15th Sep

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 , 2012

7 150 Fils

Lebanon Christians feel under siege; find hope in pope

No: 15569

SHAWWAL 28 , 1433 AH

9

48

Royals outraged

by Kate topless photos

Cutler struggles as Bears falls to Packers 23-10

GCC condemns anti-Islam film as violence explodes Bahrain blocks websites; Muslims fume

DUBAI: The Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday condemned an anti-Islam film as well as the violence it has triggered, as Bahrain ordered that websites carrying the movie be blocked.

“This film cannot be accepted or excused as it abuses the feelings of Muslims and non-Muslims who reject insulting prophets, religions and beliefs,” GCC Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani said in a statement. Zayani also “condemned acts of violence against US embassies in some countries,” adding that “our anger... is no excuse to such carry out such attacks that only serve the low and suspicious aims of those who produced it.”

The GCC chief called for the issue to be dealt with “wisely” and for those who carry out or support such attacks to be punished. Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa ordered “the blocking and stopping of websites carrying the film mocking” the Muslim Prophet Mohammed, according to state news agency BNA. Citizens were urged “not to participate in broadcasting the film by sharing it on social media networks,” and advised against allowing their children to watch it.

Protests over a trailer for the anti-Islam film on YouTube first broke out Tuesday in Egypt and Libya, where the US consulate in Benghazi came under attack by an armed mob which killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.

The protests have since spread across other Arab and Muslim countries. The low-budget movie “Innocence of Muslims,” in which actors have strong American accents, portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent. It pokes fun at the Prophet Mohammed and touches on themes of paedophilia and homosexuality.

Meanwhile, Kuwait yesterday strongly condemned the production of a movie that deliberately defamed the Prophet Mohammad and Islam and has voiced grave concern over the violent reactions that took place in a number of countries against American interests. (See Pages 12, 13)

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KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah returned home yesterday after private visits to Mongolia, US and UK. The Amir was received at Kuwait International Airport by HH the Crown Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other top government officials. — KUNA

Iran to ‘protect Kuwait Shiites’

By A Saleh

MANAMA: A group of protesters raise a Saudi flag and an Al-Qaeda flag toward the US Embassy, across the highway on the edge of Manama, Bahrain, during a protest yesterday as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam’s Prophet. — AP

KUWAIT: An Iranian Parliamentary Security Committee said that it did not overlook the option of “interfering” in Kuwait to protect Shiites from “terrorists who are arming against them”. He added that the GCC military interference in Bahrain will not happen again in Kuwait. A senior military Iranian leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that both Badr and AlQuds corps are readily stationed near the Iraqi-Kuwaiti borders and that they are militarily qualified and equipped to interfere in any neighboring country to protect ‘AlAl-Bayt’ [The family of the Prophet].

Moreover, Mohammed Kareem Abedi, a member of the Iranian Parliamentary

National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that his committee had reviewed reports on the measures suggested to protect Shiites in Kuwait in case of any instability. “We have been following the situation and have received information about terrorist calls demanding revenge from Al-Al-Bayt”, he said, underscoring that Iran’s interference would be to protect Shiites the same way GCC states justified entering Bahrain to protect Sunnis. “Those who believe that they are a match for Iran do not realize that whenever it takes, the Islamic Republic of Iran can threaten the security of GCC regimes”, he added. He also noted that Iran is militarily a major power and has long arms to reach everywhere.

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 2012

KUWAIT: Farwaniya municipality officials recently launched an inspection campaign in Jleeb that resulted in confiscating four truckloads of subsidized food stuff like rice, milk powder, oil and sugar in addition to vegetables, fruits and clothes. The campaign headed by Farwaniya municipality’s road blocking department manager, Khaled Al-Azmi, was escorted by a police force headed by Maj Sulaimn Al-Saeedi. —- Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

MP Al-Barrak wants total mobilization of Kuwaitis KUWAIT: MP Musallam Al-Barrak has called for the total mobilization of Kuwaitis on Sept 24, “to protect the country, as this gathering will take place on the eve of the verdict expected to be delivered by the constitutional court,” and termed the process of the court deciding on the standing of the five constituency law as a conspiracy.

Al-Barrak stated that, “on the night before the court makes its ruling public, everyone should remain vigilant and gather together to await the verdict,” adding that, “the government will be held responsible for any untoward incident taking place that night.”

He also pointed out that, “Kuwait’s youth are the victims of this conspiracy, which aims at violating the constitution. We have noticed the formation of several different movements which intend to protect the constitution, and all these movements will also fiercely reject any attack on the gains of the people of Kuwait.”

He added, “that the conspiracy is being hatched now and that its details will be exposed later.” Al-Barrak noted that Kuwaitis are already aware of this and are prepared to rebel against any attack that wants to hold the democratic process captive.” Al-Barrak also expressed his satisfaction at seeing the crowd gather as it did last Monday, and said this proves that along with the youth, there are other age groups and movements that recognize the gravity of the situation and have decided to confront any wrongdoing.

He also praised the youth movement for rejecting any attempts aimed at tampering with the constitution, in a peaceful manner. Al-Barrak stated that the movement will continue with its agitation and ignore any attempts to hinder its progress, and also warned the government to not test the Kuwaitis’ resolve in the matter.— Al-Rai

Kuwait Cabinet yet to study constituencies’ scenarios Number of votes may be reduced KUWAIT: The Cabinet is yet to study scenarios proposed to change the distribution of constituencies following the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Sept 25, despite news reports suggesting otherwise, a local daily reported yesterday quoting sources. Speaking to a local daily on the condition of anonymity, sources indicate that none of the scenarios speculated in the press have been considered seriously. “The Cabinet plans to form a workshop as soon as the verdict is made in order to study all proposed scenarios and select the most appropriate one”, the insiders said.

The Constitutional Court is widely expected to rule that the current electoral law, which divides Kuwait into five constituencies, is unconstitutional. In the meantime, parliamentary insiders speculated that the Cabinet “is not likely to introduce major changes to the electoral law”, and instead “keep the five-constituencies system while reshuffling areas between them to create balance in the number of voters”. The Cabinet is still expected to reduce the number of votes each voter is entitled to from four to one, added the source.

If the electoral law is found unconstitutional, the Cabinet can release a modified law via an emergency decree, released after the 2009 parliament is dissolved - which is likely to be taken as the first step after the verdict is made. The Cabinet had opted to verify the constitutionality of the electoral law in order to protect future election results from appeals. The parliament elected last February was annulled by a Constitutional Court ruling last June, which found the decree to dissolve the 2009 parliament late last year to be unconstitutional. “The Cabinet looks to protect the new electoral law from having any loopholes, and is therefore expected to be very cautious”, the sources said.

The opposition on the other hand strongly rejects a “mono-action” by the government, requiring that a new law is released by a parliament elected after the 2009 parliament is dissolved. Represented by the Majority Bloc, a coalition of 34 oppositionists who dominated majority seats in the 2012 parliament, the opposition staged two demonstrations at the Irada Square since August 27 as part of their campaign to garner public pressure against any step taken individually by the Cabinet to change the electoral system.

Top opposition figures Ahmad Al-Saadoun and Musallam Al-Barrak were present during a gathering held Wednesday night at the Irada Square, calling for criminalizing hate speech and boosting national unity. Billed as the launch of “dialogues for change”, the gathering featured the formation of a committee assigned to prepare a document adopting the subjects called for during the gathering. “Let’s turn over a new leaf as everyone is against hate speech... from now on we have to find solutions instead of searching into the pages of the past”, said Al-Barrak who signed the document during the gathering.

Other figures present at the gathering included former MP Abdullah Al-Naibari as well as MP Hassan Jowhar. “The gathering was dominated by the spirit of true brotherhood, and produced a document with principles to be officially announced during a meeting”, Jowhar said, and expressed hope that Majority Bloc members sign the document when it is brought up during its meeting today.

The bloc’s meeting will feature evaluation of the political scene following last Monday’s demonstration, but isn’t expected to end with new announcements, announced member Nayef Al-Merdas who will host the meeting at his diwaniya. — Al-Qabas, Al-Rai

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Al-Thefeeri wins KD 10,000 from Wataniya Telecom

KUWAIT: The third annual conference promoting humanitarian partnerships and information sharing in the Arab world in progress.

Kuwait hosts Arab conference to strengthen humanitarian actions Coordination between relief agencies KUWAIT: The third annual conference promoting humanitarian partnerships and information sharing in the Arab world opened over the weekend in Kuwait City under the auspices of Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Sabah Khaled AlHamad Al-Sabah. Attending the opening of the Annual Conference on Partnership and Information Sharing for Better Humanitarian Action, UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos highlighted the need for strengthened partnerships between regional Governments and the humanitarian community.

“This conference goes to the heart of our mission at OCHA: coordination between relief agencies and the sharing of information to improve our response to crises around the world,” said Amos. “It is incredibly heartening to see support building in the Gulf region and to feel the momentum for people, organizations and governments to join together and provide a coordinated and well-informed response to humanitarian crises.”

Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah

A web-based Arab Humanitarian Portal, offering vital information in Arabic for the first time, was launched at the conference to serve as a platform for dialogue and data sharing. The portal is a result of the two previous conferences which took place in Muscat, Oman (2010), and in Kuwait City (2011).

The two-day conference, held at the headquarters of the International Charitable Organization (IICO), brings together senior regional and international officials, and aid workers, private sector companies and media representatives. They will discuss ways to improve strategic planning and achieve better results through effective collaboration and sharing of information.

“The conference is considered as a platform to discuss real time humanitarian challenges and to come out with practical solutions,” said Abdullah Al-Maatouq, the head of IICO. “The conference aims to enable humanitarian organisations to fulfil their roles towards currently occurring humanitarian disasters in Syria,

Valerie Amos

Yemen and Myanmar.”

Among the speakers were Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait; Dr. Abdul Latif bin Rashid AlZayani, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council; Ambassador Atta El Manan Bakhit, Assistant Secretary General for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Ambassador Mohamed Moussa Sobeih, Assistant Secretary General - Sector of Palestine and Arab Occupied Territories, League of Arab States and Ambassador Ahmed Al-Meraikhi, Director of International Development Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar .

The mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors.

KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom has announced the winner of the third weekly draw as part of a series of draws launched recently for prepaid customers. Ruhayim Mishari Al-Thefeeri won a cash prize of KD 10,000. The draw was held in the presence of the company representatives and under the supervision of an officer from the Consumer Protection Department at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Wataniya launched this exclusive campaign on Aug 15, which includes weekly draws for a chance to win KD 10,000 at each draw. To enter the draw, customers need to recharge their Wataniya prepaid lines for a minimum of KD 1 using any recharge method, such as vouchers, wataniya.com, recharge kiosk machines or Wcharger.They will get one chance to enter the draw for every fils; therefore 1000 chances for every KD 1.

On the occasion, Wataniya Telecom congratulated the winner and stated “We would like to congratulate our customer winning theweekly prize of KD 10,000. We wish all our prepaid customers the very best for the upcoming draws.”

Wataniya added “The series of draws will continue for many more weeks.This exclusive draw is considered to be the first of its kind in Kuwait offering valuable cash prizes to customers. Wataniya looks forward to engaging its customers with many more exciting campaigns and surprises in the near future.”

All prepaid customers are eligible to enter the draw and win KD 10,000 by simply recharging their lines starting at KD 1 only.

The more they recharge their line, the more chances they can get in the draws.

Furthermore the chances collected by the customer are valid for all the remaining draws and the customer can check the total chances by dialing *555#

Degree Accreditation dept severely understaffed KUWAIT: Responding to queries why accrediting a degree takes up to a whole year, an official at the Ministry of Higher Education said that there were only five clerks working at the degree accreditation department after 25 employees had quit.

“They cannot finish the work as fast as applicants expect them to do, considering the vast numbers of transactions”, he explained.

Further, the official added that the delay was also because of other reasons such as having to send the degree certificates to Kuwait’s cultural offices abroad so that they could contact relevant universities and make sure applicants had already attended classes with them.

He also suggested following the same procedure that used to be followed when Dr Moudhi Al-Homoud was in office as a committee comprising of university and PAAET professors who used e-mails to contact the cultural offices abroad and verify the degrees faster.

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Lawmakers condemn insulting movie, demand legal action Attack against embassies under fire KUWAIT: A movie insulting the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was met with angry reactions from lawmakers in Kuwait who strongly condemned its producers while also criticized the attack against American embassies worldwide. “The movie was made by a Zionist Israeli person and a group of insignificant extremists who managed to entice wild and extremist emotions that blasted against foreign embassies and innocent people”, said President of the Arab-International Relations Council and former MP Mohammad Al-Saqr.

Al-Saqr further reiterated that United States government cannot take legal action against American citizens “for extremist practices committed against Muslims or Christians” due to laws protecting freedom of speech. “Therefore, the US government is not to be held accountable for foolish actions committed by nobodies who have no official or public support”, he said, before indicating that protests against US and other countries’ embassies “serve the goals of the impertinent Israeli director who unfortunately have so far been successful in achieving his agenda”.

Meanwhile, Islamist MP Dr Hamaan AlHarbash criticized assault against ambas-

sadors and embassies staffs, but indicated that “it is the duty of governments to take legal action against the people who offended our Holy Prophet”. Al-Harbash also described the protest held in front of the US Embassy in Kuwait on Thursday as “an expression of anger [towards offense to] our religion, and expression of appreciation to our Prophet”.

MP in the annulled 2012 parliament Ammar Al-Ajmy demanded action from the Foreign Ministry “to make official condemnation and act through diplomatic delegations to defend the Prophet of the [Muslim] Nation”. Al-Ajmy also called for cases to be filed against “the offenders so that everyone knows that the Prophet (PBHU) is regarded as a redline by all Muslims around the world”.

Former MP Abdullatif Al-Omairi said in the meantime that condemning the offensive film must not only be expressed by people, “but Muslim governments must have a strong and clear stance”. However, he insisted that “criticizing this offensive action must be taken within all legitimate means, as killing ambassadors or others is unacceptable. Meanwhile, Al-Omairi suggested that “millions of posts are sent to the twitter account of the US President to

Egypt asks Kuwait to increase oil supplies

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Egyptian Oil Minister Mustafa Al-Saeed said that his country asked Kuwaiti government to exempt the Egyptian Petroleum Authority from presenting letters of guarantee on buying Kuwaiti oil and to increase the monthly supply from 1.5 to 2 million barrels a month. Speaking at a meeting with the Minister of Finance Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf, Al-Saeed said that Egypt was keen on solving all problems Kuwaiti investments are facing in Egypt and said that Kuwait was one of the biggest Arab investors with a market share of 2.5 billion dollars. He also invited more Kuwaiti investors to invest in Egypt.

GCC traffic violations GCC states recently agreed to interlink all traffic violations committed in any of them, said informed sources noting that the process would be done in two stages starting with an experiment between two countries and then expanding it to all GCC states. According to the new system, a GCC citizen would be able to pay his traffic fines as well as issue a driver’s license in any GCC state. The sources added that the experiment would start between KSA and UAE. Politics’ effect on NGOs A meeting for GCC ministers of social affairs and labor due on October 7 is scheduled to discuss reports on the performance of GCC NGOs and how far they have been affected by political events and how committed they are to their missions.

Bedoons plan protests A number of bedoon activists designed a timetable and a chart of different locations around Kuwait where they planned a sit-in over a period of days in a bid to expand the scope of their protests far away from Taima, Jahra, said informed sources. The sources added that the timetable includes demonstrations outside the citizenship and passports directorate, outside CAIR, outside UN offices, the Civil Services Commission and other various ministries.

send a message of condemnation”.

Former MP Dr Adhel Al-Dhamkhy argued in the meantime that the “language of hate and disrespect of religion will be the main fuel for conflicts and wars around the world”, adding that the United States today is “reaping the fruits of submitting to the Zionist lobby and its policies, as well as their blatant stances in support of Israel”.

In the meantime, MP Aseel Al-Awadhi said that “overreaction is an indication of a serious lack of self confidence and weakening strength of religious commitment”, adding that “my faith isn’t affected by a cartoonist, writer or a director”. She also indicated that “the ideal way to defend the Prophet (PBUH) is by following his ethics, not through heated speech and certainly not through killing innocent people”. MP Maasouma Al-Mubarak argued in the meantime that many people are unawarely spreading the offensive movie online, demanding that “pressure is put on YouTube to block the clip”. MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan urged the Kuwaiti government in the meantime to “act on the Arab and Islamic levels to face the insult against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)”.

The US Ambassador to Kuwait Matthew

Tueller had reiterated America’s commitment to “respecting Muslims’ beliefs and their religious figures”, reiterating that “the US Department of State expressed regret for the broadcast of a movie that is offensive to the Prophet (PBUH)”.

Speaking to reporters at the ‘3rd Annual Conference on Effective Partnership and Information Sharing for Better Humanitarian Action’, Ambassador Tueller indicated that while the US government respects Islamic beliefs, “we can’t stop broadcasting similar works which doesn’t express our government or people’s position”.

Ambassador Tueller also indicated that American Muslims “are entitled to the same rights protected by the US Constitution, and are part of the US society who contribute in the country’s building process”. He also reiterated the “strong relations between the United States and Muslim countries”, as well as the US government’s commitment to “the importance of convergence and dialogue”. He also expressed gratitude to the Kuwaiti government for “maintaining the safety and security of the US embassy”, but indicated at the same time that no exceptional measures were taken on that regard.

Gulf Bank announces winners of Al-Danah weekly draw KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its thirty-sixth Al-Danah weekly draw on Sept 9, announcing a total number of ten Al Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000.

The winners are: Musaaed Edrees Mubarak Ahmed, Abdulwahab Abdullah Al-Basri, Mohammed Farouq Mohammed Ishaq, Monya Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Khamis, Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Ghanam, Mousa Abdulnabei Kaseem, Ashraf Abd Almotaleb Hasan, Lailah Husain Hasan Ali, Suaad Ashoor Abdallah Hasan and Bader Tareq Bader Al-Musalm.

Gulf Bank encourages everyone in Kuwait to open an Al-Danah account and/or increase their deposits to maximize their chances of becoming a winner in the upcoming weekly (KD1,000 each for 10 winners). Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to save money. Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al Danah winner.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, 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 or log on www.egulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al-Danah and who the winners are.

KPC inks deal with Indian oil firms

Al-Khorafi condemns Libya attack

KUWAIT: Nasser Al-Mudhaf, the managing director for international marketing, at the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, stated that the firm has signed an open renewable annual contract with Indian companies Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum for oil exports valued at $10 billion, which will be spread over five years.

Al-Mudhaf told a local daily that the contract includes the export of Khafji, Hout, Loseen and ordinary Kuwaiti oil, which will be refined at an Indian refinery at the rate of 50,000 barrels a day. He also pointed out that the Indian market is considered one of the biggest strategic markets for Kuwait. He also noted that the signing of this latest export contract is evident of the success of the company’s international marketing team, which has recently signed three more contracts for selling heavy crude oil in North America and East Asia. — Al-Rai

KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Jassem Mohammad AlKhorafi sent a cable yesterday to his counterparts in the United States, including Senate President Joseph R Biden, interim Senate President Daniel Inouye and President of the House of Representatives John Boehner, condemning the terrorist attack against the United States Ambassador and three members of the US Consulate stationed in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

Al-Khorafi said, “I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn about the unfortunate terrorist attack against US Ambassador John Christopher Stevens and three members of the US Consulate in the city of Benghazi in Libya.” —KUNA

KUWAIT: Alia Abbas Aseeri, Rumaithiya branch manager congratulating Abdulwahab Al-Basri, one of the Al-Danah weekly winners.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

GCC meeting on climate, meteorology concludes K U W A I T : The second meeting of the Standing Committee on Meteorology and Climate change committee of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) concluded here on Thursday. The gathering emphasized the importance of coordination between the agencies involved in the Gulf in order to face the risk of natural disasters.

The meeting stressed the need to develop clear and effective mechanisms for cooperation and coordination with international organizations concerned with meteorology and climate.

Director of the Meteorological Department at the Kuwait civil aviation Mohammed Karam said in a press statement that the meeting’s agenda included discussion of the Committee’s work plan in terms of organizational and administrative manners as well as technical aspects that lead to improved weather and climate services in the region through the exchange of technical information and technical connectivity.

He said the participants discussed the possibility of establishing a Gulf system for early warning to enable member states from issuing necessary weather warnings in a timely manner to reduce the risk of natural disasters. —KUNA

Kuwait will continue to support pan-Arab action

Couple held with stolen bracelet in Salmiya ‘Policemen’ rob two Asian men

KUWAIT: A couple was arrested in Salmiya after stealing a gold bracelet worth KD 4,000 from a jewelry shop.

The other stolen items including makeup and perfumes were found with the two following arrest. Patrol officers busted the couple walking out of a store close to the jewelry shop where the theft was reported, shortly after the shopkeeper called the police. The woman broke down during interrogations when she saw surveillance tapes showing her put the bracelet inside her purse while her husband was distracting the shopkeeper. She explained that her husband talked her into becoming an accomplice in his crimes, and admitted that this was the second theft she was involved in. The two remain in custody pending legal procedures.

deport them if they do. A case was filed at the Sabah Al-Salem police station after the incident was reported. Investigators are currently verifying whether the suspects are indeed policemen or impersonators.

Suicide attempt Police managed to talk a domestic worker out of her suicide bid in a case reported recently in Abdullah Al-Mubarak. Security officers accompanied by fire-fighters rushed to the house Thursday night where a Kuwaiti family reported that their Ethiopian maid was standing on the roof and planned to jump. Following lengthy negotiations, the maid agreed to get down from the roof before she was escorted to the area’s police station where a suicide attempt case was filed.

Residencies forgery Migration investigation officials arrested a state employee who helped issue residencies for nationals of four countries through illegal procedures. According to a security source with knowledge of the case, the suspect used his position at a services center to issue residencies for Syrian, Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese nationals without verifying with the State Security Service. The suspect collected between KD 100 and KD 200 per transaction he used to pass by typing a different nationality on the document based on which the approval for residency is given. The man was reportedly able to release 534 residencies through forgery. The suspect was reportedly released on bail and notified to report to police when he is summoned.

Asians robbed Investigations are ongoing for two male suspects who mugged two men while dressed in police uniform.

So far, police know that the suspect used a car with license plates for a different vehicle than the one described by the victims, and instead registered under the name of an Egyptian man who is currently outside Kuwait. The victims reportedly pulled over after noticing two people in police uniforms asking them to pull over. The suspects took cell phones and money that the two Asian men were carrying before driving away. They also warned them against reporting the incident, claiming that they will arrest and

Jleeb scam Fifteen Asian men decided to teach a compatriot a lesson when they beat him up after discovering that he robbed them of at least KD 1,800 in a scam. The fight was reported recently in Jleeb AlShuyoukh where police arrived and arrested a number of the attackers as well as the assaulted man. During investigations, the attackers explained that the man claimed that he could help them finalize their transactions at government offices easily in exchange of money. They pressed scam charges while the man charged them with assault. They were taken to the proper authorities afterwards for investigations.

Man stabbed An Arab man was hospitalized in a critical condition after he was brutally assaulted during a fight reported recently. The man was reportedly stabbed twice by a person following a dispute about a parking space located outside the building where the victim lives. After recovering from surgery at the Mubarak AlKabeer Hospital, the victim told police that he had stopped his car behind a vehicle he found parked at his parking space near his building.

The building’s janitor called him to remove his car, and after he stepped outside, a fight ensued between the two. An investigation is underway. —Al-Rai, Al-Anba

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Minister of Finance, Education and Acting Minister of Higher Education Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf has reiterated Kuwait’s support to pan-Arab action, particularly in the economic domain. “Kuwait was and will continue to be a staunch supporter of pan-Arab action in all domains, particularly the economic one,” Al-Hajraf said on the sideline of the 90th Arab Economic and Social Council held here.

Al-Hajraf lauded His Highness the Amir of Kuwait’s initiative for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Arab countries, launched in the Arab Economic and Social Summit in Kuwait in 2009. He pointed out that the Ministerial Arab Economic and Social Council discussed Thursday a report on the implementation of the resolutions adopted by the previous socioeconomic development summits held respectively in Kuwait, 2009 and Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt 2011.

The Arab League General Secretariat has prepared a report containing a summary of follow-up the implementation of resolutions it issued as relating to the economic and social spheres, and the commitment of each state to implement every resolution.

The Kuwaiti minister disclosed that the conferees have underlined the need for creating an investment-attractive environment to help put the ambitious Arab development plans into effect.

The ministerial meeting also discussed a number of topics on the agenda of the third Arab economic, social and developmental summit slated in Riyadh, January 2013. He noted that the Riyadh summit will feature high the changes taking place in the region in light of the revolutions of the Arab Spring.

Later, Al-Hajraf held a meeting with the Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Hisham Qandil to discuss strengthening economic relations between the two countries, increasing Kuwaiti investments and providing loans to support development projects through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.

Al-Hajraf is accompanied during the visit to Cairo by a large senior economic delegation, including Managing Director of the Kuwait Investment Authority Bader AlSaad, Director General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Abdulwahab Al-Bader, Finance Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Sami AlSaqoubi, Director of Economic Department at the Foreign Ministry Ambassador Sheikh Ali Khalid Al-Sabah and Director of Naphtha, Gasoline and Liquefied Natural Gas Sales’ Department at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation Emad Abdulkarim. Kuwaiti Ambassador to Egypt Dr. Rasheed Al-Hamad has also attended Al-Hajraf-Qandil meeting. —KUNA

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Air raids in Aleppo, envoy meets opposition

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Jolie worried about Syria refugees as conflict roars

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Bo Xilai police chief to face trial next week

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BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Sleiman (L) welcomes Pope Benedict XVI at Beirut international airport yesterday. The pope arrived in Lebanon at the start of a three-day visit, saying the multi-faith country could serve as an example to a troubled Middle East and warning against fundamentalism. — AFP

Lebanon Christians feel under siege Find hope in pope BEIRUT: In 1510, Pope Leo X thanked Divine Providence for having preserved the Maronite Christians through the hardest of times, “planted among infidels, schismatics and heretics as in a field of error”. He described them as a “rose among thorns, an impregnable rock in the sea, unshaken by the waves and fury of the thundering tempest”. Today, more than five centuries later, Pope Benedict will reassert this message of survival in a hostile environment in a three-day visit to Lebanon.

His visit comes at a time when Christians in the region feel their existence threatened by the rise of political Islam. It also coincides with violent protests in Libya and Egypt against film, made in the United States, that is insulting to Islam. In this small country where, uniquely in the Arab world, Christians have held the political reins since independence in 1943, the Christian communities feel menaced. Across the Arab world, Christians feel like a species facing extinction, threatened by Islamist fanatics, driven by a

lack of opportunity at home to seek better lives abroad, and now fearful of the post-revolution order which in some countries has brought Islamists to power.

Christians now make up about 5 percent of the Middle Eastern population, down from 20 percent a century ago. If current pressures and their low birth rates continue, some estimates say their 12 million total could be halved by 2020. While some Christians in Lebanon felt exhilarated by the uprisings that swept the Middle East over the past two years, ending decades of dictatorships, they look with foreboding at Islamist movements, based on hardline ideology and with little tolerance towards minorities. The Islamists have been the only forces organised enough to fill the power vacuum. “We are in a new critical situation,” said Monsignor Paul Matar, Archbishop of Beirut for the Maronites. “The Christians of course are alarmed. They ask will the Arab world regress?”

“The Islamists should know, that even if they

have gained power, that there are others who exist in this region and that they are equal citizens.” For many Christians the rise of political Islam is changing the nature of the uprisings that toppled four autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya and has placed one under siege in Syria. They had hoped for a broad movement that would lead these countries to democracy but got instead Islamists, who they believe will eventually impose stricter social codes. For many Christians, memories of Iraq are fresh. The sectarian killings that followed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the mass exodus of Iraqi Christians, created a trauma. Of all the revolutions that have dismantled the old order, none terrifies leaders of the religious minorities in the Middle East more than Syria’s, the bloodiest chapter in the Arab upheaval.

Their fear is that the ousting of one minority the Alawites through whom the Assad family has ruled Syria for four decades - will uncage sectarian forces that threaten minorities.

Many close observers of Syria do see the possibility of the Iraqi scenario being repeated. Were that to happen, they see a strong likelihood that the Christians of Syria, caught in the cross-fire of the power struggle between Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims, would feel compelled to leave. What leaves the Christians of Syria particularly exposed is the position of most of their top clerical leadership, which chose to ally itself with the Assad dynasty. The crisis in Syria has also polarised Christians in neighbouring Lebanon, long dominated by Damascus. Some Christians are excited about the prospects of toppling Assad but others are haunted by what may come after his demise.

