greek leader set the tone for what he hopes will be better ties by telling the local Muenchner Merkur on the eve of the

talks that he was “coming as a friend.”

“We are partners who share the same values and ideals,” he said. Both sides had much to gain from talks, Samaras said, adding: “I am looking forward to a new beginning in our relations.”

Seehofer’s conservative CSU party, up for re-election in September, has been the origin of much of the most severe criticism of Greece’s efforts to tackle its debt crisis and German aid for Athens.

At the height of the crisis earlier this

year, several CSU members called for Greece to leave the euro-zone, often sending financial markets into a tailspin. The party, a junior coalition partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, has since toned down its rhetoric as Samaras has pushed through a raft of reforms to unlock vital international aid. Amid a huge police presence and sometimes violent protests, Merkel herself visited Athens in October to signal her support for the government’s efforts to slash debt. — AFP

DUBAI: Egypt’s bourse made its biggest one-day gain in five months yesterday after President Mohammed Morsi scrapped a decree that triggered a political crisis.

In Cairo, foreign investors are net buyers against Arab regional and Egyptian sellers. Elsewhere, most Gulf markets closed higher.

Morsi revoked a decree that gave him extra powers, but irate opponents said yesterday he had deepened the conflict by pressing on with a vote on a constitution shaped by Islamists. The president held talks on Saturday at his presidential palace.

Billed as a “national dialogue”, the meeting was boycotted by his main rivals and had little credibility among protesters in the most populous Arab nation.

“We have to reach a common ground by Dec. 15 - that’s a very important date,” said Osama Mourad, chief executive of Arab Finance Brokerage in Cairo. “The referendum will either be cancelled or delayed or not go through because the judges will probably refuse to oversee the vote.” Cairo’s benchmark index jumped 4.4 percent in its biggest oneday surge since July 2. Sunday’s gain trim losses to 7.1 percent since Morsi awarded himself extraordinary powers in a decree on Nov 22. Many stocks were suspended temporarily in early-trade after they gained their maximum allowed daily limit.

All except two stocks rose. Palm Hills Development Co climbed 4.1 percent, El Saeed Contracting rose 3.7 percent and Citadel Capital jumped 6 percent. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s

bourse gave back intraday gains after hitting a three-week peak as shortterm traders booked profits. The index ticked up 0.08 percent.

In the United Arab Emirates, property stocks helped lift Abu Dhabi’s market to a three-week high. Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate each gained 1.6 percent. Investor interest has picked up in recent sessions as the developers’ governmentbacked merger talks advance.

The talks were started against the backdrop of continuing oversupply and declining house prices. Prices in Abu Dhabi were expected to fall 5 percent this year, according to a May Reuters poll.

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark climbed 0.6 percent. Dubai’s index edges up in thin trade as investors await fresh catalysts to provide direction. The index added 0.2 percent, trading within a tight range.

“Markets are moving sideways due to a lack of news and interest from investors,” said Mohab Maher, senior manager of institutional sales at MENA Corp. “Investors are staying on the sidelines waiting for a positive movement in the markets.”

Elsewhere, Kuwait’s bourse gained, with the price index closing 0.5 percent higher. The market is up 4.5 percent from an eight-year-low hit on Nov. 4 on state-linked funds buying bluechips and optimism the government will push ahead with economic development projects, analysts said. In Qatar, the measure eased 0.07 percent, while Oman’s benchmark climbed 0.4 percent to 5,647 points. — Reuters

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

BUSINESS

Mada completes 2 phases of its network expansion

How to invest in the stock market?

By Hayder Tawfik

Communications firm celebrates anniversary KUWAIT: Coinciding with its one-year anniversary, Mada Communications yesterday announced the completion of the first two phases of its network expansion plan that extended wireless Internet network coverage to up to 90% of residential areas in Kuwait, bringing wireless Internet access to more homes and subscribers in Kuwait than ever before.

The three-phase plan that is set for completion in the first quarter of next year, will bring wireless Internet access catered to individuals in major residential areas including seven areas of the governorate of Jahra and all Southern chalet areas, such as Julaiaa and Bnaider.

Currently, refineries and near-border areas like Abdali Farms and Wafra have access to smart and easy wireless solutions. General Manager Ahmad Ibrahim said: “Mada entered the market last year to provide residents in

Kuwait with a real wireless Internet solution that is full-ranged and mobile. In the last year, we have focused our efforts in a three phase plan to expand wireless Internet solutions to individuals across Kuwait, especially those living in highly-populated areas that have limited access to Internet, such as Al Jahra governorate.” Mada is now the first to connect seven residential areas in the Jahra governorate to high-speed broadband, which include Qasr, Ayoun, Naeem, Waha, Taimaa, Nasseem, and Saad Al Abdullah covering up to 75% of these highly-populated residential areas.

Ibrahim added: “Mada has successfully boosted wireless Internet accessibility near construction sites, refineries, and chalets, making wireless Internet on-the-go possible and viable. The company is working close with municipalities and communities across Kuwait to provide more enhanced coverage in densely

populated residential areas.” Mada began operations in July 2011 covering only a handful of residential areas. With the company’s completion of its three-phased expansion plan, most individuals in Kuwait will have access to wireless Internet coverage.

Point of Sale In just under a year since its launch, Mada brought its total number of point-of-sale (POS) outlets and resellers to 300 locations in 40 areas across Kuwait, and includes online stores and electronic stores.

Mada Communications Marketing Manager Shahad Ibrahim said: “Mada’s goal is to provide customers with options and choices that are both easily accessible and reliable. For that reason, we have teamed up with some of the best partners in Kuwait that include X-cite Alghanim, Mobile 2000, and Kuwait Star.”

Burgan Bank announces names of Yawmi Account draw winners KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names of the five lucky winners of its Yawmi account draw, each taking home a prize of KD 5,000.

Winner’s names will also be announced through Marina FM on a daily basis during their prime shows.

The lucky winners took home a cashprize of KD 5000 each, and they are: 1. Adel Fouad Mahmoud Alhaj Abbass 2. Hasan Fhaid Hamad Alhashemi Alajmi 3. Hatem Abdullah Abdulhameed Elkaranshawy 4. Alsaid Omar Alsaid Abdu 5. Romani Adel Faheem Tawedrous The newly re-launched Yawmi Account is better, easier and faster than any day before. With its new and enhanced features, the Yawmi Account has become more convenient, easier, and faster for customers to benefit from. Now, customers will be eligible to enter the draw after 48 hours only from opening the account. Customers are also required to deposit KD 100 or equivalent only to

enter the daily draw, and the coupon value to enter the draw stands at KD 10. The newly designed Yawmi account has been launched to provide a highly innovative offering along with a higher frequency and incentive of winning for everyone.

Today, the Yawmi account is a well understood product, where its popularity can be seen from the number of increasing account holders. Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances to becoming a daily winner. The more customers deposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning the draw. Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers are urged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receive all the details, or simply call the bank’s Call Center at 1804080 where customer service representatives will be delighted to assist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of the bank’s products and services, or log on to Burgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for further information.

NBK ‘Best Investor Relations Company in Kuwait’

Morgan Stanley Middle East M&A head Fort departs DUBAI: Morgan Stanley Inc’s head of mergers and acquisitions for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is leaving the bank, three sources said, the latest in a string of high-level banking departures from the Gulf Arab region.

Peter Fort, who has been responsible for overseeing the US bank’s M&A and restructuring business in the region since early 2011, ha s resigned, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter has not been made public.

Fort, an executive director based in Dubai,

worked with the bank for nearly nine years advising some of its top clients in the region. It was not known whether Fort would join another lender or remain in the region.

A spokesman for Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Many global banks have scaled back operations in the Gulf Arab region, amid intense pressure to cut costs and a slump in deal activity. Morgan Stanley is among few banks in the region to have not undertaken any major cuts this year. — Reuters

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was honored “Best Investor Relations Company in Kuwait” For the third consecutive year, in recognition of the bank’s international standards and best practice in transparency and governance.

In a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi, Middle East Investor Relations Society recognized NBK for practicing the highest standards in Investor Relations. NBK’s selection for the award was based on the results of an independent global survey led by Thomson Reuters Extel which collected votes from about 300 investors around the globe.

NBK is the only Kuwaiti company among the top ten Investor Relations companies in the region. The award confirms the international investment community’s recognition of NBK’s ongoing efforts to achieve the highest levels of governance and promote transparency.

NBK has consistently been awarded the highest credit ratings of all banks in the region by the major international rating agencies: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

In 2012, NBK maintained its position among the 50 safest banks in the world for the sixth consecutive time.

NBK ranked 34 on the list, illustrating the success of the bank’s conservative strategy, prudent risk management and dedication to service excellence.

you carry on doing that then you will end up with a good portfolio of a well-diversified stocks with excellent fundamentals. Start monitoring your portfolio on daily basis and look for any news related to your stocks.

Review the stocks with high risk very carefully and be ready to cut the position if you have to do so. Do not hesitate to take loss.

Always run those positions that are making you money. Make sure you avoid the herd mentality and never invest with your emotions.

Don’t let market fluctuations affect your investment decisions. Totally avoid investing in stocks with high volatility because you never know if you buy them at the highs or the lows. If you can’t time your entry to the market then start investing with little money till you feel comfortable and confident. If you are a beginner to the market try to avoid investing in any start-ups. Always remember only invest what you can afford to lose.

New investors tend to trade more frequently which is something they should try to avoid completely. The more they trade the more they give brokers in commissions.

By trading more frequently investors might end up selling the stocks that would make them a lot of money and buying the ones that lose them money. Investors should avoid taking advice from friends or newspapers and should ignore any tips. By setting price target for every stock bought it helps you avoid unnecessary trading and save you lots of commissions. When you reach your price target do not sell your position completely. Try to reduce your investment gradually just in case you have a good winner.

Finally, I strongly advise that new investors should read a lot about stock market legends and understand how they made their fortunes.

These legends have their own investment strategies and disciplines that are very important to understand before you start investing. All good investors have their own way of investing and by reading about them you will start forming your own method and you will gradually take your investment very seriously. My finals advice is to start with some paper money and see how you do before putting real money into the market. Investing in the stock market should be a serious business and should not be taken as a hobby or just passing time.

— Hayder Tawfik is Executive Vice President of Asset Management, at Dimah Capital

t might be a surprise to people but majority of stock market investors are able to see and recognize value when they invest but unfortunately they fail to make money. I think a lot of investors are familiar with what I have just said.

Investors need to learn a lot about the stock market before even thinking of actually putting money in the market. These inventors when they start losing money they suddenly become long-term investors i.e. they literally stuck. My personal advice is before thinking of investing you should learn the rules of investment. Some of these rules you can learn by just reading about them, others you need to learn about the drivers of the stock market and fundamentals which make one stock perform better than another.

The minute you start investing your own money in the stock market, you become a serious investor and your are taking risk with your own money. You should not treat investing as passing time or a hobby.

Serious money managers spend most of their time reading, studying and searching for good investment.

It is a full time job and once you commit to that then you become a serious investor. Every investment you make should be regarded as a serious investment and always ask yourself if it will make you money or lose you money. If you think you got it wrong then you should cut your loss and start again. Never run losing positions.

Investors should do their work extensively before investing in any stock. Research the stock and spend a lot of time on finding any research related to the stock. Read about the company’s business. Find out how they make their money. Where the profit comes from? What is their business model? How long the management being together? Do they own shares in the company? What could go wrong? Lots of questions to be asked but they are important indeed and they are the best way to make the investor wait before investing in the stock. On top of all those the investor should study the fundamental valuation of the company. One important advice is to see if the company’s business fits with the economic cycle we are experiencing. For example don not invest in mining stocks if you think the economy is going into recession. You should invest as little as you can in every stock you choose so you have more money left for more investment. If

I

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 .4500000 .3650000 .3010000 .2810000 .2920000 .0040000 .0020000 .0761490 .7418950 .3880000 .0720000 .7272960 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2805000 GB Pound/KD .4520820 Euro .3678480 Swiss francs .3028670 Canadian dollars .2828330 Danish Kroner .0493080 Swedish Kroner .0425750 Australian dlr .2937960 Hong Kong dlr .0361930 Singapore dlr .2302390 Japanese yen .0034140 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0763990 Bahraini dinars .7443280 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0748200 Omani riyals .7288550 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - transfer Irani Riyal - cash

3.421 5.193 2.912 2.185 3.241 233.090 36.409 3.441 6.886 9.211 0.271 0.273

.2840000 .4600000 .3730000 .3110000 .2910000 .3010000 .0067500 .0035000 .0769170 .7493510 .4070000 .0770000 .7346050 .0510000 .2826000 .4554660 .3706020 .3051340 .2849510 .0496770 .0428940 .2959950 .0364640 .2319630 .0034390 .0052040 .0022090 .0029380 .0034900 .0769710 .7499000 .3997170 .0753800 .7343120 .0069690

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 75.270 77.556 733.140 749.700 76.859

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.700 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 45.948 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.317 Tunisian Dinar 179.600 Jordanian Dinar 398.150 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.894 Syrian Lier 3.859 Morocco Dirham 33.391 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 282.150 Euro 367.640 Sterling Pound 455.390 Canadian dollar 288.940 Turkish lire 157.930 Swiss Franc 305.360 Australian dollar 298.800 US Dollar Buying 280.950 GOLD 320.000 161.000 83.000

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

SELL CASH

299.700 751.280 3.700 288.900 554.800 46.000 50.000 167.800 47.980 369.700 37.140 5.500 0.032 0.161 0.243 3.520 400.330 0.191 95.640 45.500 4.340 238.800 1.830

51.100 735.800 3.080 7.190 78.140 75.430 232.990 34.830 2.691 457.200 43.400 305.900 3.400 9.570 198.263 77.020 282.900 1.360

10 Tola

GOLD 1,821.240

Sterling Pound US Dollar

733.620 2.939 6.883 77.710 75.430 232.990 34.830 2.193 455.200 304.400 3.400 9.420 76.920 282.500

COUNTRY

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 455.200 282.500

SELL DRAFT

298.200 751.280 3.450 287.400

233.000 46.045 366.200 36.990 5.200 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

298.54 287.58 309.13 371.15 281.45 456.57 3.51 3.469 5.138 2.196 3.221 2.919 76.70 749.41 46.07 400.97 732.50 77.72 75.26

SELL CASH

297.000 288.000 309.000 370.000 283.000 456.000 3.690 3.570 5.400 2.300 3.650 3.150 77.300 749.000 47.750 399.000 732.000 77.850 75.800

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 400.300 0.190 95.640 3.280 237.300

Rate for Transfer

Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro

282.400 286.325 453.670 366.065

Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

302.660 747.650 76.865 77.515 75.270 398.085 46.029 2.187 5.199 2.916 3.451 6.888 692.730 4.420 9.290 4.380 3.340 92.375

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

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

282.400 2.917 5.212 2.199 3.455 6.940 76.990 75.465 750.700 46.049 458.400 2.990 1.550 370.800 291.600 3.265

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

281.900 369.650 454.350 286.150 3.470 5.181 46.135 2.164 3.456 6.895 2.925 750.650 76.600 75.275

23

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

BUSINESS

London fights for its coveted financial crown LONDON: The City of London, already campaigning hard against EU proposals for regulating banks, is now hitting back at a threat to its dominance of the vast market for trading in euros.

The latest perceived attack on the supremacy of the “City” came this week from the governor of the Bank of France, Christian Noyer. He objected to the fact that Britain, a member of the European Union but not of the eurozone, should have captured by far the biggest share of trading in the euro.

London handles about 40 percent of world trade in euros, more than all of the 17 euro-zone members combined.

Noyer said in a reference to London and its place outside the euro-zone: “It is clear there is no rationale for having the biggest financial centre active in our currency or providing services in our economic union being an offshore centre.”

Noyer, who also sits on the policysetting governing council of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, said: “The American authorities are not against the US dollar being traded in London, but they are very keen on not having the essential business being done outside the US. We are the same.”

His remarks provoked a mixture of suspicion, given that anti-EU sentiment is running high in Britain over perceived interference by EU authorities, and of scorn given the dominance of London, alongside New York, in global finance.

But there was also some anxiety that London cannot drop its guard if it is to keep the City’s crown in place. Financial services are vital to the British economy.

The City is the so-called square mile at the heart of London where financial and supporting activities such as law firms are concentrated.

The flamboyant but influential Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said of the remarks by Noyer: “This is a desperate French attack in an effort to make something out of the euro-zone crisis. It’s nothing more than a naked attempt to steal London’s financial crown. It shows utter contempt for the principles of the single market (in the EU), and it will not succeed.” For the government, Business Secretary Vincent Cable, said while on a visit to France: “It rather contradicts what I’ve heard from serious French bankers,” he said. “They take the view that a strong British finance centre is good for Europe.”

Cable argued that all of Europe benefited from London having established itself as the world’s leading financial hub, pointing out that hundreds of thousands of French workers had moved there because of the career opportunities.

“We want to be part of the European single market in financial services and we see the City (of London) as part of it,” he said. As the date for the creation of the euro in electronic form in 1999 approached, there was much

Political unrest pushing Italy to centre of eu crisis MILAN: Prospects of a political crisis in Italy sooner than expected - after Prime Minister Mario Monti said he intends to resign early - are expected to drive up Rome’s borrowing costs and tensions in the euro-zone after months of calm on the bond market.

Monti’s surprise announcement on Saturday that he intended to resign after the approval of next year’s budget raised the prospect of an election in February, weeks before the end of his term in April, and heightened the uncertainty over who will succeed him.

Bankers and analysts say the biggest political risk is that former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could tap into growing disenchantment with the structural reforms championed by Monti to make a comeback. “The key concern among investors is not the early elections but the outcome of such an electoral contest,” said Wolfango Piccoli, head of Europe practice at global political risk research firm Eurasia Group.

“A fragmented parliament is likely to emerge, leading to the creation of a patched-up coalition government whose ability to push ahead with the required structural reforms will be severely limited,” he added.

Berlusconi, whose withdrawal of support for the government last week triggered the crisis, has already announced he will run on a platform attacking Monti’s austerity measures, which he accused of plunging Italy into a recessive spiral.

“Markets will certainly not like Berlusconi’s latest move,” a senior Italian banker said on condition of anonymity. “A Berlusconi comeback would be a disaster for Italy’s finances and for the real economy.” Berlusconi’s centre-right PDL party lags the centreleft PD by at least 16 percentage points in opinion polls and also trails the antiestablishment 5-Star Movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo, which has won popularity by banking on public anger against the mainstream political class.

But the media tycoon has in the past confounded pollsters and is likely to use an anti-euro, populist rhetoric to win back support and make it harder for the centre-left to win a clear majority.

Even before Monti’s resignation announcement, the government’s stand-off with the PDL pushed the premium that investors demand for Italian 10-year bonds on Friday to 323 basis points over equivalent German Bunds.

That is still well off a peak of 553 points at the height of the crisis last year.

Another senior Italian banker said he expected the spread to shoot up by 80 to 150 basis points on Monday on 10year Italian versus German bonds.

If spreads were to rise back to the peak level seen last year, Italy would have to pay an estimated 45 billion euros ($58 billion) of additional interest on its 2 trillion euro public debt, not to mention the higher cost of financing for companies and lenders, bankers say. —Reuters

Increase your chances to become next Al-Danah KD1 million winner KUWAIT: Gulf Bank advises its new and existing Al-Danah account holders to keep their money saved in their accounts to enhance their chances of becoming the next Al-Danah KD1 million winner. Any withdrawal before the draw date of January 10th, 2012 would reduce chances of winning.

Opening an Al Danah account is easy, and Gulf Bank encourages everyone in Kuwait to either open an account or for customers to increase their deposits to maximize their chances of winning in the upcoming weekly (KD1000 for 10 winners).

Al Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and simultaneously encourages

them to save. The more money saved and the longer it is in the account, the more chances individuals stand to win.

To qualify for the next quarterly Al Danah draw, account holders must maintain a minimum deposit of KD200 in their accounts. Customers can open an account by either visiting one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer online, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s website, to find all the information regarding Al Danah or any of the Bank’s products and services.

ABK’s Al-Manal Account pays like a fixed deposit, works like a current account In today’s ever-changing and challenging market the customer and his banking needs are important to Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait. ABK prides itself on keeping the customer’s needs a major priority, and tailor’s products to suit them. As such, Al Manal account is unique in its concept in the sense that though it pays like a fixed deposit it works like a current account, so you get the best of both worlds.

Stewart Lockie, GM, Retail said “ABK would like to remind our clients that Al Manal account lends a unique benefit, as it enables you to save and withdraw your funds with greater ease.

The minimum deposit is KD 5000, but the higher your deposit, the better the interest rates. The monthly interest is

paid directly into the account, so you can watch your money grow. The best news on this account is the flexibility the customer can exercise, as there are no withdrawal penalties, whether partial or full. In case of partial withdrawal, interest will continue being calculated on the remainder amount, so you enjoy complete freedom with your money.”

Al Manal deposit account works for you when the money is idle, so transfer your excess funds and start earning interest today! Knowing more about the account is easy, visit www.eahli.com where you can also chat live with an ABK representative or call Ahlan Ahli at 1899 899 for more information.

debate about whether Frankfurt, the home of the ECB and the main financial centre in Germany, or London, would dominate finance across Europe.

But from the outset is was evident that the business was going mainly to London, drawn by the long-established concentration of financial expertise and

At US bank BNY Mellon, economist Simon Derrick commented: “Unfortunately, history is rather against Mr. Noyer on this matter.” Fourteen and a half years after the launch of the euro, “London’s position as the key centre for the region looks stronger than ever,” Derrick said.

“London has been a trading hub

supporting services, by the English language, by business-friendly labour and tax laws, and by the buzz of London living if not by the living costs.

A trading hub since the Romans

from almost the point it was founded by the Romans in AD 43,” he said.

“London’s position looks strong for the moment at least.”

But the British government and the

financial sector are increasingly concerned that they in particular will suffer from new banking union regulations being pushed by the European Commission. A central concern is that the ECB, which is to become the overall supervisor of banks in the euro-zone will in fact gain powers of oversight throughout the European Union and so vitiate the function of the European Banking Authority which is based in London. And Noyer made his thrust at a time when Britain is becoming concerned about the decline of London as a financial centre on the changing global stage, relative to such cities as Hong Kong and Singapore where the constraints of regulation are less restrictive.

The economics consultancy CEBR published a report recently suggesting that London would lose its top place in terms of the number of people employed in finance to New York this year and in 2015 would come third behind Hong Kong.

But the City of London has just published a report which found that nearly half of all jobs created in the whole of London this year were linked in some way to financial services, despite the downturn in the economy. Many jobs have been cut in the financial sector, in investment banking for example, but these have been matched by growth in insurance and fund management. —AFP

China’s economy picks up amid leadership change Double-digit rise in production at factories BEIJING: China released a series of figures yesterday showing continued strength in the world’s second largest economy as it prepares for new leaders tasked with sustaining the country’s dramatic growth.

There was a double-digit increase in production at factories, workshops and mines for the first time since March, the National Bureau of Statistics said, a strong sign the country is shaking off the effects of the global economic slowdown. The 10.1 percent November increase follows rises of 9.6 percent the previous month, 9.2 percent in September and a three-year low of 8.9 percent in August.

Overall growth has slowed for seven straight quarters in China. It hit 7.4 percent in the three months through September, the weakest performance in more than three years.