In Lebanon itself, Beshara Rai, the Maronite Patriarch, in a statement ahead of the Pope’s visit appeared to be warning Christians of the consequences of actions that open the way to Islamist forces. “We need to be aware of what is going on and read events carefully so that we do not become tools to achieve foreign schemes”, the Patriarch said. —Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

US boosts embassy security as tide of violence feared CAIRO: The US boosted security at its embassies amid fears of a tide of anti-American violence sparked by a film mocking Islam sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa after yesterday’s Muslim prayers.

Even before the midday prayers began, fighting between police and protesters flared at the US embassy in Cairo, which since Tuesday has been besieged by crowds angered by the movie. Protesters, many in their teens and moving around in small clusters, pelted police with stones who responded by firing tear gas, an AFP reporter said.

Roads leading up to the embassy in central Cairo were littered with stones and rocks after running battles on Thursday between police and protesters in which according to the

health ministry 224 people were injured. The Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest political group and on whose ticket President Mohamed Morsi ran, has called for “peaceful protests” outside mosques across the country after the noon prayer.

The violence began on Tuesday night, when protesters stormed the Cairo embassy compound, tearing down the Stars and Stripes and replacing it with a black Islamic flag, and has continued sporadically in the Egyptian capital ever since.

And in Jordan, Salafist militants have said they plan to demonstrate outside the US embassy in Amman after the Muslim main weekly prayers. The White House said security had been tightened at US diplo-

matic missions around the globe.

“We are watching very closely for developments that could lead to more protests,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

The protests come as US and Libyan officials probe an attack on the consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other US officials on Tuesday, amid growing speculation it was the work of extremist militants rather than just demonstrators.

Washington sought to keep a lid on the demonstrations by spelling out that the controversial film that set off the violence was made privately by a small group of individuals with no official backing.

“Let me state very clearly-and I

Air raids in Aleppo, envoy meets opposition Muallem assures Brahimi of full cooperation DAMASCUS: Syrian regime air strikes targeted rebel-held police stations inside Aleppo city yesterday, ahead of talks between visiting peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and opposition groups in the 18-month conflict.

An AFP correspondent said three loud explosions were heard in Damascus, where Brahimi spent his first night ahead of meetings with the opposition groups tolerated by the embattled regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. Among those the UN and Arab League envoy is scheduled to meet is the opposition National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, which brings together Arab nationalists, Kurds and socialists.

Hassan Abdel Azim, spokesman for the opposition bloc, said a delegation would meet Brahimi to inform him of their suggestions for a way out of crisis.

“We support Mr Brahimi... and we will cooperate with him because the violence has reached (unprecedented) levels and the Syrian people are suffering from the killings, destruction and displacement,” he told AFP. Brahimi, who was appointed earlier this month, said the conflict was getting worse, on arrival at Damascus airport on Thursday when at least 125 people died in violence across Syria, according to a watchdog.

“We came to Syria to hold meetings with our Syrian brothers because there is a big crisis, and I think it is getting worse,” the Algerian veteran troubleshooter said, quoted by Syria’s official SANA news agency. Brahimi, who succeeded former UN chief Kofi Annan following the failure of his six-point peace plan, met Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Thursday night.

Muallem assured Brahimi of “Syria’s full cooperation” and stressed that any initiative must be based on “the inter-

ALEPPO: Syrian men search through rubble of a building, destroyed in a Syrian government airstrike earlier in the day, in Marea, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, yesterday. — AP ests of the Syrian people and their freedom of choice without foreign intervention,” SANA reported.

On the battlefront, Syrian regime forces on Friday used fighter jets and helicopter gunships to pound the city and province of Aleppo, where fierce clashes raged around a military airport, monitors said.

Warplanes bombarded the rebelheld towns of Al-Bab and Marea near Aleppo city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that army forces and rebels fought around Minnigh military airport.

Despite shelling by regime forces, as seen in videos posted online, residents of Marea, Aleppo city and towns across the northern province came out for anti-regime demonstrations after the weekly Muslim prayers, activists said.

Demonstrations were also reported in the provinces of Damascus, Idlib, Daraa in the south and Hama in central Syria where an unknown number of protest-

ers were killed as regime forces opened fire in Hama city, the Observatory said.

Pope says arms imports must stopIn the central Aleppo district of Midan, regime forces carried air strikes on two police stations which the rebels had taken over, according to Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

“Whenever the rebels take a police station, the regime destroys them,” Abdel Rahman told AFP by phone. “Now no one controls these posts,” he said, adding that “regime forces have deployed throughout Midan to try and push out the rebels.”

In the Hanano district in the northeast of Aleppo city, air strikes destroyed another police station in the hands of the rebels, Abdel Rahman said. Just south of Damascus, the army fired live ammunition at an anti-regime demonstration in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk, according to the Local Coordination Committees-a network of activists on the ground. — AFP

hope it is obvious-that the United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in condemning the “disgusting and reprehensible” video.

Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur told AFP in an exclusive interview that a “big advance” had been made in the probe into the Benghazi attack following several arrests. “We have some names and some photographs,” he said. But air traffic was suspended to Benghazi late on Thursday due to what an airport source said were security concerns.

“We received orders on Thursday evening to immediately suspend all flights for security reasons,” the source told AFP. — AFP

Netanyahu denies meddling in US election JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied accusations he is interfering in the US presidential vote by pushing President Barack Obama to take a tougher stand on Iran’s nuclear programme.

In newspaper interviews published yesterday ahead of the Jewish new year, Netanyahu dismissed accusations that he is trying to paint Obama as weak on Iran in order to boost support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

“That’s nonsense,” he told the Israel Hayom daily, which is considered close to him. “The issue that guides me is not the elections in the United States but the centrifuges in Iran. What can we do if the centrifuges in Iran pay no attention to the political timetable in the United States?”

“It has nothing to do with the American elections,” he added, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post newspaper.

“If the centrifuges stop miraculously, if they stop preparing enriched uranium to make atomic bombs, then I suppose I wouldn’t have to speak out.

“For me this is a policy issue, a security issue, and not a political issue,” he said. The comments are excerpts from longer interviews to be published in full on Sunday, the eve of the Jewish new year, or Rosh Hashana.

Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz on Wednesday said that Netanyahu’s pursuit of a very public dispute with Obama over Iran was an attempt to sway voters against the US leader in the November election.

“Israeli meddling in internal US affairs and turning the US administration from an ally to ‘an enemy’ has caused us severe damage,” Mofaz charged, at a session of the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset.

“Please explain to us: who is Israel’s greatest enemy-the US or Iran? Who do you fear more — (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad or Obama? Which regime is more important to overthrow-the one in Washington, or in Tehran?” he asked.

Similar criticism has been expressed by Israeli and US media over Netanyahu’s repeated demands that Obama set unambiguous ‘red lines’ with regard to Iran’s nuclear programme, which Israel and much of the West believes masks a weapons drive. Israel, the Middle East’s sole, if undeclared, nuclear power, has said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state and has threatened unilateral military action against Tehran.

But Washington backs continued diplomatic pressure and says it is not the time for a strike. “The president has said unequivocally he will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters on Monday, but Netanyahu still appears unconvinced.

“I hear those who say we should wait until the last minute,” he said in the Israel Hayom interview. “But what if the United States does not act? That is a question that must be asked. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Jolie worried about Syria refugees as conflict roars ANKARA: Hollywood movie star Angelina Jolie on Friday expressed concern about the threat of a winter freeze to Syrians who have fled the conflict in their country, a day after meeting refugees at camps in Turkey.

“With the violence in the conflict showing no signs of easing up and the numbers (of refugees) growing... it is a very large concern for all of us,” Jolie, a UN special envoy, told reporters in Ankara. “I share everyone’s concern about the winter approaching,” she added, calling for help to make sure that “nobody freezes to death in this very very frightened time.”

Accompanied by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, Jolie held talks with President Abdullah Gul and Turkish officials in Ankara, a day after visiting two refugee camps along the border. The Oscar-winning actress listened to the accounts of refugees who had fled Syria, where a brutal conflict that began as a peaceful uprising against the Damascus regime has now killed around 27,000 people, according to activists.

anti-Putin deputy expelled MOSCOW: A former KGB colonel turned opposition lawmaker who has angered the Kremlin with his scathing criticism and involvement in street protests against President Vladimir Putin was stripped of his parliament seat yesterday.

Gennady Gudkov’s removal from the lower house paves the way for similar action against other opposition lawmakers, sending a clear message to members that they serve at the pleasure of the Kremlin. The 291-150 vote with three abstentions to expel Gudkov from the State Duma also means he will no longer be protected by immunity from prosecution. His supporters fear he could face arrest. Gudkov denounced the move as “political revenge and extrajudicial repression.”

Gudkov, like Putin a KGB veteran, is not your typical Russian protester. This 56-yearold stout, mustached man cut a striking figure among young activists as he chanted “Putin, Resign!” from the stage at opposition rallies last winter.

That was on weekends. During the week, he donned expensive suits and attended close-door meetings at the Russian parliament. He was deputy chairman of Parliament’s security committee and enjoyed good relations with many senior officials in Russian police security agencies.

The vote to expel Gudkov comes a day before the first major opposition rally after a summer break, a clear signal that the Kremlin is ready to toughen its stance against the opposition. Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin political consultant, said it moved against Gudkov out of fear that his example might encourage other members of the ruling elite to join the opposition.

Gudkov’s behavior was like “a specter of the split in the elite that the Kremlin is so afraid of,” Pavlovsky said. “It scared them a lot.” For most of the past 10 years, the State Duma, the lower house, has obediently rubberstamped all Kremlin bills. Critics were tolerated because a solid pro-Kremlin majority could ensure the safe passage of any legislation.—AP

“No one wants to live as a refugee. No one wants to live in a camp,” Jolie said.

“All of these people lost their homes and they fled extreme violence, they lost their families. They are very, very emotional.”

Syrian refugees still felt “very alone

and in many ways abandoned” despite the extensive coverage of their plight, she added. “They are of course also very traumatised,” said Jolie, though she added that the Turkish government had said they were providing psychological sup-

ANKARA: This handout picture released by the Turkish presidential press office shows US movie star and UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) special envoy Angelina Jolie shaking hands with Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul in Ankara yesterday.

Jolie said she was concerned about the plight of Syrian refugees fleeing the unrest in their conflict-torn country with no end in sight to the violence, a day after visiting refugee camps along the border. — AFP

port. Jolie, who visited another camp in June last year, praised the Turkish camps as “very organised”. But she added: “It is a large amount of people and it is still at the end of the day a camp.” The UN says more than 1.2 million Syrians, more than half of them children, have been displaced inside the country while an estimated 250,000 refugees have sought shelter in neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.

The American film star, herself a mother of six including three adopted children, thanked all those host countries who had taken in refugees and had done what they could for the children. Guterres took the opportunity to appeal to the international community “to fully support first of all humanitarian aid inside Syria ... and the host countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.” He urged the entire world to “keep your borders open to the Syrians that are fleeing such a dramatic conflict.”

But the Lebanese government has ruled out setting up refugee camps amid fears that the crisis in neighbouring Syria could spill across its borders.—AFP

Topless Kate photos cause new storm for UK royals Buckingham Palace talking to French lawyers PARIS/LONDON: French magazine Closer unleashed a new media tornado on Britain’s royal family yesterday with a five-page splash of photos showing the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, sunbathing topless with Prince William in the south of France.

Closer, a weekly round-up of celebrity gossip, ran a dozen shots of the duchess as she slipped off her bikini top, relaxed on a sun lounger and at one point pulled down the back of her bikini bottoms as William rubbed sun cream on her lower back.

Under the headline “Oh my God!”, the photos show the couple, whose regal yet natural conduct since their April wedding has won them fans worldwide, soaking up the sun on the balcony of a 19th century hunting lodge, oblivious to lurking paparazzi. The spread is a blow to Buckingham Palace as it tries to move on from a scandal over naked shots of Prince Harry that tarred an image bolstered by Kate and William’s wedding, the Queen’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee and her Olympic Games appearance.

While Closer defended its decision to publish the photographs, a royal spokesperson called it a “grotesque” move that had upset the royal couple, currently touring southeast Asia, and said Buckingham Palace was consulting lawyers.

“Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner,” a spokesperson for St James’ Palace said.

“Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokeswoman also said the royal couple should be entitled to their privacy. Closer’s editor-in-chief Laurence Pieau described the photos as a “beautiful series” that showed a couple in love and were in no way degrading. She said the magazine had more intimate shots from the same series that it opted not to publish.

“There’s been an over-reaction to these photos. What we see is a young couple, who just got married, who are very much in love, who are splendid,” Pieau told French BFM television. “She’s a real 21st century princess,” she added: “It’s a young woman who is topless, the same as you can see on any beach in France or around the world.”

Closer is published by Mondadori, an Italian company partly owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and chaired by his daughter Marina. It would likely lose any legal case over invasion of privacy, although profits from the issue would likely far exceed any fine faced, probably just a few thousand euros.

“It’s without a doubt an invasion of privacy,” said Christopher Mesnooh, a U.S. lawyer who practices in France. “They were on vacation in a friend’s chateau. There was no expectation the press would be there. So visibly they have been damaged by the fact the pictures were taken and it is likely a French court would rule in that direction.”

The publication-which set off a stream of mostly angry commentary on twitter-reopens a debate over the privacy of Britain’s royal family and the freedom of the press weeks after a U.S. website published grainy photos of William’s younger brother Harry cavorting naked in a Las Vegas hotel room.—Reuters

PARIS: A stack of Closer magazines are displayed at the magazine’s headquarter, in Montrouge, near to Paris, yesterday. The magazine yesterday published what appeared to be photos of Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate sunbathing topless at a private estate in southern France, prompting a strong condemnation from Britain’s royal family. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

First Australia asylum-seekers taken to Nauru SYDNEY: The first planeload of asylum-seekers sent to the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru arrived yesterday as part of Canberra’s tough new stance on tackling a record influx of boatpeople. Thirty Sri Lankan men touched down on the remote outpost after being flown from the Australian territory of Christmas Island, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said, adding that the transfer went “smoothly and without incident”.

They are the first asylum-seeker boat arrivals to undergo offshore processing since the Kevin Rudd Labor government closed the Nauru facility in 2008, and will initially be forced to live in tents.

“We know that there have been people-smugglers out there in the region over recent weeks peddling

lies and untruths, saying that this wouldn’t happen,” said Bowen.

“That somehow the Nauru processing centre wouldn’t be established or that they could provide guarantees that people wouldn’t be transferred there. This tells the lie to the people smugglers’ message of the last few weeks.

“The message is very clear,” he added. “If you arrive in Australia by boat you can be taken from Australia by aeroplane and processed in another country.”

Canberra last month announced it would transfer asylum-seekers who arrived by boat to Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island as a way of deterring refugees from paying people-smugglers to transport them to Australia.

It follows a flood of boatpeople

this year, with some 10,000 arriving so far, many of them Afghans, Iraqis and Iranians who have paid peoplesmugglers to ferry them from Indonesia.

The government has been frantically working to improve facilities on Nauru and until permanent accommodation is ready, the boatpeople will live under canvas, five to a tent.

Women and children will be housed elsewhere on the island.

Bowen refused to say how long they will spend on the island nation, which will receive an economic boost from hosting the boatpeople. The conservative opposition has reportedly claimed they could face up to five years on the island waiting to be resettled.

The Australian Human Rights Commission said it had serious con-

China surveillance ships near islands with Japan Row seen threatening economic ties BEIJING/TOKYO: Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters near disputed islands claimed by Tokyo and Beijing yesterday, raising tensions between Asia’s two biggest economies to their highest level since 2010.

Japan protested to China and urged that the situation not be allowed to escalate - an outcome neither side would welcome given the two countries’ tight economic links. Diplomats say Tokyo and Beijing would prefer to keep the row from spiraling out of control, but with China facing a once-in-a-decade leadership change, an election looming in Japan and mutual mistrust deep, managing the feud could be difficult.

“The dangers of miscalculation are real,” said Brad Glosserman, executive director at Honolulu’s Pacific Forum CSIS. China’s foreign ministry said that the ships entered the disputed waters to conduct maritime surveillance and that for the first time China was carrying out a mission of “law enforcement over its maritime rights”.

The Japanese coast guard said it ordered the Chinese ships to leave the area. By afternoon, all had left the area without any use of force, a coast guard official said. The islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, are near potentially huge maritime gas and oil fields.

“We lodged a strong protest and also we made a strong case that the Chinese side should leave from the territorial waters around the Senkaku islands,” Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told a news conference in Sydney after talks with Australia’s foreign and defence ministers.

“I’d like to underscore that we should never let the situation escalate and we have strong hopes for the Chinese to respond in an appropriate and calm

SHANGHAI: A Chinese protester, left in red shirt, writes anti-Japanese slogan on a Japanese flag as police officers stand guard in front of the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai, China, yesterday. Chinese and Japanese government ships exchanged warnings yesterday in waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea. — AP manner,” he added. Chinese ambassador warned Japan on Thursday that trade Chen Yonghua, summoned to Japan’s could be hurt by the flare-up. China, the foreign ministry to hear a protest, world’s second-largest economy, is repeated Beijing’s stance on the islands Japan’s biggest trading partner with but added it also hoped the situation mutual trade in 2011 growing 14.3 perwould not escalate or hurt ties, a cent in value to a record $345 billion.

Japanese foreign ministry statement Tensions have risen since nationalist said. The uninhabited islets were at the Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara floatcentre of a chill between Beijing and ed a plan for metropolitan authorities to Tokyo in 2010, after Japan arrested a buy the islets and build facilities on Chinese trawler captain whose boat col- them. That prompted Prime Minister lided with Japanese Coast Guard vessels Yoshihiko Noda’s government to buy in the area. them instead.

Sino-Japanese relations have long Japan deported Chinese activists who been plagued by China’s bitter memo- landed on the isles last month, triggerries of Japan’s military aggression in the ing a tit-for-tat landing by Japanese 1930s and 1940s and present rivalry over nationalists and anti-Japanese protests resources and regional clout. China in Chinese cities. — Reuters

cerns that asylum-seekers sent to Nauru would not be adequately protected, and questioned the use of tents and a lack of clarity over legal rights.

“It is not yet clear how the processing arrangements will operate in Nauru so it is not possible to assess how consistent these arrangements will be with Australia’s human rights obligations,” said commission president Gillian Triggs.

“There is no information as to how prepared Nauru is to process the claims and it is unclear whether those transferred to Nauru will have access to legal advice.

“And of course, the question still remains as to whether or not Nauru is able to provide effective protection to asylum-seekers transferred there.” — AFP

Gilani’s son arrested on drug charges ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police arrested the son of a former prime minister yesterday in connection with a drugs case, although he was later granted bail, the latest twist in a power struggle between the increasingly assertive Supreme Court and the ruling party.

The feud could hurt Pakistan’s young democracy and distract the government from tackling widespread poverty, a Taliban insurgency and chronic power shortages.

Police detained Ali Musa Gilani ahead of his scheduled court appearance. He was later granted bail until the case resumes on Sept.

25. The three-judge court bench said the arrest at the court’s gates was “regretful”.

In June, the Supreme Court removed his father, Yusuf Raza Gilani, from his post as prime minister over his refusal to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The current prime minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf, could face the same fate if he too fails to re-open the corruption cases against Zardari.

Television stations showed police dragging Ali Musa Gilani from his vehicle and handcuffing him. He is accused of pressuring Health Ministry officials to exceed export quotas for ephedrine, an ingredient for cough medicine which can also be used to make ecstasy.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has earned a reputation for taking on Pakistan’s most powerful figures, including members of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the military, which has ruled the country for more than half of its history.

Critics say he meddles in areas outside the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction and creates political tensions that fuel instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a strategic US ally.

Chaudhry himself has come under scrutiny.

A real estate tycoon, Malik Riaz, accused the chief justice of turning a blind eye to his son’s alleged financial practices. Riaz said he has given more than $3 million to the top judge’s son, Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry, who denies the allegations. — Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Court delays release of Khmer Rouge ‘First Lady’ PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge court yesterday delayed freeing the regime’s former “First Lady”, who has dementia, after prosecutors requested tighter conditions for the genocide suspect’s release.

The UN-backed tribunal ruled on Thursday that the 80-year-old Ieng Thirith, who experts say suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, was mentally unfit for trial and should walk free, though the charges against her remain.

The news dismayed many survivors of the brutal 1975-1979 regime, blamed for the deaths of up to two million people.

Prosecutors said that they “fully agree” with the court’s decision, but “her release should not have been unconditional”.

“The co-prosecutors consider that the trial chamber has the legal authority to consid-

er and apply limited, reasonably necessary and proportionate restrictions on Ieng Thirith’s liberty,” they said in a statement.

They have asked the court to impose six conditions for her release, including weekly checks by authorities and that she give up her passport. Judges said on Thursday that Ieng Thirith would be incapable of remembering or adhering to any conditions, though they stipulated she should not interfere in the case in any way and should remain in Cambodia.

Ieng Thirith, the ex-social affairs minister and sister-in-law of the late regime leader Pol Pot, has always denied charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Three other senior leaders of the regime, including her husband Ieng Sary, are currently on trial accused of the same atrocities.

The court’s highest appeal body now has 48 hours to decide whether to accept the appeal. In the meantime, Ieng Thirith remains in the purpose-built detention facility at the court where she has been held since her 2007 arrest.

Leading Khmer Rouge researcher Youk Chhang, who lost many relatives during the regime’s “Killing Fields” era, said the decision to release Ieng Thirith due to poor mental health was “a wake-up call” to the court.

“It has been taking too long to deliver justice to millions of victims in Cambodia,” he told AFP. Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge dismantled modern society and wiped out nearly a quarter of the population through starvation, overwork and execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia. One of the few women in the Khmer

Rouge leadership, Paris-educated Ieng Thirith is believed to have been involved in some of the murderous movement’s most drastic policies. She remained a staunch defender of the regime long after its demise in the 1990s.

The court has so far completed just one case, sentencing former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch to life in jail this year for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people. The ongoing second trial of the three ex-leaders is seen as vital to healing wounds in the still-traumatised nation, but campaigners have voiced dismay at the slow progress of proceedings given the advanced age of the defendants. The health of Ieng Sary, 86, is of particular concern. The frail former foreign minister is currently in hospital with fatigue. — AFP

Bo Xilai police chief to face trial next week Trial on bribery, abuse of power

TOKYO: Opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election candidates, (L-R) Yoshimasa Hayashi, Nobuteru Ishihara, Nobutaka Machimura, Shigeru Ishiba and Shinzo Abe hold hand hands prior to their joint press conference at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP

Japan eyes Ishihara father-son double act TOKYO: Japan moved a step closer to having an intriguing family double act in two of its most powerful positions yesterday when the son of Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara entered a party leadership race.

If Nobuteru Ishihara beats the four men standing against him, he will almost certainly become prime minister, at a time when his controversial father will still have three years left in control of the country’s heaving capital. Sitting lawmakers and lay members of the establishment Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will vote for a new party president later this month, after Sadakazu Tanigaki was turfed out of the job following a lacklustre two years.

Party bigwigs have been frustrated by Tanigaki’s seeming inability to capitalise on the unpopularity of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who has spent his political capital on pushing through a tax rise.

No grouping is seen likely to win an outright majority in polls expected this autumn, but the LDP are forecast to end up with the largest number of seats in the powerful lower house of parliament. That will allow them to have the first crack at forming a coalition and leave their leader as prime minister. Former TV journalist Nobuteru Ishihara, 55, who held several ministerial posts in former LDP administrations, is seen by some pundits as being in the box seat for the

leadership vote. Although personally lacking the widespread appeal of his father-an almost bulletproof four-term governor of Tokyo who has never knowingly pulled a punch-Ishihara jr. benefits from the family brand name. And, says Sadafumi Kawato, professor at the University of Tokyo, he is also a capable man in his own right.

“He is a reasonable politician. He appears wellbalanced, not too ideologically driven. He has coordinated policies and served leadership roles in the LDP. He has proven that he is a capable hand,” Kawato said.

“The fact that his father is the governor of Tokyo should only help. The elder Ishihara is unlikely to interfere with his son’s work and it is doubtful that younger Ishihara subscribes to his father’s agenda,” Kawato said. That, say commentators, might be a blessing to the younger man. The acerbic Tokyo governor has made a career out of offending people, usually aiming his barbs at China, but equally happy to take a pot shot at the United States or even at women.

But his ability to raise hackles is matched by his knack of shrugging off any counter-attack and he remains hugely popular among the public at large. His son, meanwhile, has enjoyed a relatively high-profile as Tanigaki’s right hand man, and even his Brutus-like role in the removal of his old boss is unlikely to have done him any harm, says Kawato. —AFP

BEIJING: Bo Xilai’s former right-hand man will go on trial next week, a court said yesterday, the latest stage in a scandal that has rocked China’s Communist party before a once-a-decade power handover.

Wang Lijun’s flight to the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu earlier this year kicked off the scandal that brought down Bo, a high-profile Communist leader, and led to his wife Gu Kailai’s conviction for murder.

Wang, who worked as police chief in Chongqing, the Chinese city Bo ran until his downfall, was detained after he fled to the consulate under cover of darkness and reportedly told US diplomats of his suspicions about Gu. “Wang Lijun’s case will be heard on September 18,” a spokesman for the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court told AFP of Wang’s trial on bribery, defection and abuse of power charges.

China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted an indictment earlier this month which said Wang had “known beforehand” that Gu was under “serious suspicion” of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, without taking action.

Gu was handed a suspended death sentence for the murder last month, and four of Wang’s senior police officers in Chongqing were found guilty of being involved in the murder cover-up.

The trial is the latest stage in a scandal that analysts say has exposed deep divisions within the Communist Party ahead of a crucial, once-in-10 years leadership transition due to take place later this year.

The bribery charges levelled against Wang make it possible that he could be handed a death-penalty, but Jean-Pierre Cabestan, politics professor at Hong Kong Baptist University said Wang was unlikely to face such a harsh sentence.

“I expect Wang will be sentenced to a prison sentence of several decades, a heavy penalty but short of life imprisonment,” he said. The trial comes before the Communist Party’s 18th party congressexpected to take place next month-when

China’s next generation of political leaders will be formally announced. “(Party authorities) are trying to clean things up before the congress,” Cabestan said.The process by which the Party decides on promotions and appointments is highly secretive, but there have been widespread reports of infighting between factions over who will gain high-level political posts.

Bo had been tipped for a post on the Politburo standing committee-China’s most senior decision making body-until the scandal surrounding Heywood’s death emerged, apparently ending Bo’s political career.

Hopes for a smooth transition during the congress were called into question this week after widespread reports that Vice President Xi Jinping, expected to take the Party’s top post during the congress, was suffering from an illness. Xi has not been seen in public for two weeks and has cancelled meetings with four foreign dignitaries including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

A Chinese government spokesman has repeatedly declined to comment on the speculation surrounding Xi. Earlier this month China’s leadership faced rumours that the demotion of Ling Jihua, a top communist party official and ally of President Hu Jintao, was punishment for the alleged death of Ling’s son in a gory Ferrari crash.

Before his visit to the consulate, Wang cultivated an image of a no-nonsense “supercop” who was profiled in a television series “Iron-Blooded Police Spirits”.

He even designed and patented a red raincoat for the Chongqing police force.

Under the supervision of Bo, then the top party official in Chongqing, Wang led a high-profile anti-Mafia campaign, clocking up thousands of arrests, and provoking accusations of torture sessions and human rights violations.

There is still intense speculation about the the future of Bo, who has not been seen in public for months and is thought to be under house arrest. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Violence explodes as Protesters in Cairo clashed with police

TRIPOLI: Lebanese men ransack US fast food chains Hardee’s and KFC as they protest against the controversial film “Innocence of Muslims”in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli yesterday. —- AFP CAIRO: Anti-US protests by crowds whipped into fury by a film that mocks Islam erupted across the Arab world and many Muslim-majority countries yesterday, sparking violent clashes in Sudan, Lebanon and Yemen.

The protests came after Muslims emerged from mosques following the weekly Friday main prayers to voice their anger at the film, which shows the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) sleeping with women, talking about killing children and referring to a donkey as “the first Muslim animal.”

In Khartoum, around 5,000 protesters stormed the embassies of Britain and Germany, which was torched and badly damaged, an AFP reporter said. Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters as several of them scaled the roof of the German embassy and others attacked its facade and tore down the flag to replace it with a black Islamist one, the reporter said.

They blocked the road to prevent the arrival of firefighters, prompting the security forces to fire more tear gas. Eventually the firefighters were able to reach the building and began to extinguish the blaze, as the crowd grew to around 10,000 and began heading towards the American embassy despite more tear gas fired by police.

In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, a crowd of 300 Islamists attacked and set fire to a KFC restaurant, sparking clashes with police in which one person died and 25 were injured, an AFP correspondent and a security source said.