But the production statistics and other figures released by the bureau-including retail sales, fixed asset investment and inflation-all showed an improvement. The statistics-the first major economic figures to be released since the Communist Party held its pivotal congress last month — will be welcomed by the political elite as it prepares to usher in new leaders in March.

“Overall it’s a quite strong set of numbers, supporting our view of rebounding GDP growth,” said Lu Ting, China economist with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

President Hu Jintao has called for efforts to strengthen domestic consumption in a bid to create a new growth model, echoing mounting calls for change to stabilize growth amid the slowdown. Economists say the country faces mounting pressure to restructure its economy to ensure long-term growth, such as reducing its reliance on exports and boosting domestic consumption.

HSBC China economist Sun Junwei said yesterday’s figures have created favorable conditions to implement reforms under Beijing’s new leaders.

Xi Jinping replaced Hu as party chief last month and is strongly expected to succeed him as national president next March. The par-

ty’s new number two Li Keqiang is set to assume the premiership at the same time. “The leaders will step up the reform efforts gradually in the coming quarters,” Sun said.

“There will not be drastic changes that will

ure of inflation, increased to an annual 2.0 percent from a near three-year-low of 1.7 percent in October, which will give lawmakers less room to loosen monetary policy. Premier Wen Jiabao and Commerce Minister Chen Deming

ANHUI: A young girl waits as her mother buys vegetables at a supermarket in Hefei, east China’s Anhui province yesterday. China’s inflation rate accelerated slightly to 2.0 percent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. —AFP happen overnight, but the current recovery will create favorable conditions to accelerate these reforms next year.” Other figures released Sunday include retail sales, the main measure of consumer spending, which rose 14.9 percent year-on-year in November from 14.5 percent in October.

Fixed-asset investment, a key gauge of infrastructure spending, was up 20.72 percent yearon-year in the first 11 months of 2012, from 20.7 percent in January-October.

The consumer price index, the main meas-

have both said in recent months that they expect China to achieve its targeted growth rate of 7.5 percent this year despite the impact of the global slowdown.

China cut interest rates twice this year and has reduced the amount of funds banks must keep in reserve three times since last December, to encourage lending.

But it has avoided the kind of huge stimulus package it announced after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, which sent inflation soaring. —AFP

Azerbaijan’s biggest bank plans $150m Islamic loan MANAMA: International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the country’s biggest lender, plans to raise $150 million through an Islamic syndicated loan early next year and double its Islamic banking assets by the end of 2013, according to a senior executive.

Behnam Gurbanzada, IBA’s director of Islamic banking, said the bank planned to sign a mandate in January and close the deal in April. The one-year private syndication would be the first of its kind in Azerbaijan and would help IBA cater to the estimated 93 percent of its 9 million population who are Muslim.

The bank is in talks with a number of Gulf-based lenders to manage the syndication. Gurbanzada did not disclose their names. IBA, 50.2 percent-owned by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Finance, holds a 40 percent share of banking assets in Azerbaijan. It offers shariacompliant products through an Islamic window, which follow religious principles such as a ban on interest and on pure monetary speculation.

IBA plans to increase its Islamic banking assets to $120 million by the end of 2013 from $60 million currently, Gurbanzada said.

“We are planning to increase Islamic banking activity with the help of our subsidiaries and reach $500 million in assets in 2015.” This would help the bank launch products domestically and prepare it for future expansion across neighboring and other countries, where it sees opportunities for Islamic finance.

“IBA would like to create a strong platform for Islamic banking in Azerbaijan and use it for imple-

mentation with its subsidiaries in Russia, Georgia and in Qatar,” Gurbanzada said.

Plans to have an Islamic banking subsidiary in Qatar by the end of this year await regulatory approval.

Products Growth would be driven by new products including small business lending, vehicle and real estate financing and financing of export-related activities.

Managing private clients’ assets through wakala, or agency agreements, could grow to $30 million in 2013, Gurbanzada said.

“We are also working on the retail market and inviting private clients to participate in wakala deposit pools. At present we have received a bid for $3.5 million.”

IBA is also working to attract a $15 million wakala deposit from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, a Jeddah-based multilateral financial institution, in order to finance small- and medium-sized businesses. Also planned are Islamic debit cards based on an interest-free loan concept and Islamic financing cards with credit limits based on fixed monthly commissions.

At present the bank is not considering a dedicated subsidiary for its Islamic banking activities but it could explore a spin-off when changes to banking legislation are passed, Gurbanzada said. “I suppose sooner or later we should come to this significant point”. —Reuters

Libya’s interim govt may seek new oil bids TRIPOLI: Libya could proceed with a new round of oil exploration and production agreements in the current transitional period but the priority for now is to maintain pre-war output levels and future targets, the OPEC member’s new oil minister told Reuters. The North African country has lifted oil output faster than analysts had expected to around 1.5-1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) after last year’s war, which ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

“Our priority is to maintain the production at 1.5 million barrels per day,” Abdelbari al-Arusi said in his first major interview with international media since he was sworn in. “We now have our target to increase production (by) 100,000 barrels per day for the coming few months, and then we’re planning to drill more wells to increase our production rate.” Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) aims to boost oil output to 1.72 million bpd by endMarch but has warned of the risk that strikes could interrupt production. The new minister reiterated Libya’s target of increasing output to 2 million bpd by 2015. —Reuters

24

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

business

On the edge of the ‘cliff’ City fears impact of Washington’s intransigence CHARLESTON, S.C: For 37 years straight, Joseph P Riley Jr has sat behind the mayor’s desk here, shaping this city and its budget.

On a recent afternoon, Riley, 69, reached for a draft copy of next year’s spending plan and wondered aloud about what might get cut should politicians in Washington fail to find an agreement this month, unleashing $600 billion worth of spending reductions and tax hikes next year.

Hiring new police officers for the city of 123,000 could be put on hold, Riley said. A new piece of equipment for the fire department would have to wait. Sanitation workers might be in trouble, too. “The thought that they would allow the economic harm that would ensue if we went over the fiscal cliff is mind-boggling,” said Riley, a Democrat who was elected to his 10th term last year.

Charleston, a beautiful city steeped in history and awash in tourist dollars, would seem at first glance a world apart from the harm that could be caused by the combination of spending cuts and higher taxes. Economists predict its arrival could send the United States hurtling back into a recession.

At its edges, however, Charleston harbors the people who are most vulnerable to Washington’s intransigence, making the city an emblem of a country’s worry and of the powerlessness people feel in the face of Washington’s indecision.

The sting of automatic cuts would be felt acutely by those who work in the defense sector and the poor.

They form two prominent groups in Charleston County who may share little but the knowledge that federal belt-tightening is less a nuisance than an existential threat.

In South Carolina, defense spending accounts for $15.7 billion in annual economic activity - more than one in $10 spent in the state and nearly 140,000 jobs.

The Charleston area alone, which includes a large Air Force base and a Navy facility, holds more than 66,000 defense jobs and nearly half of the state’s military economic activity, according to a report released last month by the South Carolina Department of Commerce.

While Charleston, like the rest of the state, has seen a boom in military spending over the last decade, the area has the state’s second-highest concentration of people living in

poverty, according to 2010 US census data. More than one in four children live in poverty in the surrounding county. From the anticipated cuts to the military to the shrinking of the safety net, Charleston shows what’s at stake should the United States fall off the fiscal cliff.

‘DEVASTATION’ A fast-talking engineer originally from Detroit, Michigan, Rebecca Ufkes founded UEC Electronics with her husband in neighboring Hanahan 17 years ago.

Walking past employees in blue lab coats assembling components for military vehicles and commercial products last week, Ufkes described the chilling effect the possibility of cuts have had on Charleston’s defense industry.

In September, Ufkes traveled to Washington as a part of a lobbying effort organized by the Aerospace Industry Association, hoping to impress politicians with the dangers facing her 200-person company and its competitors should the anticipated $500 billion in defense cuts, over 10 years, come to pass. She came away encouraged by her state’s largely Republican representation in

US Vice President Joe Biden points toward Fernando Garavito of North Potomac, Maryland (left) as he has lunch with Garavito and Anne Marie Munos of Falls Church, Virginia. —AP Washington but frustrated by other lawmakers.

“South Carolina is a very pro-business state,” she said. “They are very keen on economics. It’s just that we are only one of 50 states.” Ufkes, 48, said she worries not only about the uncertainty that has left defense contractors unsure where to invest but the impending tax increases, which she said will put her company, active in the commercial marketplace as well, at a disadvantage against foreign rivals.

“Probably the solution is not going to be perfect for UEC,” she said, “but I don’t want it to be devastating.

Compromise and devastation are not the same thing.” With a mug declaring, “Failure is not an option,” sitting on her desk, Ufkes predicted that her company would make it, no matter how devastating the cuts are. “If we don’t survive,” she said. “I don’t know who will.”

NO ‘GIFTS’ Five miles (eight km) from Ufkes’ cutting-edge electronics manufacturer is the struggling North Charleston neighborhood of Chicora-Cherokee, where Bill Stanfield and his wife, Evelyn Oliveira, arrived fresh out of Princeton Theological Seminary 10 years ago. They founded Metanoia, a development organization focusing on bettering the community by

securing housing loans, planting a garden, and running after-school and summer programs.

Through government services like AmeriCorps, the national volunteer group, and funds from sources like the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Stanfield said his group received nearly a fifth of its funding from the federal government last year.

With politicians facing immense pressure over limiting cuts to entitlements like the Medicare health insurance program for seniors and the Social Security retirement program, advocates for the poor say they expect painful reductions in spending on education and housing. “I don’t know if our housing program would survive,” Stanfield, 39, said.

Cuts to education will hit South Carolina hard, where the schools have bled money over the last five years. According to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, South Carolina’s cuts to education have been the fifth largest in the country, slicing 18 percent off of per-student spending during that period. The Obama administration, which Republicans consider a profligate spender, has felt like lean times in neighborhoods like ChicoraCherokee, Stanfield said.

“You know Mitt Romney said that people voted for Obama because of

gifts?” Stanfield said. “There’s this misconception that President Obama has been a gravy train of funding. There was more funding under President Bush of these organizations than under Obama.”

‘GAME OF CHICKEN’ Last month, Riley, the Charleston mayor, went to Washington with a group of fellow city leaders, Democrats and Republicans, to lobby the White House and Congress to save cities from drastic cuts.

Vice President Joseph Biden and Democratic leaders from the House of Representatives and Senate met with the mayors. House Speaker John Boehner and other Republican leaders in Congress declined their invitation, Riley said.

While Riley supports Obama’s proposal to increase taxes on income earned over $250,000, a sticking point in the negotiations, he and other mayors cautioned that ending the tax-free status of municipal bonds would strangle cities’ access to needed capital. Riley returned to Charleston feeling like a deal, which could prevent the harshest blows from hitting his city, its residents and jobs, was in the offing. Now, he said, he is not so sure. “It looks like it’s a game of chicken,” he said, “and there are signals that they are going to go through with it.” —Reuters

Spaniards head to Americas as crisis turns tide MADRID: For years it was a source of labor: Latin America, from where Spain’s poor colonial cousins flocked to work on its booming building sites. A decade on, the trend has gone into reverse.

Immigrants were among the first to lose their jobs when the boom was busted, and many headed home. Now qualified Spaniards are joining them. With Spain’s jobless rate above 25 percent, and 52 percent among the under-24s, they are looking not only north within Europe, but south to countries such as booming Brazil or Venezuela to find work and start companies.

Mercedes Martin, 29, is preparing to leave at the end of the year for Brazil, where she hopes to expand her web design and marketing business instead of scratching around for clients back in Spain. “I find it difficult here because companies are not investing. They are too afraid and are cutting costs. In Brazil I think there are more opportunities,” says Mercedes, who scouted around there last year.

“There is much more demand for qualified people there than here,” especially with the football World Cup coming up in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016, she adds.

When Spain’s building boom surged in the 2000s, so did its population: national statistics show that it rose by five million between 2002 and 2009 when the world financial crisis started to tell.

As a recession caused by the crisis gripped Spain, the tide of arrivals turned, and this year it has speeded up as jobs have got scarcer and many have fallen into

poverty. ‘ Those who insulted immigrants are now migrating’Spain had 50,000 more emigrants than immigrants in 2011, surging to nearly 138,000 this year up to September, according to the National Statistics Institute.

Over 2011 and 2012 so far, 117,000 Spaniards have left the country.

In Las Palmas on the Canary Islands, Catherine Hernandez, 37, is preparing to leave her family for Venezuela-an emerging economy whose left-wing leader Hugo Chavez is often treated with suspicion by Spanish newspapers.

A dual Spanish and Venezuelan national, Hernandez was born there to Canarian parents but returned to Spain 12 years ago and used her qualification in communications to work in local radio.

Now the Canaries have one of the highest unemployment rates among Spain’s regions-more than 33 percent-while Venezuela, she believes, is booming.

“Here I have no work and Venezuela is flourishing. There are lots of opportunities to do lots of things,” she said, citing a trip she made there a few years ago during which she found employment.

During Spain’s boom last decade, “the Latin Americans were very badly regarded,” she adds. “People had the idea that immigrants were coming to steal jobs from the Spanish. Now those people who were denigrating them are finding themselves that they need to migrate. It is totally ironic, but I think it is positive.”

The flight of the engineers, doctors, IT buffs-In Europe meanwhile, many Spaniards are eyeing

the well-trodden path to Germany. The Madrid branch of the Goethe Institut, a German cultural organization, says enrollments for its language classes have surged 50 percent in two years.

“Since February 2011 we have noted a new and substantial group of students,” says the institute’s academic director in Madrid, Manfred Ewel, in a statement.

“Approximately 25 percent of our students are engineers, doctors or computer specialists who are looking for a professional future in Germany.”

Others are taking a gamble in less prosperous corners of Europe. Keen to work but also to learn English to improve his job prospects, Jaime Mora, 21, a draftsman from Madrid, jumped on a plane to Liverpool, northwestern England, because “the name sounded attractive”.

“I chose it on a whim. I bought the ticket on a Tuesday and left the following Monday,” he says.

“The week after I bought the ticket, I felt cool. Then when I arrived and found myself all alone, it was harder.” Still, within a few weeks he had found a flat, a training school offering free English lessons and a job washing dishes in an old people’s home to pay the rent.

In his English class, he says, 90 percent of the students are Spanish, including a psychologist, a biologist and engineers. “The hardest thing is missing the people you love, your family and friends,” he says of his departure.

“But it’s a lesson in life. At 21, I’m living away from home searching for a living. It’s making me grow in leaps and bounds.” —AFP

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

business

OPEC meets to decide oil output targets Cartel to discuss new head LONDON: OPEC gathers in Vienna this week for a ministerial meeting to decide on the cartel’s oil production ceiling, as a predicted drop in demand risks weighing on high crude prices despite Middle East unrest. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps out 35 percent of the world’s oil, may also finally decide on a new head after a vote to appoint a successor to OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah El-Badri was postponed in June.

The 12-nation cartel, which includes the world’s biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia and Iran-currently under an oil embargo-was to hold a regular output meeting at OPEC’s headquarters in the Austrian

capital on Wednesday. “OPEC’s official production target is unlikely to change at the December meeting,” noted Jason Schenker of Prestige Economics research group.

“Nevertheless, there is likely to be a heated debate over who will be OPEC’s next secretary-general.” At its last meeting in June, OPEC opted to keep its oil output ceiling at 30 million barrels per day (mbpd) — after agreeing on the level a year ago-and vowed to eliminate over-production.

But the International Energy Agency watchdog said OPEC has failed to rein in excess supplies, estimating that it had pumped 31.16 mbpd in October despite a sharp drop in output by Iran, which has been under a

Western ban of its oil exports since July over the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear program. Despite the overproduction caused largely by Saudi Arabia, “no change to production policy is likely in view of the high prices,” said Commerzbank commodities analyst Carsten Fritsch.

Benchmark Brent crude oil futures have traded around $110 a barrel over the past six weeks, above the $100level deemed acceptable by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia. The Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) warned that member countries would however “need to be vigilant in the coming months and to act swiftly in response to a weakening market, if they wish to prevent oil prices from falling much

below their unofficial $100 per barrel target.”

Despite geopolitical tensions across the oil-rich Middle East, amid also violence in Syria and recent Israel-Gaza unrest, analysts said prices could drop in 2013 should Western economic recovery falter.

“The important thing is the outlook... and most analysts expect OPEC to cut its production” next year because of weak demand growth, CGES analyst Manouchehr Takin told AFP. Occupying its dozen members’ minds this week would also be who should replace El-Badri, who is due to retire at the end of this year after six years as secretary-general, or administrative head of the cartel. Ecuador’s

Natural Resources Minister Wilson Pastor last week pulled out of the race to fill the Libyan’s shoes, claiming that his move was aimed at enabling greater unity among OPEC’s members.

That left three candidates in the running, with many analysts viewing Iraq’s Thamir Ghadhban as the best placed, ahead of people put forward

by Saudi Arabia and Iran-OPEC’s biggest two oil producers.

With Saudi and Iran traditionally holding opposing political positions, experts said the pair could cancel each other out.

Any candidate for the job of secretary-general needs unanimous support from the cartel’s members. — AFP

Instead of black gold, Libya eyes olive oil Stiff competition with N Africa neighbors

GENEVA: Chairman of India’s Tata Motors Ratan Tata watches during the unveiling of the Tata Megapixel during a press day ahead of the 82nd Geneva Motor Show in Geneva. Indian tycoon Ratan Tata yesterday said he was “rattled” by his country’s current image emerging from scams and retrospective taxation, a day after he denied calling Indian business environment “venal.” — AFP

Al-Tijari winners of daily draw with Najma Account KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al Najma account daily draw on 9th December 2012. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Saquer Al-Manaie.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new

lishment. With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw.

In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50.

The winners of the Najma Daily Draw are : ● Ghadriya

Ismaeel Al-Ghanem — KD 7000, ● Hanadi Ghazi Atshaan Al-Enzi — KD 7000, ● Hani Abdul Hadi Mohammed Jamal — KD 7000, ● Ruba Sulaiman Dawood Hasan— KD 7000, ● Safa’a Abbas Fahad Taqi —KD 7000.

Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s estab-

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

Japan tunnel disaster sounds global investment warning TOKYO: A deadly tunnel collapse in Japan should serve as a wake-up call to developed nations whose ageing infrastructure is in dire need of updating, experts say.

Trillions of dollars need to be spent across the globe just to stand still they warn, adding current fiscal belt tightening is pushing vital repairs dangerously far down the list.

“Maintenance work is often neglected because you cannot easily see the urgent need for it,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute. Nine people were killed when concrete ceiling panels crashed onto three vehicles, setting at least one ablaze inside the Sasago tunnel, 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Tokyo on December 2.

The exact cause of the cave-in is not yet known, but an initial probe has pointed to decay in the fixtures that held the more than one-ton panels to the roof of the 35-year-old tunnel.

The government ordered immediate inspections of all structures with the same design and Japanese police began a criminal investigation, with an eye to bringing negligence charges. The incident sent jitters through Japan, one of the most engineered countries in the world, which saw a huge infrastructure boom in the decades after World War II. At least eight percent of the 155,000 major bridges in Japan are already older than 50 years, the infrastructure ministry said. By 2030, more than half of them will be.

The ministry estimates it needs to spend 190 trillion yen ($2.3 trillion) over the next five decades just to maintain the infrastructure it already has. But with debts more than double its GDP, which Japan’s shrinking workforce cannot easily repay, finding new cash is a tough ask.

The tunnel collapse was not the first time a lack of investment has caused problems. In the US city of Minneapolis, an eight-lane, 33-metre (108-foot)-high

bridge collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. Dilapidated power lines were among the major causes of Australia’s 2009 Black Saturday wildfires that killed 173 people. In 2006, a huge summertime blackout in New York was blamed on a badly maintained grid.

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $2.2 trillion is needed over the next decade simply to prevent resources such as bridges, roads, waterways and power cables from deteriorating.

But under current plans, the US government will spend less than half that amount and, with Washington lawmakers seeking to avoid the looming “fiscal cliff,” the federal investment budget could be cut further. Engineers Australia, an infrastructure lobby group, estimates that years of neglect have left the vast and sparsely populated country with a Aus$700 billion ($732 billion) investment shortfall. Rod Eddington, chairman of Infrastructure Australia, has warned that even though upgrades are expensive, the status quo is not an option.

“The results of not doing enough are traffic congestion, poor access to our export gateways, missed economic opportunities and lower quality of life,” Eddington said in a report in June. London’s transport plans for this year’s Olympic Games were thrown into disarray when one of the main arteries linking Heathrow Airport and the capital had to be closed in December 2011 for emergency repairs.

Cables holding together the concrete Hammersmith Flyover, built in the 1960s, had been weakened by a steady seepage of salt water, a problem that needed five months of traffic-disrupting work to fix.

Civil structural engineer Aleksandar Pavic said with only periodic inspections, Britain gets taken by surprise when its infrastructure-some of which dates to the 19th century-suddenly fails. — AFP

TRIPOLI: Libya is turning to olive oil-the green gold of the Mediterranean-to compete with its North Africa neighbors, conquer European markets and diversify its hydrocarbon-dependent economy.

“Libya has decided to promote the quality of its olive production to make its olive oil more competitive and increase exports to Europe,” an official of the export promotion centre in Tripoli told AFP. “The centre’s new strategy involves all stakeholders in the production chain of the olive tree, particularly the private sector to boost its productivity and conquer foreign markets,” said Taher Al-Zweibek. Libya ranks as the world’s 12th largest olive oil producer, accounting for 0.25 percent of global production, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The North African nation lags well behind the world’s top producer Spain (43 percent) and its regional neighbors Morocco (4th, 10.6 percent), Tunisia (6th, 4.4 percent) and Algeria (8th, 1.7 percent).

It has 8 million olive trees and produces 160,000 tons of olives for 32,000 tons of oil, according to figures provided by the country’s agriculture ministry. Libya, a desert country with an area of 1.76 million square kilometres (680,000 sq miles), has 3.6 million hectares (8.9 million acres) of arable land, just two percent of the total area of the country. But the olive tree, a traditional crop of the Mediterranean region which easily tolerates spells of drought, is a perfect fit for the arid Libyan climate.

The North African nation is currently experimenting with a new kind of olive imported from Spain, the Arbequina, which is famous for its highly aromatic fruit, said agriculture ministry official Saad Al-Kunni. Introduced in Europe during the 17th century, this variety is mostly grown in Spanish Catalonia.

“After an experiment that yielded encouraging results, some 1,900 hectares were planted with this variety in two agricultural projects,” added Kunni. Libya, which relies exclusively on the export of hydrocarbons for its revenues, has failed to diversify its economy despite sectors with enormous potential for development such as tourism and fisheries.

Both the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi, who was toppled and killed last year, and the new authorities have repeatedly expressed the desire to diversify Libya’s revenues without implementing specific strate-

TAJURA: Libyan workers empty crates of olives at an olive oil factory in Tajura, 15kms from the capital Tripoli. Libya is turning to olive oil — the green gold of the Mediterranean — to compete with its North Africa neighbors, conquer European markets and diversify its hydrocarbon-dependent economy. — AFP gies. Speaking on the sidelines of a Tripoli exhibition of Libyan dates and olives, Zweibek noted that the new strategy also focuses on improving the packaging of finished products to make them more attractive.

“A national label will be created and used to identify Libyan products in order to facilitate marketing while establishing a relationship of trust with the consumer,” he said.

The new authorities, Zweibek added, are trying to break away from the policies of the Gaddafi regime, during which bureaucracy prevented the promotion of any exports other than hydrocarbons.

Until now, the exportation of olive oil was the initiative of a few individual farmers and owners of olive presses. Zweibek stressed that the state “will become more involved in assisting the whole production chain, from making the choice of which variety to plant to the transformation of the packaging process.” “The centre will also conduct studies on the European market and ensure the collection of data for the benefit of Libyan exporters to help them conquer these markets,” he said. — AFP

A laborer works at an olive oil factory in Tajura. —AFP

Bangladesh invites foreign firms to explore offshore gas DHAKA: Bangladesh yesterday invited bids from international companies to explore offshore oil and gas reserves, an official said, as the fast-growing economy seeks to meet its soaring energy demands.

State energy group Petrobangla director Muhammad Imaduddin told AFP that nine shallow-water and three deep-water blocks in the

Bay of Bengal were open for production-sharing contracts with companies.

“We are going to post details of the international tenders on our website by tomorrow (Monday),” Imaduddin said adding that the blocks would be awarded to eligible firms by the end of next June, with submission deadline in mid-

March. The Offshore Bidding Round 2012 will be the sixth in the history of impoverished Bangladesh, which has extensive gas reserves, but is facing a shortfall due to soaring consumption.

Authorities offered the blocks after a UN tribunal in March this year ended a long-standing territorial dispute between Bangladesh

RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan beggar stands in front of a mural on the streets of Rawalpindi yesterday.

Pakistan’s growth remains too weak, underlying inflation is high and the trade balance is heading in the wrong direction, the IMF said in a statement. — AFP

and Myanmar in the gas-rich Bay of Bengal. In 2009, Dhaka’s bidding for offshore energy search got a tepid response as only US giant ConocoPhillips signed deals for two blocks of the 28 blocks on offer which included some to which Myanmar and India had territorial claims. “This time we are optimistic about attracting more companies in the bidding. All 12 blocks are in the undisputed Bangladeshi waters,” Imaduddin said.

Bangladesh hopes to resolve maritime border dispute with India in 2014. Bangladesh is urgently trying to locate new sources of energy as the government has said the nation’s current gas reserves, at 16.3 trillion cubic feet, may run out within a decade at present consumption rates.

The country’s economy has been growing at more than six percent annually over the last decade with industrial growth hovering around 10 percent in several years.

Existing gas supplies-essential for cooking, generating electricity and running buses and cars-are massively overburdened, with supply around 2,230 million cubic feet of gas per day against demand of more than 2,500 million cubic feet. —AFP

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

business

Nissan GT-R: Performance excellence redefined DUBAI: Nissan GT-R, the legendary supercar, has been further enhanced for the 2013 model year, offering more performance, stability, refinement, and greater customization. While continuing to be available in VVIP grade, further levels of customization have been introduced with more to follow including a unique example for Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man and champion Olympic sprinter, brand ambassador for the 315km/h GT-R and honorary “Director of Excitement”.

“Nissan’s brand philosophy of innovation and excitement for everyone is expressed nowhere more clearly than in the legendary GT-R,” said Samir Cherfan, Sales & Marketing Director, Nissan Middle East. “Its ferocious power, incredible handling and unmistakable styling are unmatched by all but the most expensive hyper cars while offering a degree of everyday usability which they cannot come close to competing with. GT-R is unique in the performance car world and the enhancements for this model year underline our commitment to tirelessly enhance this truly iconic nameplate.”

The 2013 model year Nissan GT-R 2013 received evolutionary design and engineering enhancements based on feedback acquired from competing in the 24-Hours of N¸rburgring race earlier this year. Subsequent time spent

testing the road car on the world’s most demanding circuit also fully tested GT-R’s durability and reliability.

“When we go to N¸rburgring, we test drive the car over 3000km - about the same as driving 400,000km on public roads twice a year,” said Nissan GT-R Chief Vehicle Engineer, and the ‘Godfather’ of GT-R, Kazutoshi Mizuno.

“We work on specific issues such as heat or the forces acting on the car, aiming to make a car road-capable in all global conditions.”

The 2013 model year is the fifth iteration from Mizuno, and features improved engine response in the midand upper-rpm rev range, increased

body rigidity, and specification changes to the shock absorbers, springs and front stabilizer. As a result, the vehicle’s overall performance is dramatically increased, high-speed stability improved and ride quality is more refined. Additionally, a Premium Edition version will be offered that features rich Semiarinin leather and custom-colored interior as fashionable interior package, further enhancing the sense of quality within the cabin.

It’s this combination of staggering performance and style which led Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man and champion Olympic sprinter, to buy a Nissan GT-R. The relationship between

the multi-gold medal winning athlete and Nissan has led to the recent announcement of Bolt becoming brand ambassador for the 315km/h GT-R and honorary “Director of Excitement” for the Nissan brand.

The teaming of world’s fastest man and superfast supercar is set to continue with a unique gold-painted GT-R, signed by the man himself, soon be auctioned to benefit the Usain Bolt Foundation (http://usainbolt.com/foundation/).

However, this isn’t the only GT-R he will inspire: a special “Bolt GT-R” for his personal use is in the pipeline while Bolt will also start work with Nissan

product specialists on a limited-edition version which can be ordered in markets where GT-R is available (details will be announced at a later stage).

Bolt and Nissan GT-R are central to the company’s ambitious “WHAT IF_” global brand campaign. Featuring Nissan’s iconic products and breakthrough technologies in billboards at airports around the world, it forms part of the company’s Power 88 midterm business plan - aimed at capturing 8 per cent market share and 8 per cent operating margins. 2013 Nissan GT-R goes on sale across the Middle East from February 2013 onwards.

Ford, Microsoft celebrate 5 years of in-car connectivity leadership 5 millionth SYNC-equipped vehicle sold

Cadillac customers to get valuable gift this month Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive offer KUWAIT: Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the sole distributor of Cadillac vehicles in Kuwait, launched a new exclusive offer available with every new Cadillac purchase for the month of December.

Every customer who buys a new Cadillac will receive a valuable trendy gift: a brand new Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone with Windows 8, a remarkable achievement in today’s innovative world of telecommunication. The offer is available on all Cadillac vehicles.

The all new Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone has been chosen as a gift for Cadillac customers to complement their dynamic lifestyle and continuous strive for innovation and advanced technology.

Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons further enhances the Cadillac driving experience by offering a sea of unique services that are included in its program such as vehicle service and maintenance every four

years or 100,000 km, 4-year roadside assistance in the Middle East with unlimited distance, periodic delivery maintenance service, warranty for four years or 100,000 km and providing customers with an alternate car during warranted repairs. Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons service center is distinguished by its continuous and successful efforts in providing the highest quality of services that have set an example to international standards.

The largest in the world, the service center is equipped with a large variety of the most advanced equipment operated by a team of skilled professionals and effective consultants who ensure timely service. Yusuf Ahmed Alghanim & Sons Automotive continues to offer exclusive promotions that encourage people to purchase their very own Cadillac so as to experience the limitless benefits and luxury that come along with the world famous luxury car.

Bahrain Air introduces new business class seats KUWAIT: Bahrain Air, the private national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain has introduced new business class seats on one of its Airbus ˆA-320 aircraft along with its new In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) Tabs for Business Premium Class passengers.

Bahrain Air’s Marketing Manager Naeem Mahamoor stated, “We are in the process of enhancing the business class cabin with new seats and state of the art In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) which has been customized to our clientele likes and to be a step ahead of our competition. With the new seats, IFE program and competitive pricing structure we will have one of the best business class facilities in the region for the region’s business traveler at affordable fares”.

The new business class seat pitch is 45 inches, offering passengers more leg room and comfort. Eight seats will be installed in the Premium Business class Cabins on all aircraft. During the first phase, two Bahrain Air Airbus A319 & A-320 aircraft will be refitted with the new concept. The enhance-

DUBAI: Five years ago, Ford Motor Company and Microsoft came together to launch the benchmark for in-vehicle connectivity systems with the introduction of SYNC. Recently, at the GigaOM Roadmap Conference, Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas and Microsoft Windows Embedded General Manager Kevin Dallas announced the 5-millionth vehicle equipped with SYNC has been sold and they shared their joint vision for continued leadership in the development of the connected car.

“SYNC has helped us evolve as an automaker, to think and act more like a technology company, with a new level of openness and access that has forever changed how we look at our business and respond to our customers,” said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president, Ford Research and Innovation. “Ultimately, SYNC embodies what Ford is all about: going further to transform innovative ideas into products that are affordable, attainable and valuable to millions of people.”

“SYNC instantly became popular in the Middle East region when we launched it at the GITEX Technology Week in 2007, and the popularity of this platform jumped to a different level with the evolution of MyFord Touch,” said Larry Prein, Ford Middle East’s managing director. “SYNC has proven to be a tremendous feature that not only brought value and convenience to Ford drivers as they continued to be connected with their car and phone while listening to their favourite music, but it also contributed to the crucial safety aspect as it helped them keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.”

When Ford and Microsoft first initiated the collaboration in 2005, the engineering teams recognised that mobile electronics were quickly becoming an increasingly important part of people’s lives as cell phones and digital media players. Considering how quickly mobile device usage had grown in just the previous few years, the development team decided a new approach was needed going forward.

“Thanks to our partner Microsoft and their expertise, we have turned the car into a platform with extensive opportunities for developers to work with us to continue to add value through new features delivered at the speed consumers now expect,” continued Mascarenas. “With more than 1 billion smartphones now in service around the world, we expect mobile connectivity will continue to be the foundational element of our strategy going forward.”

“We’ve worked with Ford on SYNC right from the start,” said Kevin Dallas, general manager of Windows Embedded, Microsoft Corp.

“Taking a platform approach enabled us to move quickly and deliver an innovative solution unlike any in the industry while providing us the flexibility to continue to deliver new features and improvements to Ford customers.” While cars and trucks typically stay on the road for more than 10 years on average, people often replace their consumer electronics every couple of years to keep pace with the latest advances in technology.

The SYNC development team created an architecture based on the Windows Embedded Automotive platform that took advantage of open protocols like USB and Bluetooth(r) to enable virtually any device to be connected for media playback and communications. That decision turned out to be more prescient than anyone on the team could have imagined.

When SYNC was first announced on Jan. 7, 2007 at the International CES, the presentation featured the iPod, Motorola RAZR flipphone and Palm TREO smartphone. Just two days later, Apple began a mobile phone revolution and the beginning of the app economy with the announcement of the original iPhone. When customers began driving the first car available with SYNC, the 2008 Focus, in fall of that year, most were using SYNC to make hands-free calls using their feature phones and play back music from iPods with simple voice commands powered by Nuance voice recognition technology.

Five years on, there are smartphones powered by a diverse range of platforms including iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone mobile operating systems. With ample onboard storage, processing power that rivals desktop computers from five years ago and

fast wireless data connections, these phones still work with those original SYNC-equipped vehicles.

“Now, it’s clear that building an open, upgradable connectivity platform has been key to the success of SYNC because it has allowed us to stay relevant to the consumer,” said Mascarenas. “With available SYNC, Ford vehicles are no longer stuck with the technology built in at the factory, they can keep pace with the latest consumer trends through simple software updates.”

Ford was ranked first in ABI Research’s OEM connected automotive infotainment Competitive Assessment, with high ratings for implementation, innovation, and price.

With 5 million SYNC-equipped vehicles on the road and the system just beginning to launch in Europe and Asia, Ford and Microsoft, along with Nuance, are always working on new enhancements that can keep customers on the leading edge of in-car technology. “At Microsoft, we’re now focused on how data and connectivity can turn devices into intelligent systems that enable insightdriven action,” said Dallas. “In the vehicle, this means the ability to connect to more data from more sources and use it to help the driver. Together with Ford, we’re helping them turn the connected vehicle into an intelligent vehicle.” Cloud connectivity, on-board sensors and data access are key components for creating this kind of intelligent vehicle experience.

Other advances, such as natural language processing and machine learning, could help SYNC provide a more natural interaction between car and driver, enabling a driving experience that’s more personalized and convenient.

Jalil Tarif named secretary general of Arab Union for Securities Commissions

ments to the Business Premium Class cabin will also include replacement of curtains, new wall partitions and new flooring which will create an ambiance of class for its valued customers.

Business Premium Class passengers are entitled to many benefits such as special check-in counters at their respective destinations, business class lounge facilities, priority boarding and a variety of meals and beverages on board.

KUWAIT: The Arab Union for Securities Commissions has announced the appointment of Jalil Tarif Union’s next Secretary General. The move came in the Union’s current session during which Tarif is reported to have won the confidence of the managerial committee. Choosing Tarif for this position in the Arab Union for Securities Commissions, which is chaired by Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA), came as a result of Tarif ’s experience and efficiency in many financial institutions, according to the QFMA CEO. Commenting on this occasion, QFMA CEO HE Naeser Ahmad Al Shaibi, who is chair of the Union’s

current session, said:”The selection of Tarif for this position will contribute to the development of the work of the Union to achieve its objectives”. “ The end of the selection process came after a thorough and comprehensive study of many candidates’ applications.

The Union’s managerial committee interviewed qualified applicants and selected the nominee who has always demonstrated efficiency and professionalism, and meets the requirements of the Union and the job description set for the position of the Secretary General”. Al-Shaibi concluded by wishing the new incumbent success in his posi-

Jalil Tarif tion. For his part, the new Secretar y General said:”I am delighted to be in this position to join the stakeholders of the Arab financial sector and to work together to overcome the difficul-

ties which are encountered in Arab investments and to also overcome the effects of any perceptual concerns”.

“During my term, we will endeavor to expand the Union’s base, diversify its tools, and accomplish many other issues that contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Union”, he said. Tarif concluded by saying he would like to express gratitude and thanks to the members for their confidence and the trust they gave him.”I realize that the position represents great responsibility, and a commitment to exert maximum efforts to achieve better results. I am looking forward to this challenge”.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Why is Wall Street losing its appetite for Apple?

SAN FRANCISCO: This holiday season is shaping up to be a record-breaking period for Apple as shoppers snap up iPhones and iPads. So, why is the world’s most valuable company losing its luster with investors?

Apple began selling the iPhone 5 on Sept 21, the same day the company’s stock hit an all-time peak of $705.07 per share. Since then, the stock has plunged nearly 25 percent, trimming the company’s market value by more than $150 billion. On Friday, the stock fell almost 3 percent and closed at $533.25.

The sell-off has had broad impact. It has reached beyond Apple’s own stockholders because the company is the largest component in the Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq composite index - two benchmarks that are tracked by widely held mutual funds and exchange traded funds, or ETFs. Apple comprises 4 percent of the S&P 500 and nearly 12 percent of the Nasdaq, according to FactSet. The Nasdaq has shed 6 percent since Apple’s stock price peaked while the S&P 500 has declined 3 percent, the same as the Dow Jones industrial average, which doesn’t include Apple in its basket of 30 stocks.

Apple’s abrupt descent is fueling a debate among market-watchers. Is the stock now a bargain, as some would argue? Or, is the recent markdown in Apple’s value justified because the company has entered a phase of less innovation and slower revenue growth?

Disagreements over the issue are contributing to unusual volatility in the stock. On Wednesday, Apple’s stock fell 6.4 percent, the biggest one-day drop in more than four years. Just two and-half weeks ago, the stock surged 7.2 percent for its biggest one-day gain in three years.

There’s no consensus regarding the cause, but one thing is clear: There have been more investors eager to sell Apple’s stock than buy it in recent months, despite all the evidence indicating Apple’s products have never been more popular.

Here are three theories that seek to explain the recent downturn in Apple’s stock: Theory: The Competition Conundrum Hypothesis: Apple’s grip on the growing mobile computing market is loosening amid a wave of cheaper alternatives to the iPhone and iPad. The iPhone’s early lead in the smartphone market already has been surrendered to the more than 500 million devices running on the free Android software made by Google Inc. By comparison, as of the end of September, Apple had shipped 271 million iPhones since its 2007 debut.

UK Kickstarter’s creative community takes hold LONDON: Tea enthusiast Emilie Holmes this week hit the streets of London in her antique van serving flavourful loose-leaf tea to drinkers she says have had to settle for low-quality brew-courtesy of around 300 complete strangers.

The 27-year-old Londoner has turned her battered grey 1974 Citroen H van, whose engine growls like a small aircraft mid-take-off, into a mobile tea bar that features black, green, oolong and white teas.

Holmes, who left her job in advertising to launch the business, needed about £10,000 ($16,000, 12,000 euros) to refurbish the delivery truck with flooring, shelving, worktops, sinks and other basic supplies. But instead of taking a loan from the bank or pitching to an investor, she posted her tea project on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter.

Just 25 days later, Holmes had raised £14,682 from 372 backers, most of whom she didn’t know-and she does not have to pay any of it back.

“To have that support is so unexpected,” she told AFP. “Even the pledges of £1 are amazing because it’s kind of like a ‘thumbs-up, go for it’.” Her project is one of the first success stories from Kickstarter’s new British venture, which opened on October 31. Run by 46 people out of a tenement building in New York City, the website provides a space for creators to bid for funding from people around the world. Since its launch in 2009, more than 3.1 million people have pledged more than $426 million to about 33,000 creative projects ranging from films to new technologies and food projects.

Despite being considered the largest crowdfunding site worldwide, initially only creators with a US bank account could take part. But British innovators can now try their luck and in the first week they launched 171 projects, raising more than £588,000 from more than 15,000 pledges. “It oozes creativity. It’s about exciting, passionate people doing things, rather than other sites where it sort of feels like it’s about the money,” Holmes said as she sipped from a cup of Starbucks tea that was not to her liking. Holmes has been talking about a tea-related project with family and friends for the past four years, but it wasn’t until the mobile tea van went up on the website that she was able to gauge public interest. “It was an amazing market research exercise because people have the opportunity to choose who they want to exist, and if they want your idea to come to life, then they help it happen,” she said. —AFP

Nokia phones running on the recently released Windows 8 system from Microsoft Corp. pose a new threat, especially in China, where Nokia has struck a deal with that country’s largest wireless carrier. Meanwhile, struggling Research In Motion Ltd. is pinning its comeback hopes on a revamped operating system for the once-iconic BlackBerry to rekindle demand for that device.

Now, there are signs the competition is putting pressure on Apple in the booming tablet computer industry that it launched in 2010 with the release of the iPad. In a report that likely contributed to Wednesday’s steep drop in Apple’s stock, research

company responded by introducing the iPad Mini, which features a nearly eight-inch screen. The iPad Mini sells for $329, which helps Apple protect its profit margins and preserve its reputation for selling top-of-the-line products that merit prices a notch above the competition. Nevertheless, the iPad mini is undoubtedly diverting some sales from full-sized iPads, which sell at prices ranging from $399 to $829. That is one of the reasons BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis expects the iPad’s average selling price to fall by about $50 in the current quarter, which ends this month. That would be a 9 percent decline from the iPad’s average price of $535 during the July through

NEW YORK: The Apple logo is shown on a stock ticker at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York.

Apple is entering the home stretch of what will likely be its best holiday season yet as shoppers snap up iPhones and iPads in record numbers in December 2012. — AP firm IDC predicted the iPad’s share of the worldwide tablet market this year will decline to 54 percent from 56 percent in 2011. IDC said the iPad will dip below 50 percent by 2016.

Meanwhile, the market share of tablets powered by Android, including Google’s Nexus line and Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire, has climbed from 40 percent last year to 43 percent his year, according to IDC. Windows 8, which is designed to run on tablets, also is expected to chip at Apple’s lead and latch on to 10 percent of the market by 2016, IDC said.

The popularity of smaller tablets with seveninch diagonal screens and retail prices below $200 has already forced Apple to make changes. The

September period.

Even if it’s no longer the market leader, the iPhone remains hotter than ever. Based on figures released by wireless carrier AT&T earlier this week, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek predicts Apple will sell 53 million iPhones this quarter, primarily the newest model. That would be a more than 40 percent increase from Apple’s previous one-quarter record of 37 million iPhones set in the period covering last year’s holiday shopping season.

Theory: The Creativity Contraction Hypothesis: Apple is running out of fresh ideas.

Since Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died 14 months ago after a long battle with cancer, the

company has mostly been fine-tuning products that were created under his visionary leadership.

The former CEO’s hand-picked successor, Tim Cook, is well-respected, but some investors are starting to wonder if Apple can conjure up another revolutionary product to catapult the company on another multiyear stretch of breakneck sales growth. Can Apple innovate like a hard-charging startup while maintaining its giant company stature?

Smartphones and tablets “are starting to become more like commodities,” Gillis said. “And how much upside is left if you are stuck in a commodities business? The question is: What is going to get Apple going again?”Most analysts believe Apple’s next breakthrough will be a television that shares the same operating system as the iPhone and iPad. An Apple TV would give the company a prized perch on the biggest screen in most households and open up an array of new business opportunities.

Jobs hinted that Apple had figured out how to produce a mesmerizing new TV during interviews he gave with his biographer, Walter Isaacson, before he died. That led many analysts to predict an “iTV” would come this year, only to be disappointed. Cook indicated Apple is still trying to develop the device during an interview that aired on NBC’s “Rock Center” Thursday night.

“When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years,” Cook said. “It’s an area of intense interest. I can’t say more than that.”

Theory: The Fiscal Cliff Factor Hypothesis: Many long-time Apple shareholders are selling stock to lock in gains at a lower tax rate. Under laws set to expire Dec. 31, profits on stocks owned for at least a year are taxed at a 15 percent rate - much less than the rate earned income is taxed at.

The recent drop notwithstanding, Apple’s stock has still enjoyed an incredible run. It has more than quadrupled from about $120 per share since the iPhone’s release in June 2007. Even investors who bought Apple’s stock a year ago are still sitting on a gain of nearly 40 percent.

Gillis, though, points out that savvy investors probably wouldn’t be selling their Apple stock just to save some money on taxes if they truly believed the stock is destined to soar higher and make them even richer a year from now.

“Sometimes, stocks just take a breather,” he said. “And when you get to be as big as Apple, any shift in sentiment can have a material impact on the share price.” — AP

Nintendo shoots for pole position with Wii U console Analysts not certain about gaming titan’s success TOKYO: Nintendo is hoping its new Wii U console will catapult it back to pole position in the video game sector, but analysts are divided on whether the Japanese gaming titan can reboot its fading glory.

Last month, Nintendo released the long-awaited follow-up to its hugely successful Wii in the lucrative US market, selling an eye-popping 400,000 units in the first week alone as fans cleared store shelves. At Amazon.com, Wii U consoles were being offered at opening prices hundreds of dollars above list prices of $300 for basic models and $350 for “deluxe sets”.

The firm is shooting for a similar reception in its fiercely competitive home market, where the Wii U was released Saturday. Nintendo and rivals Sony and M icrosoft, makers of the PlayStation and Xbox, are battling for control of a sector worth about $44 billion annually, according to industry figures.

“If we had made more consoles, we could have sold more,” Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Japan’s Nikkei business daily, referring to brisk US sales.

“It’s important for us to keep the sales boom through next year.” But as the trio face tough economic conditions in their key US and European markets, they are also fending off a challenge from cheapor sometimes free downloadable games for smartphones and tablets.

Daiwa Securities analyst Satoshi Tanaka is not convinced the Wii U will

TOKYO: Customers displaying their purchases after buying Japanese electronics titan Nintendo’s new videogame console ‘Wii U’ at a shop. Nintendo is hoping its new Wii U console will catapult it back to pole position in the videogame sector. — AFP cement Nintendo’s long-term momentum as millions turn to the likes of the wildly popular Angry Birds.