The attack on the US fast-food chain’s outlet came as Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Lebanon for a three-day visit, calling for Christian-Muslim coexistence and attacking religious extremism.

In the Yemeni capital Sanaa, security forces fired warning shots and water cannon to disperse crowds of protesters trying to reach the US embassy, an AFP correspondent said.

Security forces blocked all roads leading to the mission, after similar confrontations left four

people dead on Thursday. With much of the anger directed at the United States, where the film was made reportedly by a Coptic Christian and promoted by a rightwing pastor, Washington had earlier ordered security boosted at its embassies worldwide.

Protests in the region have been taking place since Tuesday, when US diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt were attacked by crowds who had come to learn of the online video. An American ambassador and three other US officials were killed in the Libya attack.

Protesters in Cairo clashed with police outside the US embassy again yesterday for a fourth straight day, although calm returned later after the Muslim Brotherhood withdrew a call for nationwide demonstrations, saying it wanted to

avoid loss of life and damage to property.

Instead of the tens of thousands who had been expected to take to the streets of the capital, a few hundred protesters carrying banners and Islamic flags walked around Tahrir Square, the epicentre of Egyptian protests.

The Brotherhood’s about-turn came after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said during a visit to Rome yesterday that the film is an “aggression” on Islam that distracts from the real problems of the Middle East.

“We cannot accept this type of aggression and attempt to sow discord. These irresponsible actions yield no good and draw attention away from real problems like the conflict in Syria, the fate of the Palestinians and the lack of stability in the Middle East,” Morsi said.

NABLUS: Palestinians raise their hands during a protest against the movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” the West Bank town of Nablus, yesterday. — AP

In Iran, meanwhile, thousands of people yelling “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” rallied in the centre of Tehran to protest the antiIslam film. State television showed the crowd streaming out after Friday prayers at Tehran University in which a hardline cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, blamed the United States for the crude film, which pokes fun at the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

“It is a wonder how those running a country claiming to be a superpower become so stupid in taking such actions,” he said. “In their recent lunacy, they have made a movie-whose finances are said to be paid by the Zionists-to insult the prophet,” he said. “Death to America” The crowd responded by chanting “Death to America.”

Protests have spread across the Middle East and further afield, including to Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and the Gaza Strip, Kuwait, and Tunisia. US and Libyan officials meanwhile are probing Tuesday’s attack on the consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other US officials, amid growing speculation it was the work of extremist militants rather than just demonstrators.Two of the four Americans killed in the assault were former members of the elite Navy SEALs officials identified as Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. The harrowing attack also left Ambassador Chris Stevens and Sean Smith, an information management officer, dead.

Washington sought to keep a lid on the demonstrations by spelling out that the controversial film that set off the violence was made privately by a small group of individuals with no official backing. “Let me state very clearly-and I hope it is obvious-that the United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in condemning the “disgusting and reprehensible” video. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Muslims protest film

BENGHAZI: President Mohammed el-Megarif, front row second left, lays a wreath, during his visit to the US Consulate to express sympathy for the death of the American ambassador, Chris Stevens and his colleagues in the deadly attack on the Consulate last Tuesday September 11, in Benghazi, Libya, yesterday. — AP

Indian Kashmir cleric warns Americans to leave SRINAGAR: Indian Kashmir’s most senior Islamic cleric has told all US citizens to “immediately leave” the region because of the privately-produced anti-Islam film that surfaced in the United States.

“US citizens visiting Kashmir should leave immediately as the sentiments of the Muslims have been hurt by these pictures,” the Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, Bashiruddin Ahmad said Thursday, the Press Trust of India reported. “Everyone accepts the greatness of the Prophet and any attempt to malign his image will not be tolerated,” the news agency quoted him as saying. Hundreds of lawyers shouted anti-US slogans and went on strike yesterday in Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir. Zaffar Shah, former president of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association said, “about 700 of us are not working today in protest against this blasphemous film.” “We want to discourage people from making such movies, and we urge the US government to ban the film and prosecute the filmmaker under some law that prevents people from inciting others,” he told AFP. A small group of protesters gathered peacefully on Thursday in Srinagar to denounce the film, but police were on standby

SRINAGAR: Kashmiri lawyers listen during a demonstration against the controversial film “Innocence of Muslims” in Srinagar yesterday. — AFP for the possibility of unrest after prayers yesterday. Four people died in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Thursday as violence once again flared outside US embassies in the Middle East and North Africa over the low-budget film.

The deaths followed the killing of a US diplomat and three colleagues in Syria Tuesday after a mob stormed the consulate in Benghazi. India is home to a Muslim population estimated at about 150 million, according to census data. —AFP

SANAA: Protesters destroy an American flag pulled down during clashes with police near the US Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, yesterday, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). — AP

Yemen police shoot to stop demo reaching US embassy SANAA: Yemeni security forces fired warning shots, tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters angry over an anti-Islam film headed for the US embassy yesterday, a day after similar confrontations left four dead.

With tempers boiling across the Muslim world over the movie since the US ambassador to Libya was killed in an attack on an American consulate on Tuesday, the Pentagon said it has sent a team of Marines to Yemen. Massive peaceful demonstrations, meanwhile, were staged across the Arabian peninsula country to denounce the movie. Hundreds of protesters assembled about 500 metres (yards) from the embassy compound and burned the American flag as they called for the expulsion of the US ambassador to Yemen, an AFP correspondent reported.

“No embassy, no ambassador, the people want the ambassador expelled,” they chanted.

“Leave, slave of the devil. Leave, ambassador of the Americans” and “Death to America, death to Israel.” They were met by security forces who blocked all roads leading to the embassy, after four people were killed on Thursday when a mob tried to storm the mission. The protesters were dispersed, but tensions remained high on the streets.

A separate peaceful demonstration of tens of

thousands against the film produced in the United States was held in Sanaa’s Sittin Avenue where people gathered for the weekly Muslim prayers.

The imam leading the prayers condemned Thursday’s attack on the US mission in Sanaa, saying that “those who have committed these acts have insulted Islam just as the movie did.” “The attack against the US embassy is an attack against Islam,” said Imam Amiredeen. A group which organised protests that had brought down veteran Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh last year accused “remnants of the former regime” of carrying out the “sabotage acts” against the US mission.

Other peaceful protests took place in several neighbourhoods across the main southern city of Aden. “It’s our duty to support our prophet,” they chanted. Meanwhile, an imam told believers gathered in the Mualla neighbourhood of Aden: “The demonstrations must remain peaceful and we call for bringing the filmmakers to justice.” No incidents were reported in the south as cars with loudspeakers patrolled the streets urging residents to continue protests. Similar peaceful rallies were staged in the provinces of Hadramawt-the ancestral hometown of slain Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden-of Lahij and Shabwa. The United States has sent 50 Marines from the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team to help protect its embassy in Sanaa, the Pentagon said yesterday. —AFP

Iraqis burn US, Israeli flags BAGHDAD: Iraqi protesters burned US and Israeli flags as thousands of people demonstrated for a second day yesterday in cities and towns across Iraq against an antiIslam film that has sparked outrage in the Muslim world.

In the biggest protest, thousands of people turned out in the southern port city of Basra, carrying Iraqi flags and shouting slogans including: “There is no freedom by abuses to the feelings of two billion Muslims.”

The protesters burned American and Israeli flags, an AFP correspondent said. Hundreds of people also protested in the Sunni-majority Adhamiyah area of north Baghdad after Friday prayers, while dozens of people, mainly from various Shiite parties, also demonstrated in the capital’s Tahrir Square. In Karbala, Abdul

Mehdi al-Karbalai, the representative in the city of top Iraqi Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said during his Friday sermon that “these repeated abuses could threaten peaceful life, especially among (religiously) mixed peoples.”

He also condemned violence in response to the film, which portrays the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and Islam in a negative light, and sparked deadly fury in Libya, where four Americans including the ambassador were killed on Tuesday in a mob attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. In Sunni-majority Ramadi, west of Baghdad, hundreds of people demonstrated against the film. Hamid al-Fahdawi, one of the protest organisers, told AFP that demonstrators want the Iraqi govern-

ment to dismiss the US ambassador and cut economic ties with the US. Dozens of demonstrators also turned out in the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, also west of the Iraqi capital. Sadr al-Din al-Qubanchi, a senior Shiite cleric who leads Friday prayers in the shrine city of Najaf, called for the United States to apologise to Muslims and surrender all those who worked on the film to a special Islamic court. The governor of Nineveh province, Atheel al-Nujaifi attended a demonstration against the film in Mosul, in north Iraq. There were also protests in various cities in Diyala province, and in other cities and towns including Hilla, Amara and Nasiriyah. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

US hostage appeals for family help in new video ISLAMABAD: An elderly American aid worker kidnapped over a year ago in Pakistan is asking his family to get Jewish communities in the United States to pressure Washington to meet Al-Qaeda’s demands so he can go free, according to a new video of the captive.

Warren Weinstein did not specify what those demands were. Previous al-Qaeda conditions for his release have included the freeing of militant suspects and a halt to US airstrikes. In the video message released late Thursday by the group, the 71-yearold said he is well and is getting his

medications. “I’m being taken care of and to request ... that you and the family please make as many contacts as you can with Jewish communities in the United States in order to put pressure on the American government and President Obama to work with and accept the demands of the mujahedeen in order for me to gain my freedom,” Weinstein says in the video, referring to the fighters holding him.

The video was posted on the Internet by al-Qaeda’s media arm, AlSahab, according to IntelCenter, a US-based group that monitors media

websites. He also urged his family to ask the “Republican candidate,” presumably presidential contender Mitt Romney, to use his influence to get him released.

“Perhaps you can also make an appeal to the Republican candidate to see if they would also work and put pressure on President Obama and deal with the mujahedeen in order to respond to their demands,” he said. Weinstein was abducted last August in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home. He was the country director in Pakistan

for J.E. Austin Associates, a US-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors.

It was Weinstein’s second video this week. In a release Wednesday he sought the help of the Israeli prime minister in securing his release.

The aid worker said President Barack Obama and the American government “have shown no interest in my case.” He appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for help “as one Jew to another,” asking him to accept the militant group’s demands so he could return to his family. — AP

51 dead in Afghan bus, oil tanker crash Women, children among the victims killed

KARACHI: Pakistani relatives mourn over the coffin of a garment factory fire victim during a funeral in Karachi yesterday. Three factory-owners facing murder charges over the deaths of 289 people in a huge fire in Karachi handed themselves in to court yesterdayto request pre-arrest bail, their lawyer said. — AFP

Court bails Pakistan fire factory owners KARACHI: Three factory-owners facing murder charges over the deaths of 289 people in a huge fire in Karachi handed themselves in to court yesterday as Pakistan police described the moment the flames took hold.

Workers burned to death or suffocated in the massive blaze that engulfed Ali Enterprises clothing factory, which made ready-to-wear clothes for export to Western retailers, on Tuesday evening. Investigators are studying a crucial twominute section of footage filmed by six closed-circuit cameras inside the factory as the fire broke out and caused terror among workers in a matter of seconds.

Police registered a murder case over the fire on Thursday, saying the owners-Abdul Aziz, Mohammad Arshad and Shahid Bhaila-had shown “utter negligence” about workers’ safety. The trio, who have not been arrested, appeared in the high court in Larkana, 450 kilometres (300 miles) north of Karachi, and were granted “protective bail” for eight days, their lawyer Aamir Mansoor Qureshi told AFP. He said they went to the court because they feared for their lives in Karachi, a metropolis of 18 million people which came to a standstill on Thursday as a mark of respect for the victims of Pakistan’s worst ever industrial fire.

A court official confirmed the ruling, which means the owners cannot be arrested before September 22, and said the judge had ordered them to appear in court in Karachi before the bail expires. They have also been barred from leaving Pakistan. The only exit from the factory was through a door with an electronic lock which failed when the fire disrupted the power supply, senior police official Niaz Khoso told AFP, leaving workers trapped. “The fire basically erupted on the first floor, where a group of people were sorting out the finished material,” Khoso told AFP. “A large quantity of finished garments are piled on the floor and workers are calmly busy in their work,” he said, after reviewing the camera footage.

Sparks are then seen coming from electricity cables, which he said were of poor quality and installed unusually low in the walls. “At 18:56 the images of fire come on screen. Workers start running helter-skelter as everything gets murky with the smoke amid the sparks of fire,” he said. — AFP

GHAZNI: A passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker in Afghanistan yesterday, killing 51 people and injuring several others, with women and children among the victims, officials said. The incident happened in Ab Band district of Ghazni province, on the highway from Kabul to Kandahar, the capital of the south and Afghanistan’s second largest city, on what is one of the most dangerous roads in the country.

One official said the fuel tanker belonged to an Afghan trader and Ghazni is part of the supply route for NATO goods coming into Afghanistan from the north and heading south. “At around 6:30 am (0200 GMT) a passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker in the Spin Band area of Ab Band,” Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, the deputy governor of the province, told AFP. “As a result, the fuel tanker and the passenger bus caught fire and 51 peo-

ple were killed and six others were wounded in the collision. There are women and children among the victims,” he said. He said most of the dead were burnt beyond recognition. Four women were among the 50 killed on the bus and the driver of the fuel tanker was also killed, he said.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said 50 people had died. Baz Mohammad Himmat, the head of the main hospital in Ghazni city, said only that five wounded had been brought in after the accident, but had no information about the dead.

Sardar, an 18-year-old survivor with head injuries, told AFP what happened.

“I was sitting in the back row and the driver was driving very fast when it crashed with the tanker. The bus caught fire, the passengers were screaming,” he said in hospital.

“I managed to throw myself out of

the bus because I was sitting in the last row. I saw people burning, it was terrible,” he added.

High-casualty road accidents are common in Afghanistan, where roads are perilous and many vehicles are old.

Officials said there was no immediate suggestion that insurgents had been involved in Friday’s accident, although Ghazni is a flashpoint for Taleban attacks.

“I believe reckless driving and the narrow road are to be blamed for this tragic accident,” said Ghazni police chief Zerawer Zahid.

The Taleban is leading a 10-year insurgency against the US-backed government and 117,000 NATO troops who by the end of 2014 are due to withdraw and hand over security responsibility to Afghans. In Ghazni on Thursday, a military spokesman said an insurgent attack killed a NATO soldier. — AFP

28 dead in India landslides DEHRADUN: At least 28 people in northern India died yesterday in landslides and flashfloods triggered by heavy overnight monsoon rains and about a dozen others are missing, a rescue official told AFP. The deaths occurred in the early hours after particularly heavy downpours in the Rudraprayag and Bageshwar districts of the scenic Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, Piyush Rautela from the state disaster management cell told AFP. A total of 19 bodies had been discovered in four villages in Rudraprayag and nine other corpses were found in Bageshwar, Rautela said.

“We estimate that some 10 or 11 people are still buried under the rubble (in Rudraprayag),” Rautela added as rescue workers scrambled to locate survivors. “Many people are missing but we fear that the chances of survival are negligible,” he said. Uttarakhand has experienced heavy and constant rainfall since Wednesday.

At least 100 pilgrims travelling to the ancient Kedarnath Hindu temple, perched atop the Garhwal Himalayan range, were stuck en route due to several road closures caused by landslides, Rautela said. Efforts were under way to remove debris and clear blocked roads, he added.

India has suffered from a variable monsoon season this year that has been too intense in some parts of the country and too feeble in others where drought-like conditions have prevented farmers from sowing summer crops.

Excess rainfall in the northeast triggered destructive floods

that displaced six million people, while much of the rest of the country sizzled without regular rainfall.

Nationwide, the monsoon has been 10 percent below its seasonal average, according to figures released by the India Meteorological Department last week. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: In this photo taken on Tuesday Sept. 11, 2012 Bishop Ishaque Mazhar, left, presents a trophy to Pakistani cleric Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, right, for his key role in the release of the Christian girl faced blasphemy charges, in Islamabad, Pakistan. — AP

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Fed easing plan spurs risk rally, dollar slips

Euro-zone gives Greece time to meet targets

Business

17

UK recession ‘now bites high earners’

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

India opens retail to foreign giants

20 18

NEW DELHI: Delivery men transport LPG gas cylinders for delivery to residences in New Delhi yesterday. India’s government was confronted by strike threats and a political backlash yesterday after hiking the price of diesel by 12 percent and restricted the supply of subsidized cooking gas to 6 cylinders per household as a rise in inflation underscored the scale of its economic woes. — AFP (See Page 17)

US industrial production drops Gasoline pushes up US inflation, could dent growth

WASHINGTON: A jump in the cost of gasoline pushed US consumer prices up in August at the fastest pace in more than three years, squeezing spending on other items and threatening to slow economic growth. At the same time, production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities dropped by 1.2 percent, the biggest decline since March 2009, other data yesterday showed.

The sour mix of numbers was tempered by an unexpected increase in consumer sentiment in early September and signs underlying inflation pressures remained contained. “There is a real risk that the rising cost of food and fuel may well put additional pressure on household spending power,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.6 percent last month, the first increase in five months and the biggest gain since June 2009, the Labor Department said. Gasoline prices, which also recorded their largest increase since June 2009, accounted for about 80 percent of the rise in consumer inflation last month.

With gasoline costs on the rise, service station chalked up healthy receipts. The Commerce Department said sales at gasoline stations shot up 5.5 percent, helping fuel a 0.9 percent rise in overall retail sales. It was the biggest gain in retail sales since February.

Sales of automobiles and building and garden equipment were also stronger, but elsewhere sales were weak. A gauge that tracks the consumer spending component of the govern-

ment’s GDP measure actually fell 0.1 percent.

“Consumers are not in an expansive mood.

Weakening consumption is probable in the months ahead,” said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets in

Woodcliff Lake in New Jersey.

The data suggested third-quarter economic growth would be insufficient to cut into high unemployment, which on Thursday prompted the Federal Reserve to launch a third round of

VANCE: Mercedes SUV bodies are seen during a tour of the SKD packaging facility at BLG Logistics, Inc in Vance, Alabama. Mercedes is building Semi Knocked Down (SKD) car kits for India, Indonesia and Thailand, in a move that will help increase the presence of Mercedes-Benz products in the SUV segment of these markets. US industrial production fell in August by the largest amount in more than three years as factories produced fewer cars. — AP

bond purchases and push its pledge to hold interest rates near zero through at least mid2015 from late 2014. While the CPI rose sharply, the so-called core index, which strips out volatile and food and energy costs, edged up just 0.1 percent, suggesting inflation will subside once gasoline costs settle down.

In the 12 months to August overall consumer prices increased 1.7 percent, staying below the Fed’s 2 percent target, but advancing from July’s 1.4 percent rise. “The retail sales and consumer price reports give the Federal Reserve very little reason to doubt their decision yesterday to increase monetary stimulus,” said Kathy Lien, managing director of FX at BK Asset Management in New York.

Gasoline prices at the pump rose 28 cents per gallon in August. Automobile sales increased 1.3 percent, the most since February, after gaining 0.1 percent in July.

Other data showed business inventories rose 0.8 percent in July, largely due to car dealers’ boosting auto stocks. Excluding gasoline and autos, retail sales edged up 0.1 percent after rising 0.8 percent the prior month. Away from gasoline and autos, sales were mixed, with receipts at building materials and garden equipment suppliers rising 1.0 percent after increasing 1.2 percent in July. There were gains in furniture sales and sales at restaurants and bars But there were declines in sales at clothing stores and at electronics and appliances shops. Receipts at sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores were flat. — Reuters

business

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Fed easing plan spurs risk rally, dollar slips Euro touches 4-month high vs dollar

HONG KONG: A couple is reflected in a screen showing the Hang Seng Index that surged 2.9 percent to 20,629.78 at a bank in Hong Kong, yesterday. Asian stock markets bounded higher yesterday after investors got just what they wanted - big moves by the Federal Reserve to help the US economy out of its funk. —AP

Dubai retailer Paris Gallery plans IPO DUBAI: Dubai group Paris Gallery, which stocks a $300,000 perfume among its luxury products, is planning an initial public offering it said would provide a “safety net” for the family-owned business and help it expand beyond the Gulf. Chief executive Mohammed Al-Fahim told the Reuters Retail and Consumer Summit that the firm, which had 2011 turnover of about $1 billion, had held talks with the Dubai Financial Market and sister bourse Nasdaq Dubai about a potential listing.

“I would not put a timeframe but, as an objective, I say yes, for the benefit of the organization in the future. One of the rationales (of an IPO) would be the continuity of the company,” said Fahim, whose father founded the firm.

“Globally, family businesses rarely last beyond the second or third generation. So, an IPO is a sort of safety net for us to make us more transparent, more structured and more accountable.”

Fahim would not comment on the likely value of the IPO or what size stake the firm might sell - the Nasdaq Dubai and DFM have different listing requirements. The fear of losing control and being opened up to greater scrutiny has led many family-owned retail businesses to seek other ways of raising money. Dubai’s retail and hospitality sector accounted for 34.7 percent of the emirate’s economy in 2011, more than real estate and financial services combined, which themselves make up the bulk of the weighting on the DFM share index.

This has led to a disconnect between the bourse - down 75 percent from a 2008 peak following a property price crash that also roiled lenders - and the wider economy, which grew 3.4 percent last year. Dubai has not completed an IPO of note for more than four years. Paris Gallery’s plan followed an announcement last week from AlHabtoor Group, a family-owned Dubai conglomerate, that wants to raise $1.6 billion through an IPO next year.

Fahim said Paris Gallery would expand outside its Gulf base where it employs 3,500 across 80 stores. “We are studying Europe and the Far East. We are in the middle of negotiations to open new stores in Iraq, Turkey, Moscow, St Petersburg and many other cities among the Arab world.”

Half the company’s stores trade under the Paris Gallery label, selling about 500 brands including Chanel, Dior , Yves Saint Laurent and Lancome. Also on display is Imperial Majesty No. 1 perfume, a creation by Clive Christian Perfumes of which only 10 bottles were made.

Each bottle is priced at over $300,000.

The remaining stores are franchises for the likes of Burberry, Cartier, Ferrari and Roberto Cavalli.

“We expect to grow (revenue) more than 10 percent this year,” he said. “In 2009, we did some consolidation.

2010 was better, 2011 was our best ever year,” Fahim said.

The UAE provides more than 60 percent of Paris Gallery’s revenue and Saudi Arabia about 35 percent, with the remainder from other Gulf countries. — Reuters

NEW YORK: Risk assets rallied yesterday on the Federal Reserve’s aggressive new plan to stimulate the US economy and on progress in tackling the euro-zone crisis, pushing global stocks to a 13-month high and driving the euro to a more than four-month high against the dollar. Brent crude oil gained for a seventh straight session and hit a four-month peak, while European shares notched a 14-month high. On Wall Street, stocks started the day higher.

In bond markets, yields on 10-year Italian government bonds fell below 5 percent for the first time since late March as the Fed’s announcement enhanced the recently improved sentiment toward riskier assets. “There is a risk-on mood across the board at the moment, that (has to do with) the Fed but certainly it still echoes from the ECB,” Rainer Guntermann, a strategist at Commerzbank, said.

The Fed on Thursday said it would pump $40 billion into the economy each month until the US jobs market shows a sustained improvement. The aggressive action improved what was an already upbeat mood in financial markets since the European Central Bank announced plan to cut the borrowing costs of struggling euro-zone members.

US Treasuries prices fell as the

appetite for safe-haven assets waned as investors favored assets that they believe will offer better returns. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury note fell 28/32, its yield rising to 1.82 percent from 1.73 percent late on Thursday.

The Fed’s new easing program also focuses on buying mortgage-backed debt at the expense of government bonds. European equities surged, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rising 1.4 percent to 1121.70 points. The MSCI index of global stocks jumped 1.9 percent to 341.12 points, the highest level since August last year.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 62.94 points, or 0.46 percent, at 13,602.80. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 7.38 points, or 0.51 percent, at 1,467.37. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 20.43 points, or 0.65 percent, at 3,176.26.

The S&P 500 marked its highest close since December 2007 on Thursday after the Fed’s announcement of new bond purchases.

Euro-zone finance ministers were meeting in Cyprus on Friday, hoping to build on progress the bloc has made this month, following the plans announced by ECB President Mario Draghi and a German court’s green light this week for the euro zone’s

new ESM bailout fund. Spain was being pressed to clarify whether it would seek the financial support which would clear the way for the ECB to buy its bonds. Questions remain whether Madrid could be tempted by the recent drop in its borrowing costs to tough it out without a politically unpopular EU bailout program. The dollar index measured against a basket of currencies fell to its lowest level in over four months at 78.729 in the wake of the Fed’s move. Quantitative easing equates to printing money and dilutes the value of the dollar. The dollar’s broad decline left the euro at a four-month high above $1.31, the latest in a string of technical and psychological levels it has cut through this week.

“With Europe getting their act together (at least temporarily), the Fed flooding the market with cash, and China talking (about) stimulatory infrastructure projects, the three largest influences of market dynamics could be creating a bull market for at least the near term,” said Neal Gilbert, currency strategist at GFT Forex.

Brent rose $1.37 to $117.25 a barrel by 1353 GMT, after reaching a fourmonth peak of $117.95 earlier. The global North Sea benchmark was on track to end the week up more than 2 percent. — Reuters

NICOSIA: EU financial ministers pose for a group photo at the conference center during an Informal European economic and financial affairs council in capital Nicosia yesterday. — AP

Fitch affirms Abu Dhabi at ‘AA’; outlook stable ABU DHABI: Fitch Ratings has affirmed Abu Dhabi’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘AA’ with a Stable Outlook. Fitch has also affirmed Abu Dhabi’s Short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘F1+’. The UAE Country Ceiling is affirmed at ‘AA+’.

The affirmation and Stable Outlook reflect the continued strength of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign balance sheet.

This is estimated to be the second strongest amongst rated sovereigns measured by sovereign net foreign assets (SNFA), and conveys exceptional fiscal flexibility. Foreign assets are estimated to have risen again in 2011, despite a dip in investment returns, as the general government budget moved further into surplus, despite a substantial spending increase. Foreign assets held in Abu Dhabi’s

main sovereign wealth fund (ADIA) are estimated by Fitch to be around $300bn.

This is at the low end of the range of independent estimates and compares with just $3bn of direct sovereign external debt after the maturing of a $1bn eurobond earlier this year. SNFA of an estimated 131% of GDP at end2011 are second only to Kuwait’s (‘AA’/Stable).

On current oil price assumptions ($110pb in 2012, falling to $100pb in 2013-2014) gross assets are forecast to continue rising, despite a projected weakening in the overall fiscal surplus, assuming investment returns are positive. ADIA’s average return in the 20 years to 2011 dropped slightly to 6.9% from 7.6% in the 20 years to 2010. — Reuters

business

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Euro-zone gives Greece time to meet targets No third aid program for debt-wracked country

KARACHI: A Pakistani shipyard worker uses a blow torch to cut through a metal platform of a vessel beached and being dismantled at one of the 127 shipbreaking plots in Geddani, some 40km west of Karachi.

Geddani’s ship-breaking yards employ some 10,000 workers including welders, cleaners, crane operators and worker supervisors. — AFP

RBS launches forced stocksmarket sale of Direct Line LONDON: State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to press ahead with the forced sale of its Direct Line insurance division in what could be the biggest listing on the London Stock Exchange for more than a year. RBS, which is majority-owned by the government after a bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, was told to sell Britain’s biggest motor insurer by European Union regulators as a condition for taking state aid.

Analysts say that the initial public offering (IPO), announced by RBS on Friday, could value Direct Line at between 2.5 billion pounds ($4 billion) and 3.5 billion pounds, but achieving that could prove difficult in tough market conditions that have already scuppered a stock market flotation by Talanx , Germany’s third-biggest insurer. “The recent pulling of the Talanx IPO in Germany does not read across positively for RBS, suggesting it remains a buyer’s market, which may frustrate RBS’s valuation expectations,” Oriel Securities analyst Vivek Raja said.

Talanx abandoned its Frankfurt IPO on Wednesday, saying that investors were demanding too big a discount on the company’s valuation relative to what its investment banking advisers had foreseen.

On a conference call with reporters, Direct Line Chief Executive Paul Geddes said that Talanx’s abandoned IPO would have little effect on his company’s prospects. “Eighty percent of that business is reinsurance and life (insurance), so it’s a very different market,” he said.

If RBS were to encounter a similar experience to Talanx, it would have the option of re-examining a straight sale or asking Brussels for an extension to its deadline. Under the EU directive, RBS must sell more than 50 percent of Direct Line by the end of 2013 and the rest of its holding a year later. RBS will market the offer to potential investors over the next few weeks and will be under political pressure to secure a good deal. UK taxpayers are sitting on a loss of more than 20 billion pounds after Britain pumped 45 billion pounds into the bank to secure its future. The bank’s finance director, John Reizenstein, told reporters there had been positive dialogue with investors.“We’ve had a lot of discussions with them over the past year and there’s a lot of interest,” he said, adding that the IPO would be expected to complete in the next few weeks.

RBS is planning a three-tranche sale - one this year, one next year and a final sale in 2014. The bank said it planned to sell at least 25 percent of Direct Line’s shares in the first tranche, in line with the minimum requirement under stock exchange rules. One source close to the deal said that the valuation could come in anywhere between 1.5 billion pounds and 4 billion pounds and that RBS could drop the IPO in favor of an outright disposal if it is at the bottom end of the range. “That is a very low number and you would get a lot of private equity interest at that price,” the source said.

The business’s tangible net asset value stood at 2.3 billion pounds after September’s dividend payout. — Reuters

NICOSIA: The euro-zone now accepts Greece will need more time to meet economic targets under its delayed bailout, but ministers maintained yesterday that there will be no “third aid program” for the debt-wracked country. Amid international tensions over the perennial struggle in Athens to meet conditions for hundreds of billions of euros of loans, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde joined talks in Cyprus to update on the latest findings from “troika” inspectors on the ground.

No formal decisions or agreements were due, and there was even less expectation of any breakthrough in the stalemate over Spanish banking and sovereign debt or Irish hopes of winning help for its banks on the back of Madrid’s deal.

But the change of tone on Greece in Nicosia was significant, as the “troika” of international lenders-the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank ploughs on towards a summit of EU leaders on October 18-19 that is clearly shaping up as the next Greek crunch moment.

A group of key Eurogroup finance ministers have now converged around a growing consensus to give Athens “more time” to deliver on its end of the second, 130-billion-euro bailout originally agreed in March, but “not extra money.” “If the deficit turns out to be somewhat worse than expected because of a temporary downturn in the economy, there could be some more time-but not money, not extra money,” said Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees De Jager.

“There could be no time for delaying measures because it’s in the interests of Greece and the people of Greece that reform measures will continue,” he underlined.

Austria’s Maria Fekter adopted the same line, saying “we will give them the time they need for that but probably not more money,” the day after France’s Pierre Moscovici offered the

possibility of some flexibility following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens.

In Washington on the eve of the talks, International Monetary Fund spokesman Gerry Rice had also said: “There are good arguments to extend the period for Greece to implement its fiscal adjustment. “We said such an extension would be dependent on the ability of financing,” Rice said.

A diplomat attending the talks told AFP that the message ministers were sending out was there would be no third package of loans to Greece.

“Obviously more time means some more cost along the way, but when ministers say no more money, they mean no third aid program,” he said.

“The Greeks are telling us here they are adequately financed until midOctober.” Tensions on the financial markets have eased this week following the European Central Bank’s controversial plan to buy bonds of strug-

gling states and the Germany’s highest court’s move to clear a new European firewall aimed at fighting the debt crisis. The ministers were to be joined after lunch by non-euro counterparts, for a first detailed discussion of European Commission legislative proposals for EU-wide bank supervision led by the European Central Bank.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sent a few flutters running first thing when he said he could not envisage direct recapitalization of banks through the European Stability Mechanism “as early as January”. At the last EU summit in June, leaders agreed to give the revamped 500-billion-euro ($645 billion) ESM rescue fund the potential to recapitalize banks directly, currently not an option.

However, this depends on agreeing the revamped supervisory regime by the turn of the year. — AFP

NICOSIA: Greek Finance Minister Ioannis Stournaras (left) talks with International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission chief for Greece Poul Thomsen prior of the Informal European economic and financial affairs council in capital Nicosia yesterday. European finance ministers are gathering in Cyprus for two days of discussions about the debt crisis and the latest developments in Greece and Spain. —AP

Brent crude rises to $118 on Fed stimulus LONDON: Brent crude rose for the seventh straight session yesterday, climbing towards $118 a barrel on hopes for stronger global demand for oil after the US Federal Reserve launched an aggressive program to stimulate the economy.

Brent rose $1.67 to $117.55 a barrel by 1006 GMT, after reaching a four-month peak of $117.95 in earlier trade.

The global North Sea benchmark is on track to end the week up more than 2 percent.

US crude rose $1.82 to $100.13 a barrel after hitting a four-month high of $100.42. It is set to close the week up 3 percent. “The Fed will be indirectly adding more liquidity into the asset markets and that money will need to go somewhere and part of it will go into commodities, even if current commodity prices are already at demand destruction levels,” said Olivier Jakob, at Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland.

The Fed’s decision to tie its third bond-buying program directly to economic conditions was an unprecedented step that marked a big escalation in its efforts to drive down US unemployment.

The US dollar yesterday fell to a four-month low against the euro due to the Fed action. Losses in the dollar can support dollar-denominated commodities such as oil by making them cheaper to consumers using other currencies.

Oil was also boosted by escalating anti-US protests over a film demonstrators consider blasphemous to Islam. Protesters attacked the US embassies in Yemen and Egypt on Thursday, and the United States sent warships towards Libya, where the US ambassador was killed in related violence this week. Demonstrations have also taken place in Kuwait, Iran, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Morocco and Sudan. — Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Gold tiptoes higher after Fed move LONDON: Gold edged higher to fresh six-month highs yesterday after the US Federal Reserve unleashed a long-awaited stimulus program, but some analysts expected the market to take a breather before tackling further gains.

Gold’s rise was modest yesterday after jumping 2 percent on Thursday and a total of 10 percent over the past month, largely in anticipation of the easing move by the US central bank.

On Thursday, the Fed launched an open-ended mortgage debt buying program and pledged to keep interest rates near zero until at least mid-2015. Silver, platinum and palladium, widely used in industrial applications, also climbed to their highest in about six

months, as the appetite for riskier assets rose after the Fed move.

Spot gold added 0.2 percent to $1,769 an ounce by 1240 GMT after climbing to an intraday peak of $1,777.51, its highest since Feb. 29. “After the move we had, not just yesterday, but over the last two or three weeks I think it would be natural to look for a period of consolidation,” said Tom Kendall, an analyst at Credit Suisse in London. “But certainly going into the back end of this year, I would be looking for gold to be getting towards at least the $1,850 level.” Analyst Michael Widmer at Bank of America Merrill Lynch was more bullish, telling Reuters Insider television he expected gold to break through its previous record peak of $1,920 from

last September and surge to $2,000 by the end of the year. Cash gold is on course for a 2 percent gain this week - a fourth week of consecutive rises, as investors have been encouraged by central banks’ latest push to promote global growth by effectively printing more cash. Gold is due to encounter stiff resistance at $1790.75-$1802.93, the February and November highs, said Edel Tully at UBS. “We expect a corrective phase around this area to unwind the over-extended upside conditions,” she said in a note. The rally so far has been fuelled largely by institutional and hedge fund buying, but the key to keeping momentum going in the gold price will be a revival of physical buying from India and China, Kendall added. — Reuters

ECB, IMF deny talks about Spain bailout Spanish public debt hits new record

AMRITSAR: People gather for the inauguration ceremony of the first Wal-Mart/Bharti Enterprises joint venture store in Amritsar, India. —AP

India opens retail to foreign giants NEW DELHI: India yesterday gave the green light for foreign supermarket giants such as Wal-Mart and Tesco to enter the country as part of a blitz of economic reforms announced by the government.

The foreign groups will be able to buy stakes of up to 51 percent in multi-brand retailers, allowing them into a previously protected but potentially hugely lucrative sector, Information Minister Ambika Soni said. Reports also said that rules governing foreign investment in the aviation sector had been relaxed and the cabinet had also approved the sale of stakes in four state-owned companies.

The moves follow a bold 12 percent hike in the price of heavily-subsidised diesel on Thursday night, which some analysts saw as the government signalling its intent to reinvigorate its long-stalled reform agenda.

Last December, the beleaguered left-leaning national government was forced to withdraw the proposal to allow in foreign supermarkets in the face of fierce resistance.

Shopkeepers, opposition parties and even an ally in the national coalition came together to oppose the change in the law, saying it would destroy the livelihoods of small business owners. The government sees foreign supermarkets as a way to improve the food supply chain and bring down food prices.

The sale of stakes in the state-run companies and the increased diesel price are aimed at repairing the government’s finances which are under strain from slowing economic growth and a growing burden of subsidies.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will now face the delicate task of keeping his coalition government together given the known opposition to foreign investment in retail from unreliable coalition partner the Trinamool Congress. Firebrand Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee, whose power base is in West Bengal state, said on Thursday that she was angry and wanted the diesel hike reversed.

The reform of the aviation sector will potentially throw a lifeline to companies such as debt-laden Kingfisher, which is in desperate need of funds to implement a turnaround plan.

Foreign airlines are currently barred from taking stakes in Indian airlines, though other overseas investors can hold up to 49 percent. Under the reform, airlines would be able to buy stakes of up to 49 percent. — AFP

FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund denied yesterday that they were in negotiations on a rescue package for Spain. Media reports to that effect were “unfounded. No negotiations are ongoing. It would be up to (Madrid) to decide to make a request,” said an ECB spokeswoman.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde also issued a firm denial that she is negotiating bailout aid for Spain with the ECB. Bringing up what she characterized as reports of “deep negotiations” with ECB head Mario Draghi, Christine Lagarde told a news conference after Eurogroup talks in Cyprus that “I can assure you we are not”. Earlier, the Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad had said the ECB was in talks with the IMF on a Spanish rescue package worth 300 billion euros ($390 billion). Spain said earlier this week it will watch how its borrowing costs evolve before deciding whether to seek a fullblown bailout. The newspaper, without revealing its sources, said the ECB-IMF package would pave the way for the central bank to buy Spanish bonds to bring down Madrid’s borrowing costs under the ECB’s new bond-buying plan, known as OMT. The ECB, however, wanted to make sure the IMF was on board as well to ensure that Spain faces strict conditions to cut spending and reform its economy, the report said. Last week, the ECB unveiled a revamped bond-purchase scheme, called Outright Monetary Transactions or OMTs, under which countries wishing to benefit must first apply for a bailout from one of the euro-zone’s two rescue funds.

And cash from those funds is to be conditional on governments meeting agreed reform targets. The ECB spokeswoman said yesterday that the “conditionality required as a pre-requisite of the OMT program is known”. OMT was “a monetary policy initiative and cannot be made conditional to any negotiations. The ECB will take its decisions if the necessary external conditions are

FRANKFURT: A trader sits in front of a graphic showing the German stock index DAX at the stock market in Frankfurt yesterday. The DAX reached this year’s highest level. — AP

met,” the spokeswoman said. Spain’s public debt reached a record high at the end of the first half of 2012, official data showed yesterday, fuelling concerns that the country will need a fullblown financial bailout.

The debt stood at 75.9 percent of output at the end of June, according to the Bank of Spain, up from 66.7 percent during the same time last year and close to the government’s target for the end of the year of 79.8 percent. While Spain’s public debt is below the eurozone average of 88.2 percent, it has risen sharply following the collapse of a property bubble which caused tax revenues to plunge and social spending on items like jobless benefits to soar. The struggling country’s public debt has ballooned from a pre-economic crisis low of 36.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2007 to 69.2 percent at the end of last year.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s rightleaning government, in office since

December, has raised taxes and made steep spending cuts to put its finances in order, sparking widespread street protests.

But with Spain facing a worsening recession, high borrowing costs and looming debt repayments including about 30 billion euros ($38 billion) in October, investors believe the country will soon seek a full-blown bailout.

Madrid has already accepted a eurozone rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros to save banks still reeling from a 2008 property market crash. The government predicts the public debt will continue to rise and will reach 82.3 percent in 2013 before easing slightly to 81.5 percent the following year.

Spain’s 17 powerful regions, which account for half of all government spending, had a debt burden equal to 14.2 percent of output at the end of June, up from 12.8 percent from the same time last year, the central bank said. — Agencies

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

India diesel price hike fuels mass protests Battered government eyes new round of reforms NEW DELHI: India’s beleaguered government appeared poised yesterday to push ahead with fresh measures to revive the economy after months of dithering, even as it came under heavy fire from allies and opponents alike for raising heavily subsidized fuel prices.

A cabinet committee was due to consider a proposal to allow foreign airlines to buy shareholdings in local carriers and will also discuss selling stakes in large state-run companies such as Oil India. Another committee is due to speed up infrastructure project approvals. New Delhi is also likely to announce some spending cuts today for the 2012/13 fiscal year to March, two government sources told Reuters. They did not offer any details on the size of the cuts.

India’s inability in the past months to push through major reforms and ease its subsidy burden has put it in danger of becoming the first of the big “BRICS” emerging economies to see its credit rating downgraded to junk. “The government is quite serious to keep the fiscal deficit as close to budgeted target of 5.1 percent of GDP as possible,” one of the sources, a senior finance ministry official, said.

The government’s decision late on Thursday to raise diesel prices by 14 percent, the first such move in 15 months, is aimed at shoring up a weak fiscal position, but it was swiftly rejected by the opposition and allies within the Congress party-led ruling coalition who see a chance to hurt the government. Congress appeared isolated as parties ranging from the Communists to right-wing Hindu nationalists joined householders demanding a rollback on diesel and

on a cap in sales of subsidized cooking gas canisters. In the opposition-run eastern state of Odisha hundreds of activists from the local BJD party marched, brandishing cooking gas canisters. They shouted “Death to Manmohan Singh, death to Sonia Gandhi”, and burnt effigies of the prime minister and Congress party leader.

“After a cut in our spending on buying vegetables and other essentials, we many now have cut down even the cooking,” said Rama Devi, a housewife at a protest in the neighboring state Andhra Pradesh, where effigies were also burned.

Similar protests earlier this year over

petrol price and railway fare hikes prompted Singh to partially reverse them.

While most other G20 central banks are trying to ease monetary conditions to counter a global slowdown, the RBI has consistently flagged high inflation as a key risk to an economy where growth is faltering. The latest measures will add to inflation in the short term, but will ultimately make it easier for the central bank to loosen monetary policy and help revive investor confidence damaged by political gridlock in New Delhi. “It is a bold move, and will send a strong signal to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the government’s efforts at fiscal

AHMADABAD: Indian women participate in a protest against the price hike in diesel and capping the number of subsidized cooking gas cylinders in Ahmadabad yesterday. — AP

consolidation,” said Anubhuti Sahay, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai. Hopes of a immediate response from the RBI, which meets on Monday, were not helped by inflation data that showed underlying price pressures remain strong, and most economists were sticking to their forecast for no rate cut this time.

India’s wholesale price index (WPI) rose a higher-than-expected 7.55 percent in August from a year earlier, mainly driven by higher food prices due to poor monsoon rains, Friday’s government data showed.

The increase in diesel prices will add 60 basis points to inflation, a finance ministry official said on Friday. Diesel is widely used by transport companies and farmers.

The diesel price hike and cap on cooking gas canisters could also prove politically costly for the Congress party, whose core constituencies are farmers and the poor, in state elections due later this year. Congress has been on the defensive for weeks over sweetheart coal deals that are now being investigated by the Supreme Court and the country’s premier law enforcement agency.

The affair dubbed “coalgate” has been a boon for opposition parties, who have painted the government as corrupt, a charge Singh has strongly denied.

In the cabinet committee meetings later, ministers were expected to look at loosening rules that bar foreign airlines from buying stakes in domestic carriers. At the moment foreign investors, excluding airlines, are allowed to hold a cumulative 49 percent. If the proposal is approved, foreign airlines would be allowed to buy similarsized shareholdings. —Reuters

South Africa vows clampdown on mines unrest

Sorajak Kasemsuvan gestures while making a speech in Bangkok. — AP

Thai Airways picks media veteran as new president BANGKOK: Thai Airways International PCL has selected a media conglomerate chief as its new president after the airline’s board sacked his predecessor nearly four months ago. The airline’s board of directors yesterday approved the appointment of Sorajak Kasemsuvan, the chairman of MCOT PLC, a media company majority-owned by the Thai government.

Sorajak, 57, has long experience in media industry and took the job at MCOT in 2011. He received a doctorate degree from London School of Economics, was a former BBC Thai radio service reporter and worked as a vice minister in the foreign ministry in the early 2000s. Thai Airways’ board axed its president in May. It said he failed to communicate with fellow directors. Sorajak is expected to begin his new job in October. — AP

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa said yesterday it will no longer tolerate growing unrest in its key mining sector and will act against the incitement and threats of violence crippling platinum and gold mines.

The government warning came as striking workers at London-listed Lonmin’s platinum mine rejected a wage offer aimed at ending a wildcat stayaway that has spread to the world’s top producer Anglo American Platinum (Amplats). “Our government will not tolerate these acts any further,” Justice Minister Jeff Radebe told journalists.

The clampdown will target illegal gatherings and the carrying of weapons as thousands of miners, armed with spears and machetes, mobilize at shuttered mines with fiery threats of violence and deeper strike action. “This is not a state of emergency. We want to bring back public order in those affected areas so that the economy of our country can continue to run normally,” said Radebe who warned of police arrests.

“So all those who are involved in illegal activities are going to be dealt with very swiftly without any further delay,” he said.

The unrest has snowballed with workers downing tools at other mines since Lonmin’s strike exploded into bloodshed that claimed 45 lives, including 34 miners gunned down by police in violence that sent shockwaves through the world.

Workers yesterday spurned Lonmin’s offer as “an insult” after it was presented to them at the company’s Marikana plant in the Rustenburg platinum belt where Amplats has also shut down five mines over safety fears. The labor strife has also spread to the

gold sector where 15,000 Gold Fields miners have been striking since Sunday.

“The workers rejected the offer,” representative Molisi Phele told AFP of the 986 rand ($120, 92 euros) pay increase put forward by the company. “Lonmin did not respond to the workers’ demand. What they (the workers) say is that their offer is an insult.” The proposal, made in mediated talks late Thursday, was the first to be made by the world’s number three platinum producer since it was forced to shut down its Marikana operations more than a month ago. Talks

resumed yesterday afternoon.

Worker turnout at the mine yesterday plunged to 0.31 percent, a record low since workers walked off the job on August 10.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan warned that the unrest if unchecked will hit already slowing economic growth and joblessness, while the violence will damage investor confidence. “If this instability continues and the lack of production continues, firstly the cost will be in terms of the overall growth numbers in South Africa,” he told reporters. —AFP

CAMPIA TURZIL: Around 250 local workers and syndicate members from around Romania demonstrate in front of Mechel steel processing factory in Campia Turzii yesterday to protest against massive lay-off by Russian energy giant Mechel in the local metals factory. — AFP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Asian markets soar on Fed plan HONG KONG: Asian markets surged yesterday after the US Federal Reserve said it would unleash a huge open-ended bondbuying program aimed at jumpstarting growth and boosting jobs in the world’s largest economy.

The news lifted the euro well past $1.30, but Japanese authorities expressed concern that a flood of cheap dollars would further strengthen the yen, which hit a sevenmonth high against the greenback late Thursday. Tokyo shares rose 1.83 percent, or 164.24 points, to 9,159.39, Seoul soared 2.92 percent, or 56.89 points, to 2,007.58 and Sydney jumped 1.17 percent, or 50.6 points, to 4,390.0.

Hong Kong rocketed 2.90 percent, or 582.15 points, to 20,629.78 and Shanghai closed up 0.64 percent, or 13.47 points, at 2,123.85. After a two-day meeting, the policy committee of the US central bank said it would start a third program of purchasing $40 billion a month in mortgage-backed bonds, known as quantitative easing (QE3).

It said it would continue its monetary easing efforts until it saw substantial improvement in the jobs market. The bank added that it would also extend its “Operation Twist” scheme of selling shortterm debt and buying long-term bonds with the proceeds in order to keep longterm interest rates as low as possible.

While the announcement had been expected, dealers cheered the fact that the central bank said it would continue with the policy until it feels the economy is strong enough.

“This is action aimed at helping (what is) by far the most important economy in the world,” said Joe Bracken, head of macro strategies at BT Investment Management in Sydney. “Anything that puts the US economy on the right track is greeted with

SEOUL: A currency trader reacts near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Korea Exchange Bank headquarters in Seoul yesterday. — AP applause in Asia because it’s a market they all export to.”

On Wall Street, investors went into a buying frenzy, sending the Dow surging 1.55 percent, the S&P 500 rallied 1.63 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 1.33 percent.

The move comes a week after the European Central Bank said it would buy unlimited amounts of debt from under pressure euro-zone nations in a bid to lower their borrowing costs, which had reached dangerous levels.

“There is no doubt that this is an extremely significant point. The open-ended nature of the plan is just extraordinary,” said James White, senior analyst at First State Investments in Sydney.

On currency markets the euro rose to $1.3047, its highest since May. It strengthened to 102.00 yen, compared with 100.61

yen in New York. And the dollar was at 78.17 yen from 77.48 yen in the United States, where it sank at one point to a seven-month low of 77.13 yen.

The US unit was given support by concerns Japanese authorities would step in to weaken the yen.

Finance Minister Jun Azumi said he would not rule out any policy options to fight excessive moves in the yen, which hurts exporters when it strengthens too much. Traders also said the central bank carried out a rate check with several lenders during New York trade, the first since June, Dow Jones Newswires said.

After checking the yen exchange rate with several banks, the bank of Japan could immediately follow with an intervention.

Oil prices rose. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October

surged $1.04 to $99.35 a barrel in the late afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for November delivery added $1.12 to $117.00.

Gold was at $1,773.30 at 1050 GMT compared with $1,730.63 on Thursday.

In other markets: Singapore closed up 1.33 percent, or 40.28 points, at 3,070.42.

Wilmar International gained 8.00 percent to Sg$3.24 and DBS Group advanced 0.68 percent to Sg$14.71.

• Taipei climbed 2.10 percent, or 159.25 points, to 7,738.05. Smartphone maker HTC was up by its 7.0 percent daily limit at Tw$296.5 while Hon Hai Precision gained 4.3 percent to Tw$97.0.

• Manila closed 1.56 percent higher, adding 81.97 points to 5,322.47.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. gained 2.57 percent to 2,870 pesos while Ayala Corp. was up 2.25 percent at 436.60 pesos.

• Wellington closed 0.17 percent higher, adding 6.30 points to 3,792.34.

Fletcher Building added 1.6 percent to NZ$6.80 but exporter Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 6.6 percent to NZ$2.11 as the New Zealand dollar strengthened against the greenback.

• Kuala Lumpur gained 0.89 percent, or 14.55 points, to end at 1,642.95.

AirAsia rose 5.08 percent to 3.10 ringgit, while Malayan Banking added 1.40 percent to 9.40. Sime Darby lost 0.10 percent to 9.80 ringgit.

• Jakarta climbed 2.07 percent, or 86.36 points, to 4,257.00 • Bangkok added 1.47 percent, or 18.43 points, to 1,276.12. Coal producer Banpu gained 4.21 percent to 446.00 baht, while KBank added 3.35 percent to 185.00 baht.

• Mumbai jumped 2.46 percent or 443.11 points to 18,464.27. — AP

UK recession ‘now bites high earners’ Consumers remain pessimistic: Survey

HONG KONG: Pedestrians walk past high rise buildings in Hong Kong yesterday. Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority warned that the loosening of monetary policy in the US could lead to overheating in the territory’s already hot property sector. — AFP

Boss of Japan’s Sharp Corp vows profitability TOKYO: The head of Japan’s Sharp Corp vowed yesterday to restore profitability at the “reborn” electronics giant, just days after it announced sweeping pay cuts to repair a bleeding balance sheet. Sharp President Takashi Okuda said the Osaka-based firm would book a net profit in the fiscal year starting in April 2013, a marked reversal of the whopping 250 billion yen ($3.2 billion) loss it expects this year. “Our top priority is to work together to overcome the current difficulties,” he said in a statement ahead of the firm’s 100th anniversary at the weekend.

“I would like to use this occasion to vow the rebirth of a new Sharp. We will make structural reforms at any cost as we aim to achieve operating profit in the second-half of the fiscal 2012 and net profit in the fiscal 2013.”

On Tuesday, the maker of Aquos brand televisions said it would save about 14 billion yen by temporarily slashing salaries for thousands of employees, from the factory floor to the executive boardroom. The cuts, affecting employees in Japan, would be in place until September next year, said Sharp. —AFP

LONDON: A third of higher earners have switched to cheaper supermarkets and dipped into savings to make ends meet, according to a report yesterday. Almost one in seven across all groups cannot see a time when their income will cover their outgoings, rising to one in five among the most “stretched”, the bi-annual “Axa Big Money” Index finds.

Consumers have remained pessimistic about their situation in the six months to June and just 16% believe their financial situation will improve in the long term. The “widespread pessimism” sees 28% cutting back on food spending and almost one in four forced to spend less on gas, oil and electricity.

Even wealthier groups of people continue to switch to using cheaper supermarkets for basic food shopping. This applies to a third (32%) of people in their 50s and 60s who are mortgage-free and have a high disposable income, described as the “exclusive lifestyles” group, and 25% of those in their 40s and 50s who have an above-average income, named the “successful security” group.

Almost a third (31%) of the exclusive lifestyles group have had to use savings to make ends meet, with 13% not opening bills until the final demand arrives. One in five people (20%) have stopped putting money into savings.

The survey also shows that around twofifths (38%) believe that financial education should be part of the national curriculum.

Axa UK marketing director Cheryl Toner said: “A pattern of relentless economizing has set in since our Big Money Index surveys began in early 2011, and it’s showing no signs of easing.

“It’s alarming to see that even those deemed untouchable, the more comfortable sectors, are now feeling the pinch. Severe cutbacks are evident almost regardless of affluence levels.”However, it is encouraging to note that the younger population feels quietly confident, and that there is growing sentiment that better financial education and more personal responsibility is needed to take control of financial concerns.”

Axa index is a quarterly report aims at providing a snapshot of the trends of consumers’ spending. — KUNA

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

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Mika sheds pop ‘shackles’ with ‘Origin of Love’ Page 27

For the Lady Gaga with everything, a very public tattoo Page 25

A model presents a design

by Bora Aksu during his Spring/Summer 2013 show at London Fashion Week in London, yesterday. —AP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Reese

Witherspoon is expecting a boy T he ‘Water for Elephants’ actress - who already has daughter Ava, 13, and son Deacon, nine, from her first marriage to Ryan Phillippe - is thought to be expecting a son with her second husband Jim Toth. A source told America’s Star magazine: “They’re both really happy to be having a son, but especially Jim as it’s his first. He’s over the moon about it.” Reese was rushed to hospital with pregnancy complications in August but it was just a

scare and mother and baby are doing fine, although Jim is still nervous. The source added: “Jim’s still nervous after Reese’s scare and hospital stay. But he just can’t wait to hold his son in his arms.” The 36year-old Hollywood star spent a couple of days in a Los Angeles medical facility after it was feared she was going into early labour. After being discharged doctors told her to take it easy at home and get plenty of rest.

Ryan Gosling is preparing to propose to Eva Mendes

has ‘two left feet’

Jennifer Lawrence

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he Hunger Games’ actress struggled when she had to shoot scenes for her role as a dance expert in upcoming film ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ - based on author Matthew Quick’s best-seller because she has no rhythm or co-ordination Jennifer’s character Tiffany is a grieving widow who helps former teacher/mental institution patient Pat played by Bradley Cooper - win back his wife. Only there is one condition, he has to partner her in a dance competition. Jennifer told The Daily Mail newspaper: “I have two left feet, and I’m not exactly a graceful mover.

“Bradley’s the one who can dance - and he’s not supposed to know how to!” The 22-yearold beauty didn’t expect to be offered the role, joking that she didn’t think they’d hire a “klutz”.

However, she wowed director David O. Russell - who directed Oscar-winning film ‘The Fighter’ - with an audition conducted via internet video chat service Skype. He said: “Jennifer did her audition on Skype from her parents’ home in Louisville. “I knew she was Tiffany the moment I saw it. She was funny and she just has a quality about her.”

The film also stars Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver as Pat’s parents and Julia Styles as his wife Veronica.

hile the 38-year-old actress has insisted in the past that she doesn’t want to wed, Ryan believes he can convince her otherwise. The 31-year-old actor is reportedly convincing her their future lies with each other and the natural thing to do would be to tie the knot. A source said: “Ryan is head over heels in love with Eva and he wants to have a life with her, including children. “It’s something Eva has baulked at in the past but Ryan has a charming way of helping her see a differ-

ent kind of future. She’s getting on board with the idea of marriage.” One way Ryan is trying to convince Eva - who he has been dating since May - is promising her they can start a family as soon as they are wed.

The source added to the National Enquirer magazine: “He is now confident when he pops the question she will say yes. Ryan wants children, as does Eva, but also believes in marriage and youngsters growing up knowing mommy and daddy are committed to each other.”