“Given the rapid progress in smartphones and gaming software for those kind of gadgets, the question remains: can Nintendo provide products tempting enough for people to pay for both hardware and software?” he said. The original Wii consoles, launched in 2006, were a runaway success as they lured legions of “casual gamers” into the video game world with the introduction of motionsensing controls.

Holiday sales this year will mark a key chapter in Kyoto-based Nintendo’s bid to climb back on top, with the gaming giant aiming to sell more than five million Wii U consoles by March. It has sold nearly 100 million of the original Wii console since its release. But a strong yen and disappointing sales of Nintendo’s 3DS game console weighed on results. The firm in April reported an annual loss of 43.2 billion yen ($524 million), its first yearly shortfall since becoming a public company in the early sixties.

The company slashed the price of the

3DS, the world’s first video game console with a 3D screen that works without special glasses, following its lacklustre debut in a bid to boost Christmas sales.

Nintendo-which invented Donkey Kong and Super Mario, one of the best-selling video games of all time-has also scaled back its sales and net profit forecasts for the current fiscal year to March 2013.

But red-hot US demand for the Wii U suggests there are still plenty of casual gamers willing to fork out hundreds of dollars on a console, and more to buy games, said Etsuko Tamura, analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities.

“The customer base for mobile game software and that for stationary game consoles is different,” she said. “Support for home video games from core game fans is still intact, and if Wii U consoles keep up strong sales through next year, it would help Nintendo’s profit recovery.”

Nintendo has vowed to start a trend in “asymmetrical play” that lets players using GamePad tablets have different ingame perspectives and roles than those using traditional wand controllers. The new console is also portable-offering a challenge to smartphone games-but still offers players the option to jump, shift and shout as they wriggle their bodies to move the action onscreen, like the original Wii. “The Wii line is the only game console that a whole family can play together,” said Yusuke Tsunoda, analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center. “ That’s the strength of the product.” — AFP

Kaspersky Lab predicts core threats for 2013 aspersky Lab’s experts outlined key security trends of 2012 and presented their views on the core threats of 2013. The most notable predictions for the next year include the continued rise of targeted attacks, c yber- espionage and nation-state cyber-attacks, the evolving role of hacktivism, the development of controversial “legal”surveillance tools and the increase in cybercriminal attacks targeting cloud-based services.

K

Key predictions Targeted attacks on businesses have only become a prevalent threat within the last two years. Kaspersky Lab expects the amount of targeted attacks, with the purpose of cyber-espionage, to continue in 2013 and beyond, becoming the most significant threat for businesses. Another trend that will likely impact companies and governments is the continued rise of

“hacktivism” and its concomitant politically-motivated cyber-attacks.

State -sponsored cyber war fare will undoubtedly continue in 2013. In fact, during 2012, Kaspersky Lab discovered three new major malicious programs that were used in cyber warfare operations: Flame, Gaussand mini Flame. While Flame was the largest and most sophisticated of the c yber- espionage programs, its longevity was its most prominent characteristic. Being at least a five-year-old project, Flame was an example of a complex malicious program that could exist undetected for an extended amount of time while collecting massive amounts of data and sensitive information from its victims.

K aspersk y Lab’s exper ts expec t more countries to develop their own cyber programs for the purposes of cyber-espionage and cyber-sabotage. These attacks will affect not only government institu-

tions, but also businesses and critical infrastructure facilities.

In 2012 an on-going debate took place on whether or not governments should develop and use specific surveillance software to monitor suspects in criminal investigations. Kaspersky Lab predicts that 2013 will build on this issue as governments create or purchase additional monitoring tools to enhance the surveillance of individuals, which will extend beyond wiretapping phones to enabling secret access to targeted mobile devices. Governmentbacked surveillance tools in the cyber environment will most likely continue to evolve, as law-enforcement agencies try to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals. At the same time, controversial issues about civil liberties and consumer privacy associated with the tools will also continue to be raised. Development of social networks, and, unfortunately, new threats that affect

both consumers and businesses have drastically changed the perception of online privacy and trust. As consumers understand that a significant portion of their personal data is handed over to online services, the question is whether or not they trust them. Such confidence has already been shaken following the wake ofmajor password leaks from some of the most popular web ser vices such as Dropbox and LinkedIn. The value of personal data - for both cybercriminals and legitimate businesses - is destined to grow significantly in the near future.

2012 has been the year of the explosive growth of mobile malware, with cybercriminals’ primary focus being the Android platform, as it was the most popular and widely used. In 2013 we are likely to see anew alarming trend - the use of vulnerabilities to extend “drive-by download” attacks on mobile devices. This means that

personal and corporate data stored on smartphones and tablets will be targeted as frequently as it is targeted on traditional computers. For the same reasons (rising popularity), new sophisticated attacks will be performed against owners of Apple devices as well.

As vulnerabilities in mobile devices become an increasing threat for users, computer application and program vulnerabilities will continue to be exploited on PCs. Kaspersky Lab named 2012 the year of Java vulnerabilities, and in 2013 Java will continue to be exploited by cybercriminals on a massive scale. However, although Java will continue to be a target for exploits, the importance of Adobe Flash and Adobe Reader as malware gateways will decrease as the latest versions include automated update systems for patching security vulnerabilities.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

health & science

Fractious Doha talks bode ill for 2020 deal DOHA: The fractious debate at UN climate talks in Doha points to a rocky road ahead to a new, global 2020 deal on saving the Earth from calamitous global warming, observers say. A consensus interim agreement that many say is low on substance, was passed after two weeks of intense haggling that deadlocked almost from day one and highlighted deep fault lines between rich and poor nations. “If we make a judgment based on what we’ve seen in these negotiations so far, there is no reason to be optimistic” about a fair, new global deal, Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo told AFP. The key dispute has remained unaltered for more than two decades sharing out responsibility for tackling what UN chief Ban Ki-moon called the climate change “crisis”. The developing world places the onus for financing and deep emissions cuts on rich countries which they say got where they are today by pumping the bulk of Earth-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during the industrial

era. But rich countries led by the United States, which has refused to ratify the emissions-curbing Kyoto Protocol, insist on imposing a duty on poorer nations polluting heavily today as they burn coal to bolster their developing economies. “It is going to take a lot of hard work, a lot of compromise,” climate observer Alden Meyer of the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists told AFP. The new deal covering all the world’s nations must be negotiated by 2015. A slew of recent reports has warned that the Earth is on the road to dangerous warming levels with ever more extreme weather events like superstorm Sandy that struck the US east coast and Caribbean in October and the deadly typhoon that swept through the Philippines. “We are headed on current plans for likely increases of 3 centigrade degrees or more - temperatures far outside those that Homo sapiens has ever experienced,” British economist Nick Stern, author of a landmark climate change report, said of the Doha deal.

The UN is targeting a limited warming of two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Battered and bruised, negotiators applauded as conference chairman Abdullah bin Hamad AlAttiyah of Qatar rushed through a package of deals he called the Doha Climate Gateway on Saturday evening.

The package gave a second life to the Kyoto Protocol, albeit in a watereddown form - placing binding emissions cut targets on the European Union and 10 other developed countries jointly responsible for about 15 percent of the world’s emissions.

While there is relief that Doha delivered some kind of a deal, many worry it has not laid down a firm enough foundation. The package includes wording on scaling up funding from now until 2020 to help poor countries deal with global warming and convert to planet-friendlier energy sources but does not list any figures. It is also short on detail on stepping up urgently needed pre-2020 emissions cuts by non-Kyoto partners, which include the world’s first and fourth biggest pol-

luters, developing nations China and India, as well as the second-placed United States. “ Very intense negotiations lie ahead of us. What we need now is more ambition and more speed,” European climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said. Philippine climate envoy Naderev Sano made an emotional appeal to delegates to take heed of the typhoon that killed more than 500 people in his country as the talks bogged down in Doha, and recognise “the stark reality that we face”. Yet greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.

“There has been, yet again, a very big mismatch between the scale and urgency of action required to effectively manage the huge risks of climate change, and the political will and ambition that has been displayed,” said Stern.

But narrow, domestic interests will likely continue to hamstring negotiations. The United States is vehemently opposed to a global deal that imposes goals from the top down, insisting it

wants a “flexible” system that allows nations themselves to determine what they can contribute. “It is going to be hard because you need both the United States and China in alignment, and the politics lining up in those two countries to feel they can go much farther for 2020 and make the kind of commitments we need,” said Meyer.

Observers have welcomed Ban’s announcement that he will host a climate summit in 2014, allowing crucial political decisions to be taken right at the top relatively early in the negotiations. But others say there is no time to wait on the UN process. Danish politician Lars Rasmussen, who chaired the 2009 Copenhagen summit widely dubbed disappointing, told AFP this week he has “lost patience” with the multilateral process. He now chairs the Global Green Growth Institute that helps developing countries convert to greener energy. “We need a legal, multilateral framework, targets, we need to make progress. But we cannot wait for that to happen,” he said. — AFP

Chicago’s skyscrapers go green, slash energy costs Officials hope move will inspire changes across US

HONG KONG: A woman brushes her dog’s teeth as over 300 dogs have their pearly whites cleaned at the same time in an attempt to set a new world record for a mass canine teeth brushing session. — AFP

Hong Kong dogs seek tooth-brushing record HONG KONG: More than 300 dogs had their teeth brushed in Hong Kong yesterday in an attempt to set a new world record for the most canines having their pearly whites cleaned at the same time.

Owners of the 312 pooches scrubbed the animals’ teeth for three minutes using a special brush and gel, as they sought to set a new Guinness World Record in the category “most people brushing dogs’ teeth simultaneously”. Organisers said the event, held in Stanley on the south coast of Hong Kong Island, was aimed at promoting a hygienic lifestyle for dogs

and raising funds for a dog rescue centre.

“A lot of people take care of their dogs’ hair and their diet but not so much their teeth,” Hilda Wong from The Link real estate firm, which organised the event, told AFP. “Brushing teeth is crucial for dogs, it’s just like brushing their hair.

You don’t have to do it every day but it’s good to do it once a week because they eat and chew,” she added.

Wong said it will take three to four months for Guinness officials to certify whether the event is a new Guinness World Record. — AFP

Launch of Russian satellite goes awry MOSCOW: Russia failed to put a communications satellite into designated orbit yesterday, in the latest setback for the once-pioneering space industry, officials said. The latest mishap is believed to be linked to a malfunction in the Proton-M rocket’s Briz-M booster stage that earlier this year apparently led President Vladimir Putin to fire the chief of a key aerospace bureau. “On December 9, during the placing of Yamal-402 satellite vehicle into designated orbit, the separation of the satellite vehicle occurred four minutes ahead of schedule,” Russia’s Roskosmos state space agency said in a statement. The space agency added it had taken control of the satellite and was looking to fix the problem.

It said later yesterday that all the systems of the satellite were “functioning in a regular mode” and the next attempt to put the Yamal-402 into orbit would be made later yesterday. The satellite had been launched by a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1313 GMT Saturday. “The situation is unpleasant but not catastrophic,” a source in the space industry told the Interfax news agency, adding the satellite could still reach the designated orbit with the help of its own engines. However that operation would shorten the satellite’s life cycle in space, the source was quoted as saying. Interfax added that the satellite may need three days to correct its orbit.

The Yamal-402 satellite was made for Gazprom Space Systems, a space and telecommunication arm of natural gas giant Gazrpom, to provide communications for Russia, Western and Central Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Russia’s space program has been beset

by a litany of technical problems which have resulted in the loss of a half-dozen satellites and vehicles over the past year, including a Progress cargo vessel bound for the International Space Station. Space experts linked the past failures to put satellites into orbit to persisting problems with the Proton-M rocket’s Briz-M booster stage.

“The interconnection has been recognised even by Roskosmos management because the general director of this organisation, Vladimir Popovkin, ordered to conduct additional checks into and even temporarily suspend the work of these booster stages,” space analyst Yury Karash said on Ekho of Moscow radio.

The latest space mishap comes after two satellites were lost after the unsuccessful launch of a Proton-M rocket on Aug 6, which missed the correct orbit. The telecommunications satellites - the Russian Express-MD2 and the Indonesian Telkom-3 - never made contact.

A commission later found a problem with Briz-M, the upper-stage used with the Proton-M rocket, and ordered inspections on the entire Briz-M production line, putting future launches on hold. In September, President Putin fired Vladimir Nesterov, the chief of a key state-run aerospace bureau, the Khrunichev space centre, which produces and launches the Proton rocket. A source at the Baikonur cosmodrome told Interfax that the rocket’s failure to put the satellite into space may delay the launch of another satellite, Satmex 8, set for Dec 27, until 2013. The source said a special task force would have to further look into the work of the Briz-M booster stage so the scheduled launch of a Proton-M rocket would have to be suspended. — AFP

CHICAGO: Chicago’s skyline is going green, as property managers install energy efficient tools like motion-detectors on office lights, in a project officials hope will inspire changes across the United States. At the riverside Sheraton hotel, chief engineer Ryan Egan cannot get over what his new thermostats can do or the $136,000 a year in savings they are producing. First off, they’re tied into the booking management system, which means he can let the room temperature drift beyond standard comfort levels until the moment a guest checks in.

An infrared sensor means the savings don’t stop there. Once the guest leaves the room, the temperature starts to drift again, giving the heating or cooling system a break until it’s needed again. It’s not a random drift - the thermostat is programmed to only allow the room to warm up or cool down to the point where it can get back to the preset temperature within 12 minutes of the guest’s return. “The brains behind how much it can drift is really interesting,” Egan said. “If you’re on the shady side (in the summer) it’ll drift more because it knows it can recover faster.”

The Sheraton is one of 14 major commercial buildings that signed onto the Retrofit Chicago challenge to cut energy use by 20 percent over the next five years, for savings estimated at more than $5 million a year. If they succeed, it will be like taking 8,000 cars off the road. “The fact that this is the city that built the first skyscraper, we love that we’re trying to green the skyline,” Karen Weigert, chief sustainability officer for the city of Chicago, told AFP. Some 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the Windy City come from the electricity and gas used to heat, cool and power homes, businesses, schools and other government buildings. In addition to the greening in commercial buildings, the city plans to cut energy use by 20 percent in hundreds of municipal buildings, for an estimated monetary saving of $20 million a year and emissions savings equivalent to taking about 30,000 vehicles off the road. It has also launched a program to help retrofit residential properties and expects more big commercial buildings to join the challenge.

“Fighting climate change can take all sorts of forms. This one happens to also save building owners a lot of money,” said Rebecca Stanfield, a senior energy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We’re excited about the potential for big property owners who are in the Chicago initiative to use what they learn here in buildings across the country.” A similar program is being promoted by the Department of Energy, which has racked up commitments from schools, cities and businesses to reduce energy use by 20 percent in 2 billion square feet.

AT&T - the first company to sign up for

Chicago’s challenge - is testing out a host of new energy efficiency technologies at its downtown office tower. It’s just one test kitchen for the telecom giant, as it searches for best practices in its quest to cut emissions

view. Jim Javillet is amazed at how attitudes have changed in the 43 years he’s been managing buildings like the AT&T tower. “In the 60s and 70s they used to run (both) heating and cooling all year - why not,” he recalled. Another

CHICAGO: Chief engineer Ryan Egan demonstrates on Nov 29, 2012 a new smart thermostat system installed at Chicago’s riverside Sheraton hotel which will cut energy bills by $136,000 a year. — AFP company-wide by 20 percent by 2020. The results so far have been impressive. They’ve swapped out ceiling lights with more efficient bulbs and set up motion detectors so the lights aren’t burning when technicians and sales staff are away from their desks. They’ve put insulated shutters on the air intake system to keep the chill out in winter and the heat out in summer.

They’ve installed regulators on the big fans that push heated or cooled air through the 1960’s era building so they only operate when needed instead of running all day and most of the night. They’ve even swapped out the belts on the fan’s motors to cut down on energysucking slippage. “ There’s no question we’ve identified enough opportunities to save 20 percent,” said John Schinter, AT&T’s executive director for energy. All the improvements tested in Chicago will pay for themselves in three years or less, and most will be rolled out to the 1,000 corporate and 500 retail buildings that AT&T is targeting in its sustainability plan, Schinter said. “If a project doesn’t have scalability for an enterprise as large as ours, we don’t spend much corporate time on it,” he said in an inter-

big advance came when buildings installed systems to turn most overhead lights off at a set time so they didn’t burn all night. Now, even in the middle of the day, he can see who’s away from their desks by the dark spots in the room. And when he walks down an empty hall, he creates a tunnel of light.

These types of innovations are common in countries like Spain and Japan, where energy is more costly and governments have been more aggressive in pushing energy efficient building codes. But Americans are ready to accept change, said Dan Tishman, whose realty company owns the Sheraton Chicago and nine other major US hotels.

“Consumers in this country are comfortable with motion detectors on lights and other technologies that save energy, like low flush toilets or green roofs, and they appreciate it,” said Tishman, who is also chairman of the National Resource Defense Council and heads a leading construction firm.

“I do think that when we implement the changes we are planning, we will be successful and other large hotel properties will follow suit.” — AFP

UK astronomer Patrick Moore dies aged 89

Patrick Moore

LONDON: Astronomer Patrick Moore, renowned for his work mapping the Moon’s surface and for having popularised his subject with the British public, died yesterday at the age of 89, friends and colleagues announced. The eccentric astronomer, whose research was used by the United States and the Soviets in their space programmes, “passed away peacefully at 12:25 pm (1225 GMT)”, at his home in Selsey on the southern English coast, they said in a statement. He had succumbed to an infection, the statement said.

“After a short spell in hospital last week, it was determined that no further treatment would benefit him, and it was his wish to spend his last days in his own home.” Moore had fronted the monthly BBC program “The Sky At

Night” since 1957, making him the world’s longest-running presenter of the same television show. He believed he was the only person to have met Orville Wright, the first man to fly; Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space; and Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon.

Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2001 for “services to the popularisation of science and to broadcasting”. Besides his skill at explaining the intricacies of the universe, his monocle, wit and idiosyncratic style of speech endeared him to an army of fans spanning the generations. The statement from his friends said Moore died in the company of close friends and carers and his cat Ptolemy. “Over the past few years, Patrick, an inspiration to generations of astronomers,

fought his way back from many serious spells of illness and continued to work and write at a great rate, but this time his body was too weak to overcome the infection which set in, a few weeks ago,” it said. “He was able to perform on his world record-holding TV program “The Sky at Night” right up until the most recent episode. “His executors and close friends plan to fulfil his wishes for a quiet ceremony of interment, but a farewell event is planned for what would have been Patrick’s 90th birthday in March 2013.”

At the age of eight he was given a 1908 typewriter on which his multitude of books and papers were written throughout his life.

Besides his astronomy, writing and broadcasting, Moore was a skilled xylophone player and a useful cricketer. — AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

health & science

Mining, logging contributed to Philippine disaster MANILA: Unchecked illegal gold mining and decades of indiscriminate logging contributed to the high death toll in the Philippines’ worst natural disaster this year, officials and experts say. Whole towns were washed away or buried by landslides when Typhoon Botha smashed into a mountainous region on the southern island of Mindanao last week, leaving 548 people confirmed dead and 827 missing. Poverty, greed and the lure of the precious metal have long drawn thousands of prospectors to the region. “Mining and logging may have had an effect,” said civil defence chief Benito Ramos. “The mountains have been denuded for decades, and filled with holes by our countrymen who are smalltime miners. It pains me to say this, but these are the facts,” he said.

The worst-hit southern town of New Bataan is both a centre of the devastated banana industry and host to some of the thousands of illegal gold-mining operations in the Mindanao province of Compostela Valley.

Geologists say the mountainous area is mostly unsafe for habitation. But numerous small, illegal or poorly regulated gold mines dot its slopes and the local government says they provide 40 percent of the province’s economic output. Much of the forest cover was also cut down long ago to make way for row upon row of bananas to supply the major markets of China, Iran and Japan.

The plantations and hopes of striking it rich have drawn hundreds of thousands of poor migrants in search of work. They settle in mountain hamlets around which poisonous mercury, used to extract gold from rock, is routinely dumped into rivers. The deluge wrought by the strongest cyclone to hit the country this year came despite days of preparations and advance warnings including an early evacuation of vulnerable areas.

Governor Arthur Uy said 75,000 people, or one in five in the province, rely on the mines and regulation is a sore point.

The environment ministry insists it is the local officials like Uy who are required by law to issue small-scale mining permits and who must ensure people do not settle areas con-

sidered prone to landslides and flash floods.

But Uy protested that the ministry’s “geohazard maps” show that 80 percent of the entire province is a danger zone. “What shall we do?

Should we all move from Compostela Valley?” he said. Uy also said miners had resisted efforts to relocate them, preferring the danger to poverty. “It is the risk they are willing to take, just to strike it rich. They don’t want to move,” he said.

Larry Heradez, a technical officer for the Philippine government’s mining regulator, said people in New Bataan and nearby goldrush areas may have known about the danger but sought refuge in the wrong areas. “There is a problem of information dissemination.

The local officials also thought they are evacuating to an area which was safe,” he told AFP. Rescuers said government shelters were among buildings swept by the floods. In any case, all the elements of a disaster in the making were already there long before geohazard maps came into fashion, said University of the Philippines geology professor Sandra Catana.

“They (have been) living in these areas before technology came about including the awareness of geohazards in this country which started only in 1990s,” she told AFP. With Mindanao usually spared by the 20 or so storms that lash the Philippines every year, people may have become complacent and were caught unprepared by the typhoon which struck further south than usual, officials said. But the head of a government flood control program, Mahar Lagmay, warned that weather patterns were changing. “Previously we have had tracks in the last several decades where (storms) were moving more to the north. Now, they say, it is moving towards the south,” he said. Some 1,200 people were killed when tropical storm Washi struck Mindanao’s north coast in December last year, but Uy conceded that residents of his southern region never expected a killer storm like Bopha. “This was the first time this happened to us, we did prepare... but we never felt anything this strong. We were taken by surprise. That is one of the reasons there were so many casualties,” he said. — AFP

MAWAB, Philippines: Miners sift through sand as they pan for gold at a river in this town in Compostela Valley province yesterday near some of the worst affected areas damaged by Typhoon Bopha. — AFP

IVF awareness evening at New Mowasat Hospital KUWAIT: New Mowasat Hospital’s commitment to improving health awareness in the community was confirmed once again as people gathered in the hospital’s auditorium to learn about In Vitro Fertilization, a major treatment option for infertility. Dr Nahed Hammadieh MD, FRCOG, MD, HEA, Consultant Gynecologist, SubSpecialist in Reproductive Medicine, and Clinical Director of the IVF and Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Center in New Mowasat, presented the lecture which mainly focused on identifying the causes of infertility and the latest treatment achieved in the field. Hammadieh discussed reproductive immunology, explaining its diagnosis and treatment options, and addressed the possible causes of failed IVF treatment. “One of the main

causes of unsuccessful repeated IVF is the lack of proper studying or evaluation of the case,” said Hammadieh, elaborating on the preferable time a couple should start seeking IVF. He also added that “the immune infertility confronted by the repeated failure in this treatment - which is increasing in the country- occurs due to the medical staff’s lack of knowledge which leads them to study the case improperly in the first place.”

Concluding his informative lecture, Hammadieh emphasized that New Mowasat’s IVF and Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Center treats infertility from a “sophisticated perspective in collaboration with the Center for IVF at the University of Birmingham”. The Center also provides Pre-Implantation Genetic

Diagnosis (PGD) in collaboration with the genetic laboratory of Istanbul in Turkey. Hammadieh also stated that the Center also specializes in laparoscopic surgery, particularly the withdrawal of miniature fibers from the uterus by a small telescope without the need for surgical intervention.

In addition, New Mowasat’s IVF Center “exclusively performs operations to open blocked tubes radiation without surgery which increases chances to a more successful pregnancy with a percentage up to 35 percent after the tube is unblocked, concluded Dr Hammadieh. Following his lecture, attendees got the chance to have all their questions about IVF answered by Hammadieh, while enjoying the food and refreshments provided by New Mowasat Hospital.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

WHAT’S ON

ACK participates at MENAWCA conference n line with an endeavor to spread quality education and introduce various approaches to writing, the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) participated in the MENAWCA ‘Creating a Culture of Writing’ conference in Qatar.

ACK’s professional Ms. Susan Hamade presented at the conference promoting quality education under the title of “Designing a Writing Culture Inside and Outside the Classroom.” The conference was held at the Middle East-North Africa Writing Centers Alliance on November 2012.

During the seminar, Ms Susan Hamade, Deputy Department Head of Curriculum and Assessment in the Foundation Department at ACK, stated

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SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! 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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Announcements Goan Culinary Club he Goan Culinary Club - Goa encourages you to log on to their website where you can find a video of Odette and Joe Mascarenhas sharing their thoughts on Goan cuisine. These videos were recorded at the launch of the Goan Culinary Club in Goa on March 3, 2012. Thanks to support from all at the Goan Culinary Club, we have made great progress in six months.

he new Premier Basketball Academy offers coaching and games every Friday and Saturday from 10 am onwards for 6 to 18 year olds, boys and girls. Located in Bayan Block 7, Masjed Al-Aqsa Street by Abdullah Al-Rujaib High School. Free Basketball and Tee Shirts for all participants, with certificates and special awards on completion of each 6 week course. Qualified and experienced British and American Coaches, Everyone Welcome.

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Arabic courses WARE will begin Winter 1 Arabic language courses with new textbooks and curricula on from December 2, 2012 until January 24, 2013. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. For more information or registration, please log-on to our website.

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She added, “The objective of the presentation is to provide a framework that outlines the main areas to consider when introducing a writing culture that helps students attain success both at academic and professional levels.”

Throughout the seminar, Hamade shared her extensive experience in the field, as well as her experience from other previous seminars she presented in the region.

Joyalukkas congratulates winners of ‘Win 2 kg gold’ initiative

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Basketball Academy

that due to the growing demand for quality writing in the workplace, institutions of higher education are working at various levels to help students achieve writing competence. Ms. Hamade herself is a holder of a master’s degree in Education, with an emphasis on TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) and learning difficulties, During the seminar, Ms Hamade said, “Academic writing is viewed as the fundamental skill that needs to be developed and effectively communicated in professional contexts. The strive to meet this demand has led to the emergence of a writing culture that helps facilitate the development of ideas and enhancement of writing skills.”

oyalukkas, one of the most recognized jewelry retail chains in the world, concluded another successful promotion by honoring 22 winners of Gold Bars at their Souk Al Watiya showroom with a grand prize distribution ceremony. Most of the winners and loyal customers attended the function in the presence of Joyalukkas personnel in Kuwait. The two winners of Mega prize collected 50gm gold bars and 20 winners collected 10gm gold prizes.

This offer was the part of Mega EidDiwali promotion 2012 and many got the instant prizes of gold coins on purchase, while 20 winners got the 10gm Gold Bars and 2 winners got 50gm Gold Bars through the two different draws made in the presence of the official from the Promotion department at Ministry of Commerce and Industry John Paul Joy Alukkas, Executive Director, Joyalukkas Group said, “Firstly I would like to thank the residents of Kuwait for their overwhelming response to our festive promotion and congratulate all the winners of our ‘win 2 kg gold’ initiative in Kuwait. We are planning many more initiatives to keep our customers excited and happy.”

“Joyalukkas has always made very beneficial promotions and offers to cater

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to the customers with a vivid range of jewelries in gold and diamonds which suits any occasion and we can continue the same with the support of our

renowned for offering the widest choice in jewelry at the best possible prices.

Joyalukkas showcases over one million choices of jewelry collections and brands

and delivered to customers with great service and best value. Joyalukkas jewelry is also one of the most awarded jewelry retail chains in the world and has won

beloved customers,” said Gipson George, Regional Manager while expressing his gratitude to the customers.

The global conglomerate with a chain of 85 showrooms across nine countries is

from around the world to ensure the customers get everything they desire in jewelry at their showroom. From traditional, modern to ethno-contemporary, the Joyalukkas range and choice is expansive

various accolades and awards for its commitment to quality and excellence in jewelry retailing from world-renowned bodies.

IKFS invites CD presentations ndo-Kuwait Friendship Society, invite Indians and school students’ participation in presenting ideas and suggestions related to the subject “Eradicating Poverty in India and role of NRIs”. This is the first time in Kuwait a NRI association is hosting this type of program. A general convention is arranged on Tuesday, 29th January 2013 at “Athenee Plaza Hotel, Beneid Alghar (Downtown.) to deliver the winners of the Presentation in the form of Excellence Awards as “ the Best Economist of 2012”. The event is arranged also, in commemorating India’s 64th Republic day when the people are in patriotic fervor and to witness the evening Event starting at 5 pm.

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

Nissan training program crosses 2,000th graduate landmark issan recently celebrated the 2,000th graduation from its stateof-the-art training centre in the United Arab Emirates.

The centre opened in 2008 and offers service technicians, engineers and fleet and government specialists from across its distributor network comprehensive instruction in the latest vehicle technologies.

“Nissan is acutely aware that the relationship with the customer does not end when they buy a vehicle from our extensive model range,” said Samir Cherfan, sales & marketing director,

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Nissan Middle East.

“Maintenance and servicing are critical in keeping a vehicle’s performance at optimal levels, and ongoing training makes Nissan-certified technicians best qualified to undertake this vital work. As a brand which is constantly introducing innovative new and exciting features throughout our model range, owners can only be certain that Nissan-certified technicians have received all the instruction necessary to keep them abreast of these developments.”

The Nissan Training Centre conducts around 30 courses a year for focused

groups of between 10 and 25 people.

The principle behind the programme is to ‘train the trainer’ with each representative receiving skills that will enable them to train their teams when they return to their own market.

In line with this commitment the center recently conducted a session exclusively for its fleet and government owners’ technicians from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar. A total of 22 technicians took part in the session, with a focus on Nissan’s legendary ‘Hero of All Terrain’, the Nissan Patrol, an iconic vehicle specifically designed for the Middle East.

“Fleet and government sectors represent over 30% of total sales in the GCC and Middle East, and are highly valued contributors to achieving Nissan Middle East’s growth and corporate objectives.

We utilize our training facility to ensure our fleet owners are always up-to-date with the latest knowledge of Nissan’s high service standards and products. By doing this we are passing on the advantages to our third party customers as well,” said Cherfan.

Kuwait Knanaya Cultural Association (KKCA) is doing a 2-week ongoing Christmas carol now, visiting the members’ families, spreading the joy of Christmas.

Youth Chorus Christmas carol ellifluous and timeless Christmas carols will be rendered at the Sixteenth Annual Christmas Carol program on Thursday, 20th of December 2012 at the Indian Central School Auditorium, Abbasiya at 6.00pm organized by the Youth Chorus.

Choirs from various churches in Kuwait, Youth Chorus, United Indian School, Indian Central School and

M Youth India hands over donation he fund collected for Satheesh, who died in Jahra Hospital while on treatment for blood cancer has been handed over. Youth India representative Abdul Wahid handed over the documents of the money deposited to Satheesh’s wife. The amount has been deposited in a joint account of Satheesh’s wife, his brother’s son and Youth India representative.

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Indian Public School will usher in the spirit of Christmas at the three hour long Christmas Carol service with a wide repertoire of classic Christmas Carols. Respected Bishops, Priests and Elders of the different churches will attend and lead the program. The prizes of the International Bible Quest Examination 2012 and prizes of the Seventh Group Song Competitions

will be distributed on the occasion.

Youth Chorus welcomes one and all to join this wonderful celebration.

Youth Chorus feel elated to invite you to the 16th Christmas Celebration which will be held on Thursday, 20th December 2012 at 06:15 p.m. at the Indian Central School Auditorium, Abbasiya.

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WHAT’S ON

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office).

In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The Canadian Embassy in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 7:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed for lunch from 12:30 to 13:00. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

GUST honors environment day with beach clean up he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) Office of Student Life (OSL) organized a beach clean up to honor Environment Day, in cooperation with GUST Mass Communication Instructor Carl Nestor and the GUST Student Association.

A group of 38 students and

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employees from GUST went to one of the beaches on the Gulf Road over the weekend and spent the day cleaning up what they can.The goal of the 3hour event was to encourage all students to participate in the community activities as a part of GUST’s objectives of continuing and strengthening their

community relations and giving back.

One of the head organizers Ms. Anwar Al-Sabah said: “This will be one of many future activities to ensure that GUST and its students are doing their part for the community they grew in.”

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ABS KG Department International Day ll the kids in the ABS KG department started preparing weeks in advance for the International day celebration on November 22. They made flags of the countries they were representing, they did lots and lots of art projects to decorate their classroom doors and walls, and they practiced hard on their dances. The kids were all excit-

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ed on the celebration day; they performed great dances in front their parents, teachers, and friends as well as sharing some words that they learn in the language of the country they were representing. In addition, they were exploring and trying different food from different countries.

Some of the students dressed up in

their adopted countries national dress, and some wore football jerseys or fancy dress.

Sarah and Esra’a were the judges for the door competition; it was very tough this year, all the classes put in so much effort to make their class door the best.

The winners are: PreK B-Australia, KG1DIndia and KG2F-Finland. All classes

received a trophy for their hard work.

KG would like to thank all the parents who donated food and decorations for this special day and also for attending the assembly. We are always grateful to the time and effort our parents put into helping our staff make KG such a wonderful department.

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 KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com.

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Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait celebrates the Holiday Season afir Hotel & Residences Kuwait - Al Fintas, a five-star hotel is in full gear to celebrate the upcoming holiday season to ensure a meaningful celebration of Christmas & the New Year. Starting from 15th of December to 5th of January 2013, Safir Fintas will offer special packages that will guarantee guests a well-spent holiday for the whole family.

Enjoy elegance and comfort during your stay for a deluxe room Fintas view and deluxe room sea view. Families can enjoy the comfort of their home with our spacious 2 bedroom apartment.

Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait Fintas also offers a varied selection of cuisine in its renowned restaurants each with its own special holiday offerings and specialities. Get together for a

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sumptuous feast at Flavors Restaurant with an upgraded dinner with Turkey on Christmas Eve and a Snow White Concept on the New Year’s Eve. Dine in elegance underneath the starry skies at the Sky Lounge with special Christmas and New Year 4-course set menu.

Indulge in The Anchor Beach Garden’s Christmas Barbeque Night for a perfect holiday outdoor dining experience.

Lastly, bring home the Christmas goodies with our special Turkey and Duck Takeaway available at the Lounge Cafe.

Celebrate the Holiday Season and welcome the auspicious year of 2013 at Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait - Al Fintas where you’ll “Enjoy a World of Hospitality”.

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, Al-Salaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com.

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EMBASSY OF UKRAINE The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait would like to remind that the external polling station No 90046 was created in the Embassy’s premises at the following address: Hawalli, Jabriya, bl.10, str. 6, build. 5. The working hours of the polling station: Sunday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Monday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Tuesday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Wednesday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Thursday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Friday from 10.00 to 13.00 pm; Saturday from 10.00 to 13.00 pm On October 28, 2012 the working hours of the polling station from 8.00 am to 20.00 pm. Please be advised to refer to the Embassy to check your data in the Electoral Register as well as to pick up your personal invitation from the polling station if you did not receive the document by post.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:50 I’m Alive 01:45 Animal Cops Philadelphia 02:35 Biggest And Baddest 03:25 Shamwari: A Wild Life 04:15 Killer Jellyfish 05:05 Great Savannah Race 05:55 Animal Cops Philadelphia 06:45 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 07:35 Wildlife SOS 08:00 The Really Wild Show 08:25 Pandamonium 09:15 Dogs 101 10:10 Bad Dog 11:05 Wild France 12:00 Animal ER 12:55 Wild Africa Rescue 13:20 Wild Africa Rescue 13:50 Wildlife SOS International 14:15 Bondi Vet 14:45 Animal Cops Philadelphia 15:40 Wild France 16:35 Going Ape 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Must Love Cats 18:25 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 19:20 Dogs 101 20:15 Monkey Life 20:40 Bondi Vet 21:10 Call Of The Wildman 21:35 Going Ape 22:05 Wild France 23:00 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 23:55 My Cat From Hellh 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 00:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 01:15 Come Dine With Me 02:05 MasterChef Australia 09:25 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 11:00 Bargain Hunt 11:45 Antiques Roadshow 12:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 13:20 Come Dine With Me 14:10 Gok’s Fashion Fix 15:00 Gok’s Fashion Fix 15:50 Bargain Hunt 16:35 Antiques Roadshow 17:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:10 Come Dine With Me 19:00 Baking Made Easy 19:30 Indian Food Made Easy 19:55 Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey 20:45 Come Dine With Me 21:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt

10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:05 12:15 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 18:20 18:45 20:10 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:30 22:55 23:20 23:45 23:55

Shake It Up Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Doc McStuffins Doc McStuffins Fish Hooks Jessie Jessie A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Wizards Of Waverly Place Shake It Up Austin And Ally Shake It Up A.N.T. Farm Lion King 1.5 Austin And Ally Wendy Wu Jessie That’s So Raven Cory In The House Kim Possible Hannah Montana Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks Fish Hooks

ecial Agent Oso 23:50 Lazytown 00:25 Chelsea Lately 00:55 Style Star 01:25 THS 03:15 E! Investigates 04:10 THS 05:05 Extreme Close-Up 05:30 Extreme Close-Up 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Married To Jonas 09:45 Married To Jonas 10:15 THS 12:05 Ice Loves Coco 12:35 Ice Loves Coco 13:05 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Fashion Police 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:55 Opening Act 21:55 Married To Jonas 22:25 Married To Jonas 22:55 E!es 23:55 Scouted

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

You Have Been Warned Wheeler Dealers Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Dirty Money How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made American Chopper American Chopper Wheeler Dealers Border Security Dirty Money Auction Kings Ultimate Survival Wheeler Dealers Hillbilly Handfishin’ Mythbusters How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made Border Security Dirty Money Auction Kings Outback Truckers Deadliest Catch Gold Divers

23:20 Surviving Disaster 00:15 01:35 02:25 03:15 03:45 04:35 05:25 06:15 06:40 07:05 08:00 08:50 09:40 09:43 10:10 10:40 11:05 11:30 12:20 13:10 13:35 14:00 14:50 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:03 17:30 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:50

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:05 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:40 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:35 10:00

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Things That Move The Future Of...

Meteorite Men Mega World Junk Men Junk Men Bad Universe The Future Of...

Prophets Of Science Fiction Head Rush Things That Move How Stuff’s Made How Do They Do It? How Do They Do It? Engineered Thunder Races The Gadget Show The Tech Show The Future Of...

Prophets Of Science Fiction Weird Connections How Do They Do It? How Do They Do It? Head Rush Things That Move How Stuff’s Made Engineered Race To Mars Thunder Races Mega World Brave New World The Gadget Show The Tech Show Mega World Brave New World

Stitch A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic Doc McStuffins Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck A.N.T Farm A.N.T Farm Jessie Jessie Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Austin And Ally Austin And Ally

00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Guy’s Big Bite 01:55 Food Network Challenge 02:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special 03:35 Chopped 04:25 Kid In A Candy Store 04:50 Unique Sweets 05:15 Charly’s Cake Angels 05:40 Chopped 06:30 Iron Chef America 07:10 Unwrapped 07:35 Unwrapped 08:00 Barefoot Contessa - Specials 08:50 Food Network Challenge 09:40 United Tastes Of America 10:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:30 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:55 Cooking For Real 11:20 Cooking For Real 11:45 Charly’s Cake Angels 12:10 Unique Sweets 12:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 13:00 Iron Chef America Special 13:50 Guy’s Big Bite 14:15 Cooking For Real 14:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 15:05 Mexican Made Easy 15:30 Barefoot Contessa - Specials 16:20 United Tastes Of America 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:15 Kid In A Candy Store 19:40 Unique Sweets 20:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 20:30 Chopped 21:20 Iron Chef America Special 22:10 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 22:35 Barefoot Contessa 23:00 Unwrapped 23:50 Giada’s Family Christmas

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

Food Lover’s Guide To The Endurance Traveller Hugh’s Three Hungry Boys Street Food Around The World Market Values Travel Madness Travel Madness Weird & Wonderful Hotels Young Global Hotshots The Green Way Up The Green Way Up David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 4 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 4 Delinquent Gourmet Food Lover’s Guide To The Endurance Traveller Hugh’s Three Hungry Boys Street Food Around The World Market Values Travel Madness Travel Madness Weird & Wonderful Hotels Young Global Hotshots Earth Tripping Market Values One Man & His Campervan Exploring The Vine Food Lover’s Guide To The Food Lover’s Guide To The Endurance Traveller Hugh’s Three Hungry Boys Street Food Around The World Market Values Travel Madness Travel Madness Weird & Wonderful Hotels Young Global Hotshots Food Lover’s Guide To The

20:30 Planet 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:55 23:50

Food Lover’s Guide To The One Man & His Campervan Exploring The Vine The Green Way Up David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 4 Street Food Around The World

23:00 Naked Science 00:00 Intimate Enemies 01:00 Deadly Summer 01:55 Untamed Americas 02:50 When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs 03:45 Caught In The Act (aka Caught In The Act GPU Rever 04:40 World’s Deadliest 05:35 Kingdom of The Oceans 06:30 Untamed Americas 07:25 When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs 08:20 Caught In The Act (aka Caught In The Act GPU Rever 09:15 I, Predator 10:10 World’s Deadliest GPU 11:05 Untamed Americas 12:00 Sharkville 13:00 Big Blue (1 hour) 14:00 Swamp Men 15:00 Caught In The Act (aka Caught In The Act GPU Rever 16:00 Planet Carnivore 17:00 Puma!

18:00 Untamed Americas 19:00 Untamed Americas 20:00 When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs 21:00 Caught In The Act (aka Caught In The Act GPU Rever 22:00 I, Predator 23:00 World’s Deadliest GPU Zoo Confidential 23:00 Dangerous Encounters 00:00 Imago Mortis-PG15 02:00 13 Assassins-18 04:15 Disturbing Behavior-18 06:00 Law Abiding Citizen-18 08:00 True Justice: Lethal Justice 09:30 Master And Commander-PG15 12:00 Green Lantern: Emerald Knights-PG15 14:00 True Justice: Lethal Justice 16:00 Barricade-PG15 18:00 Green Lantern: Emerald Knights-PG15 20:00 Get Rich Or Die Tryin’-18 22:00 A Dangerous Man-18 22:00 13 Assassins-1822:00 Homecoming-18 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 02:00 Eastbound & Down 02:30 The League 03:00 Breaking In 03:30 Hot In Cleveland 04:00 Samantha Who? 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 06:30 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Samantha Who? 08:30 Breaking In 10:00 Two And A Half Men 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Samantha Who? 14:00 Hot In Cleveland 15:00 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Breaking In 18:30 Hot In Cleveland 19:00 Modern Family 20:00 The Cleveland Show 20:30 Wilfred 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 American Dad 22:30 Eastbound & Down 23:00 The League 23:30 The Cleveland Show

03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 PG15 11:00 13:00 15:00 PG15 17:00 18:45 21:00

The King’s Speech-PG15 Mademoiselle Chambon-PG15 The Third Wave-PG15 The LXD: Secrets Of The RaFamily Gathering-PG15 Separate Lies-PG15 The LXD: Secrets Of The RaUncorked-PG15 Walk The Line-PG15 Woodstock-18 Square Grouper-18

KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (06/12/2012 TO 12/12/2012) 01:00 The Roommate-PG15 03:00 Adventures Of Sharkboy And Lavagirl-PG 05:00 Ghost Machine-PG15 07:00 Every Jack Has A Jill-PG15 09:00 Alabama Moon-PG15 10:45 Monte Carlo-PG15 12:45 According To Greta-PG15 14:30 Bobby Jones: Stroke Of Genius 16:45 Alabama Moon-PG15 18:30 The Help-PG15 21:00 When Love Is Not EnoughPG15 23:00 Woodstock-18

01:30 Emilie Jolie-PG 02:45 Horrid Henry-PG 04:15 The Proud Family Movie-FAM 06:00 The Muppets-PG 08:00 The Ugly Duckling Goes On Holiday-FAM 10:00 Marley & Me: The Puppy Years 11:30 Emilie Jolie-PG 13:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil 14:30 Horrid Henry-PG 16:00 Princess Lillifee-FAM 18:00 Marley & Me: The Puppy Years 20:00 Arrietty-FAM 22:00 Princess Lillifee-FAM 23:30 The Ugly Duckling Goes On Holiday-FAM

04:00 Boxing Fight Night 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 PGA European Tour 11:30 Emirates Australian Open 16:30 Futbol Mundial 17:00 Twenty20 Big Bash League 20:00 PGA European Tour Weekly Review 21:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 22:00 Live Pool Mosconi Cup

00:00 03:00 03:30 06:30 07:00 10:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 16:30 19:00 20:00 22:30

Live NFL NFL Game Day Twenty20 Big Bash League ICC Cricket 360 Twenty20 Big Bash League Twenty20 Big Bash League Extreme Sailing Series Extreme Sailing Series Extreme Sailing Series Boxing Fight Night NFL UFC The Ultimate Fighter NFL Boxing Fight Night

21:00 NHL 23:00 Trans World Sport 02:00 03:00 05:00 05:30 06:30 07:00 08:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Trans World Sport Rugby Union Varsity Match FEI Equestrian World Ladies European Highlights Spirit of Golf Golfing World Snooker UK Championship FEI Equestrian World Golfing World AFL Premiership Highlights European Challenge Cup Rugby Union Varsity Match Snooker UK Championship FEI Equestrian World Golfing World European Challenge Cup

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

The Glades The Killing Sons Of Anarchy The Tudors Burn Notice The Killing The Glades Emmerdale Coronation Street White Collar The River Burn Notice Emmerdale Coronation Street White Collar The Glades Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show White Collar Burn Notice Revenge Justified Sons Of Anarchy The Tudors

01:00 Devil-PG15 03:00 Outcast-R 05:00 The Fourth Kind-PG15 07:00 Ip Man-PG15 09:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 11:00 The Fourth Kind-PG15 13:00 Ticking Clock-PG15 15:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 17:00 Jackie Chan’s Who Am I?-PG15 19:00 Mad Max-18 21:00 The Godfather II-18

00:00 Neil Delamere-PG15 02:00 The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou-PG15 04:00 The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy-PG 06:00 The Marc Pease Experience 08:00 Rebound-PG 10:00 Prom-PG15 12:00 The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy-PG 14:00 Elf-PG 16:00 Prom-PG15 18:00 The Ladykillers-PG15 20:00 Super-18 22:00 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 22:00 Frenemy-18 01:00 Planet Of The Apes-PG15