Penelope Cruz thinks

becoming a mum was ‘revolutionary’ T he ‘To Rome With Love’ actress who has 20-month-old son Leonardo with her husband Javier Bardem - claims motherhood completely changed her as a person from the very first second her son was born. The 38year-old beauty told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “From the first second, you feel so much in love. It is a revolutionary experience. “That’s the best way I can describe it. It transforms you completely, in a second.” However, the sexy Spanish star is adamant she won’t be signing any magazine deals with her actor husband to show off their young son because the couple are determined to protect his privacy. Penelope scoffed: “I’m 100 percent against that. Children aren’t a handbag. I want my son and my kids - if I have more - to grow up in a way that is as anonymous as possible. “The fact that his father and I have chosen to do the work we do doesn’t give anybody the right to invade our privacy.” Penelope - who wed Javier in 2010 after dating a string of Alisters including Tom Cruise and Matthew

McConaughey - says her life is much easier since she started a family as she has learnt to take time off and reduce her workload. The actress said: “I was a

workaholic and used to work on three or four movies every year, but I was always tired. Now I think I have a more healthy equilibrium.”

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Harry Styles falls asleep in a dog basket

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he One Direction star - famed for his womanising ways - attended a party at the house The Saturdays singer shares with husband Marvin Hunes, and the 18-yearold heartthrob passed out in their pooch’s bed. Rochelle said: “I remember one time Harry fell asleep in my dog’s bed!

The boys were all at our house having a party and having a great time. Marvin BlackBerried me a photo and there was a body asleep in Tiger’s bed. It was Harry! In there on his own,

having a nap in the dog’s bed, all curled up.” Rochelle has grown very fond of Harry and says he was thrilled to be a guest at her recent wedding to JLS singer Marvin - because there were so many female guests there. She added to heat magazine: “I think he liked being at the wedding. You know what he’s like - he gets linked to everyone, but he’s never happier than when he’s in a room full of women, so he liked the wedding.”

Eva Longoria

Ben Affleck is ‘not very present’ with his family

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he ‘Town’ actor admits his wife Jennifer Garner does “everything” with their children Violet, six, Seraphina, three and sixmonth-old Samuel because he is often not around, but does try and do things with them whenever he can. He said: “I am not very present in the rest of my life. My wife’s very patient. She does everything. If I have time, I try to spend time with my kids, even if just to be a physical presence, the bath, whatever.”

However, the 40-year-old star does not believe he could be a full-time stay-at-home

father because he loves his work too much. He said: “I don’t want to be a stay-at-home dad.

Work is very important to me. I like to work.

But I need my work to mean something to me in order for me to not be home with them.”

Work still makes Ben anxious, and he admits he often thinks about it when he is with his family. He added to Details magazine: “My mind is always going, ‘How are we going to light that show tomorrow? What’s the master shot for that scene? Is there even going to be a master?’”

is picky in Hollywood

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he former ‘Desperate Housewives’ actress is determined to enjoy her time acting and presenting and admitted she is trying to collaborate with people who are her friends. She said: “Life’s so short. You should be surrounded by people who make each other better people.”

The 37-year-old star admitted that George Lopez is one of her favourite people to be around in the industry and he will be her co-host at the Latin community’s ALMA Awards later this month. She continued to website People.com: “We’re in a stage in our lives where we’ve done a lot in our careers and we work with people we want to work with. “I love being George’s sidekick for the night. I set up the jokes and he knocks them out of the park. He’s the funniest guy around.”She is looking forward to hosting the ceremony with him for the third time. George said about Eva: “There’s a mutual respect and a lot of love. Also, I think Eva is, without question, one of the funniest, most spontaneous people I’ve ever met.” The show - during which Christina Aguilera will receive a special achievement award - will feature presentations by stars including, Jake Gyllenhaal and Devious Maids cast members Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramirez, Edy Ganem and Judy Reyes.

Lea Michele

is ‘inspired’ by

Cory Monteith

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he 26-year-old actress - who met Cory on the set of ‘Glee’ when she was with another man - has “always” loved working with her Canadian co-star and finds she is “motivated” by him all the time. She said: “I love working with Cory, I always have. “He really, really inspires me, and he motives me and I think he’s just so talented.” Lea adds her experience with the 30year-old actor has been among her best while working on the musical TV show - which also stars Amber Riley

and Dianna Agron. She added to People.com: “Working with him has been one of the best experiences in this whole process. I’m so happy.” It was recently reported Lea wanted to get a matching tattoo with Cory, an etching that represents “soul mates”. A source said: “Lea wants Cory to get matching tattoos.

She has been wanting to do this for a long time, but she has decided on the design yet. She wants a symbol that represents soul mates.” — Bangshowbiz

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Removing the dead to make a living on Mumbai’s rails

In this picture, Indian youths, who live on railway station platforms and remove the dead from railroad tracks as one of their ways to eke out a living, look on while standing on tracks in Mumbai. — AFP

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avi was seven when he ran away from home, taking a train from north India to the fabled metropolis of Mumbai. More than 25 years later he is still at the platform, his life far from what he had in mind when he arrived: dealing with the dead as a way to make a living. Removing bodies from the city’s creaking rail network, his is a gruesome task but he is desperate enough to do it.

Most are killed trying to cross the tracks — 6,000 a year die this way in Mumbai, according to one government study. A few commit suicide or fall onto the rails, others are hit by trackside poles as they hang out of overloaded trains. The bodies can be so badly mutilated that it helps to get high first, explained Ravi.

“We sniff before we pick up the bodies, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do it,” said the slight 35-year-old, who inhaled on a tatty cloth doused in addictive cleaning fluid even while he talked to AFP. Sitting in an empty train coach within the grand neo-Gothic CST station, Ravi said he sniffed through three small bottles of the fluid every day, each costing three US cents and meant for cleaning office equipment. Other platform dwellers drifted past as he spoke, also seemingly intoxicated. Day-to-day they live off unofficial porter work, scraping by on passengers’ tips and doing odd jobs for the authorities. But on occasions when a body or wounded person is spotted on the tracks near CST, station officials alert them to the unenviable task that can double their meagre daily income. The men explained how they move victims from the tracks by stretcher, sometimes carrying them as far as a local hospital for inspection before their final journey to the mortuary-aside from those still alive. “I used to get scared but now it’s a kind of habit,” Ravi said. In return, these “stretcher coolies” each get around 100 to 150 rupees (two to three dollars). Such arrangements exist in various parts of the country, in “almost a symbiotic relationship” between railway authorities and platform dwellers, said Mrinalini Rao, former head of the Railway Children charity in India.

“Massacre” on the railway An official report in February estimated that almost 15,000 people are killed every year as they trespass unlawfully on India’s rail tracks, which lack proper safety and fencing-a figure the government described as a “massacre”. About 6,000 of the deaths occur on Mumbai’s suburban network alone, the report said, while the city’s railway police figures show more than 2,310 deaths on the tracks so far this year. The statistics show that willing body movers across the city are crucial. In return for their help, officials “turn a blind eye to youth on the railways and they get to live on the premises,” Rao said. V A Malegaonkar, chief spokesman for the Central Railway zone that operates CST, said they did have untrained “nominated coolies” at long-distance stations to help the police in stretcher duties.

“Their help is enlisted to transfer victims from the spot to the ambulance,” he said, adding that it was “very rare” the coolies would carry them all the way to the hospital. But he doubted any link between the job and permission to live there. “We certainly do not encourage people to stay on the railway premises, but in Mumbai and India as a whole, the railway station is always seen a very safe place for the common man,” he said.

“But I wouldn’t like vagrants and other people to make the railway platform their permanent home.” —AFP

Los Temerarios musical artists Gustavo (left) and Adolfo Angel, pose with the Star presented to them for the Las Vegas Walk of Stars Thursday, Sept 13, 2012, in Las Vegas. — AP

Larry David HBO movie lands Jon Hamm L arry David’s new movie for HBO isn’t connected to “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but will have a “Curb”-like all-star cast including Jon Hamm, Kate Hudson, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Amy Ryan, Phillip Baker Hall, and JB Smoove. In the movie “Clear History,” which David wrote, he will play Nathan Flomm, a former marketing executive at a start-up electric car company who loses his fortune due to a petty fight with his boss, HBO said Thursday. Ten years after the falling out, Nathan, whose marriage is ruined, lives on a small island off the coast of Massachusetts under the new name of Rolly DaVore. But when his former boss shows up to renovate his summer mansion, Nathan vows revenge.

McBride, star of HBO’s “Eastbound and Down,” will play Nathan’s best friend. Ryan plays his ex-girlfriend, who holds

an explicit secret. Hamm will play Will Haney, the founder of the electric car company who has a contentious relationship with Flomm. Keaton plays Joe Stumpo, the erratic and eccentric operator of a quarry. Hader will play Rags, Stumpo’s friend and henchman. Mendes plays Jennifer, who takes an offhanded suggestion from Nathan too seriously. Hall, who appeared on “Curb” as a doctor who is sensitive about phone etiquette, will play McKenzie, the foreman of a local construction project who is duped into Nathan. Smooth, another “Curb” vet, plays the ex-boyfriend of a local woman who blames Nathan for the relationship’s end. As previously announced, Greg Mottola is directing. “Curb” has also featured a wide range of celebrity guests, including Michael J Fox and Ricky Gervais last season. —- Reuters

Venetian gondolier to paddle down Danube H

e won’t carry passengers but he might serenade passing cargo ships, says a 71-year-old Venetian gondolier who set off from Vienna yesterday for Budapest in a bid to link the two cities by gondola for the first time.

Vittorio Orio, who already crossed the English Channel in 2001 and also paddled down the Hudson River in his typical Venetian vessel, will cover about 6070 kilometres (37-44 miles) per day, with a first stop planned in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava later yesterday.

In total, the 300-kilometre trip-funded by private sponsors-will take about five days, with Orio due to arrive in the Hungarian capital on Tuesday. A support team will accompany the gondolier down the Danube in a motorboat, and videos of the trip-which is tied to an Italian charity foundation helping children with cancer-will be posted on the video-sharing website YouTube.

Orio’s past projects have included paddling from the Swiss city of Basel to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, across the Channel, and from Venice to the Vatican to visit the pope. The gondolier

chose the Danube for his latest project, as it is a “symbol of union between different nations and people,” according to his sponsors. The Danube is the second

longest river in Europe and a major navigation route, running from Germany to the Black Sea via Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Romania, among others. — AFP

Venitian gondolier Vittorio Orio poses yesterday in Vienna before embarking on a 300-kms journey on the Danube river to rally the Hungarian capital Budapest. — AFP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

El Anatsui: An artist and an African S

culptor El Anatsui, who was born in Ghana and lives and creates in Nigeria, has mined Africa’s history and culture to carve, mold and weave forms that captivate viewers around the world. “When I set out to do work, I want something that would arrest people at least, draw them closer, so they can decide for themselves whether it’s really beautiful,” he told art-lovers last week in Denver, Colorado. “I think of myself as an artist,” Anatsui told AFP at a retrospective of his four-decade career. “And I’m an African.” The show features the pieces for which Anatsui is best known.

His monumental wall hangings of bottle caps and copper wire are mutable compositions of movement and light, opacity and openness that he challenges curators to drape and fold as they see fit. Anatsui’s hangings stunned amateur and expert art lovers in Europe, Africa and Asia in the early 2000s, when one was part of Africa Remix, a major survey of the continent’s contemporary art; and in Venice, at the 2007 Biennale. In Denver, the reaction was typical. A slide of an Anatsui tapestry was enough to evoke gasps of pleasure from an audience of several hundred gathered for a pre-opening lecture in the museum’s basement.

Upstairs, the hangings danced among the shadows and light in the angular, concrete spaces of the Denver Art Museum’s Daniel Libeskind-designed galleries. “I thought it was very interesting, that you don’t have vertical walls,” said Anatsui, casual in jeans and denim jacket, his hair a halo of white around a face dominated by tinted glasses. He spoke of having conversations with the Libeskind space as he led a pre-opening tour of his show, just as his art is defined by conversations between Africa and the rest of the world.

In the 1986 piece for which his retrospective was named, “When I Last Wrote to You about Africa,” Anatsui responds to those who argue the continent has no written literature. The scroll-like wooden plaque stands as tall as a man, and is inscribed Sculptor El Anatsui is with symbols from writing interviewed in Denver, systems from across the conColorado, during a press tinent. Anatsui, born in 1944, preview of an exhibit of first came across traditional writing systems as an art stuhis artwork. — AFP dent in Ghana, before his West African homeland gained independence from Britain in 1957. His school drew its curriculum and much of its staff from Europe, and all but ignored African art, Anatsui recalls. He and other students explored their own traditions by seeking out craftsmen and artists at markets. Pieces in his retrospective that date to the 1970s make use of trays Anatsui first saw displaying market wares. He commissioned his own, and used hot iron rods to inscribe them with traditional symbols drawn from mourning cloth that express abstract concepts like the soul and divine omnipotence. After graduating, Anatsui developed a philosophy that sustains his work, a commitment not to use paint and canvass, but to work with what he found in his own environment, even if borrowed or used-or what some might call trash. In a lecture at the Denver Art Museum last week he complained that paint “has no history. It has nothing to it, it comes straight from the factory. So, why work with it?”

When he moved to Nigeria to teach, he no longer had access to market trays. He switched to clay and incorporated pottery fragments into his work, inspired by a tradition in his adopted country re-using broken pots, with the fragments often holding offerings in religious ceremonies. “A broken pot is a pot which is translated from life to the spiritual world,” he said. “I explored the idea of rebirth as something that is consequent on destruction. I worked with this idea of the broken pot and regeneration.” —AFP

Los Temerarios musical artists Gustavo (left) and Adolfo Angel, pose with the Star presented to them for the Las Vegas Walk of Stars Thursday, Sept 13, 2012, in Las Vegas. — AP

Lady Gaga

For the with everything, a very public tattoo L

ady Gaga marked the launch of her debut perfume Fame by making herself the centerpiece of a surreal black-tie masquerade soiree and getting a tattoo on the back of her head. Gaga, 26, took over the Guggenheim museum on the final day of New York fashion week for a piece of performance art-or should that be publicity? — that started off with her sleeping in a Plexiglas replica of a Fame bottle.

Hundreds of guests-including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Yoko Ono and a host of big-name New York fashion designers and models-had been asked to turn up Thursday night with full-on head accessories, or at least a party mask. “In the spirit of Gaga’s nostalgic aesthetic, we inspire you to honor her dedication to this fragrance and celebrate your shared passion for fashion,” the invitation card said.

Upon arrival, invitees were greeted by muscular young bare-chested male models in skin-tight leather jeans, as well as black-tinted hors d’oeuvres and fuming blood-red margaritas-all hints of things to come. Onto a giant screen affixed to the Guggenheim’s famous spiral gallery appeared New York photographer Steven Klein’s five-minute film to promote Fame, which is billed as the world’s first eau de parfum that is black in color.

Most definitely NSFW-Twitterese for not safe for viewing at work-it cast the chart-topping singer-songwriter as a latex-clad Gulliver in a “Metropolis” bondage nightmare, her naked body overrun by, well, muscular male models.

“You know, the film was expensive,” Klein told the Hollywood Reporter amid talk that it cost more than $1 million to make, “but I guess the film has a price,

fame has a price, the fragrance has a price. Everything has a price.”

Finally, Gaga herself appeared, inside the darkened bottle replica, seemingly asleep on a velvet day bed, wrapped in a black fur stole, as Edith Piaf ballads filled the vastness of the Guggenheim’s atrium. It took a few minutes before the adult guests-no children or teenagers, despite the demographics of Gaga’s fan base-realized they could step up, stick their hand through a hole and actually touch a real-life celebrity.

“Touch Lady Gaga’s hand, but please don’t wake her,” read instructions helpfully printed over the opening, and touch her many did, reaching deep inside for her left hand with a peace tattoo under the wrist. “Her fingers were cool to the touch,” one guest, Karen

Singer Lady Gaga arrives at a “Lady Gaga Fame” fragrance launch event at the Guggenheim Museum on Thursday, Sept 13, 2012 in New York. — AP

Menge, sporting a purple silk hat, told AFP. “Even though she seemed to be in an unconscious state, you felt that somehow you were communicating with her.”

More to the point, a young woman who identified herself only as Meredith, and employed a nickname Gaga fans use for their idol, said: “Everybody wants a piece of Mother Monster.” This went on for more than an hour, before Gaga woke up to the tune of David Bowie’s “Fame” and under the constant gaze of live remote-controlled television cameras with ultra-wide-angle lenses that made her look chubby.

That’s when Hollywood tattoo guru Mark Mahoney and assistant Wes Brown got to work, painstakingly adding to Gaga’s already substantial collection of body art, using the shaven back of her head as their canvas. “It’s kind of a Renaissance era cherub, a nod to her Italian heritage,” Mahoney-who also did Gaga’s “little monsters” left-arm tattoo the day after she collected two Grammy awards in 2010 — told AFP afterwards.

Asked what it was like to work in such public view, Mahoney-who got his start in his craft about 35 years ago, tattooing motorcycle outlaws in his native Massachusetts-said: “It was a little distracting at first.”

Not only were there all those people milling around the museum, he said, but inside the “bottle” were Gaga’s sister, her hair stylist and a few other people, making for an extremely crowded working space. “But once I got the pattern on, I realized it was just a perfect image for that place on the body,” Mahoney said. “I knew it was going to be fine, just because it seemed to fit so perfectly right there.” —AFP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Review

Reunion pic not as funny as advertised

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f it seems like Channing Tatum is everywhere, it’s probably because he is. He’s appeared in five films this year alone, with the latest being this weekend’s ensemble comedy-drama “10 Years.” The roles have come in every imaginable genre, each strikingly different from the last.

And hey, what do you know? Five is a magic number around here. So let’s rank Tatum’s 2012 performances, in order of preference: “21 Jump Street”: Comedy is so underappreciated, and what Tatum does here is especially tough: He plays the straight man opposite a much more established comedian, Jonah Hill. (Who is, come to think of it, also the straight man.) And yet, Tatum also has to let himself get a little goofy and toy with his hunky image as the film itself gets goofy, which he does with great enthusiasm.

Satirically inspired by the ‘80s TV series, “21 Jump Street” features Tatum playing a former jock who returns to high school as an undercover police officer alongside his partner (Hill), the nerd he used to torment way back when. It’s rowdy and raunchy but Tatum and Hill share an unexpectedly sweet chemistry.

“Magic Mike”: The perfect blend of Tatum’s muscular good looks, dramatic ability and dance skills. Steven Soderbergh’s behind-the-scenes look at the life of a male stripper also happens to be one that’s close to Tatum’s heart: He worked briefly as an exotic dancer before breaking into acting. Anyone who saw the original “Step Up” from 2006, the movie that put Tatum on the map, knows what a gifted dancer he is. But here, he’s just mesmerizing: confident, creative, acrobatic and, above all, seductive.

He’s just as charismatic offstage, though, as he shows a young Alex Pettyfer the ropes and tries to show Pettyfer’s sister he’s a good guy after all. Tatum also enjoys a couple of intense showdowns with Matthew McConaughey as the swaggering strip club owner.

“The Vow”: Tatum shows his romantic leading-man side in this old-fashioned, heart-tugging amnesia story. He stars as Leo, who struggles to remind his wife, Paige (Rachel McAdams), that they were happily in love after a car accident wipes out the last five years of her memories.

Tatum is saddled with a whole lot of explanatory voicevoer, full of obvious platitudes about life being a series of moments of impact, blah blah blah, but his sense of ache and sorrow is believable. It’s a nice idea: experiencing what it’s like to fall in love all over again for the first time. Tatum and McAdams sometimes make the execution of it more

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tolerable than it should be, but not often enough. This movie was hugely popular, grossing nearly $200 million when it came out back in February.

“Haywire”: In Tatum’s first pairing with Soderbergh this year, he mainly had to act like MMA superstar Gina Carano wasn’t going to beat the complete crap out of him.

At least, not immediately. Because she easily could have and she could have with all her stars, including Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor - which required her to hold back a little while doing her own stunts here in her feature film debut. At the film’s start, a hungover and impatient Tatum meets up with Carano’s character, a covert-ops specialist, after a mission in Barcelona. He was her partner on the job, and he may or may not be trustworthy. A tense conversation quickly turns into a knockdown, drag-out brawl in a small town diner.

“10 Years”: His latest isn’t exactly his best. Then again, he’s part of a large ensemble that includes larger personalities, including Ari Graynor, Chris Pratt and Anthony Mackie, and his role is comparatively low-key and formulaic. Tatum plays one of several old friends who’ve gathered for their 10-year high school reunion. He’s brought with him his longtime girlfriend (played by his real-life wife and “Step Up” co-star, the equally gorgeous Jenna Dewan).

He’s also brought along the engagement ring he plans to give her, but he’s had trouble finding the right opportunity to pop the question - plus, as we learn in one of the film’s many intertwined storylines, he still has some emotional loose ends to tie up with his ex-girlfriend (Rosario Dawson). There’s not much to his character - the promking-turned-mortgage-broker, he’s kind of a dud - but at least he’s fun to look at, as always. — AP

high-school reunion story that spreads attention among its high-profile cast members more evenly than the average film of this sort, Jamie Linden’s “10 Years” is dedicated to the urge to believe that a single gettogether can afford closure on everything from prom night disappointments to misguided life choices. More bittersweet than funny but not a downer overall, the pic has reasonable prospects with young viewers who haven’t seen many of its thematic ancestors.

Linden’s script spreads the subplots around heavily, the movie’s main identification is with Jake (Channing Tatum, who just so happens to be a producer), who loves girlfriend Jess (Tatum’s wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum) but can’t decide when to pop the question. Bringing Jess along to his 10year reunion, he’s flustered to see high school sweetheart Mary (Rosario Dawson) and the husband (Ron Livingston) he didn’t know she had.

Buzzing around Jake in a flurry of “so good to see you!”s are old classmates who became rock stars (Oscar Isaac), moved to the big city (Justin Long), or simply decided to grow up and stop bullying nerds (Chris Pratt, helped by unusually tolerant wife Ari Graynor). As usual with a large ensemble, recounting the subplots (and even the characters) would take a while, but only a couple of key cast members get lost in the shuffle (sorry, Anthony Mackie).

Among the more successful through-lines is a secondchance courtship between Isaac’s rock star and the only girl at the reunion (Kate Mara), who isn’t fawning over him, and, it turns out, has never even heard his hit song. Among the least pleasing is one in which Pratt tries to make amends with every nerd he ever belittled, winds up making them deeply uncomfortable, and eventually drinks himself into a full reversion to jerk mode. If anybody could keep this ball rolling, it’s Pratt, who in previous roles has trained viewers to love him despite many faults. Though we’re with Pratt for a while, Linden soon forces him to be more of a boor than we can take.

It wouldn’t be a party without some drunken unpleasantness, of course. And “10 Years” benefits from actors (like Dawson) who can generate enough distractingly warmhearted vibes to keep the overall mood positive. This isn’t a new generation’s “Big Chill” and doesn’t try to be - but it’s a good deal more genuine-feeling than “American Reunion,” whose characters graduated just a couple of years earlier than this crew but seem much closer to settling into dull adulthood. “10 Years,” an Anchor Bay Entertainment release, is rated PG-13 for language. Running time: 100 minutes. Motion Picture Association of America rating definition for PG-13: Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children. — AP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Hidden

Cartier-Bresson images exhibited for first time

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ong-hidden photographs from French master Henri Cartier-Bresson are to be exhibited this weekend for the first time, shedding light on a little-known and controversial project of his in India.

Cartier-Bresson, whose striking photographs of the death of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi are a key part of his photographic legacy, also spent time documenting the ashram of guru Sri Aurobindo in 1950. “It’s unlike anything from Cartier-Bresson you’ve seen because it’s a bit of an experimental album and an album he possibly didn’t want to show people,” the curator of the exhibition in New Delhi, Rahaab Allana, told AFP. A pioneer in the art of photojournalism, CartierBresson combined an eye for design and proportion with a sense of history and the humorous. He died in 2004 aged 95.

Aurobindo was a one-time leader of political resistance to British rule in colonial times who dedicated the latter part of his life to spirituality and yoga at his retreat in the former French colony of Pondicherry. At the invitation of Aurobindo and his partner, known as The Mother, Cartier-Bresson visited and took rare pictures of the couple together, documenting their life in the beach-side town on India’s south-east coast. When the pictures were published by the Magnum agency, however, an accompanying article was thought to have upset The Mother, who objected to the description of Aurobindo who died shortly after Cartier-Bresson’s visit.

“When the material was publicised in Europe, the ashram received a certain amount of bad publicity,” Allana explained, adding that there was a sarcastic reference to Aurobindo’s self-proclaimed sense of divinity. As a result, The Mother bought the negatives to the photographs for 3,000 dollars, printed 50 albums for the personal use of people connected with the ashram and thereafter kept the pictures from public sight. This piece of Cartier-Bresson and 20th-century photographic history might have been lost but for the intervention of Delhi-based art collector Ebrahim Alkazi, the founder of the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts. He bought one of the printed albums when it came up for auction in London and set about trying to convince the

“The Mother playing tennis” from the album ‘Sri Aurobindo and His Ashram’ by French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. — AFP Aurobindo ashram and the Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris to agree to an exhibition.

Both eventually consented, leading to the show which will open at the French cultural institute Alliance Francaise in the capital today and will travel to Pondicherry later in the year. A total of 118 images from the Cartier-Bresson album, as well as hand-written notes on the project, will be displayed alongside other photographs from artists based in Pondicherry. The previously unexhibited work “reveals the man and his practice as a whole, not his major edited-down photos which we’ve seen and we know,” added Allana. “They are very different.”

Travelling the world with his trusted Leica cam-

This image shows an image entitled “The Mother giving flowers to a child” from the album ‘Sri Aurobindo and His Ashram’. — AFP

era, Cartier-Bresson captured the birth of Communism in China and the liberation of Paris in 1944 “prowling the streets... determined to trap life, to preserve life in the act of living” as he put it. The Mother, born as Mirra Alfassa in Paris, went on in the 1960s to found Auroville, an experimental township near Pondicherry that incorporates Aurobindo’s teachings on human unity and spirituality. — AFP

Mika sheds pop ‘shackles’ with ‘Origin of Love’ C

In this file picture, English-Lebanese singer Mika performs during a concert as part of the music festival, the “Fete de la Musique”in Auteuil. — AFP

atapulted to fame by “Life in Cartoon Motion,” which sold over five million copies, English-Lebanese pop sensation Mika changes tack with a new album about growing up the hard way, and falling in love. Part sunny pop, part R’n’B, part hiphop, “The Origin of love”, which hits shelves worldwide on September 17, and three weeks later in Britain on October 8, was born of a radical shake-up in the 29-year-old’s life. “The starting point was stagnation,” Mika-real name Michael Penniman-told AFP, dressed in beige and white and flicking back and forth from English to French as he sipped sweet, milky coffee in a Paris luxury hotel.

“I had been on the road for a year and a half and I didn’t have any reason to write, because I wasn’t in love, I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t anything. I was just a performer who’s been on the road nonstop. “So I stopped and then everything went crazy.” In October 2010, Mika’s sister Paloma was critically injured after falling from a fourth-floor window in London and impaling herself on a railing.

“I suddenly realised that you can lose everything within 30 seconds, and it gave me this kind of injection of fearlessness. If you can lose everything so quickly, you’d better do what you really want and you’d better do what you really believe in and not be afraid. “And so once my sister was in a better place, I threw caution to the wind, I said that’s it I’m going and I’m not coming back.” So Mika headed to Montreal, where he teamed up with the

Australian music producer Nick Littlemore-who provided the just right environment for him to get his creative juices flowing again.

‘You can lose everything within 30 seconds’ “I landed in Montreal and went straight into the studio from the hotel, and an hour later I had ‘The Origin of Love’,” the album’s title track, he recalled. “I walked in and a person was on bass, he was making a beat, a loop to give me a groove and I just wrote,” he said. “Suddenly I had tools to play with. I wasn’t alone at the piano.” “Admittedly, it did help that I had fallen in love the week before,” he smiled. “I decided to catch that moment, and write a whole album about the process of falling in love and all its different mutations.

“Love songs are not piano ballads from the 1980s and 1990s, there’s another way to do a love song, that’s what I was trying to explore. So I didn’t go home for six months and I just wrote.” He sings of love unrequited, overrated, or dangerous love, love as an addiction, and the foolishness of young love-and finally, in “Step with Me” of the life-long variety, “delicious, like home-cooked dishes”.—AFP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

The Ralph Lauren Spring 2013 collection is modeled during Fashion Week in New York. — AP photos

T

he designers previewing spring collections at New York Fashion Week may not have had a single voice, but they all spoke loudly. “Bold” was the word that buzzed around the tents at Lincoln Center after eight days of previews came to an end on Thursday. Between saturated color, sexy cutouts, statement-making stripes and mixed-up prints, the clothes had something to say. “It feels like a statement season,” said Brandon Holley, editor-in-chief of Lucky magazine. “It feels like everyone is tired of shopping their closet, and they’re ready to make a new statement.”

Retailers are happy to see newness and bright colors, said Ken Downing, fashion director for Neiman Marcus.”There were some have-to-have things,” said Downing, who ticked off a sleeveless jacket, a full skirt that’s either swingy and short, or cut on the bias and falling below the knee, and colored leather maybe laser cut? - as items that will be on the top of the list for shoppers. Nearly 200 designers preview their spring collections in New York before the fashion crowd heads to London, Milan and Paris. In seasons past, it was as if they all agreed on a message ahead of time. After the recession started, a hard-edged chick was the obvious muse. A few seasons later, everything was bohemian.

This time, there were certainly clear trends - among them skirt suits, big colors, below-the-knee coats, leather, cutouts, corsets and banding, stripes and black-and-white. But there were many muses instead of one It Girl. There were hints of India and other exotic locales. And the prints were edgier than what are usually offered in spring - instead of “pretty” florals, there were digital renderings, X-ray patterns, skulls. “If it is a floral, then it’s photo realism floral, and that seems very different,” Holley said. Even uptown staples Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta had an edge, with the latter adding leather and latex to his society girl. It’s as through designers stopped dictating style and are instead providing options.

There’s your breath of spring air.

(From left) Amy Adams, Emma Stone and Diane Kruger attend the Calvin Klein Spring 2013 show.

RALPH LAUREN Statement made, Ralph Lauren: Be strong. Be bold. Go on that adventure. The first look on Ralph Lauren’s runway featured a turquoise suede poet top, with cascading ruffles down the front, and the model wore a beret and carried a studded motorcycle bag. From there, it was a bright red hand-crocheted tank dress and a few looks later was a tomato red suede jacket with rustic brown leather details. A colorful blanket-style serape was getting buzz from editors and stylists before they even left the downtown show space where Olivia Wilde and Jessica Alba sat in the front row.

Lauren offered the same idea - in the same green, brown and yellow colors - in an off-the-shoulder serape wrap top that probably more easily fits into the closets of most customers. There were beaded bolero jackets and embellished

jodhpur pants that evoked a matador to the Spanish-style music, with flat-top hats and colorful scarves around some models’ necks. But taking each piece on its own, it wasn’t a costume.

CALVIN KLEIN Francisco Costa, women’s creative director at Calvin Klein, got to have final say Thursday at New York Fashion Week as one of the last major designers to preview a spring collection, but he left a purposeful impression of things left undone. It’s what left the crowd wanting more. Edges were left frayed, contrasting linings were revealed, and necklines were bare and exposed, all giving the impression that one was seeing more than they should. A gold hardware frame peeked atop the black sheer-panel dress that closed the show. Costa has a knack for the “seductive lines,” he mentioned in his notes. He certainly drew eyes to the bust and bodice, offering a series of conical bustiers, which were exactly what they sound like. On their own, they were futuristic but also a little harsh; under a sheer silk corset or a mesh silk crepe coat, they were sexy and edgy. Calvin Klein continued the many layers of fabrics and textures that have dominated the runways: an abstract lace dress goes over a lacquered satin bustier and a bonded mesh skirt, for example. But the fact that almost every outfit featured black here can’t be called part of that trend - it’s a way of life for this design house.

MARCHESA It wasn’t just like Grand Central at Marchesa’s New York Fashion Week show on Wednesday which drew Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Tyra Banks and all the photographers who trail them. It was in Grand Central. The preview of the spring collection was staged at the historic train terminal, but it was hardly rush hour on the runway. The looks turned out by designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig were typically embellished and intricate, and required time to study the details. Models also can’t walk all that quickly in the gowns that are jingling with beads or have slim hemlines.

Thanks to the Indian inspiration - via the Beatles’ 1960s experience with the Maharishi - there were more colorful hues and easier-to-wear silhouettes than in recent Marchesa collections. “Last season was Baroque and darker, and the season before that was very ornate,” Chapman said in a preshow interview. “It’s a different mood this season.” What fashion insiders are really looking for from Marchesa is a clue of what will soon come on Hollywood red carpets. After this, it’s safe to say the stars may be wearing some high-neck gowns, either covered in tassel fringe or metallic beads - or both - and maybe a peacock-blue, one-shouldered tulle gown worn over a fully embroidered gold-leaf illusion bodysuit that gave the appearance of glittering body art.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Models showcase Anna Sui’s Spring 2013 collection.

also found herself inspired by neo-classical painters and how they evolved into the Impressionists. At least they’re all French. As typical with Sui, there also was a little punk edge. “Somehow it all comes together, even when you don’t think it will,” said Sui with a laugh in a preshow interview. She was right: A leopard-print babydoll, a knit-ribbon lattice cardigan, a neoprene motorcycle jacket and a delicate toile voile top can indeed share the runway. “It’s opposite ends attracting,” she said.

PROENZA SCHOULER The real-people-in-the-pool print on Proenza Schouler’s catwalk Wednesday night probably took some fashion insiders - who don’t expect that much newness during these previews - by surprise. The collection by Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough started off by advancing some trends seen for spring, including leather, patchwork, some perforated and mesh textures. The leather was a little shinier, the patchwork a little more random and the textures a little more exaggerated, but, still, they fell in line.

The duo also offered skirt suits galore, but they weren’t trim and tailored; jackets were collarless and covered in snakeskin, and the skirts were slung low on the hips. But the digital-print satin dresses decorated with neon nailheads on the tops and grommets on the bottom that served as the finale were only as Proenza Schouler can do, and showed why they are considered one of New York’s bellwethers for fashion’s future. The styles were a little out there, but it’s where so many others will be.

REED KRAKOFF Reed Krakoff’s designs have always been luxurious and sporty. For spring, he decided to go for sexy, too. Krakoff was heavy on sheer layers, over everything from tanks to leather bra tops to dresses. Even the feet received the sheer treatment: Krakoff’s booties, worn by many models and also by actress Julianne Moore, were made of mesh (models wore “peeptoed” versions, while Mooore’s were closed-toed and black.) There were “stocking jersey” coats, polo shirts, boxer shorts, track jackets and sweatshirts (none of it was suitable for the gym, mind you - this was very high-end active wear.) And leather, for which Krakoff is famous, provided a textural counterpoint to all the filminess: A sheer stocking-lace tank was paired with a bonded leather skirt; a stocking jersey track jacket with a sleek rubberized alligator skirt. A stocking jersey slip dress was accompanied by a black python tote.

JEREMY SCOTT If you think your wardrobe for next spring is complete, think again.

Who couldn’t use a slew of bright metallic machine guns hanging from a nice black tank top? Yep, machine guns. Jeremy Scott, the happily outrageous bad boy of fashion, did not disappoint his fans on Wednesday. And they were a lively bunch: The packed show included Paris Hilton, Tyra Banks, Adam Lambert and the Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. To explain the gun imagery, one should know that the show was loosely based on the Arab Spring. But as always with Scott, it was quite a mix. “I kept hearing about the Arab Spring in the news,” he said backstage. “I wanted to use it - the desert, the colors. But also I wanted to mix some elements of Harlem in there too. And there was an element of Rihanna, whom I’ve dressed.” There was a lot of black and a lot of gold, though a sky blue also appeared in the form of snakeskin leather. Prints included what looked like a burning-flame motif. Other striking moments: A swimsuit/bodysuit with a huge face decorating the entire surface, and a long black crochet dress, leaving nothing to the imagination. But it was Scott’s hyperactive imagination, of course, that drove the show. He’s not for everyone, but his fans seemed very satisfied. — AP

J MENDEL You don’t need frills when you have fur, and J. Mendel always has fur.

This preview was for spring, so no need for big, cozy coats, but mink hot pants? That’ll work. Designer Gilles Mendel, celebrating 10 years of his signature house, paired those cypress-green, close-crop shorts - made to have a velvet texture - with a mink jacket that had leather panels and a chiffon skirt. Mendel stuck to his fine details and super-luxe materials, including buttery leather and guipere lace, but the overall look wasn’t quite as frothy as he’s done in seasons past. He cited photographs of the Kawachi garden in Japan and the wisteria that grows there as a starting point. A series of pintucked chiffon gowns, some with goddess touches and others with accordion pleats, evoked garden fairies.

Models wear designs from the Marchesa Spring 2013 collection at Fashion Week.

ANNA SUI New York Fashion Week has seen a lot of mixing and matching of fabrics, colors and textures, making for all sorts of chic and sometimes kooky combinations for the upcoming spring season. Anna Sui’s spin was to clash centuries. She was fascinated by the period following the fall of Napoleon III in the late 19th century after reading a historical book this summer, and she studied up on 1950s’-era French interior decorator Madeleine Castaing. She

Models showcase the Jeremy Scott collection.

TECHNOLOGY

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Tall, skinny iPhone in US stores SAN FRANCISCO: For the first time, the iPhone is growing even as it slims down. After sticking for five years to the same screen size, Apple on Wednesday revealed a new phone that’s taller, and has a bigger display.

The iPhone 5 will go on sale in the US and eight other countries next Friday, Sept. 21. Even though it’s taller than the iPhone 4S, it’s lighter, thanks to a new screen technology that makes the whole phone thinner.

The bigger screen - 4 inches measured diagonally - creates room for another row of icons on the screen and lets widescreen movies fit better. The calendar will now show five days at a time instead of just three. Previous iPhone models carried 3.5-inch screens. In another big change, the iPhone 5 will come with the capability to connect to the fastest new wireless data networks in the US and overseas. The improvements mean the iPhone 5 is taking a bigger leap up the evolutionary chain than its predecessor, which wasn’t that much different than the iPhone 4.

The new device also carries another distinction: It’s the first iPhone developed and unveiled since the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs.

The iPhone that Jobs had conceived ushered in what he billed as “the post-PC era” - a shift that is causing people to rely less on personal computers and more on mobile gadgets they can hold in their hand. Jobs died last

October the day after Apple introduced the iPhone 4S, which was the fifth version of Apple’s phone. There was little surprise in Wednesday’s announcement. Despite the pains the company takes to hide its plans, the rough launch date, the new screen and the capability to connect to so-called LTE networks had been reported for months by blogs and analysts. “There was nothing unexpected in terms of the new features of the iPhone,” said Tavis McCourt, an analyst with Raymond James.

That’s a contrast to last year, when Apple watchers were first surprised by a delay in the launch, and then by the fact that the iPhone 4S didn’t offer much new except Siri, a voice-activated assistant. The 4S, nevertheless, has been a smash success. During the first nine months that the iPhone 4S was on the market, Apple’s revenue from iPhones has exceeded $63 billion, helping to establish Apple as the world’s most valuable company ever, as measured by its stock price.

One thing that did surprise McCourt this year: Apple is launching the phone in so many countries so quickly. On Day One, the phone will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the U.K., besides the U.S. A week later, it will go on sale in 22 more countries, including Italy, Poland and Spain. Another surprise about the iPhone 5 is that it’s 18 percent thinner

Ambitious plans despite shoestring budget Indian space research NEW DELHI: The Indian space agency’s 100th mission recently marked a milestone for its space programme, underlining its emergence in a select group of nations possessing cutting-edge technologies. A successful launch from the Sriharikota launch centre in southern state of Andhra Pradesh put two foreign satellites into orbit. The Indian Space Research Organisation is planning ambitious missions, including one to Mars, but is restricted by tight finances.

“ISRO’s space programme has been focused on research and applications aimed at meeting the economic and social development needs of our country,” former ISRO chief Udipi Ramachandra Rao said. He said the agency was successful since the launch of its first satellite in 1975 despite a small budget and embargo on technology transfers due to the country’s nuclear tests.

Since then, ISRO has developed sophisticated satellites and a modern series of rockets, including its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The agency also built one of the world’s largest systems of remote sensing and communications satellites beginning 1983. The 22 satellites in operation are used for broadcasting, weather forecasting and geo-mapping applications for mineral prospecting, managing water, ocean and forest resources and disaster management. Indian rockets have placed 27 foreign satellites into orbit since 1999, highlighting India’s ambitions to become a major player in the commercial space market. Sunday’s launch of the two foreign satellites is estimated to earn $20 million. India embarked on a new chapter of its programme with an unmanned lunar probe in 2008. The agency said it had achieved 95 per cent of its objectives before it was aborted in August 2009.

NASA instruments on board the craft also discovered water and ice on the lunar surface. But India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket series has failed on three of its seven launches. The rocket designed to carry heavier payloads is key to future manned space missions and the ability to capture a share of commercial space launches.

The scientific community identifies lack of funds as a key factor hampering the space programme.

ISRO’s current 56-billion-rupee (1.1 billion-dollars) budget compares poorly to those of top space agencies, representing just over 5 per cent of the US space agency NASA. Despite financial constraints, it has moved ahead with plans for deep-space endeavours. Premier Manmohan Singh recently announced a mission to Mars next year. India intends to place an orbiter above the Red Planet by September 2014

after a voyage of 300 days from Earth. The cost, perhaps the cheapest for such a mission, is estimated around 80 million dollars. Other ambitious projects include the second lunar mission in 2014, and a manned spaceflight in 2016. The agency also plans to send a satellite to skirt the outer solar atmosphere to gather data about the sun.

“A staggering economy may have put paid to India’s hopes of matching the US and China economically, but ISRO is ensuring we remain in the big leagues on the space front at least,” a Financial Express editorial said.

But science journalist Kalyan Ray cautioned against exuberance over the Mars mission. “Little is known about Mars mission as of now,” he said. “Without knowing the status of the project, it cannot be said if ISRO will be capable of pulling it through. The targeted time frame is very challenging.” —dpa

than its predecessor. The company was expected to take advantage of any additional space to expand the phone’s battery, not make the phone thinner.

Apple followed its usual script for the new iPhone’s coming-out party. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Jobs’ hand-picked successor, kicked off the festivities before an audience of reporters, bloggers, applications developers and special guests with a summary of the company’s milestones. He then handed things over to his top lieutenants, a group led by marketing chief Philip Schiller and mobile software executive Scott Forstall.

It has become such a familiar ritual that Cook, Schiller and Forstall all appeared to be wearing the same attire as they did at Apple’s last product event in June. Adopting a personal work uniform was something that Jobs embraced. After learning that designer Issey Miyake had made work uniforms for Sony Corp. employees in Japan, Jobs eventually paid Miyake to make him the black mock turtlenecks that became the signature piece of clothing in an ensemble that included jeans and New Balance sneakers. With Jobs gone, the Apple executives left the showmanship to the rock band Foo Fighters, who closed out the two-hour presentation with three songs, including one called “My Hero” dedicated to the company’s employees for developing products like the iPhone 5. —AP

Nintendo’s Wii U to go on sale in November NEW YORK: Add the Wii U to your holiday shopping list.

Japanese game firm Nintendo announced recently that its Wii U video game console will go on sale in November as it aims to beat off the challenge posed by rival consoles and from the increasing use of smartphones and tablets as mobile gaming devices.

The Wii U is the successor to Nintendo’s best-selling Wii which launched in 2006. It will be available on November 18 in the US at a starting price of 299 dollars, with a deluxe version of the dual-screen console selling for 349 dollars.

The device will go on sale in Europe on November 30 and in Japan on December 8.

The previous Wii was a huge hit, selling 95 million units thanks to its innovative motion-sensing controllers and casual games that allowed it to outsell Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, even though they featured far richer graphics. But advances by Microsoft and Sony have wiped out the advantage of the Wii, which has been further challenged by the growth of social gaming on Facebook and on mobile devices such as Apple’s iPhone and iPad, and smartphones powered by Google’s Android operating system. That shift has impacted the whole video game industry. Retail sales of video game hardware in the US fell 20 per cent in the past two months compared to last year, according to research group NPD. The Wii U’s attempt to stem the tide is a 6.2-inch screen controller that offers gamers another view of the action, and provides them extra information as they manipulate games through the main screen on their TV. Nintendo is also positioning the Wii U as a set-top digital television box, allowing users to use the controller as a remote control for their TV, search for live and recorded shows as well as online videos and get additional information on programmes they’re watching.

Known as TVii, the gambit was seen as Nintendo’s attempt to match competing ambitions from the likes of Sony, Microsoft, Google and Apple to use their game consoles and media streaming devices as the central entertainment hub of the home. “The big innovation is bringing all of your services to one place... plus live TV,” Nintendo of America chief Operating Officers Regie Fils-Aime said at the New York launch event.

The Wii U for instance will collect programming from Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and other online sources, collating them into standard of customizable sections like Sports or Movies and allowing users to comment, record, change views and answer trivia questions over social networks.

TECHNOLOGY

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Japan aims to abandon nuke power by 2030s Mass grassroots opposition TOKYO: Japan’s government said it intends to stop using nuclear power by the 2030s, marking a major shift from policy goals set before last year’s Fukushima disaster that sought to increase the share of atomic energy to more than half of electricity supply.

Japan joins countries such as Germany and Switzerland in turning away from nuclear power after last year’s earthquake unleashed a tsunami that swamped the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. Japan was the thirdbiggest user of atomic energy before the disaster. In abandoning atomic power, Japan aims to triple the share of renewable power to 30 percent of its energy mix, but will remain a top importer of oil, coal and gas for the foreseeable future.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s unpopular government, which could face an election this year, had faced intense lobbying from industries to maintain atomic energy and also concerns from its major ally, the United States, which supplied it with nuclear technology in the 1950s.

“This is a strategy to create a new future,” a policy statement said, after key ministers finalised the decision yesterday. “It is not pie in the sky. It is a practical strategy.” All but two of Japan’s nuclear 50 reactors are idled for safety checks and the government plans to allow restarts of units taken off line after the disaster if they are deemed safe by a new atomic regulator. Japan’s growing anti-nuclear movement, which wants an immediate end to the use of atomic power, is certain to oppose any such proposal to secure electricity supplies by restarting reactors. By applying a strict 40-year limit on the lifetime of reactors, most will be shut down by the 2030s.

LNG, COAL AND OIL IMPORTS A shift from nuclear means Japan should remain the world’s biggest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and third-largest purchaser of oil to feed its power stations. The company is also a major importer of coal and

TOKYO: This handout picture, taken by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) on Sept 13, 2012 shows the upper lid of the reactor pressure vessel of the unit four reactor being removed by a tall crane and lifted down to the ground at TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant at Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. Japan decided on a post-Fukushima energy policy yesterday that saw it abandon nuclear power within the next three decades. — AFP is likely to increase reliance on it. The government estimated last week it will need to spend about 3.1 trillion yen ($40.03 billion) more on fuel imports a year if it abandons nuclear power immediately.

Japan’s hunger for energy has helped sustain an investment boom in gas projects from Australia to new export terminals in the U.S., where a shale gas revolution is in full swing.

LNG prices also soared earlier this year as Japan scoured the world for supplies.

The new policy was adopted 18 months after the earthquake and tsunami devastated Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, triggering meltdowns, spewing radiation and forcing some 160,000 people to flee.

Tomoko Abe, an opposition lawmaker who heads a non-partisan group seeking to abandon atomic power, told Reuters the new

strategy was lacking in key details.

“More than (a promise to) exit nuclear power in the 2030s, which is a long way away, what the people want to know is what they are going to do about restarting reactors,” Abe said. The government’s strategy calls for a push to reduce energy consumption through efficiency and other measures to at least 10 percent less than 2010 levels.

Noda’s decision is unlikely to resolve fierce debate over whether reducing atomic power’s role will do more harm or good to the economy. Nuclear power provided 30 percent of Japan’s electricity before the Fukushima disaster crippled the sector.

And with Noda’s Democratic Party expected to lose the general election, there is no guarantee that the next government would stand by the policy. —Reuters

Solar cells to produce power more cheaply than fossil fuels NORTH CAROLINA: This past winter, a startup called Semprius set an important record for solar energy: it showed that its solar panels can convert nearly 34 percent of the light that hits them into electricity. Semprius says its technology, once scaled up, is so efficient that in some places, it could soon make electricity cheaply enough to compete with power plants fueled by coal and natural gas.

Because solar installations have many fixed costs, including real estate for the arrays of panels, it is important to maximize the efficiency of each panel in order to bring down the price of solar energy. Companies are trying a variety of ways to do that, including using materials other than silicon, the most common semiconductor in solar panels today.

For example, a startup called Alta Devices makes flexible sheets of solar cells out of a highly efficient material called gallium arsenide. Semprius also uses gallium arsenide, which is better than silicon at turning light into electricity (the record efficiency measured in a silicon solar panel is about 23 percent). But gallium arsenide is also far more expensive, so Semprius is trying to make up for the cost in several ways.

One is by shrinking its solar cells, the individual light absorbers in a solar panel, to just 600 micrometers wide, 600 micrometers long, and 10 micrometers thick. Its manufacturing process is built on research by cofounder John Rogers, a professor of chemistry and engineering at the University of Illinois, who figured out a way to grow the small cells on a gallium arsenide wafer, lift them off quickly, and then reuse the wafer to make more cells. Once the cells are laid down, Semprius maximizes their power production by putting them under glass lenses that concentrate sunlight about 1,100 times. Concentrating sunlight on solar panels is not new, but with larger silicon cells, a cooling system typically must be used to conduct away the heat that this generates. Semprius’s small cells produce so little heat that they don’t require cooling, which further brings down the cost. Scott Burroughs, Semprius’s vice president of technology, says utilities that use its system should be able to produce electricity at around eight cents per kilowatt-hour in a few years. That’s less than the US average retail price for electricity, which was about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Semprius’s advantages are tempered by the limitations of using lenses to concentrate light: the system works best when the cells receive direct sunlight under a cloudless sky, and energy production drops significantly under any other conditions. Even so, it could be suitable for large, utility-scale projects in places such as the American Southwest.

First, however, Semprius has to begin mass-producing its panels. The company, which has raised about $44 million from venture capital firms and Siemens (which builds solar power plants), plans this year to open a small factory in North Carolina that can make enough solar panels annually to deliver six megawatts of electricity. —MCT

Outdoor orienteering shows strengths, weaknesses of satellite-navigation MUNICH: Motorists the world over have got used to satellite-navigation devices telling them which way to go. But the orienteering gadgets have their own following among hikers and bikers who like a little help exploring the great outdoors.

Many of today’s sat-nav devices promise to deliver point-to-point instructions for outdoor enthusiasts. Still, users need to remember that any technology has its limits. “There are big expectations,” says Peter Weirether of Garmin. “Most people know street navigation devices, where they just have to type in a goal to get a route. They know they can drive on any street.”

But there are additional challenges in nature. “A hiker might like to take a small path on a mountain, one that a mountain biker could never get up,” he notes, pointing out that not every path is suited for every kind of outdoor activity. “The kind of results that come out depend a lot on the map material.”

Nature lovers today can rely on digital topographical maps, which list various paths, their attributes and discuss the best way to ascend them. Free versions of such maps are circulated via the OpenStreetMap project, which includes OpenCycleMap, as well as special maps for skiing and other outdoor activities.

These maps can be used with smartphones or outdoor sat-nav devices.

There’s an especially large variety for Android devices, including Osmand, Maverick, MapDroyd, Apemap and Locus. iPhone users can consider ForeverMap or OffMaps 2.

Not every app can generate a route or a map for offline use. Still, a whole series of outdoor sat-nav devices helps plot routes, such as Garmin’s eTrax series or models like Dakota, Oregon and Montana.

Magellan has an eXplorist series. Also consider the Lux 10 or the Ibex 30 from Falk or the Active 10 from Satmap. Erik Neumeyer

of the German Hiking Association says the sat-nav devices enrich the outdoor experience. “But some applications, like mapping a route, are still taking their baby steps,” he says. “The devices will map a route, but they don’t always give you nice paths or marked ones.”

People used to car systems might also take a moment to realize that a map of an outdoor area won’t include the same precise landmarks as a city map. “This kind of information is generally lacking for hiking paths,” says Neumeyer. “Aside from a few high quality paths, it gets tough.”

Thomas Fraitzheim, who teaches people how to use sat-nav devices, says, “The results remain unimpressive,” noting that despite what manufacturers say it can be hard to generate a new route. “The results are often variable.”

Bicyclists are usually best off, says Fraitzheim, since they benefit from the device’s knowledge of streets. Hikers who

hope a sat-nav will direct them through a specific valley or along a specific river will often be disappointed. “One thing they can’t do is find the prettiest route,” he says. Instead, hikers should search for recommended routes on tourism or hiking websites or see what’s suggested on satnav community sites. “But that’s not what a lot of people want,” says Fraitzheim.

“They want a gadget that includes everything so they can just get going.”

Neumeyer says sat-nav devices’ true value outdoors are best suited for pursuits such as geocaching, where people need exact map coordinates to find hidden items outdoors. They can also be useful for planning a hike.

He sees growth potential in the market. “The market should grow, but it won’t explode.” But he believes people will still be using paper maps in 20 years - especially since they don’t need batteries. —MCT

CINEMA

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

KUWAIT

KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (06/09/2012 TO 12/09/2012) SHARQIA-1 STOLEN (2D-Digital TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-2 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-3 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-1 STOLEN (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-2 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-3 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 pm 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

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

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

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

MARINA-2 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:15 AM

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-3 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 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

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-2 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-4 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital)

FANAR-5 THE EXPENDABLES 2 FRI THE BOURNE LEGACY THE EXPENDABLES 2 THE DARK KNIGHT RISES THE EXPENDABLES 2 THE BOURNE LEGACY NO SUN+TUE+WED

3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-1 STOLEN (2D-Digital) TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

FANAR-1 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

FANAR-3 STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

1:45 PM

AVENUES-1 TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-2 TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-3 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-6 TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS (3D-Digital)1:30 PM TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS (3D-Digital)3:45 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 6:00 PM Digital (2D+3D) 8:15 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 10:30 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-7 THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-8 STOLEN (2D-Digital) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-9 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

AVENUES-10 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital)

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

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

AVENUES-11 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

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

360 º- 1 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 2 THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:45 PM 8:00 PM 11:15 PM

AVENUES-4 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) 2:00 PM SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) 4:15 PM SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) 6:30 PM NO THU (13/09/2012) Special Show “LAWLESS (2D-Digital)” for Ms. Rowan Al Ansari 6:30 PM THU (13/09/2012) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) 8:45 PM SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) 11:00 PM SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) 1:15 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-5 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital)

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 3:00 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 5:15 PM NO THU (13/09/2012) Special Show “BRAVE (2D-Digital)” for Ms. Rowan Aeryfan 5:15 PM THU (13/09/2012) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 7:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 9:45 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 12:05 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM

360 º- 3 TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS (3D-Digital)1 2 : 3 0 PM TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS (3D-Digital)2:45 PM TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS (3D-Digital)5:00 PM LAWLESS (2D-Digital) 7:15 PM NO FRI (14/09/2012) Special Show “BRAVE (2D-Digital)” for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. 7:30 PM

FRI (14/09/2012) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

9:45 PM 12:15 AM

360 º- 4 THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:45 PM 6:15 PM 9:00 PM 11:45 PM

360 º- 5 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) BRAVE (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 6 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 7 THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

360 º- 8 STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 9 (VIP-1) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º-10(VIP-2) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 11 TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital)

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

360 º- 12 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 12:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 2:45 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 5:00 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 7:15 PM NO FRI (14/09/2012) Special Show “BRAVE (2D-Digital)” for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. 7:30 PM FRI (14/09/2012) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 9:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) 11:45 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED

TV listings

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

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

Human Prey Untamed & Uncut Shark Attack File 3 Shark Feeding Frenzy I Shouldn’t Be Alive Cheetah Kingdom Shamwari: A Wild Life Animal Airport Animal Airport Wildlife SOS Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer Meerkat Manor Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Weird Creatures With Nick Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Natural Born Hunters Cats 101 Crocodile Hunter Air Jaws 2 New Breed Vets With Steve Shark Attack Survival Guide Ultimate Air Jaws Great White Appetite Deadly Waters How Not To Become Shark Bait Wildest Latin America Running With Wolves Great Ocean Adventures Shark Fight Sharkbite Summer Lion Feeding Frenzy Untamed & Uncut

00:35 Antiques Roadshow 01:30 Open House 01:55 Open House 02:20 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 02:50 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 03:20 Living In The Sun 04:15 MasterChef 05:10 Living In The Sun 06:05 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 06:50 Antiques Roadshow 10:20 Antiques Roadshow 11:15 Open House 11:40 MasterChef 12:30 MasterChef 13:25 Bargain Hunt 14:10 Bargain Hunt 14:55 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 16:10 Come Dine With Me 17:00 Open House 17:25 Antiques Roadshow 20:05 Antiques Roadshow 21:00 Cash In The Attic 21:55 Cash In The Attic 22:45 Bargain Hunt 23:35 Bargain Hunt

00:30 Bakugan: New Vestroia 00:55 Bakugan: New Vestroia 01:20 Powerpuff Girls 02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:25 Casper’s Scare School 07:00 The Powerpuff Girls 07:15 Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi 07:40 Total Drama: Revenge Of The Island 08:05 The Amazing World Of Gumball 08:30 Adventure Time 08:55 Level Up 09:20 Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated 10:10 Redakai:conquer The Kairu 10:35 Hero 108 11:00 Adventure Time 11:25 Grim Adventures Of...