KUWAIT

02:00 04:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 11:30 13:30 14:00 15:00 17:00 20:00 22:00

UFC Prizefighter WWE Bottom Line WWE Experience V8 Supercars V8 Supercars V8 Supercars WWE This Week WWE NXT WWE SmackDown Prizefighter V8 Supercars V8 Supercars

23:00 Trans World Sport 00:00 BBC World News 00:30 Horizons 01:00 BBC World News 01:30 Mishal Husain Meets 02:00 Newsday 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 Newsday 03:30 India Business Report 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Asia Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 Hardtalk 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 BBC World News 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 World Business Report 11:45 BBC World News 12:30 Hardtalk 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 BBC World News 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 BBC Focus On Africa 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi

SHARQIA-1 ANNA KARENINA (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

SHARQIA-2 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) 12:30 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) 2:30 PM RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) 4:45 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) 6:45 PM STORAGE 24 (DIG) 9:00 PM STORAGE 24 (DIG) 11:00 PM STORAGE 24 (DIG) 1:00 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-3 UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) 12:45 PM TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) 3:00 PM CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE (DIG) 5:15 PM KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) 7:00 PM UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) 10:00 PM UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) 12:15 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-1 ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-2 UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

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

MUHALAB-3 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) 12:30 PM STORAGE 24 (DIG) 2:30 PM RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) 4:30 PM STORAGE 24 (DIG) 6:30 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) 8:30 PM STORAGE 24 (DIG) 10:45 PM STORAGE 24 (DIG) 12:45 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-1 STORAGE 24 (DIG) TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-2 ANNA KARENINA (DIG) CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

FANAR-3 KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) TALAASH (DIG)(HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:30 PM 6:15 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-4 UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-5 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS RISE OF THE GUARDIANS RISE OF THE GUARDIANS THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS FLIGHT FLIGHT NO SUN+TUE+WED MARINA-1 MISS MOMMY (DIG) TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED MARINA-2 STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED MARINA-3 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-1 KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) TALAASH (DIG)(HINDI) KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

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

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

AVENUES-2 ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-3 UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-4 JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-5 UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) AVENUES-6 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:30 PM 6:15 PM 9:00 PM 11:45 PM

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

1:30 PM 5:00 PM 8:30 PM 12:05 AM

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-7 FLIGHT (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-8 TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-9 STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-10 JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED MISS MOMMY (DIG) SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-11 RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 4:00 PM 7:30 PM 11:00 PM 11:00 PM

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:45 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

360 º- 1 RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 2 JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED

KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 8 ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) NO THU “Redbull -DVD” THU ANNA KARENINA (DIG) NO THU ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 9 (VIP-1) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º-10 (VIP-2) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 11 UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 12 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG)

3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

1:45 PM 4:30 PM 3:00 7:15 PM 10:00 PM 12:45 AM

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

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

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

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

360 º- 13 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (IMAX-3D) 12:30 PM RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (IMAX-3D) 2:45 PM RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (IMAX-3D) 5:00 PM RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (IMAX-3D) 7:15 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (IMAX) 9:30 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (IMAX) 12:05 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 14 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG)

2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM

360 º- 15 FLIGHT (DIG) TALAASH (DIG)(HINDI) TALAASH (DIG)(HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI)

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 10:00 PM

AL-KOUT.1 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

1:30 PM 5:00 PM 8:30 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.2 ANNA KARENINA (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) ANNA KARENINA (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

360 º- 3 SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.3 RED DAWN (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) RED DAWN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 4 STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.4 STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

BAIRAQ-1 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) STORAGE 24 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

360 º- 5 THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS (DIG) FRI+SAT CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE (DIG) NO MON THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS (DIG) CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE (DIG) CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE (DIG) 360 º- 6 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG-3D) FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 7 KHILADI 786 (DIG) (HINDI)

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM 1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

12:30 PM

BAIRAQ-2 UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) 1:30 PM UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) 3:45 PM RED DAWN (DIG) 6:00 PM UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) 8:15 PM UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (DIG) 10:30 PM RED DAWN (DIG) 12:45 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

Classifieds MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation with Muslim family available in Abbassiya since Jan 2013, for family or working women. Mob: 97612248.

(C 4238) 6-12-2012

FOR SALE Furniture of 3 bedrooms, drawing, dining, lounge, cooking range, 60 in. LED. Camry 2004 ( Touring) in excellent condition.

Contact: 66780119 / 25742068 (after 3 PM).

(C 4240) 6-12-2012

MATRIMONIAL 29 years Marthomite boy (5’9”) working as a nurse in MOH invites proposals from God fearing and well educated girls. Email: kannothuroney@gmail.com (C 4242) 8-12-2012 A suitable alliance is solicited for a north Indian male, 28 years/ 5’X6”/ MBA, well settled in Kuwait in family business from an educated and beautiful girl from any part of India. No bar. Email: enya_rathore@yahoo.co.in (C 4241) 6-12-2012

SITUATION VACANT Required driver for a Kuwaiti family, 3 years experience, Kuwaiti driving license. Salary KD 100. Call 99304076. (C 4245) Required maid for a Kuwaiti family, experience in Kuwait for three months.

Call 99304076. (C 4246) 10-12-2012 Required English speaking nanny/maid. 99824597.

5-12-2012 Required a decent babysitter for a small Pilipino fami-

ly in Hawally. Contact: 60387734.

3-12-2012

CHANGE OF NAME I, Megala Devi, holder of Indian Passport No: G1871523 converted to Islam do hereby change my name to Ayesha Begum. (C 4243) 8-12-2012

I, Salim holder of Indian Passport No: J4441787 hereby change my name to Muslim Tankiwala S/O Rajbali Tankiwala. (C 4237) 4-12-2012

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw

Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

THE PUBLICAUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

112 Prayer timings

Fajr:

05:07

Shorook

06:31

Duhr:

11:41

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Asr:

14:32

Maghrib:

16:51

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

Isha:

18:12

No: 15653

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines PIA JAI THY JZR JZR QTR ETH QTR GFA UAE ETD QTR FDB MSR DHX THY JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC UAE GFA ABY QTR FDB ETD KAC GFA BAB KAC TMA JZR MSC IRC MEA MSR UAE GFA FDB KNE KAC SVA KAC QTR JZR KAC JZR KAC

Arrival Flights on Monday 10/12/2012 Flt Route 205 LAHORE 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 6130 DOHA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 138 DOHA 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 855 DUBAI 223 BAHRAIN 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 352 COCHIN 213 BAHRAIN 436 BAHRAIN 344 CHENNAI 213 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 403 ASSIUT 6521 LAMERD 404 BEIRUT 610 CAIRO 871 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 672 DUBAI 500 JEDDAH 546 ALEXANDRIA 140 DOHA 561 SOHAG 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 284 DHAKA

Time 0:15 0:30 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:45 1:45 1:50 2:35 2:45 3:01 3:05 3:10 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:55 8:40 8:45 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:50 9:55 10:05 10:40 11:00 11:20 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:45 12:50 13:35 13:50 14:10 14:10 14:30 14:30 14:45 14:50 14:55 15:05 15:10

QTR OMA JZR KAC UAE ETD RJA GFA SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC JZR RBG KAC BAB FDB MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA FDB JAI AXB MSR ABY QTR MSC ALK MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE JZR JAI FDB DHX AIC TAR JZR GFA JZR UAL BBC DLH

134 645 535 118 857 303 640 215 510 777 144 127 982 542 177 3553 786 438 63 405 618 742 104 674 774 647 61 572 389 618 129 146 401 229 402 136 221 307 859 135 576 59 372 975 327 239 217 185 981 43 636

DOHA MUSCAT CAIRO NEW YORK DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH DOHA SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI SOHAG DOHA DAMMAM LONDON DUBAI RIYADH MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI MANGALORE ALEXANDRIA SHARJAH DOHA ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN COCHIN DUBAI BAHRAIN CHENNAI TUNIS AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA FRANKFURT

15:30 15:40 16:25 16:35 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 19:15 19:20 19:30 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:20 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:50 20:55 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:00 22:30 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:05 23:25 23:45 23:55

Airlines AIC AFG UAL DLH JAI PIA KAC ETH THY QTR FDB UAE ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA THY KAC JZR FDB BAW JZR JZR KAC GFA KAC ABY UAE FDB ETD QTR GFA BAB KAC KAC MXU JZR KAC TMA MSC IRC MEA KAC MSR JZR UAE GFA FDB

Departure Flights on Monday 10/12/2012 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 406 KABUL 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 573 MUMBAI 206 PESHAWAR 283 DHAKA 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 6131 DOHA 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 560 SOHAG 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 787 JEDDAH 224 BAHRAIN 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 437 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 137 ERBIL INTL. 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 214 DUBAI 406 SOHAG 6522 LAMERD 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 611 CAIRO 176 DUBAI 872 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI

Time 0:05 1:00 1:10 1:20 1:30 1:35 2:25 2:45 2:55 3:15 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:10 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:35 7:45 8:15 8:25 8:45 9:05 9:15 9:25 9:30 9:35 9:45 9:55 10:00 10:05 10:30 10:40 10:50 11:30 11:50 12:00 12:15 12:20 12:30 12:30 12:35 12:55 13:00 13:45 13:50 14:15 14:20 14:30

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC KNE SVA KAC QTR KAC KAC OMA JZR ETD JZR QTR UAE RJA GFA JZR SVA ABY QTR RBG JZR UAL FDB BAB MSC FDB OMA KAC KAC JAI ABY MSR MSC DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB KAC UAE JAI DHX KAC QTR JZR TAR GFA KAC

673 473 501 617 141 773 741 646 238 304 538 135 858 641 216 184 511 128 145 3554 134 982 64 439 404 62 648 331 351 571 120 619 402 171 230 403 308 137 222 301 60 361 860 575 373 205 147 502 328 218 411

DUBAI JEDDAH JEDDAH DOHA DOHA RIYADH DAMMAM MUSCAT AMMAN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN ASSIUT DUBAI MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM KOCHI MUMBAI SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI MUSCAT DUBAI KOCHI BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD DOHA LUXOR DUBAI BAHRAIN BANGKOK

15:05 15:10 15:45 15:45 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:40 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:25 19:30 20:15 20:40 20:55 20:55 21:10 21:10 21:15 21:25 21:50 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:35 23:45 23:50 23:55

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 34

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) Working on a personal project today will bring you many satisfying hours. A visitor this afternoon may bring you music. Harmony and catching up on news about family or friends can add to this busy day—there is an opportunity to improve or deepen a relationship now. You may gain some fresh insights about some plans at this time. Take a walk outside, weather permitting and notice the cloud formations, animals, birds or architecture design of the area. You are at your best in social situations today but social obligations are optional. If you are feeling stressed, the best activity for the evening, if at all possible, would be in a relaxed atmosphere. You like an atmosphere where you do not have to be concerned with how you look or what you provide.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You are up early this morning . . . meditation comes first and then maintenance. You love competition and this afternoon some form of group sports is something you enjoy. Whatever the case . . . most of this day is filled with the fun of some sport, whether you are actively involved or not. Some sort of sales or at least, special prices, may distract you a short while and you may want to take advantage of the specials, particularly since there is someone special you want to purchase a gift for this coming holiday. To say the least, this is a busy day and may call for some sort of rub-on-the-muscle type of care by days end. Your family and friends learn from your ability to always have a good outlook.

Your loving nature is contagious—you set examples.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king (9th century BC).

5. Deciduous monoecious trees of Europe and Asia and America.

11. (law) A comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy.

15. Among the largest bony fish.

16. (India) The driver and keeper of an elephant.

17. Avatar of Vishnu.

18. At any time.

19. Offering little or no hope.

20. A drill for penetrating rock.

21. A small Asian country high in the Himalayas between India and Tibet.

23. Tropical Asian starlings.

24. Fastened with stitches.

25. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

26. A state in midwestern United States.

27. A large number or amount.

29. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

31. An aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect.

35. An honorary degree in science.

41. A genus of delicate ferns belonging to the family Osmundaceae.

42. A wad of something chewable as tobacco.

44. A midnight meeting of witches to practice witchcraft and sorcery.

47. Marked by extreme lack of restraint or control.

48. East Indian cereal grass whose seed yield a somewhat bitter flour, a staple in the Orient.

50. High quality grape brandy distilled in the Cognac district of France.

52. Brief episode in which the brain gets insufficient blood supply.

53. Having help.

54. Half the width of an em.

55. The work of caring for the sick or injured or infirm.

57. The father of your father or mother.

60. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

61. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

62. A sign of something about to happen.

64. A very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk.

67. A steep rugged rock or cliff.

70. A river in Germany.

74. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

77. (folklore) A corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living.

78. A serve that strikes the net before falling into the receiver's court.

79. A group of islands off the west coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean.

81. Acquire or gain knowledge or skills.

82. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

83. (linguistics) Belonging to the class of nouns that denote living beings.

84. The basic unit of money in Peru.

DOWN 1. Make amendments to.

2. Any of several attractive evergreen shrubs of Australia grown for their glossy deep green foliage and flowers in rich blues and intense violets.

3. The 1st letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

4. United States writer of poems and plays about racial conflict (born in 1934).

5. The executive agency that advises the President on the federal budget.

6. Ragout of game in a rich sauce.

7. (Greek mythology) The Titaness who was mother of Helios and Selene and Eos in ancient mythology.

8. (used of especially horses) Having a brownish coat thickly sprinkled with white or gray.

9. Japanese mathematical physicist who proposed that nuclear forces are mediated by massive particles called mesons which are analogous to the photon in mediating electromagnetic forces (1907-1981).

10. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

11. A bow fixed transversely on a wooden stock grooved to direct the arrow (quarrel).

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

13. Smallest merganser and most expert diver.

14. Earn on some commercial or business transaction.

22. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

28. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

30. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

32. A Hindu goddess who releases from sin or disease.

33. Provide with a new lining.

34. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

36. A seat for one person, with a support for the back.

37. (Irish) Chief god of the Tuatha De Danann.

38. A mouth or mouthlike opening.

39. Closed with a lace.

40. Very dark black.

43. A smooth-textured sausage of minced beef or pork usually smoked.

45. A communist state in Indochina on the South China Sea. 46. Become taut or tauter.

49. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

51. Supply with battlements.

56. A state in north central United States.

58. A city in western Germany near the Dutch and Belgian borders.

59. Capital and largest city of Colombia.

63. Swedish oceanographer who recognized the role of the Coriolis effect on ocean currents (1874-1954).

65. In bed.

66. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

68. East Indian cereal grass whose seed yield a somewhat bitter flour, a staple in the Orient.

69. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

71. City in southwestern Colombia in a rich agricultural area.

72. Channel into a new direction.

73. (the feminine of raja) A Hindu princess or the wife of a raja.

75. The cry made by sheep.

76. Remaining after all deductions.

80. A toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Doing five things at once is not an unusual activity for you—it is when there is a lull in the action that you have the hardest time. That time would be good for practicing the art of simplicity. After a few deep breaths, you will be able to focus better.

Pausing to become centered will help you to know the direction in which you will want to turn your attention. Unnecessary work may fill your time but working smart serves you best. It is not necessary to become so critical of your work that you end up changing every little word or action. Taking turns with a co-worker to check over each other’s work may help you both to set up a work time limit. When you continue to redo your work or change work already completed, you may have difficulty moving forward.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You may find that someone special is supportive of your eccentricities. You could come up with new solutions or inventions to long-standing problems.

It would be a good idea to create some leisure times for you—there are busy days ahead.

Eliminate the worries from your life as much as possible by remembering the word “no.” You have an opportunity to help someone change his or her thinking into more positive, realistic and uplifting thoughts. You will create and exude a sense of well-being. Have you thought about your goals for next year? You may decide to initiate a new method of operating—perhaps new habits. This is a good time to begin. Work creatively toward your heart’s desire and your reach will not be futile.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Close personal ties to other people are a focal point for your feelings—marriage and other partnerships could be a key arena for this. Your connection with young people will put you in a position to guide these young people into positive directions. You may find an opportunity to serve or help a young person this morning. You have a natural sense of what others need and can make clear decisions that will encourage others. You may find yourself choosing between many invitations today. You have responsibilities and some of these responsibilities cannot be set aside so easily; choose accordingly.

You might like to ignore responsibilities and do some socializing, but realities demand you tend to business. You strive for harmony.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Being more closely involved with another person may well become your highest priority today. Marriage or a love relationship may be seen as one of the keys to success and happiness—there are plenty of lessons to learn. Later today, there is a gap in time to insert some fun activities of your own. One fun activity you may involve yourself with now is in creating some handmade playing cards for your loved ones or friends. If you are short on funds but long on energy, one creative gift could be a decorated card that says what part of your time and energy you might give as a gift to this person. You could give your time in babysitting, a home-cooked meal or some other service. A cycle of nostalgia begins now emphasizing a need for a sense of roots.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) This morning you may find yourself in a creative mood. It is a good time to write and communicate with real originality. You could be creating music or writing short stories today. Inventions and breakthroughs are possible. You can appreciate an imaginative approach and may value communal or futuristic ideas. You may enjoy reading instead of writing a book. You may want to just escape from day-to-day realities for a while; perhaps at the movies this afternoon. You may be moved to discover and appreciate the beauty in your life and in those around you. Shopping later today could take on a great deal of importance. Be careful that you do not overspend or indulge too much just now. You enjoy the company of the people you love.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Your personal things may have been moved recently, to make room for holiday decorations, so do not jump to conclusions that somebody took something—ask questions. You seek to make relationships work and you are always pleased when you see some progress along this line. It could be something as simple as someone turning around to include you in a conversation. This afternoon you work with your family as a team to make a budget work for the holidays. There is some phenomenal growth in the business for which you work; you may feel this budget will be of short duration. It is always a good thing to know how to budget your finances. Travel to fun places may be the goal next month. You may have a special surprise for your loved ones tonight.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Fondness and appreciation for the past and for your roots in life take on greater importance. Making your home situation more pleasant and attractive plays a part in this and the sale or purchase of real estate could bring much gain before this cycle is completed. You may put some earnest effort into achieving family harmony this weekend. You have a hand in some home improvements today and you seem to have lots of fun making suggestions and eliminating foreseeable problems. Later today an acquaintance may want you to help in a volunteer program. You could make a worthwhile contribution but your energies are already spread rather thin. You may want to volunteer with this friend some other time—the benefits are worth your effort.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Today morning affords you the luxury of sleeping late. Music, reading and putting your living quarters in order could be favorable choices this morning.

You may be working with a nonprofit organization today. Your advice and suggestions will be along the lines of health, housing or environmental issues. These ideas could be merged into the community and you would be wise in keeping track of this progress. Any gifts still needing to be purchased could be accomplished this afternoon. A situation may come up today, in which you could feel wronged or out of place, and trying to understand or fix this situation may not be in your best interest. A little hot chocolate and a lot of laughter are in the forecast for this evening. An old friend visits.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Financial gains are possible through a job-related event. Perhaps you are working a second job today. You could come up with an easier way in which to achieve a quick turnaround time regarding a time-consuming project today. The wheels in your head just keep turning and you will find this analytical thinking beneficial for the whole day. A shared belonging could bring you monetary gains. Be sure to discuss any desire to sell or profit by something that could be of interest to a loved one. Failure to do so could create some really bad vibrations. Someone may have offended you, and as you approach the offender, you may realize that the other person is not going to change his or her habits. He or she may apologize—accept this, adjust and proceed.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You may start an exercise program this morning. Family and friends take on emotional depth now. It is wonderful to have a support system as well as the ability to support others. Making peace with the past is essential now, and it is the only way you can get to the future you want. Ignore this, and you might as well be walking with a rock in your shoe. People who cannot help themselves will play a bigger role in your life just now. Meditation brings self-awareness and that can set you free from being a prisoner of your own thoughts. Think through and know your own situation, emotions in particular.

Lovers, children and other people or things dear to your heart are emphasized at this time in your life. Eat the evening meal as a family this evening.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, DECEMBER 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

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

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 WAIT A

Te el.: 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AV VIA ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PARTMENT A DA AY Y: Sunday

09/12/2012

BY Y DA AY:

Partly cloudy with light to moderate north easterly wind, with speed of 08 - 30 km/h

BY Y NIGHT:

Cold with light to moderate north easterly to northerly wind, with speed of 06 - 28 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear No Current Warnings arnin a

WARNING A

17 °C

22451082

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

23 °C

15 °C

Mirqab

22456536

NUW WAISEEB A

24 °C

17 °C

Sharq

22465401

WAFRA A

23 °C

13 °C

Salmiya

25746401

SALMI

23 °C

12 °C

ABDAL LY

23 °C

13 °C

Jabriya

25316254

JAL ALIY YAH A

24 °C

12 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FAILAKA A

23 °C

16 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

23 °C

20 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

23 °C

22 °C

W Hawally

22630786

WARBA A A - BUBY YA AN

23 °C

16 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

ST TATION T

SFC. CHART

09/12/2012 0000 UTC

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA ATE T

WEA AT THER

Monday

10/12

Mostly sunny

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

Tuesday

11/12

South Jahra

24775066

Wednesday e

12/12

North Jahra

24775992

Thursday

13/12

North Jleeb

24311795

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

22 °C

11 °C

NE

12 - 35 km/h

partly cloudy + blowing dust

25 °C

14 °C

SE-NW

20 - 45 km/h

cool + raising dust

20 °C

09 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

cool + blowing dust

19 °C

08 °C

NW

25 - 45 km/h

PRA RA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT

Fajr

05:07

MAX. Temp.

25 °C

Sunrise

06:31

MIN. Temp.

14 °C 89 %

24884079 24892674

Zuhr

11:40

MAX. RH

24719048

Asr

14:31

MIN. RH

41 %

Sunset

16:50

MAX. Wind

S 46 km/h

Isha

18:12

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

1.92 mm

24710044

Fintas

23900322

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

09/12/12 03:01 UTC

V1.00

T1.06

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36

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

lifestyle G O S S I P

Gabriel Aubry wants

Miley Cyrus

charges brought against Olivier Martinez

makes life simple for people

he 20-year-old singer-and-actress - who is engaged to Liam Hemsworth - believes her best qualities are her calm nature and ability to always try and do the right thing, even if she occasionally makes mistakes. She said: “What’s my best feature? My mum is always like, ‘You’re good at talking people off the ledge.’

People can get so stressed, whereas I can make life seem really simple. I’ll make mistakes some-

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times, but my heart is in the right place.”

However, the ‘So Undercover’ actress admitted she can occasionally be too outspoken. She said: “I can be too honest. I’m not rude but if I’m not feeling something, I can’t fake it. I like honesty.” The blonde beauty also admitted her mum is regularly left “freaked out” by fake online reports of her death. She told more! magazine: “I die every week. It really freaks my mum out,

because people will text her about it and she’s a nervous wreck.” While she thinks she is a calm person, Miley recently admitted her patience would be tested if she had to live with a group of girls. She said: “I definitely don’t regret not being in a sorority [formal social group of college girls].

I couldn’t live in a house full of girls. I would definitely not last. I would strangle them in their sleep.”