12:15 Courage The Cowardly Dog 13:05 Ben 10 13:30 Ben 10 13:55 Powerpuff Girls 14:45 Thundercats 15:10 Green Lantern: The Animated Series 15:35 Hero 108 16:00 Angelo Rules 16:50 The Amazing World Of

Gumball 17:15 Adventure Time 17:40 Regular Show 18:05 Total Drama: Revenge Of The Island 18:30 Evil Con Carne 18:55 Courage The Cowardly Dog 19:45 Johnny Test 20:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge 20:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 21:25 Redakai:conquer The Kairu 21:50 Grim Adventures Of...

22:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Ben 10 23:40 Chowder

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 PG15

Exorcismus-18 Don’t Look Up-18 Fading Of The Cries-18 Game Of Death-PG15 Shanghai Noon-PG15 Arachnophobia-PG15 Legendary-PG15 Shanghai Noon-PG15 The Recruit-PG15 Legendary-PG15 The Eagle-PG15 Stone’s War: War Of The Dead-

01:00 Attack The Block-PG15 03:00 Bond Of Silence-PG15 05:00 The Hole-PG15 07:00 Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back-PG 09:00 Bond Of Silence-PG15 11:00 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2-PG15 13:00 Ice Age-FAM 14:45 Fast Five-PG15 17:00 Oceans-PG15 19:00 The Cry Of The Owl-PG15 21:00 Horrible Bosses-18

23:00 Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 02:30 Hot In Cleveland 03:30 Melissa & Joey 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 09:30 The Simpsons 10:00 Modern Family 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 14:00 Melissa & Joey 14:30 Modern Family 15:00 The Simpsons 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Man Up! 18:30 Man Up! 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 The Office 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 23:00 Hot In Cleveland 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00

X Factor Us Glee Castle Castle Glee Good Morning America Smallville Castle The Ellen DeGeneres Show

10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

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

Glee The View X Factor Us Glee Touch Live Good Morning America Smallville The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street House C.S.I. C.S.I. New York C.S.I. Miami Glee

The Glades Castle Touch Greek X Factor Us Touch The Glades Psych Private Practice Glee X Factor Us Castle Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Private Practice The Glades Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Private Practice House C.S.I. C.S.I. New York C.S.I. Miami Greek

01:00 AVP: Alien vs Predator-PG15 03:00 Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown-18 05:00 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World-18 07:00 Rocky II-PG15 09:00 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt.1-PG15 11:30 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World-18 13:30 Time Machine: Rise Of The Morlocks-PG15 15:00 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt.1-PG15 17:30 The Last Airbender-PG 19:15 Street Kings 2: Motor City-18 21:00 Stone’s War: War Of The DeadPG15 23:00 The Daisy Chain-PG15

00:00 Youth In Revolt-18 02:00 Napoleon Dynamite-PG 04:00 Cool Runnings-PG15 06:00 How To Train Your Dragon-PG 08:00 Napoleon Dynamite-PG 10:00 Baby Geniuses-PG 12:00 The Prince And Me 4: The Elephant Adventure-PG15 14:00 The Dukes-PG15 16:00 Baby Geniuses-PG 18:00 Defendor-PG15 20:00 Morning Glory-PG15 22:00 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story-PG15

01:00 Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man-18 03:00 Personal Effects-18 05:00 The Deep End Of The OceanPG15 07:00 Entre Les Murs-PG15 09:15 Sundays At Tiffany’s-PG15 11:00 Alabama Moon-PG15 13:00 The Third Wave-PG15 15:00 Sundays At Tiffany’s-PG15 17:00 Oscar And The Lady In PinkPG15 19:00 The Color Of Money-PG15 21:00 Of Gods And Men-18 23:00 All Good Things-18

01:00 18 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 PG 12:30 14:15 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell HardCall Of The Wild-PG15 Oceans-PG15 Honey 2-PG15 Monte Carlo-PG15 Marley & Me: The Puppy YearsWays To Live Forever-PG15 Shanghai-PG15 Monte Carlo-PG15 Green Lantern-PG15 Glee: The Concert Movie-PG15 Kick-Ass-18

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

EXORCISMUS ON OSN ACTION HD

00:00 MSNBC Hardball W/ Chris Matthews 01:00 MSNBC Politicsnation 02:00 Live NBC Nightly News 02:30 ABC World News W/ Diane Sawyer 03:00 MSNBC The Ed Show 04:00 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 06:00 NBC Nightly News 06:35 ABC Nightline 07:00 ABC World News W/ Diane Sawyer 07:30 Live NBC Nightly News 08:00 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show

09:00 MSNBC The Ed Show 10:00 MSNBC Morning Joe 13:00 MSNBC Caught On Camera 14:00 Live NBC Saturday Today Show 16:00 MSNBC Up With Chris Hayes Saturday 17:57 Live MSNBC Hardball W/ Chris Matthews 18:38 Live MSNBC The Ed Show 19:19 Live MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 20:00 Live ABC 20/20 21:00 MSNBC Melissa Harris-Perry 23:00 MSNBC Investigates

00:15 Sleeping Beauty-18 02:00 The Winning Season-PG15 03:45 Bound By A Secret-PG15 05:15 Michael Jackson: The Life Of An Icon-PG15 08:00 Ghost Machine-PG15 09:45 The Hairy Tooth Fairy 2-PG 11:30 War Horse-PG15 14:00 Bodyguard: A New BeginningPG15 15:45 Ghost Machine-PG15 17:30 The Help-PG15 20:00 Glee: The Concert Movie-PG15 22:00 Ironclad-18

00:00 European Tour Weekly 00:30 PGA European Tour 05:00 Top 14 07:00 European Tour Weekly 07:30 Live Rugby Union ITM Cup 09:30 Futbol Mundial 10:00 Live Rugby Matchday 10:30 Live Rugby Union Championship 12:30 Live Rugby Matchday 13:00 Live Rugby Union Championship 15:00 Live Rugby Matchday 15:30 AFL Premiership 18:00 Trans World Sport 19:00 Futbol Mundial 19:30 Live Super League 21:45 Live Super League

00:00 02:00 03:30 07:00 10:00 12:00 12:30 14:30 15:30 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 22:30

NRL Premiership Super League PGA European Tour Live AFL Premiership Super League Futbol Mundial Live NRL Premiership Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial Live Rugby Union Currie Cup Live Rugby Union Currie Cup Live Rugby Union Currie Cup Rugby Matchday Rugby Union

00:00 00:30 02:30 03:30 04:30 06:30 07:00 11:30 13:30 14:00 18:00 20:30 22:30

Total Rugby Top 14 Squash PSA World Series Squash PSA World Series Super League Total Rugby European PGA Tour Top 14 PGA European Tour Weekly Live European PGA Tour AFL Premiership Live Pro 12 Squash PSA World Series

00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:30 18:30 19:30 21:30

European Le Mans Series WWE SmackDown WWE Bottomline UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown WWE Bottomline WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars Highlights V8 Supercars Highlights V8 Supercars Extra European Le Mans Series European Le Mans Series European Le Mans Series WWE Bottomline WWE SmackDown WWE NXT UFC 151 Prelims UFC 151

WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Study in Canada exhibition

O

rganized by the Embassy of Canada, the seventh annual Middle East Education Initiative (MEEI) will be visiting Kuwait from Oct 2 to 4, 2012. Representatives of 20 leading Canadian universities and colleges will be available to meet students, parents, teachers and guidance counsellors to present the advantages of studying in Canada. On Wednesday, Oct 3, 2012 a Study in Canada exhibition will be held at the Marina Hotel, Salmiya from 6:00 - 9:00 pm for potential students and their parents to attend. The Canadian institutions will also be visiting local schools to speak to interested students about opportunities to study in Canada

Winter 2012 AMIE examination

T

he AMIE Winter 2012 examinations will be held between Dec 01-07, 2012 as follows: Section A (Diploma) - December 1-4, 2012 Section A (Non-Diploma) - December 1-7, 2012 Section B - December 1-7, 2012 The last date for submission of examination application forms are given hereunder: Candidates not appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Aug 21 - Sept 21, 2012 Candidates appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Sept 21 Oct 19, 2012.

Candidates who intend to appear for the Winter 2012 examination must apply directly to Kolkata by filling the prescribed application form along with requisite amount of demand draft in favour of The Institution of Engineers (India), payable at Kolkata.

UPCOMING EVENTS Onam celebration onni Nivasi Sangamam celebrates Onam on Friday, 21st September 2012 from 10 am to 4 pm at Abbassiya United Indian School. Public meeting honored with presence of prominent dignitaries from social-cultural-political sectors, maveli, athapookalam, chendamelam, ganamela, mimicry and other cultural events will be conducted as part of the program.

Ccome and enjoy! Feel the experience of traditional tastes!

Have lots of fun & frenzy! rock with music!

K

Free Arabic course PC and all its branches is opening free Arabic language course for non Arab ladies accessible in beginners and advance levels. Class will commence in September 14. Islamic and Quran courses are also presented in different languages.

Registration is on!

I

Calling all Ten-pin Bowlers he Indian Bowling League (IBL) Season 3 will be held at Cozmo Entertainment, Salmiya commencing on Friday the 28th of September at 3 pm. Kindly reserve your team in advance to avoid disappointment, on a first come first serve.

T

‘Leniency of Islam’ n unprecedented initiative of KTV2 (English channel) is the new program by the name ‘Leniency of Islam’ presented

by Shaikh Musaad Alsane and directed by Hamid Al-Turkait.

The program is mainly meant to address the expatriates living in Kuwait. Religious questions are received through the program email qislam@tv.gov.kw and sms can be sent to97822021 and answered by the lecturer and Imam in Awqaf Ministry Shaikh Musaad Alsane - a Master Degree holder in Sharia and fiqih from Kuwait University. So don’t forget to watch the program every Friday at 1:00 pm.

A

NAFO Onam on Sept 21 ational Forum Kuwait (NAFO Kuwait) will celebrate Onam 2012 with its full spirit and fervor on Friday, September 21, 2012 at the Indian Community School Auditorium from 10.00 am onwards. Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta will be the chief guest on this happy occasion. A galaxy of eminent personalities in Kuwait is also expected to join the celebration.

Starting from the floral carpet called “Athapookkalam,” NAFO family will present various cultural programs bringing back the nostalgic memories of a bygone era of prosperity, equality and righteousness under the golden reign of Mahabali. In addition, a grand sumptuous meal, the traditional ‘Onasadya’ will also be served.

N

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

This mega event will be a blend of traditional and contemporary dance and musical extravaganza by renowned South Indian playback singers Jyotsna and Sudeesh. Scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, October 12, 2012, at the Al-Jeel AlJadeed School Auditorium, Hawally, the mega musical show, is expected to be a super-hit in Kuwait.

A

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 ConsulateGeneral 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. nnnnnnn

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

Musicians, Male Singer & many more for live performances. Final audition at 10 am & music show at 7.30 pm at AIS-Hawally.

F

Tulukoota Kuwait free medical checkup ulukoota Kuwait, in coordination with Indian Doctors Forum, Kuwait Medical Association, Indian Dentist Alliance in Kuwait and Kuwait Heart Foundation is conducting a Free Medical Check up & Consultation Camp on Friday, September 14, 2012 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Abbasiya (Indian Educational School, Building No 4, Block No 241, School Street, Jleeb Al-Shyoukh) from 7 am - 1 pm. The Medical Checkup & Consultation Camp is specially taking place for all the people who do not have the opportunity or facility to undergo regular medical checkups at a regular clinic. We urge people to come ahead and fill up and submit applications well before September 9 to avoid disappointments. Kindly do not miss this opportunity and come ahead to take part in our free Medical Camp.

T

Tulukoota Kuwait ‘Merit Scholarship’ pplications are now being invited for “Tulukoota Kuwait Merit Cum Means Scholarship” to be awarded during Tuluparba 2012 scheduled to be held on October 11 and 12, 2012. The objective of this scholarship is to provide financial assistance and support to deserving meritorious students, to enable them to pursue their higher studies. Applications are accepted from minimum one year valid Tulukoota Kuwait member’s children studying either in the State of Kuwait or in India and scoring high grades in Xth and XIIth standard Board Examination held for Academic year 2011-2012.

A

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

W

Embassy

hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others!

This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

EMBASSY OF ARGENTINE

The Embassy of Argentina requests all Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in order to register or update contact information.

The embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the embassy. The registration process helps the Argentinean Government to contact and assist Argentineans living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

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

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

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break.

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy will be closed on Sunday and Monday 19 and 20 August 2012 on the occasion of Aid Al Fitr. The Embassy will resume its duties on Tuesday 21 August 2012. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

ABCK Hosts Environment Focus Group

T

he American Business Council in Kuwait’s Environmental Focus Group met on 10 September at the Petroleum Service Company’s conference room in the Free Trade Zones. The group received a presentation by Mr Nikhil Patki from Openware on the capabilities of Esri’s ArcGIS 10.1.

Esri is the world leader is Geographic Information Systems and Openware is their Kuwait agent.

Additionally, the group chairman, MR Brian Freeman discussed the need for data integrity and data management to allow the GIS system to be used effectively. If one word is misspelled or a space is included, the

results of searches and queries will be effected. Ms Linu Susan then presented a data management solution offered by Earthsoft using electronic data deliverable. EDDs are pre-formatted data entry forms that provide consistent data formats and allow quality assurance reviews prior to database population. If there are errors within the data, the errors are highlighted for correction. After demonstrating the error correcting capabilities of Earthsoft’s EQuIS software, Ms Simon showed how that same data can be pushed into Google Earth or ArcGIS. Attendees represented KISR, KEPA, and Worley-Parson.

Places of interest Sadu House Al Sadu House stands on Arabian Gulf Street near the National Museum, representing one of the last preserved pre-oil -era dwellings in Kuwait. Al Sadu House became a centre for Bedouin art and the sale of traditional goods In 1979. Visitors can observe Bedouin women weaving at their looms, handmaking carpets, camel bags and tent screens.

Opening hours are Saturday to Thursday from 8:00 am to 1:00 p.m and from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m daily except Friday. (Tel: +965 2243.2395) Admission is FREE. Science & Natural History Museum A wealth of education awaits the visitor to the Science and Natural History Museum on Abdulla Al Mubarak Street. Each gallery contains either a collection or an exhibit covering a wide range of themes. Collections on display Include fossils, stuffed animals, skeletons, and dried flowers. There are exhibits on health, petroleum, space travel, and electronics, among others. Forming part of the National Museum complex, the wonderful, modern Planetarium In the museum complex has shows at around 18:00 daily: local children, convinced the room is spinning, clap In syncopated beats every time the accompanying music begins.

A museum planetarium shows: Mornings: 1st Show: 10:00 a.m; 2nd Show: 11:00 a. m; 3rd Show: 12:00 p.m Evenings: 1st Show: 5:00 p.m; 2nd Show: 5:45 p.m; 3rd Show : 6:00 p.m. Note: Friday &

Saturday no morning shows. (Tel: +965 22451195; +965 22456534). Admission is FREE. The Dickson House The house of the first British political agent In Kuwait is still standing. The Dickson House, located across from the dhow harbour east of Sief Palace, was originally a Kuwaiti home built in 1870, but was given to Britain to use as residential headquarters.

The compound was expanded several times over the years, but stands as an excellent example of early Kuwaiti architectural styles.

Opening hours are from Saturday to Thursday 8:30 a.m-12:30 p.m and 4:30 a.m-8:30 p.m Friday 4:30 a.m - 8:30 p.m. Admission is FREE. Al-Qurain Museum Located in the residential suburb of Qurain, This small museum is a memorial to a cell of young Kuwaiti patriots who tried to resist arrest in February 1991. Early In the morning, Iraqis bombarded the house for hours with machine guns, bombs and eventually a tank.

Monday to Saturday 8.30 a.m - 12.30 p.m; 4.30a.m -8.30 p.m Friday morning off. Afternoon: 4.30 a.m-8.30 pm. Winter Visiting hours: 4-8.30 pm. 1st Day of Eid off. Tel: +965 25430343 Al Hashemi Marine Museum The World’s largest wooden dhow, owned and build by Hussein Marafie,Al Hashemi is a ‘Baghalah’ of monumental propor-

tions. Baghalah is a large wooden cargo vessel which sailed the seas in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Constructed next to Radisson SAS Hotel, the double-decked Al-Hashemi II is dry-docked next to pre-oil era Kuwaiti village and marine museum containing models of extinct and modern dhows The lower deck has the grand ballroom - one of the finest in Kuwait. Al-Hashemi II has earned the distinction of being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. The museum is opened Sat. Thu. from 9 am till 5 pm. Admission is FREE. Oil Display Centre The Oil Display Centre at Kuwait is located 20 kilometers in the southern direction from main city of Kuwait. Oil display center In Kuwait is set In the Ahmadi area, which is the primary hub of Kuwait’s oil production where many oll-fields and oil wells are located. This center is a learning ground for all those who wonder how oil processing is done. It gives an opportunity to the tourists to know all about the history beginning from how oil was explored, drilled, produced and processed In Kuwait.

The Oil Display Center Is located 20 kilometers away from Kuwait City, in the southern direction. This small center throws an insight into Kuwait’s oil business and the work of the Kuwait Oil Company, which owns it. It is definitely worth a visit. Opening hours Sat - Wed 07:00 am -3:00 pm. It is open by appointment. Tel: +965 23982393; 23989111; 23981678. KOC can also arrange for groups to tour the oil fields themselves.

health & science

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Mixed grades for new, healthy school lunch rules ROTTERDAM, NY: One student complains because his cafeteria no longer serves chicken nuggets. Another gripes that her school lunch just isn’t filling. A third student says he’s happy to eat an extra apple with his lunch, even as he’s noshing on his own sub.

Leaner, greener school lunches served under new federal standards are getting mixed grades from students piling more carrots, more apples and fewer fatty foods on their trays. “Now they’re kind of forcing all the students to get the vegetables and fruit with their lunch, and they took out chicken nuggets this year, which I’m not too happy about,” said Chris Cimino, a senior at Mohonasen High School in upstate New York.

Lunch lines at schools across the country cut through the garden now, under new US Department of Agriculture nutrition standards.

Mohonasen students selecting pizza sticks this week also had to choose something from the lunch line’s cornucopia of apples, bananas, fresh spinach and grape tomatoes, under the standards. Calorie counts are capped, too.

Most students interviewed in this suburban district near Schenectady seemed to accept the new lunch rules, reactions in line with what federal officials say they’re hearing else-

where. Still, some active teens complain the meals are too skimpy. And while you can give a kid a whole-

service director in the Mohonasen district, said while students generally have been receptive to the fruits

ROTTERDAM: Eastside Elementary school fourth grader Raela Bridges (nine, right) explains what parts of the school lunch she likes to her classmates Grace Bethany (left) Cameron Kinard (back left), and Brock Maddox (back right), all nine in Clinton, Missouri. — AP wheat pita, you can’t make him like it. “I was just trying to eat it so I wouldn’t be hungry later on,” Marecas Wilson said of his pita sandwich served this week at Eastside Elementary in Clinton, Missouri.

Though the fifth-grader judged his pita “nasty,” he conceded: “The plum was very good.” Kim Gagnon, food

and vegetables, “we have noticed that kids are throwing it out or giving it to friends, leaving it on counters, so we haven’t quite gotten there yet.”

The guidelines approved by the USDA earlier this year set limits on calories and salt and phase in whole grains. Schools must offer at least one vegetable or fruit per meal. They

Smokers may have more sleep problems: Study High probability of insomnia in many

S

mokers may get fewer hours of sleep and have less restful slumber than non-smokers, according to a German study that looked at more than two thousand people.

Researchers whose work appeared in the journal Addiction Biology found that of nearly 1,100 smokers surveyed, 17 percent got fewer than six hours of sleep each night and 28 percent reported “disturbed” sleep quality.

That compared with rates of seven percent and 19 percent respectively among more than 1,200 non-smokers who were also surveyed, said lead researcher Stefan Cohrs, of Charite Berlin medical school in Germany.

“This study demonstrates for the first time an elevated prevalence of sleep disturbance in smokers compared with non-smokers in a population without lifetime history of psychiatric disorders even after controlling for potentially relevant risk factors,” Cohrs and his colleagues wrote.

The findings cannot prove that smoking directly impairs sleep, since smokers may have other habits that could affect their shut-eye such as staying up late to watch TV or getting little exercise, Cohrs told Reuters Health in an email.

But there is also reason to believe

the stimulating effects of nicotine may be to blame.

“If you smoke and you do suffer from sleep problems, it is another good reason to quit smoking,” Cohrs said. Poor sleep quality may not only make your waking hours tougher.

Some studies have also linked habitually poor sleep to health problems like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The study included 1,071 smokers and 1,243 non-smokers who were free of mental health disorders, since those conditions may make a person

both more likely to smoke and more vulnerable to sleep problems. The researchers used a questionnaire that gauges sleep quality. Overall, more than one-quarter of smokers had a score than landed them in the category of “disturbed” sleep, meaning they had a high probability of insomnia.

Many things can affect sleep quality, and Cohrs’s team was able to account for factors such as age, weight, and alcohol abuse. Yet smoking was still linked to poorer sleep quality. — AFP

OSLO: A closed case containing tobacco products is pictured in shop in Oslo yesterday. Following in the footsteps of several other countries such as Ireland and Iceland, Norway in 2010 banned the display of cigarettes in stores in an attempt to cut impulse buys of tobacco products. — AFP

can still serve chocolate milk, but it has to be nonfat. The biggest update to federal school-food guidelines in 15 years might please parents who recall washing down cheeseburgers and tater tots with full-fat chocolate milk. In Pueblo, Colo., Megan Murillo said she feels more comfortable letting her first-grader, Sophie, eat cafeteria-prepared lunches knowing there are more vegetable and whole grains. Reactions in schools so far this fall have been positive, according to Kevin Concannon, the USDA’s undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. “I don’t mind it because I always got the extra apple and fruit and veggies and all that,” said Anthony Sicilia, a senior at Mohonasen, who nonetheless was eating a Subway sub for lunch. “But I think it’s good because it actually forces kids to eat healthy.”

But new guidelines or no, many kids are still picky eaters. In Clinton, Miss., the elementary students served flatbread roast beef sandwiches with grated cheese ate most of the meat but left large chunks of whole-wheat pita. Most plums were gnawed to the pits, and several salads were half eaten. “I liked the meat but not this,” fifth-grader Kenmari Williams said, pointing to his pita. “Every time you eat it, you get something white on your hands.” — AP

Job strain boosts risk of heart disease by 23% PARIS: Workers who suffer job strain are 23-percent more likely to have a heart attack than stress-free counterparts, but the risk is far smaller than smoking or a sedentary lifestyle, a large study published in The Lancet yesterday says. “Job strain is associated with a small, but consistent, increased risk of experiencing a first CHD (coronary heart disease) event such as a heart attack,” said Mika Kivimaki, an epidemiologist at University College of London who led the probe.

The investigation seeks to shed light on an issue that has turned up confusing results, mainly because researchers have used different definitions and varying methods. The new paper is a meta-analysis-an overview of 13 studies conducted between 1985 and 2006 in seven European countries that adopted the same approach: participants without CHD were first interviewed and their health was then monitored, for 7.5 years on average.

In all, 197,473 took part in these studies, of whom 30,214 reported job strain, defined as having excessive workloads, time pressures and little freedom to make decisions at work. During the monitoring period that followed, doctors recorded 2,356 heart attacks, fatal or otherwise.

The risk was 23 percent higher among the “job strain” group, even when age, gender and socio-economic factors, which all influence risk, were taken into account.

Three studies each took place in Denmark and Finland, two each were conducted in the Netherlands and Sweden, and the others were carried out in Belgium, Britain and France. The authors say the findings are significant.

But they also note that prevention of workplace stress to reduce heart disease would be much less effective than efforts to combat smoking and physical inactivity, where the risk of CHD is more than 10 and nearly four times greater respectively.

In a commentary also carried by The Lancet, Bo Netterstrom of Bispelbjerg Hospital in Copenhgean cautioned that work-related health problems in Europe “will almost certainly increase” because of job insecurity driven by the economic crisis. — AFP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

health & science

CLASSIFIEDS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

ACCOMMODATION

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Hospitals

Single room available for 2 Keralite bachelors (nonsmoking) in CAC flat in Abbassiya opposite to Jas Cargo near to police station bus stop. Please call 66349475. (C 4136) 15-9-2012 Sharing accommodation available for decent bachelor near German clinic. Call 66941892. (C 4130) 10-9-2012

FOR SALE Toyota Corolla 1994, good condition, white color, A/C, passing up to 5-8-2013. KD 400. Contact: 97277164.

(C 4135) 15-9-2012 Chevrolet Epica LT 2004 full option, very good condition, lady driven, run only 56,500 km. Passed recently. KD 1,400. Contact 99386361.

(C 4134) 13-9-2012

Engine, Gear, AC, Interior and exterior in good condition. Call 94947880. If you want to see the car image, contact: mansoorizh@gmail.com 10-9-2012

within one month from this date.

(C 4132) 11-9-2012

CHANGE OF NAME

LOST Policy No. 633002598 & 630001537 issued by the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan Gulf Zone on the Life of Mr Muhammad Boota & Mr Muhammad Shahzad is reported to have been lost.

Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the Manager State Life, Ph: 22452208-9 within one month from this date.

(C 4131) Policy No. 633002307 & 633003076 issued by the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan Gulf Zone on the Life of Mr Samir Shafiq & Mohammad Kazafi is reported to have been lost. Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the Manager State Life, Ph: 22452208-9

I, Joao Salvador Corte have changed my name to Joao Corte, hereafter Piedadc Goa. (C 4135) 15-9-2012

SITUATION VACANT Required a native French tutor to teach 2 children aged 6, 8. Please contact 99612121.

(C 4133) Wanted full time maid/nanny in Salwa. Offering KD 120 salary. Must speak English and be good with small children. Call 9768-7172.