Ben Affleck named Entertainer of the Year

he actor-and-director succeeds ‘Harry Potter’ star Daniel Radcliffe, who received the honour from Entertainment Weekly last year, and was bestowed with the accolade as he has finally reached the “pinnacle” of his career. Appearing on US morning show ‘Good Morning America’, Entertainment Weekly editor Jess Cagle explained: “We’ve watched him grow up. He has really reached his pinnacle.” The 40-year-old ‘Daredevil’ star - who burst onto the acting scene 15 years ago in ‘Good Will Hunting’ - is delighted with the honour, particularly because he wants to make his family, wife

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Brad Pitt okay with spoofs of his ad

he ‘Moneyball’ actor stars in the fashion house’s latest campaign for Chanel No 5’s iconic perfume and the clips have been the subject to much ridicule, including an infamous ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit which saw a lookalike ask directors whether there is a script for him to read from instead of sounding “insane” talking to himself. However, Brad admits he is “blissfully” unaware off the parody videos online and isn’t bothered about the mocking. He said: “I’ve been overseas, so I’ve been blissfully protected. I haven’t [seen the parodies], but I say absolutely fair play, fair play.” Brad, 48, was the first male star to head the campaign - taking over from French actress Audrey Tatou - and is pleased with the work Chanel put into the final product. He added to ‘Access Hollywood’: “I kind of liked it ... I respect what they do. They do some really quality things.” For his latest role in Andrew Hominik’s film ‘Killing Them Softly’, where he plays enforcer Jackie Cogan, he took up smoking and despite having previously quit he found it “great” to

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puff away at a cigarette again. He mused: “[I’ve quit] several times, I’m really good at it. It’s great, it’s great.” He knows he won’t carry on though as he doesn’t want to affect his fiancee Angelina Jolie and their children Maddox, 11, Pax, eight, Zahara, seven, Shiloh, six, and four-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. He explained: “But you have to know that you’re going to have to quit on the other end and that that ugly day is coming, so you over enjoy it I guess.

“I’m very conscious of health now and I want to be around for my kids, I don’t have that drive anymore. I don’t crave it all.”

standards, in a way, for them.” Fellow Hollywood star George Clooney, 51, praised Ben for re-emerging on the Hollywood A-list after several rocky years, which included starring in numerous widely panned films and a high profile engagement to singer-and-actress Jennifer Lopez, 43, that was eventually called off. George said: “Hollywood loves a comeback, and he’s an unbelievable comeback kid.” Ben has transitioned from in front of the screen to behind it, helming critically-acclaimed films such as ‘Gone Baby Gone’, ‘The Town’ and this year’s ‘Argo’, which is being tipped for Oscar contention.

Mel’s daughter makes her more courageous he 38-year-old singer - who split from her three-year-old daughter Scarlet’s father, Thomas Starr, earlier this year after 10 years with him - admits she experienced “difficult times” when she first became a mum, and is surprised at just how much her life has changed since giving birth. She said: “I’m so much happier, more confident and courageous and it’s all thanks to her. “There were difficult times. In the middle of the night when she’d cry, then I’d start crying - but the rewards are fantastic. “I knew when I got pregnant that things would never be the same again, but I didn’t realise just how much things would change for me.” Mel admits she found it “really tough” being away from Scarlet to tour musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ - in which she played Mary Magdalene - and while she always feels “guilty” when she is away from her little one, she admits work is like a break because she is “so exhausted” from looking after her daughter. She told Britain’s OK! magazine: “I had to go away for two weeks with the ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ tour. It was really tough. I don’t want to do something like that again. “Being a stay-at-home mum is probably the hardest job because it’s so exhausting looking after children. “Sometimes coming to work feels like a break! But when you go to work, you do have this guilt. It’s hard”. — Bangshowbiz

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splits from

Nick Gordon

Bobbi Kristina Brown

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Jennifer Garner, daughters Violet, six, and Seraphina, three, and nine-month-old Samuel, proud. Ben told Entertainment Weekly: “Being at a place in my life and my career where I know what I’m trying to do, it’s different than being 26. When you’re younger and have the early success that I had - it sounds like the worst Hallmark cliche - but I didn’t have anyone to share it with. “I don’t mean I wanted someone to sit by the fire with. But when you have a family and children, you kind of see yourself reflected in them. I want to make the kinds of movies that my kids are proud of. I have higher

he Canadian model - the father of Halle Berry’s four-year-old child Nahla - was involved in a vicious altercation with the French actor, who is engaged to the brunette actress, on Thanksgiving when he was dropping his daughter back to her mother’s house - but he claims to have done “absolutely nothing” to “provoke” Olivier. A source close to the situation told RadarOnline.com: “Gabe wants criminal charges brought against Olivier for beating the living daylights out of him on Thanksgiving. “Gabe can’t believe that he was the one arrested when he says he did absolutely nothing to provoke the attack. If you look at the pictures of Gabe’s hands after the fight, there isn’t one scratch, nor did he suffer any wounds to his hands, as Olivier did. “Gabe says he was rendered defenseless because he was knocked to the ground by Olivier’s punches. Remember, Olivier’s father was a former professional boxer and he has trained for years also.” According to a sworn court declaration, Gabriel alleges Olivier taunted him the day before Thanksgiving when he took Nahla took a school play, which Halle also attended with the French actor. Gabriel claims Olivier whispered in his ear in French: “I wish I could beat you right now.

“You’re lucky we’re in a school right now. We’re going to take Nahla right now and you’re not going to follow us.” The model was arrested for battery after it was claimed he started the vicious fight, but new court documents revealing the extent of Gabriel’s injuries allege Olivier, 46, attacked him. A temporary emergency protection order against the 36year-old model has now been lifted after he was initially banned from seeing Nahla following the brawl.

he aspiring actress - the daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston - announced her engagement last month in a preview from her upcoming reality show ‘Houstons: On Our Own’, but the couple have now called off their relationship. Nick, 22, tweeted on November 18: “@REALbkBrown and I are not engaged or dating. Just close like we have always been.” Bobbi Kristina later wrote: “Spending time together, Sunday night football & Playing with our @nickgordon new 3DS’s!

Soooooo... Goodbye !!(:(:(: (sic)” The following week she also posted a number of cryptic tweets insisting she is all alone. She wrote: “I’m leaving , this this good ole town and driving to the send of the world . Maybe it’s beautiful there (: Xxxo. Who do I trust in this world? Pfft well that’s easy beezie, #Myself, No1 will kno’s me like ME&They’d rather not take thtchance2knoME, &2me. “That’s incredibly fine .. Because you’d be missing out on a #REALperson Xxo #armyofme #onmywon #goingtomakeit#determined, she wrote. “I guess it’s time 4me2stop depending on anymore. It’s my time2follow what Mom&The Lord put out on this path for me. #Thankful. Mom xxo (sic).” Nick was informally adopted by Whitney when he was 12 and the pair were raised as brother and sister. They were “always close” growing up but their relationship changed as they got older and they sought comfort in each other after Whitney’s death in February and started living like a couple in Atlanta. The reality series - which follows the pair and other family members, Whitney’s brother Gary, sister-in-law (and the singer’s former manager) Patricia Houston and Bobbi’s grandmother Cissy Houston - is expected to detail their break up. One of the executive producers on the show replied to Nick’s tweet, writing: “@nickgordon @realbkbrown watch to see how it all unfolds on #TheHoustons on @lifetimetv (sic).”

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

lifestyle

Myths and Legends al v i t s Fe

Different actors perform during “Myths and Legends” Festival on December 8, 2012, in Medellin, Antioquia Department, Colombia. — AFP photos

At Gaza paintball zone, a different sort of combat eadly weapons are hardly in short supply in the Gaza Strip, but at this paintballing centre in the coastal Palestinian territory, the arms are strictly non-lethal.

“You’re not here to make war, but to have fun,” the young instructor tells customers as he hands out paintball guns stocked with cartridges that are propelled towards their target by compressed air inside the weapons.

“It’s a bit like a Kalash!” Mahmud says, referring to a Kalashnikov assault rifle, the weapon of choice for many of Gaza’s militants. He smiles as he handles the weapon, a short black gun with a cannister on top holding the paint, leaning against a board with the Arabic rules of the game. His enthusiasm doesn’t impress the instructor, who is eager to stress the game is strictly play, and to keep his young customers in line.

“You must respect your opponents and you stop firing at the sound of my whistle,” he says. “The safety catch will prevent you from firing in error,” he adds. “Don’t point your gun until the game starts.” This small centre, located in the middle of an amusement park, opened up last July. In a bid to add a touch of the exotic, the owners decided to give the place the somewhat nonsensical name: “C’est l’ami”-French for “It’s the friend.”

But the intention went somewhat awry,

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and the sign above the entrance now reads “Ce l’ami.” “In the West, paintball is very often played in a forest. The players use replica weapons of war and wear military uniforms,” the centre’s director Atallah Abu Audeh tells AFP. The crowded Gaza Strip provides few open spaces, and no forests or woods for players to use. Instead Abu Audeh’s facility is little more than a small field with obstacles that players can hide behind and shoot around.

“On the Internet, I’ve seen people dressed in fatigues playing in centres that have been transformed into urban war zones,” says Mohammed, one of the younger players. That would be unthinkable in Gaza, Abu Audeh points out. “If I started handing out uniforms, the site would look like a military training group and it wouldn’t be long before Israeli drones would reduce the place to ashes!” he says. Instead, his players wear bodysuits in different shades of blue, some of them with fluorescent green or red patches. Parts of the suits are padded to protect the players, who also wear helmets with visors or goggles to shield their faces. The site is strewn with tyres and inflatable obstacles that players weave between, but the only thing separating the field from the trampolines and merry-gorounds of the surrounding amusement park is

Palestinian youths pose in front of a placard displaying the rules of the game at a paintball park in Gaza City. — AFP a thin safety net. they’re from,” he says coyly, leaving little Abu Audeh declines to be drawn on where doubt that they are among the myriad items he gets his equipment from. “Certainly not smuggled into Gaza through tunnels under from Israel. I’ll leave you to imagine where the border with Egypt. The principle of the

Coffee

from an elephant’s gut fills a

n the lush hills of northern Thailand, a herd of 20 elephants is excreting some of the world’s most expensive coffee. Trumpeted as earthy in flavor and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung.

A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee’s unique taste.

Stomach turning or oddly alluring, this is not just one of the world’s most unusual specialty coffees. At $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound), it’s also among the world’s priciest.

For now, only the wealthy or well-traveled have access to the cuppa, which is called Black Ivory Coffee. It was launched last month at a few luxury hotels in remote corners of the world first in northern Thailand, then the Maldives and now Abu Dhabi - with the price tag of about $50 a serving. The Associated Press traveled to the coffee’s production site in the Golden Triangle, an area historically known for producing drugs more potent than coffee, to see the jumbo baristas at work. And to sip the finished product from a dainty demitasse.

In the misty mountains where Thailand meets Laos and Myanmar, the coffee’s creator cites biology and scientific research to answer the basic question: Why elephants? “When an elephant eats coffee, its stomach acid breaks down the protein found in coffee, which is a key factor in bitterness,” said Blake Dinkin, who has spent $300,000 developing the coffee. “You end up with a cup that’s very smooth without the bitterness of regular coffee.”

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The result is similar in civet coffee, or kopi luwak, another exorbitantly expensive variety extracted from the excrement of the weasel-like civet. But the elephants’ massive stomach provides a bonus. Think of the elephant as the animal kingdom’s equivalent of a slow cooker. It takes between 15-30 hours to digest the beans, which stew together with bananas, sugar cane and other ingredients in the elephant’s vegetarian diet to infuse unique earthy and fruity flavors, said the 42-year-old Canadian, who has a background in civet coffee.

“My theory is that a natural fermentation process takes place in the elephant’s gut,” said Dinkin. “That fermentation imparts flavors you wouldn’t get from other coffees.” At the jungle retreat that is home to the herd, conservationists were initially skeptical about the idea. “My initial thought was about caffeine - won’t the elephants get wired on it or addicted to coffee?” said John Roberts, director of elephants at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, a refuge for rescued elephants. It now earns 8 percent of the coffee’s total sales, which go toward the herd’s health care. “As far as we can tell there is definitely no harm to the elephants.”

Before presenting his proposal to the foundation, Dinkin said he worked with a Canadianbased veterinarian that ran blood tests on zoo elephants showing they don’t absorb any caffeine from eating raw coffee cherries. “I thought it was well worth a try because we’re looking for anything that can help elephants to make a living,” said Roberts, who estimates the cost of

keeping each elephant is about $1,000 a month.

As for the coffee’s inflated price, Dinkin halfjoked that elephants are highly inefficient workers. It takes 33 kilograms (72 pounds) of raw coffee cherries to produce 1 kilogram of (2 pounds)

game is simple: Players gear up as though headed to the frontline and divide into two teams. Then combat begins, with each player attempting to hit his opponents with the paintball cartridges, while avoiding the return fire.

“Many young men come here to transform themselves into fighters for an hour or two,” Abu Audeh says. It’s a chance to safely play at the war and violence that so often engulfs the Gaza Strip. Just last month, an eight-day conflict erupted in and around Gaza, with Israeli war planes launching hundreds of air strikes, and Gaza militants firing hundreds of rockets into the Jewish state.

The fighting, between November 14 and 21, left 175 people dead in Gaza, according to local emergency services officials. Six people were killed on the Israeli side. Abu Audeh’s paintballing business, along with most shops and recreation centres in Gaza City, shut down for the duration of the conflict, but was undamaged and customers quickly returned to the site. All of a sudden, the game is interrupted by the sound of real gunfire nearby.

“It’s nothing, those are celebratory gunshots, probably a wedding!” the instructor says, as the players burst into laughter. — AFP

$50 cup

Black Ivory coffee. The majority of beans get chewed up, broken or lost in tall grass after being excreted. And, his artisanal process is labor-intensive. He uses pure Arabica beans hand-picked by hill-tribe women from a small

In this photo taken Dec 3, 2012, Blake Dinkin (left) watches as a Thai mahout feeds Meena, a 12-year old elephant, with coffee beans mixed with fruits at an elephant camp in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. — AP

mountain estate. Once the elephants do their business, the wives of elephant mahouts collect the dung, break it open and pick out the coffee.

After a thorough washing, the coffee cherries are processed to extract the beans, which are then brought to a gourmet roaster in Bangkok.

Inevitably, the elephant coffee has become the butt of jokes. Dinkin shared his favorites: Crap-accino. Good to the last dropping.

Elephant poop coffee. As far away as Hollywood, even Jay Leno has taken cracks. “Here’s my question,” Leno quipped recently. “Who is the first person that saw a bunch of coffee beans and a pile of elephant dung and said, ‘You know, if I ground those up and drank it, I’ll bet that would be delicious.’”

Jokes aside, people are drinking it. Black Ivory’s maiden batch of 70 kilograms (150 pounds) has sold out. Dinkin hopes to crank out six times that amount in 2013, catering to customers he sees as relatively affluent, openminded and adventurous with a desire to tell a good story. For now, the only places to get it are a few Anantara luxury resorts, including one at the Golden Triangle beside the elephant foundation. At sunset one recent evening in the hotel’s hilltop bar, an American couple sampled the brew. They said it surpassed their expectations. “I thought it would be repulsive,” said Ryan Nelson, 31, of Tampa, Florida. “But I loved it. It was something different. There’s definitely something wild about it that I can’t put a name on.” —AP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

lifestyle

There’s detective work to do for party dress codes he holidays are often a highly social season that provide a good reason to wear the things you might not often have the occasion to pull out of your closet: sequins, a fancy red dress, the sexy black one. But should you? Or will everyone else be wearing their cozy cashmere sweater and favorite riding boots?

“People don’t know how to dress anymore - it’s anything goes, which is a huge problem,” says Marie France Van Damme, a fashion designer and author of the new book, “RSVP: Simple Sophistication, Effortless Entertaining.” “People are either overdressed or not dressed at all. They should be looking for the happy medium.”

The invite - or make that the more likely Evite - probably won’t give you the guidance you’re seeking. Hosts want to kick off the party with cute conversation, not an edict about what to wear. And even if dress code is addressed, it’s probably “cocktail casual” or “holiday glam,” which can mean a whole lot of things to different people. Even the formal “blacktie” directive seems to be open to interpretation.

“As soon as you get an invitation, the first question is, ‘What do I wear?’ Or at least that’s what I think,” says Lisa Axelson, head designer at Ann Taylor.

Style expert Amy Tara Koch goes straight to the fine print to see what the venue is.

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She says that gives the biggest clue; a party at someone’s home will dictate a different dress than one at a restaurant. A house party gives permission to be a little more daring, whether it’s a plunging neckline or a fashion-forward combination, mostly because there’s an assumption that you know the hosts well enough to be invited into their inner circle and you could very well know the other people there, Koch says. A restaurant party could still be a gathering of your more intimate friends, but it also could be with work colleagues or extended family - you know, the relatives you only see in December.

Axelson, however, sees a big difference in the appropriate attire if the party is at the country club or the neighborhood bistro. She also lets the day and time guide her: probably nice trousers or a pencil skirt and embellished-neck sweater with flats for a Sunday brunch, maybe something with some glitter for Saturday night.

An afternoon open house is practically an invitation for something colorful, says Koch. Her plan this season is to break out a bright shirt, fur vest, leggings and tall boots. There are very few dress-code mistakes that can’t be fixed with a great shoe, says Colleen Sherin, senior fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue. The other option is a lovely necklace or earrings to

This image released by Ann Taylor shows a model wearing a white sleeveless blouse and black cigarette pants. — AP draw people immediately to your face.

Both Axelson and Koch encourage easily removable accessories that dress up or down an outfit. It could be the statement necklace that tucks under your

collar if it’s a more relaxed crowd, or a beaded wrap or tailored jacket - maybe one with sparkle, Axelson suggests - that can be hung with the coats if needed. No one will be the wiser, they say, and you’ll walk in knowing you have options. It’s not a bad idea to keep “a few spare parts” in the car as well, in case you’ve shown up on the casual side, says Koch.

“My transition toolbox is textured tights, long dangling earrings, a very long, vertical scarf, a cuff bracelet and a brighter lipstick,” she says. Van Damme purposely carries a clutch to parties, which blends better than a big overstuffed handbag, so she can slip things in or out without drawing attention. She’ll always choose a sleek and chic silhouette over something froufrou: It’s respectful and stylish, she says. Generally, Axelson thinks separates, cigarette or dark-denim pants with the pleated or slinky tank and cardigan, for example, offer more flexibility. “With a dress, once you’ve made a commitment to it, you are staying in it.”

What about brocade or jacquard skinny pants with a great blouse? You’ll probably feel comfortable in it and treat walking into a party like you were stopping into the corner place for coffee, Sherin says. But Van Damme puts her foot down on denim. “I don’t think jeans are right for a cocktail party or most parties - maybe with a fabulous, fabulous top, but why

not put black pants on instead?” No one is going to the trouble of hosting a party for guests to look like they rolled out of bed, she says. — AP This image shows a model wearing a cashmere wrap cardigan sweater and black sequin miniskirt.

Opera superstar Indian actors Suraj Sharma (right), Adil Hussain (center) and Shravanthi Sainath (second right) arrive by boat to attend a photocall for their film “Life of Pi” during the Dubai International Film Festival at Madinat Jumeirah in the Gulf emirate of Dubai yesterday. — AFP

Grammy

Black Keys’ nominations cap successful year

ow’s this for a big year: In the time since they started teasing their album “El Camino,” two-piece rock band the Black Keys played “Saturday Night Live” twice, sold out two nights at Madison Square Garden, headlined Coachella and scored a Cadillac commercial. By the time they gigged two evenings at LA’s Staples Center in the fall, label bosses at Warner Music Group were waiting to surprise them with platinum records for “El Camino,” their seventh record.

The year culminated Wednesday night when the duo was nominated for five Grammys, including nods for album of the year and record of the year for the hit single “Lonely Boy,” and singer/ guitarist Dan Auerbach was nominated in the pro-

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records, Dr John’s “Locked Down.” The band scored big on the fall TV season through its many song placements even as it reached a settlement with Pizza Hut and Home Depot over musical knockoffs.

Most important for the duo, this past summer it fulfilled a lifelong dream: The band was inducted into the hall of fame of Firestone High School in Akron, Ohio, where the two met as teenagers.

There, said Carney, their portrait hangs alongside fellow alumni astronaut Judy Resnick, Olympic gold medal diver Phil Boggs and singer Chrissie Hynde. “We were always making fun of the fact that that was our main goal: To try and get on the wall of Firestone High School,” said Carney, smok-

Dan Auerbach (right) and Patrick Carney, of The Black Keys, perform at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. — MCT ducer’s category. As evidenced by Wednesday’s tally, the ragged duo from Akron, Ohio, now relocated to Nashville, has gradually risen to become one of America’s biggest, and best, rock bands.

Not art rock, indie rock, rap rock, punk rock, prog rock or dance rock. Rock rock. “This has been a crazy year for us,” said drummer Patrick Carney, 32, backstage before he first of the two Staples Center gigs. His basketball-player height is hidden when he hunches over his drum kit, disguising the fact that he’s an imposing presence up close. Also this year, Carney blamed Nickelback for the decline of rock - and played drums on the new Kesha record. Auerbach spent time in New Orleans banging on an out-of-tune piano with Dr John before producing one of the year’s best

ing a cigarette in a lounge across from the Clippers’ locker room.

“I was such a bad student,” said Auerbach the next night backstage, taking to heart the Firestone honor, citing it as evidence that any number of roads can lead to success. “It’s not all about school.

It’s about following your dreams. So hopefully some kids get inspired by that and don’t feel down because they suck in classes.” The odds are high they’ll make that connection, based on the sold-out nights at Staples Center. The crowd consisted of 50-something men reared on Led Zeppelin, garage rock fans connected to the Black Keys’ roots in the underground and fans of commercial rock powerhouse KROQ-FM and the NFL who can chant all the words to megahit “Gold on

the Ceiling.”

The Black Keys’ sound and attitude are just as versatile: In their jeans and leather, they look like roughnecks. Carney’s jumbo black glasses suggest an artiness, while his high-profile spot onstage next to Auerbach signals that this is a partnership and not a drummer-for-hire gig. But he also has a dorky quality, something that he says he’s well aware of when he finds himself at hip clubs or Hollywood Hills cocktail parties: “I’m not a cool dude. I don’t have a cool outfit. I don’t have, you know, an edgy thing.”

The edge is in the music, and since they started working with producer Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) in 2007, it has resulted in a beefier arenaready sound augmented with organ-based filigree, heavy-duty shout-along choruses and surprising twists and turns. A Black Keys song has a blues logic, but a Beatles sensibility.

Out front, Auerbach exudes a certain shy distance but sings about challenging love with an openness while hitting his electric guitar. He’s not a wordsmith, doesn’t present himself as an iconoclast like Jack White. He builds sturdy, unpretentious songs that highlight a workmanlike voice, and does so with a sound steeped in an American musical tradition he understands well.

The demographic blend of their audiences has been one of the great joys of success, said Carney when asked about adapting to arena shows.

“Looking out into the crowd is a beautiful thing to me. At this point, there’s 14-year-old girls and 65year-old men, and they’re all hanging out, somehow drawn to the same event. It blows my mind.”

Even after the band had been touring for a few years - their first national run was as opener for Sleater-Kinney - Carney imagined a more blue-collar existence. “I thought that, realistically, selling out a 300-seat venue in Cleveland was top of the game.” The band rose in the wake of a particularly fruitful - and oft-overlooked - period in Midwest rock, when the Cleveland/ Columbus/ Akron axis delivered an inspired blue-collar rock sound cultivated by bands including Guided by Voices, the Bassholes, New Bomb Turks, Brainiac and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments.

Auerbach, who is 33, married and has a daughter, describes the vibe in that insular environment as the “weird Midwestern record store nerd hatethe-world kind of thing. I don’t know what it is, but it’s where we’re from. It seems like everybody we looked up to was the most grumpy person on the face of the Earth.” Auerbach, though soft-spoken, isn’t a grump. “I’d buy anything that was from Ohio,” said Carney of his regular trips to the Columbus record store Used Kids. “Because when you’re from a place like that, or a town like that, you’re just so impressed that somebody has a record out.” —MCT

Domingo leads uptempo life M

iked, coiffed and dusted with TV makeup, the world’s busiest opera tenor was ready for his close-up.

“Welcome, Katherine Jenkins, back to the ballroom,” barked the “Dancing With the Stars” announcer, “along with the amazing Placido Domingo, who’s just as gorgeous!” It was a balmy October evening at CBS Television City studios on Beverly Boulevard last week, and a surreal mash-up of the famous (Kirstie Alley, Emmitt Smith) and would-be famous were squaring off in an “all-star” edition of ABC’s hit dance-contest whack-a-thon.

With split-second prime-time precision, three chandeliers descended from the studio’s rafters and a string quartet magically materialized on stage. Then Jenkins, the voluptuous 32-year-old Welsh mezzo-soprano, and Domingo - the Madrid-born citizen of the world, LA Opera general director and member of the most famous brand name in the history of classical music, the Three Tenors - launched into “Come What May,” a creamy love ballad from “Songs,” Domingo’s new Sony Classical collection of pop solos and duets with the likes of Josh Groban, Megan Hilty and Susan Boyle.

As the tune climaxed, two lithe young dancers glided onto the floor, and the wellprepped studio audience clapped and shrieked its approval. Standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling video screen, Domingo drank in the spectacle with an avuncular smile that gave no hint of his breakneck timetable. “I think that I have been all my life overextended,” he said a few minutes later. “I have been busy all of my life. It’s kind of my spirit.”

To put it mildly. A lifelong showman who disdains rigid distinctions between “high art” and popular culture, Domingo is near the peak of his artistry and his global popularity, and at 71 he shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, he may be speeding up. Later that evening he was heading to Dodger Stadium to meet the baseball team’s new owners and help sing “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch of a lateseason showdown with the Giants, with the Dodgers’ playoff hopes on the line.

The night before, at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, he’d nailed the lead baritone part in a concert version of Verdi’s “The Two Foscari,” which he and LA Opera have been performing fully staged to start their season at the Music Center. It was the 140th operatic role that Domingo has essayed in a career that has yielded more than 100 recordings and made him a yearround fixture at the world’s leading opera houses.

The next morning he was booked at an LA recording studio. The day after that he would be conducting a rehearsal of LA Opera’s production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” which he would perform at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Sunday night before flying to Spain. There, he’ll preside over the inaugural

Placido Domingo Festival, Oct. 25-Nov. 3, in the Andalusian cities of Seville and Malaga. It was, in short, a typical 24-hour cycle in the life of a consummate crossover artist who’s as comfortable crooning swoon-fest standards like “Besame Mucho” and “The Girl From Ipanema” (both on his new record) as he is belting out Wagner arias.

“You know, my parents, they were performers and they had their own company, and they had to battle a lot,” Domingo said while cruising toward Dodger Stadium, tucked in the back seat of an oversize van.

He’d just bolted from the “Dancing With the Stars” set into a parking-lot trailer, where he doffed his tailored suit and threw on a Dodgers jersey with his name emblazoned on the back _ a gift from the team. En route to the ballpark with him were Marta Domingo, his Mexico-born wife of a half-century (and an opera director herself); his grandson Dominic Domingo, 24; and his indispensable factotum, Nicholas Marko.

“They had two zarzuelas daily,” Domingo continued, referring to the traditional Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that was his parents’ specialty, “and then when they finish those two they rehearse the two for the day after. And on Sunday, three. When they tell me, ‘Placido, you work a lot,’ I don’t know if I work a lot. I know the way my parents used to work.”

The maestro’s marathon session had begun the previous night in Costa Mesa, Calif, headlining “Foscari,” a little-known early gem in the Verdi canon. Stripped of props and sets, the concert version put the focus on Verdi’s rapturous music, the stops-out playing of conductor James Conlon’s orchestra, and the voices of Domingo, soprano Marina Poplavskaya and tenor Francesco Meli. The couture-clad Orange County audience, which has been without a major professional opera company since Opera Pacific folded four years ago, rewarded the performers with a massive ovation. When the cast took their bows, Domingo, whose old-school courtesy would flatter a Renaissance courtier, handed his bouquet of roses to a surprised (and pleased) female violinist.

Afterward, in the backstage dressingroom halls, LA Opera’s administrative team buzzed about the evening, as the musicians hoisted their instruments and headed toward the waiting buses.

“I’d love to be able to get here a couple times a year,” Christopher Koelsch, LA Opera’s chief operating officer, told a visitor.

“There’s clearly an audience for it down here.” Domingo, who’s always looking for ways to spread culture to the underserved masses, seconded the idea of LA Opera making regular forays to the wilds of Costa Mesa.

“I think the public, it is hungry for opera,” he said. “Opera fans in Orange County, they come to the Music Center, but not as many.

People think twice before thinking, ‘I have to be stuck in the traffic.’” —MCT

Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic Conductor (left) and famed tenor Placido Domingo, General Director of the Los Angeles Opera, pose for portrait in downtown Los Angeles, California. — MCT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

lifestyle

The Rolling Stones perform in concert on Saturday, Dec 8, 2012 in New York. — AP

Rolling Stones hit NYC for 50th anniversary gig t sure didn’t feel like a farewell. The Rolling Stones - average age 68, if you’re counting were in rollicking form as they rocked the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for 21/2 hours, their first US show on a mini-tour marking a mind-boggling 50 years as a rock band. And though every time the Stones tour, the inevitable questions arise as to whether it’s “The Last Time,” to quote one of their songs, there was no sign that anything is ending.

“People ask us why we’ve been doing this for so long,” said Mick Jagger, the band’s impossibly energetic frontman, thanking the crowd for its loyalty. “The answer is we do it for you.” Jagger was in his usual swaggering form - strutting, jogging, skipping and pump-

I

ing his arms like a man half his age. And though he briefly donned a flamboyant feathered black cape for “Sympathy for the Devil” and later, some red-sequined tails, he was mostly content to prowl the stage in a tight black T-shirt and trousers.

Jagger was joined by his brilliant guitarists, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, and of course drummer Charlie Watts, and Mary J Blige, who sang a searing “Gimme Shelter” with Jagger. The band played a generous 23 songs, including two new ones, but mostly favorites like “Brown Sugar,” “Honky Tonk Woman” and “Midnight Rambler.” The rousing encore included “Jumping Jack Flash,” of course, but the final song was “Satisfaction.”

And though the song speaks of not getting any, the consensus of the packed 18,000-seat arena was that it was a hugely satisfying evening indeed.

“If you like the Stones, this was as good a show as you could have had,” said one fan, Robert Nehring, 58. The Stones also will play two shows in Newark, New Jersey, on Dec 13 and 15. Then next week they join a veritable who’s who of British rock royalty and US superstars at the blockbuster 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert at Madison Square Garden.

Also scheduled to perform: Paul McCartney, the Who, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Eddie Vedder, Billy Joel, Roger Waters and

Chris Martin. In a flurry of anniversary activity, the band also released a hits compilation last month with two new songs, “Doom and Gloom” and “One More Shot,” and HBO premiered a new documentary on their formative years, “Crossfire Hurricane.” The Stones formed in London in 1962 to play Chicago blues, led at the time by the late Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart, along with Jagger and Richards, who’d met on a train platform a year earlier. Bassist Bill Wyman and Watts were quick additions.

Wyman, who left the band in 1992, was a guest at the London shows last month, as was Mick Taylor, the celebrated former Stones guitarist who left in 1974 - to be replaced by

Wood, the newest Stone and the youngster at 65. The inevitable questions have been swirling about the next step for the Stones: another huge global tour, on the scale of their last one, “A Bigger Bang,” which earned more than $550 million between 2005 and 2007?

Something a bit smaller? Or is this mini-tour, in the words of their new song, really “One Last Shot”? The Stones won’t say. But in an interview last month, they made clear they felt the 50th anniversary was something to be marked. “I thought it would be kind of churlish not to do something,” Jagger told The Associated Press. “Otherwise, the BBC would have done a rather dull film about the Rolling Stones.” — AP

Retro toys making

comeback this Christmas

ld Maid and marbles, tin checkers, sock monkeys and Raggedy Ann storybooks ring up intrinsic childhood memories from the past, especially for baby boomers and their parents. So it should be of little surprise, then, that vintage toys from Tonka trucks and Furby to Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robots and chatter telephones (dial-up, of course) are causing cash registers to ring during this Christmas season as retailers offer increased “retro” toy selections. It is not a full-fledged trend yet, experts say, but each year shoppers are seeing a few more toy items they remember from their pasts.

“This year we happen to have some hot toys - some really ‘topping everyone’s list toys,’ and I think it’s

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US singer Katy Perry performs during a concert at Meydan Racecourse in the Gulf Emirate of Dubai late on December 8, 2012. — AFP

Tea expert blends passion with Jane Austen he kettle is never turned off at this house,” said Julia Matson as she set her dining-room table with Wedgwood Blue Willow cups and saucers, perfectly round scones, strawberry-rhubarb jam and clotted cream. The aroma wafting in from the kitchen of her house in Plymouth was from her own blend of tea - Indian, Sri Lankan and Kenyan - brewing for precisely 4 minutes at 205 degrees. Four cups filled with loose tea leaves of different colors, shapes and textures sat at the ready for later sampling.

Matson is serious about tea. But not too serious to thoroughly enjoy every last drop.

Through her business, Bingley’s Teas, Matson sells to tea shops nationwide, from the Crown and Crumpet in San Francisco to the Blue Ox Coffee Co. in south Minneapolis. Her most popular products come from mixing her two primary passions: Jane Austen’s fiction and her favorite beverage. By assigning different blends

“T

Julia Matson of Plymouth, Minnesota, knows her tea. For the last 12 years she’s been studying “the leaf,” combining her passion for Jane Austen with her passion for tea, assigning different teas to the characters in Austen’s novels. — MCT

to the immortal characters in Austen’s novels, Matson has drawn “Janeite” customers from as far away as the Middle East and Japan.

The blend for Austen’s best-known creation, Elizabeth Bennet of “Pride and Prejudice,” is a black-tea base signifying her strong character, plus sassy cranberry and blue mallow for her fine eyes, tempered with sweetness. Mr Darcy, object of Elizabeth’s scorn and ultimate affection, is an Oolong with distinctive notes of leather, chestnut and plum. Compassion for Mrs. Bennet’s Nerves is an all-herbal tisane chamomile, peppermint, passion flower, rose-

hips and lavender. To Matson, tea and Jane go together like bonnets and shawls. “There is an aesthetic gentleness and playfulness to the Austen world that coincides with tea,” she said.

“They both bring pleasure and comfort. Both can make you laugh, bring you calm and offer insight into yourself.” Austen, she said, bought her tea from one trusted source. “The tea trade was shifty back in those days,” she said. “And they didn’t have tea bags, so Jane, like me, was a ‘loose’ woman.”

Matson fills her own tea filters - usually two small ones to a pot - rather than using pre-filled tea bags or ball infusers. “You need to give the leaves enough room to expand, for fuller flavor,” she explained. Matson speaks to book clubs and other groups about the history of tea, the different styles of steeping and British tea etiquette. A certified tea specialist, she has traveled across the country with the New Yorkbased Specialty Tea Institute as well as to Taiwan. She has taken classes, studied under tea masters and visited tea producers to see how leaves are grown and processed.

“My studying will never end,” she said.

“There’s always more to discover with tea.”

Matson, 42, lives with her husband, Kyle, an engineer, and their two sons. Growing up in Champaign, Ill., she was a fan of Austen’s fiction before she became engrossed in tea. After years of doing ehabilitative body work as a career, she took a community-ed class on tea - as an excuse to bake goodies.

“I didn’t care about tea, I just wanted the shortbread and sponge cake recipes,” she said.

But she soon became intrigued by “the leaf,” and decided to follow her nose and taste buds down a new path. By attending countless “cuppings” (tasting parties for tea geeks) and experimenting on her own, she learned to taste notes of naturally occurring flavors - magnolia, chestnut, lily, burnt caramel, tobacco.

Matson’s favorite era may be the early 19th century, but that doesn’t mean her leaves aren’t hip. Eat Street Social uses her line to create tea-based cocktails. In 2011, as a sponsor of an Elvisthemed “Rock the Cause” event, Bingley’s offered Wired!, a highly caffeinated tea, and Hunka Burnin’ Love, a chocolate-chili tea with rose petals. When Melanie Logan, owner of the Blue Ox, heard about Bingley’s Teas from a friend of Matson’s, she decided to try them at her cafe because “I like to keep things local,” she said. “Our customers love her teas - they’re extraordinary.” But since they’re not all Austen fans, some of the names have been changed: The Patience of Miss Price has been redubbed Vanilla Dream; Marianne’s Wild Abandon is Summer Blend.

“I am literally in love with tea,” Matson said as she poured fresh cups of an odd-smelling but healthy matcha, green and frothy. “I have such a crush on it, and I don’t seem to be getting over it.” This declaration didn’t faze her husband, who had just arrived home from work and made a beeline for the scones. During Austen’s time, the Regency era, tea was expensive, but nonetheless an important social ritual, Matson said.

“You knew you were someone if you were invited to take tea. It was also frequently served after dinner, which no one seems to want to do these days for fear of caffeine.” Matson’s modern-day tea parties replicate that social purpose, but hers “are as bawdy as they are proper,” she said, laughing. “You can go really deep with both Jane and tea, but it’s helpful not to be too serious. Enjoy them, share them and find others who like to do the same. —MCT

Retro toys have made a comeback among kids in the 2012 holiday shopping season, including these toys from yesteryear at Mast General Store in Columbia, South Carolina. — MCT bringing it more to the forefront,” said Laurie Schacht, toy expert and co-publisher of the Toy Insider, an annual consumer holiday toy guide.

You’re seeing the return of Furby, the 1990s Hasbro owl/hamster creature, that Schacht says will end the 2012 Christmas holiday shopping season as one of the “hottest” toys out there, along with the return of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which also is doing well at retail counters, she said. But so is the decades-old Slinky, (the song is celebrating its 50th anniversary), Cabbage Patch babies and Spirographs, in limited distribution this holiday year, but poised for a bigger release in 2013, Schacht said.

“It’s such a great toy, a craft activity,” she said of the Spirograph. “I was so excited when I saw it.” It’s a combination of factors that bring a retro toy to the top of current toy lists, Schacht said, including parents who remember when they played with the toy or parents who remember when their kids played with the toy (and now want to purchase it for their grandkids). In the case of Furby, Schacht said each of her kids had

their own when they were little.

“Now Furby is back, and back in a big way. You’re seeing Furby all over that’s another thing that’s clearly moving it to the top of the list. And this Furby is even better than the original one,” Schacht said, featuring more animation and functioning on 21st-century apps.

Schacht admits that her initial concerns that the retro Furby would be too expensive (they cost considerably more than the originals), have proven to be misguided. While Furby, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Cabbage Patch dolls are beloved

by Gen Xers, certain retro toys resonate across generations, she said.

And several retailers now carry displays of retro toy items, from local second-hand and vintage shops to Target, Toys R Us, Walmart, Mast General and others.

Jimmy Palmer of Gilbert, grandfather of four, found himself in the Mast General Store in Columbia, SC, last week picking up two Floating Ball game sets for the two of his grandchildren that didn’t have their own. He said he is happy to share toys that he played with as a child with his grandchildren. Each game set will be carved with each child’s initials, he said, to help keep down the fuss.

“Anything that’s non-electronic, that’s not in front of a TV, I’m in favor of,” Palmer said, explaining that he “used simple toys” in his childhood growing up in Cayce. And though he whipped out a cellphone to quickly call home so as to be precise about the ages of the four grandkids - two of them 6 years old and two of them 8 years old - Palmer was clear that he sees great value in the toys of yesteryear. “When I was growing up, our imaginations was what we had,” he said. “How many kids know about marbles?” Palmer said. “It’s amazing how many kids are enthralled by these toys when they get them, just like we were.” At Mast General, all the toys are retro, said Ruth Smyrl, general manager, so customers know what to expect when they come in.

“The most famous retro toy that we carry is our Sock Monkey,” Smyrl said. “That is probably our biggestselling retro toy.” Harkening back to really hard economic times in the US, people made the now highly-recognizable toy with the bright red smiles out of available, often used, scraps of material. Fisher-Price toys from the 1960s and 1970s also are featured in the Mast General toy lineup, Smyrl said, including the retro camera, the milk truck, xylophones, pianos and radios, and this year, the Tonka truck.

And other classics - such as the standard slingshot and old-fashioned cork gun - can be found there. “Our toys are a direct reflection of the whole Mast store experience,” Smyrl said, which means taking a deep breath, slowing down, and stepping back in time. “They serve to get people away from the whole screen experience with toys,” she said, meaning nothing that requires a battery. — MCT

Rolling Stones hit NYC for 50th anniversary gig

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

39

Bollywood wows Morocco, dreams of America

Indian film actor Amitabh Bachchan attends the Tribute to Hindi Cinema at the Marrakech International Film Festival in Marrakech at the Marrakech Congress Palace.

— AP/AFP photos or once, the storytellers, snake charmers and food stalls were gone from Marrakech’s main square and in their place pulsed a crowd of thousands of people waiting to see a legend of Indian cinema who has attained superstar status here in Morocco. “Shahrukh Khan! Shakrukh Khan!” the young men and women chanted in the chill night air, waiting for the 47-year-old Indian screen legend to make a brief appearance as part of the Marrakech International Film Festival’s tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema.

Bollywood, the Mumbai-based Hindi film industry, may still be struggling to make its mark on American and European audiences, but its trademark hours-long epics filled with the riotous spectacle and glamorous stars have enchanted audiences in the Middle East and North Africa. The Indian actors and directors attending the Marrakech festival, which began Nov 30 and ended Saturday, expressed surprise over their rapturous welcome in Morocco, even as they talked of one day spreading that same appeal into Hollywood by altering the tried and true formulas of Indian film.

“Marrakech is quite surprisingly into Bollywood. It’s amazing,” said director Prakash Jha, known for films tackling serious social issues with the Bollywood tactic of big stars and musical numbers. “We just attended one of my films, “Chakravyuh,” and I was surprised at the number of people there who knew us and were into Indian cinema.”

Moroccans have enjoyed Bollywood for decades, first in inexpensive theaters showing Arabic-subtitled Hindi films in low-income neighborhoods, then via pirated DVDs available in bazaars. On Friday night, there was no doubt about the devotion among the seething crowd in Marrakech’s Djemaa el-Fna square with tough looking young men yelling “I love you” as Khan lip-synched and danced to some of the hit tunes from his 75 movies before plunging down to the crowd to shake people’s hands.

In 2011, he was the guest of honor at the Marrakech film festival, which this year celebrated 100 years of Indian cinema, according to festival director Melita Toscan du Plantier. She said Moroccans adore Indian movies and were celebrating the centennial one year early to get the jump on other festivals. “It is a cinema which speaks about love without nude scenes and is colorful and joyous and makes people dream,” she said in an interview. This year’s festival, including a tribute delivered by legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve, included more than 30 names from Bollywood, including at least half a dozen big stars such as elder statesman Amitabh Bachchan, 70, who has helped popularize Indian cinema around the world.

The industry produces more than a 1,000 films a year, with about a third of that coming from the Hindi-language Bollywood, and sells about a billion more tickets than Hollywood - though annual revenues are only about 10 percent of Hollywood’s $30 billion annual revenue. Indian audiences are vast but pay little for their tickets, leaving Indian studios eager for overseas audiences, such as Indian diaspora communities abroad that appreciate the action flash and spectacle.

More lucrative than North Africans and Middle Eastern audiences are those from America and western Europe, which so far seem to be immune to the lush charms of Indian cinema.

There have been a few American movies by Indian expatriate directors that have done well, such as Mira Nair’s 2001 “Monsoon Wedding” and English director Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning take on Bollywood, “Slumdog Millionaire” in 2008.

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Moroccan transvestite actress and dancer Noor arrives.

Moroccan actress Leila Hadioui arrives.

Italian director Matteo Garrone (left) gives the Jury Prize award to Iranian director Vahid Vakilifar, for his film “Taboor”.

French actress Alice Taglioni arrives for the award ceremony.

But for the most part India’s blockbusters aren’t making it into Western theaters in any great numbers - something that many in the industry hope is set to change. “Especially now, it is changing times for Indian cinema. .... We are on the threshold of being able to do some stuff internationally vis-a-vis our films, without changing them too much,” Khan told journalists.

“I feel we are on the verge of something really wonderful.”

Khan admitted that Indian movies can be a difficult sell for some audiences, given their lack of coherent plots and linear story development. But he said that could be helped with more Western input. “A lot of people in India would criticize me for it, but I think you need a huge amount of Western writing help to get the form. The creative should be the same, Indian creative,” he said.

Bollywood is entering a new phase featuring better and more diverse films, said Mumbai-based film critic Aniruddha Guha - even as it continues to make the traditional three-hour “masala” blockbusters featuring, song, dance, adventure and romance to appeal to a broad Indian audience. “The difference

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra (right) Bollywood actress Ileana D’Cruz (center) and Indian film director Anurag Basu (left) pose for photographers as they arrive at screening for “BARFI!” at the Jemaa El Fana Square.

Indian actress Sharmila Tagore poses for photographers after receiving flowers for her birthday during the awards ceremony. is in that the number of good films being made each year - and by good, I mean films that attempt to tell a story without falling for conventional traps, (and) which are technically sound and largely display good acting - have been going up,” he said.

He said Hollywood has both the massive blockbusters, which are often of questionable artistic value, and well-crafted smaller films that appeal to a different kind of audience.

“Bollywood needs to strike that balance,” he said. “If you want

Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica (left) poses after he presents an award to Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou for his lifetime career.

to be attractive to European or American audiences, you have to be more than just traditional culture,” said actor Abhay Deol, known as a rebel in the industry for often bucking the standard Bollywood approach. “I don’t think until we break that traditional mold, we will be able to break into that crossover.”

Director Jha, who began his career in India’s small alternative film sector, has made a name for himself by making controversial films about daily problems, including the trademark song and dance. His 2012 film “Chakravyuh,” which also starred Deol, focused on the crushing poverty that has sparked a Maoist revolt in central India, yet still had the love story and the songs - including one that ran afoul from the censor board for its ridicule of country’s biggest business family names. “There are two Indias. One is bright, shining and developing into heaven, and there is a whole big India that is suffering,” he told The Associated Press. “The battle in the forest has now spilled into the neighborhoods.” He admitted that to make his films work commercially he has to tone down the criticism and the realism, but at least they get the ideas out. India’s Maoist rebels actually praised the movie for trying to tackle the issues, though they quibbled about some aspects of it. For now, India’s classic song and dance fantasies continue to enthrall crowds in Marrakech and elsewhere, but the world may soon be seeing a different face to Bollywood. — AP

Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri poses for photographers after receiving The Golden Star award, the festival’s grand prize, for his film “The Attack”.