12-9-2012

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

112 Prayer timings Fajr:

04:13

Duhr:

11:43

Asr:

15:13

Maghrib:

17:54

Isha:

19:10

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

Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Rabiya

24732263

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

Rawdha

22517733

Adailiya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw

Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Khaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

Clinics

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Qadisiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mitsubishi Outlander, 2006, KD 2075, negotiable, 94,000KM, Passing up to 18 June 2013, accident free, pearl white color, two new tire, new battery, auto lock,

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES

information SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines JZR QTR JZR SAI ETH BBC RJA GFA UAE ETD THY FDB MSR QTR JZR KAC THY KAC JZR DHX JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY IRA GFA QTR IZG IRA FDB ETD BAB GFA UAE MEA JZR MSR KNE MSC SYR JZR MSR GFA KAC FDB OMA JZR KNE JZR QTR SVA RJA JZR KAC QTR KAC JZR ETD UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR TAR JZR KAC ABY

Arrival Flights on Saturday 15/9/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 43 DHAKA 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 768 ISTANBUL 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 154 ISTANBUL 1541 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 605 ISFAHAN 223 BAHRAIN 132 DOHA 4161 MASHAD 617 AHWAZ 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 871 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 470 JEDDAH 401 ALEXANDRIA 341 DAMASCUS 561 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 645 MUSCAT 241 AMMAN 472 JEDDAH 535 CAIRO 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 257 BEIRUT 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 118 NEW YORK 357 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 328 TUNIS 777 JEDDAH 176 GENEVA 127 SHARJAH

Time 0:15 0:20 0:50 1:30 1:45 1:50 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 3:10 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:10 4:35 4:55 4:55 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:40 7:15 7:30 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:25 8:30 8:35 8:40 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:30 9:35 10:00 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:25 11:35 12:00 12:05 12:30 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:00 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:05 15:15 16:00 16:20 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:45

KNE KAC KAC QTR BAB KAC KAC FDB MSR MSC RBG JZR KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK FDB UAE JZR ETD ABY QTR JZR JZR AIC GFA UAL JZR DLH MSR THY KLM JAI

474 502 542 144 438 786 104 63 624 405 3553 175 618 674 614 572 774 562 389 61 647 402 146 221 229 59 859 135 307 129 136 513 539 981 217 981 239 636 614 772 411 574

JEDDAH BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA BAHRAIN JEDDAH LONDON DUBAI SOHAG SOHAG ALEXANDRIA DUBAI DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN MUMBAI RIYADH AMMAN KOZHIKODE DUBAI MUSCAT BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN COLOMBO DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI SHARJAH DOHA SHARM EL SHEIKH CAIRO CHENNAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN AMMAN FRANKFURT CAIRO ISTANBUL AMSTERDAM MUMBAI

Airlines 976 UAL DLH MSR THY SAI ETH BBC THY UAE FDB ETD MSR QTR JZR RJA JZR GFA THY JZR KAC FDB BAW JZR JZR ABY KAC GFA IRA UAE QTR KAC FDB ETD

Departure Flights on Saturday 15/9/2012 Flt Route 320 GOA 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 773 ISTANBUL 442 LAHORE 621 ADDIS ABABA 44 DHAKA 769 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 643 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 534 CAIRO 545 ALEXANDRIA 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 240 AMMAN 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 671 DUBAI 224 BAHRAIN 606 MASHHAD 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 101 LONDON 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI

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IRA BAB JZR IZG GFA KAC KAC MEA KAC JZR UAE MSR KNE MSC SYR KAC JZR GFA FDB MSR KAC OMA KAC JZR JZR KNE KAC RJA JZR SVA QTR KAC KAC ETD JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR TAR ABY UAL SVA KNE JZR QTR FDB BAB RBG MSR MSC JZR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC KAC GFA FDB DHX ALK JZR ABY ETD UAE QTR KAC KAC JZR AXB QTR GFA KAC JZR KAC

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AHWAZ BAHRAIN MASHHAD MASHHAD BAHRAIN CAIRO ROME BEIRUT BEIRUT JEDDAH DUBAI SOHAG JEDDAH SOHAG DAMASCUS JEDDAH DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN MUSCAT DUBAI DUBAI CAIRO JEDDAH DOHA AMMAN SHARM EL SHEIKH JEDDAH DOHA RIYADH BAHRAIN ABU DHABI AMMAN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN TUNIS SHARJAH BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH BEIRUT DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA LUXOR ALEXANDRIA DUBAI DHAKA MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM CHENNAI KOCHI MUSCAT BEIRUT ISTANBUL CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN COLOMBO CAIRO SHARJAH ABU DHABI DUBAI DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD ALEXANDRIA MANGALORE DOHA BAHRAIN BANGKOK ASSIUT KUALA LUMPUR

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

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C R O S S W O R D

7 9 7

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Yesterday始s Solution

ACROSS 1. Thickening of tissue in the motor tracts of the lateral columns and anterior horns of the spinal cord.

4. A landlocked principality in the Himalayas northeast of India.

10. A watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant.

13. Extinct flightless bird of New Zealand.

14. Leaf fibers of the raffia palm tree.

15. Canadian hockey player (born 1948).

16. An ugly evil-looking old woman.

18. Russian country house.

20. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

21. (Jewish cookery) A loaf of white bread containing eggs and leavened with yeast.

22. Syncopated music in duple time for dancing the rumba.

24. Footwear usually with wooden soles.

25. Giant shipworms.

27. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

29. Small buffalo of the Celebes having small straight horns.

30. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

32. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

35. A hard gray lustrous metallic element that is highly corrosion-resistant.

37. God of the earth.

39. An informal term for a father.

40. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

43. Slightly open.

45. Made from or covered with gold.

48. A detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work.

54. A member of a North American Indian people of southwestern Oregon.

57. United States neoclassical architect (1847-1909).

58. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

59. A port city in southwestern Iran.

62. (folklore) A small grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for human beings.

63. A decree that prohibits something.

64. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.

65. (Babylonian) The sky god.

DOWN 1. A platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it.

2. United States physiologist (born in Germany) who did research on parthenogenesis (1859-1924).

3. A battle in World War II. 4. A member of a Dravidian people living in Pakistan.

5. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).

6. Being or moving higher in position or greater in some value.

7. A case or sheath especially a pollen sac or moss capsule.

8. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

9. A quantity of no importance.

10. A plain plinth that supports a wall.

11. A Buddhist who has attained nirvana.

12. Capital and largest city of the Czech Republic.

17. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

19. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

23. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood

or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.

26. Type genus of the Anatidae.

28. Small cubes with 1 to 6 spots on the faces.

31. A drug combination found in some over-the-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

33. A federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

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

36. (British) A waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric.

38. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

41. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body.

42. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

44. Large dark brown North American arboreal carnivorous mammal.

46. A Russian river.

47. A genus of Lamnidae.

49. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

50. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

51. A Loloish language.

52. Originally a stronghold captured by David (the 2nd king of the Israelites).

53. Fast-growing herbaceous evergreen tree of South America having a broad trunk with high water content and dark green oval leaves.

55. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

56. A master's degree in business.

60. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

61. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

58. The 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet.

59. Slender bristlelike appendage found on the bracts of grasses.

62. A white trivalent metallic element.

Yesterday始s Solution

SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

High-flying Orioles win

FLORIDA: Manny Machado blooped an RBI single that eluded left fielder Matt Joyce’s desperate dive with two outs in the 14th inning, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep and remain atop the AL East. With their 81st victory - and 13th in a row in extra innings - the Orioles are assured no worse than a .500 record for the first time since 1997. Baltimore (81-62) remained in a first-place tie with the New York Yankees. In a 5-hour, 14-minute game, Chris Archer (0-3) walked Adam Jones with two outs in the 14th, Endy Chavez singled and Machado followed with a soft liner toward the line that Joyce trapped. Randy Wolf (2-0) struck out Joyce with two on in the top of the 14th. Baltimore has won 14 of 19 overall and is 26-11 since Aug. 3.

YANKEES 2, RAYS 0 Derek Jeter shook off an injury to tie Willie Mays for 10th place on the career hits list, backing Phil Hughes and helping the Yankees to maintain a share of the AL East lead. New York won consecutive games for the first time in a month. Hughes (15-12) gave up five hits in 7 1-3 innings, struck out seven and walked one. Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 38th save. Jeter started at designated hitter after leaving Wednesday night’s 5-4 win when he pulled up lame lunging for first base trying to avoid a double-play grounder in the eighth.

Andruw Jones hit a fourth-inning sacrifice fly off Felix Doubront (10-9).

ANGELS 6, ATHLETICS 0 Jered Weaver (17-4) allowed two hits in seven innings and struck out nine in his first start since skipping a turn in the rotation because of biceps tendinitis. Torii Hunter homered and added an RBI single in a sixrun seventh as Los Angeles avoided a fourgame sweep and remained 31/2 games back for the AL’s second wild-card berth.

The loss snapped Oakland’s 12-game road winning streak, two shy of the franchise record set by the Philadelphia Athletics in May 1931. The A’s have been shut out a big league-high 16 times. Brett Anderson (4-1) gave up five runs and nine hits in 6 2-3

innings. A’s rookie Yoenis Cespedes left midway through the fifth because of a sprained right wrist.

INDIANS 5, RANGERS 4 Jason Kipnis hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning off Joe Nathan and the Indians snapped a five-game losing streak, beating the Rangers. The Rangers remained three games ahead of Oakland in the AL West after the Athletics lost to the Los Angeles Angels. Nathan (2-4) had converted a clubrecord 31 straight save chances before the Indians erased a 4-2 deficit in the ninth.

Ezequiel Carrera homered leading off the ninth. Pinch hitter Russ Canzler singled and Kipnis homered off to chase Nathan, who did not record an out. Scott Maine (1-0) got the final two outs in the eighth in his third appearance with the Indians this season.

BLUE JAYS 8, MARINERS 3 Edwin Encarnacion hit his 40th home run, Adam Lind also connected and Toronto sent Felix Hernandez to his third straight loss. Encarnacion hit a three-run drive into the second deck in left in a five-run fourth as the Blue Jays avoided a three-game sweep. Lind hit a two-run shot in the first.

Hernandez (13-8) allowed a season-high seven runs and 10 hits in four innings. He has a 9.00. ERA in his last three outings, losing three consecutive starts for the first time since Sept. 12-24 last year. Henderson Alvarez (9-12) allowed three runs in seven innings to beat his childhood idol. Both men were born in Valencia, Venezuela.

TWINS 4, ROYALS 3, 10 INNINGS Denard Span had a game-ending RBI double in the 10th inning and the Twins rallied for a victory over Kansas City. Trailing 3-1, the Twins capitalized on a bases-loaded walk by Royals closer Greg Holland in the eighth and Trevor Plouffe’s homer in the ninth to tie it.

Alexi Casilla led off 10th with a double to right-center off Francisley Bueno (1-1). Span got his winning hit. Closer Glen Perkins (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

Josh Willingham also connected for Minnesota and Salvador Perez had two RBIs for the Royals. — AP

MLB results/standings Baltimore 3, Tampa Bay 2 (14 Innings); LA Angels 6, Oakland 0; Toronto 8, Seattle 3; NY Yankees 2, Boston 0; Cleveland 5, Texas 4; Houston 6, Philadelphia 4; Minnesota 4, Kansas City 3 (10 innings); St. Louis 2, LA Dodgers 1.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT NY Yankees 81 62 .566 Baltimore 81 62 .566 Tampa Bay 77 66 .538 Toronto 65 77 .458 Boston 64 80 .444 Central Division Chicago White Sox 76 66 .535 Detroit 75 67 .528 Kansas City 65 78 .455 Cleveland 60 84 .417 Minnesota 60 84 .417 Western Division Texas 85 58 .594 Oakland 82 61 .573 LA Angels 78 66 .542 Seattle 69 75 .479

GB 4 15.5 17.5 1 11.5 17 17 3 7.5 16.5

National League Eastern Division Washington 89 54 .622 Atlanta 81 63 .563 Philadelphia 72 72 .500 NY Mets 65 78 .455 Miami 63 81 .438 Central Division Cincinnati 87 57 .604 St. Louis 76 68 .528 Pittsburgh 72 70 .507 Milwaukee 72 71 .503 Chicago Cubs 56 87 .392 Houston 46 98 .319 Western Division San Francisco 81 62 .566 LA Dodgers 74 70 .514 Arizona 71 72 .497 San Diego 69 75 .479 Colorado 57 85 .401

8.5 17.5 24 26.5 11 14 14.5 30.5 41 7.5 10 12.5 23.5

LOS ANGELES: St Louis Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay (left) and left fielder Matt Holliday celebrate after they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 in their baseball game on Thursday, Sept 13, 2012. — AP

Cardinals notch vital win over struggling Dodgers LOS ANGELES: Allen Craig drove in Shane Robinson with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and the St Louis Cardinals extended their NL wild-card lead over Los Angeles to two games with a 2-1 victory over the struggling Dodgers on Thursday night. Lance Lynn (15-7) pitched six innings of five-hit ball to earn his first win since July 27 for the Cardinals, striking out seven in the All-Star’s return to the rotation after a bullpen demotion. Skip Schumaker had an early run-scoring single for St Louis. Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI double in the Dodgers’ seventh loss in eight games. St Louis and Los Angeles had lost three straight and six of seven coming in. Paco Rodriguez (0-1) and Ronald Belisario allowed the seventh-

inning rally capped by Craig’s RBI single.

ASTROS 6, PHILLIES 4 Pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning and the Astros stung Philadelphia, rallying for a 6-4 victory that ended the Phillies’ seven-game winning streak. The Phillies’ surge had pushed them within three games of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot. Philadelphia couldn’t hold an early 4-0 lead, and Lowrie’s two-out put the Astros ahead 5-4. Matt Dominguez hit a threerun homer for Houston, which has the worst record in the majors. Phillippe Aumont (0-1) took over in the eighth with a 4-3 lead. Wesley Wright (1-2) got the last two outs of the eighth for the win. — AP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Hatton returns to ring LONDON: Ricky Hatton will return to the boxing ring in November after the former world welterweight and lightwelterweight champion confirmed he was coming out of retirement yesterday. The Manchester-based fighter, who quit the sport after a devastating two-round knockout at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in May 2009, will fight a so far un-named opponent in his home city’s MEN Arena in November.

“I got beaten by the best two poundfor-pound fighters of their generation,” Hatton told a news conference.

“It was a two-round demolition against Manny Pacquiao and nobody wants to end their career like that.”

Hatton, whose best performance came in 2005 when he stopped Australia’s Kostya Tszyu to add the IBF light-welterweight title to the WBU belt he already owned, had a perfect 43-0 career record until he was floored

by Floyd Mayweather Jr in Las Vegas in 2007 and he was never really the same again. Unconvincing victories followed against Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi but he was outclassed by

Pacquiao and after a long period of inactivity he retired in July last year.

Hatton, who would often put on large amounts of weight in between fights and made no secret of his liking for a few pints of beer, checked into a rehabilitation centre in London in 2010 after being photographed apparently snorting cocaine.

“It’s well documented what’s happened to me, my life turned to mush,” Hatton said. “I feel I’ve put a bit back into the game but it didn’t fill the void.

I got my trainer’s licence and started

working in the ring and that started the fires burning and I started looking after myself a bit better and getting fitter. “I’m back to fight for world titles.

It’s more than a comeback. It’s worth more than money. A lot of people have said they don’t want me to tarnish the legacy but they don’t know what goes on between my ears.”

Hatton’s all-action, “guts-and-glory” style endeared him to fans who travelled in their thousands to watch him take on Mayweather. The 33-year-old won 45 of his 47 fights. — Reuters

Lopez hopes to surprise Alvarez LAS VEGAS: WBC super welterweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will defend his title against gritty opponent Josesito Lopez in a 12-round title fight today at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The 22-year-old undefeated Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs) will be making his fifth title defense and is heavily favored to beat Lopez, who is fighting for a title for the first time. Lopez (30-4, 18 KOs) is moving up in weight class to 154 pounds after upsetting Victor Ortiz for a 147-pound title on June 23, but few expect him to win the fight against Alvarez. “I know I’m going against one of the best out there,” Lopez said. “But (Alvarez) is a fighter I think that I can beat.”

The boxer said he planned to fight “smart, with a fast pace.” “We’re a little more active in the ring than he is. We’re going to push him. We are not going to let him get 30 seconds of waiting around. We can’t wait. We have to be the first to attack,” said Lopez. “I know I’m in for a rough night but it’s not a fight we can’t win.” On the undercard, WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez defends his title against former world champion Daniel Ponce De Leon and former world champion Marcos Maidana faces challenger Jesus Soto Karass in another 12-round fight. IBF bantamweight world champ Leo Santa Cruz also goes against former two-time world champion Eric Morel. —‚ AFP

Olympic champion Lefert quits the pool PARIS: Olympic 4x100 freestyle relay champion Clement Lefert has quit swimming to go back to university, saying he will not be able to make a living out of his sport. “I have put an end to my career to focus entirely on my studies,” the 24-year-old Lefert told local newspaper Nice-Matin yesterday. “I did not take this decision overnight. I have been considering it for a while because I always worried about my future.”

Lefert, who also took a 4x200 freestyle relay silver medal at the London Games, said he wanted a bright professional future and had enrolled at business school EDHEC, one of the best in France. “I want to have a job I like, not one I would not have chosen and I am fully aware that swimming will never make me free from want,” he said. “I am not Camille Lacourt, Yannick Agnel or Laure Manaudou,” he said, referring to the few French swimmers who clinched lucrative advertising contracts after they won world or Olympic titles.

Manaudou, who was the 2004 Olympic 400m freestyle champion but failed to get into a final in London, gets 1.5 million euros ($1.93 million) a year from sponsors, according to daily newspaper Le Parisien. By comparison, American swimmer Michael Phelps, the world’s most decorated Olympic athlete, has been earning five to seven million dollars a year since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to media reports. — Reuters

BAMBERG: IBF World Champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez of Cuba (right) and Canada’s Troy Ross pose during weighing in Bamberg, southern Germany yesterday. Hernandez and challenger Ross will meet for a cruiserweight title bout today. — AP

Martinez vows to make Chavez suffer LAS VEGAS: WBC champ Julio Cesar Chavez is in for one of the toughest tests of his career when he defends his title against seasoned-vet Sergio Martinez at the sold-out Thomas and Mack arena today. The 26-year-old Chavez Jr, who is the son of one of the greatest boxer’s in Mexican history by the same name, will be making his fourth defense of the WBC middleweight crown that at one time belonged to Argentina’s Martinez.

Chavez (46-0-1, 32 KOs) vowed on Wednesday to not only knock out Martinez but said he would end the 37year-old’s career. Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs) shot back he plans to take his time cutting down the young champion before seizing his belt back. “This one will be painful for you,” Martinez told Chavez at a news conference. “You will suffer a lot before I knock you out.” The Argentinean also feels disrespected because Chavez ($3 million) will make more than twice as much as Martinez ($1.4 million), who grew up in the slums of Buenos Aires.

Martinez is a 2-to-1 favorite to beat the bigger Chavez when they step into the ring at the 19,000-seat stadium.

“It’s easy to talk when he is not in front of me,” Martinez

said of Chavez. “It’s very easy to be so violent and say things about me when I was not in front of him. Look at his eyes when he is in front of me. You see the fear.” Martinez said Chavez is profiting off his famous father’s reputation.

“Chavez will get more money but more of a beating, too,” Martinez said. “He’s the champion and I’m the challenger, whether he deserves to be or not. He has a good body shot but a lot of bad (habits), so I hope somebody will feel sorry for him and stop the fight. Maybe the referee, the doctor.

Maybe his own father.”

Said Martinez promoter Lou DiBella, “I’ve never seen Sergio like this. If Sergio’s emotions don’t get in the way, it could get real ugly for Chavez.” Chavez Jr said he has carved his own path in the boxing world and his title reign is far from over. “I can’t help that people say that stuff about me,” Chavez said. “I am the son and that is who I am.

He is my dad, but little by little I have proven myself. I have proven it in the ring. You have seen what I have done in the ring the past few fights. You can’t take that away from me, my victories and my championship. I have done a lot of things on my own. I have my own story now.” — AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

All Blacks brace for Springbok bombardment DUNEDIN: The All Blacks expect to be targeted by an aerial bombardment yesterday as South Africa search for a way to break the world champions’ stranglehold on the Rugby Championship. The Springboks’ strategy appears anchored around fly-half Morne Steyn and centre Francois Steyn kicking for territory and followed by any drop-goal opportunities and penalties on offer. The All Blacks go into the match unbeaten after three rounds and on a 13-game winning streak, just five short of the world record of 18 straight wins by Lithuania-against the likes of Israel and Austria-from 2006 to 2010.

South Africa are second on the championship table but have only one win to their credit, and have drawn and lost their last two games. While

the visitors fancy reversing their fortunes with the boot, New Zealand will persist with their high-octane running game-although this has been compromised a little with scrum-half Aaron Smith benched for breaking team protocols. Piri Weepu steps into the number nine position and although he does not possess Smith’s speed to the breakdown nor his rapid pass, after 62 Tests he does have a superior ability to read the game.

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has been unable to hide his frustration at the high error-count that has detracted from their wins against Australia and Argentina, and he wants an improvement against South Africa.

“What we’ve got to get right is being able to build pressure on the opposition rather than put it on ourselves,”

he said yesterday. “They kick a bit but they’re pretty good at chasing it and (if) you get the ball at the right end of the field and, if you make mistakes under pressure, they’ve got guys who will make you pay.

“We want to improve as a team every week and perhaps we’ve done that in stages, but we haven’t put it together yet.” The All Blacks’ patchy performances have not gone unnoticed by Springboks captain Jean de Villiers, who rated the hosts as “fantastic at times”. “I think about their last Test against Ireland (60-0) and 22-0 against Australia. That type of results is pretty special and they’re probably not even firing on all cylinders, so it’s a great challenge for us.”

However, de Villiers, who played in the Springboks’ first victory over the

Storms rock British Open second round HOYLAKE: Severe winds wiped out the second round of the Women’s British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club yesterday. Play started at 7am local time in the final major of the season but was stopped at 8.18am as winds reached gusts of 60mph and balls moved on several greens. At 11am it was decided, in accordance with Rule 33-2d, that the early day’s play should be declared null and void.

Three hours later it was decided to suspend play for the day. South Korea’s Ryu So-Yeon, joint overnight leader on two under par, was one of the early starters and she had played one hole, taking a bogey six at the long 10th, her first hole.

But the rule decision means she is now back tied at the top with another South Korean, Haeji Kang. Michelle Wie of the United States was out in the second group at 7.10am and managed to play three holes before the suspension. “It’s been a long day,” said the American Solheim Cup player, who finished third in the Women’s British Open as a 15-year-old in 2005. “When I arrived at the course at 5am it was raining sideways. I’ve never seen anything like it.” “It was fairly sheltered by the tents when we set off but by the time we got to the 12th it was clearly unplayable,” added Wie, who started her round at the 10th.

“The ball would barely stay on the tee and they were moving all over the greens. When you have to call a rules official six times on a green then you know it’s bad. “I’m so tall I felt like a flagpole. I thought I might fall over when I tried to hit the ball and it was definitely the right call.” For Susan Simpson, the Ladies’ Golf Union’s Head of Operations, the goal is still to complete 72 holes by Sunday evening. And she defended the decision to start play in the morning. “The course was playable when we started but then the wind rose and play was not possible on the holes close to the sea,” she said. “Extending play until Monday is an option but we would obviously far prefer to finish tomorrow.” — AFP

HOYLAKE: So Yeon Ryu of South Korea lines up a putt on 18 during her first round at the Women’s British Open golf championships at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, England. — AP

Que stays ahead as rain halts play TAIWAN: Heavy rains forced organizers to abandon the second round of the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship yesterday with first round leader Filipino Angelo Que remaining three shots clear. Play was called off before the three-time Asian Tour winner, who shot a flawless seven-under par 65 on Thursday to take a single-shot lead over India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and American Jason Knutzon, was able to tee off.

Thunderstorms caused play to be halted for the first time around 9:30am and as downpours continued to soak the Linkou International Golf and Country Club, Taipei, officials were forced to abandon the day’s play at 3pm. The American Knutzon was level-par through nine holes to remain in second place at the $500,000 event with Bhullar, who like Que, did not start his second round.

Taiwanese veteran Lu Wen-teh, a five-time Asian Tour

winner, provided spectators with something to cheer before the storms hit when he recorded the event’s second hole-inone on the par-three 11th.

It came a day after Knutzon’s ace on the fifth. “This is my fourth hole-in-one since I turned professional and it came with my biggest prize to date,” said Lu. I’m happy and hopefully I can continue my charge when we return tomorrow,” he added.

Taiwan’s Huang Tao made the best of it before conditions took a turn for the worse, going three-under after six holes to take a share of sixth place.

“The winds started to blow very strongly from the fourth hole and it was a challenge to play under such conditions.

Hopefully, the weather will be kind to us tomorrow,” said Huang, who had opened with a 72. Players will resume their rounds at 8am today. — AFP

All Blacks in Dunedin when they won 30-28 at the now defunct “House of Pain” Carisbrook ground in 2008, said the result was not a foregone conclusion. “We’ve obviously got a game plan that we believe in and we will probably stick to that,” he said. “But if it allows us to throw the ball around and we can see the space out wide we’ll definitely try and take it into that space.”

Although South Africa drew against Argentina and then lost to Australia in their last two matches, Morne Steyn maintained their tactics suited what they wanted to achieve. “We as a team also work on things and try to move the ball as well but we’re not just kicking the ball away, we are kicking for a reason. I think that’s what people outside don’t realize.” — AFP

Wallabies braced for unpredictable Pumas SYDNEY: Australia are expecting the unexpected from Argentina when the nations meet for the first time in the Rugby Championship at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast this weekend. Argentina drew with South Africa and put in a spirited display in defeat to world champions New Zealand in their last two matches so the Wallabies are anticipating anything but an easy evening in Queensland today.

Having not played the Pumas since the 2003 World Cup, only 34-year-old lock Nathan Sharpe, who will skipper the side in Australia’s first test in his home town, has experience of facing Argentine at international level. “The main memory I do have is the unorthodox method in which they play,” Sharpe, who will play his 109th test for his country, told a news conference on the Gold Coast yesterday. “The guys are aware it’s going to be a very physical encounter but with the unorthodox side of things you just have to worry about what you’re doing. “If we can look after that, and to a certain extent dismiss what different tactics they’re employing, it helps us be precise in what we’re doing and... will go a long way to deciding the result of the match.”

Certainly the Wallabies have seen enough to expect a bruising battle up front and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau said this week that the Pumas forward play was now at least on a par, “if anything better”, than that of New Zealand and South Africa. “They’re a very passionate team and it’s something that’s been identified in the first three games of the Rugby Championship and one that you look at in every World Cup, they’re always competitive because of that spirit they bring to the game,” Sharpe added. “You talk about their defense and all the rest of it, it’s not always the most structured but it’s frenetic. They work together and they usually get a result.”

GENIA ABSENT Berrick Barnes, who has been moved from inside centre for his first start at fullback, said the Argentine backs were also unpredictable. “They will look to use the pill (ball), they’ve got a lot of flair there too,” he said. “We’ve got to be prepared for anything, if you go in there with a kicking mindset and they start throwing it around, you got to be prepared for that sort of stuff.” Barnes probably got the nod over Kurtley Beale because of his accurate place kicking with coach Robbie Deans, aware that scoring opportunities might be scarce, determined to make the most of those his team are offered.

The Wallabies will be without scrumhalf Will Genia, who will miss the rest of the season after injuring his knee in the victory over the Springboks last week that turned Australia’s campaign around after successive defeats to the All Blacks.

Sharpe said it would not just be down to Nick Phipps, who will make his second test start at halfback today, to make up for Genia’s absence. “I think it’s great, it’s good for the team because people have to step up,” he said. “It’s not just about Phippsy coming in and replacing Will, it’s about everyone else fulfilling an extra one or two per cent of a role that they may not naturally do when Will’s there, and the result could be surprising.” — Reuters

SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Buttler ready to serve England LONDON: Jos Buttler headed to Sri Lanka with reigning champions England’s World Twenty20 squad having at last convinced himself he can succeed as an international batsman. The 22-year-old Somerset batsman has long been regarded as one of the most promising talents in the English game but, until Wednesday, had never reproduced that form at international level. He made a duck in his only one-day international against Pakistan and, prior to Wednesday, six Twenty20 innings yielded just 36 runs. But Buttler’s creative strokeplay and power were on show, albeit briefly, during England’s 28run Twenty20 win over South Africa at Edgbaston on Wednesday in a match reduced by rain to 11 overs per side.

He struck three sixes and two cheeky ‘ramp’ fours over fine leg to finish on 32 not out off just 10 balls as England ended the series all square at 1-1. “I went out with a bit of a different approach, I think

the situation dictated how to play and I’m really pleased to finally contribute to an England win,” Buttler said. “International cricket hasn’t quite gone as I’d have hoped but days like that are really pleasing and give me a lot of confidence for Sri Lanka. “It was an innings I was desperate to play in an England shirt. I could take confidence from what I’ve done for Somerset but to do it on the international stage is a really proud moment.

“It’s nice to repay the faith that people have shown in you but tomorrow is another day and I’ve got to get back to working hard so I keep asking questions of the captain and coach.”

Buttler’s assault on left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell saw the South African concede 32 runs in an over, the second costliest in international Twenty20 cricket history. Having seen his favored ‘ramp’ shot prove his undoing before at international level, Buttler twice executed it per-

fectly. “Obviously it didn’t work out against Pakistan in the UAE and I got out twice playing it, but it’s a huge part of my game so I keep trying it and it came off,” he said.

“I had a bit of a confidence knock getting out to it in Dubai. But I had a couple of nice texts off (Somerset captain) Marcus Trescothick just saying ‘enjoy yourself’ and that’s what I did. “I think in Twenty20 that shot has become the norm when you see fine-leg up. “I always know I have an option.

Guys improvise a lot these days and try to second guess the bowlers so I’m glad I can do that and have it in my armoury. “The way I play it I think I can do it to a full ball, a wide ball or a back-of-a-length ball.

I’m really comfortable with the shot.” England have two warm-up matches in Colombo - against Australia on Monday and Pakistan two days laterbefore their title defence proper begins against Afghanistan on September 21. — AFP

NHL lockout looms NEW YORK: The National Hockey League (NHL) is facing its third lockout in 18 years with owners and players showing no desire to back off from demands on a new labor deal with just two days before to go before the current pact expires. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, unwilling to let the 2012-13 season start on Oct 11 under the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA), said he has unanimous support from all 30 teams to lock out players if a deal cannot be reached before 12:01 am tomorrow. “We are not prepared to open another season until we have a new collective bargaining agreement,” Bettman told reporters during a news conference at a Manhattan hotel. “The league is not in a position, not willing to move forward with another season under the status quo.”

Bettman refused to term the NHL’s latest offer as a take-it-or-leave it proposal but did say it would be taken off the table if, or when, the current CBA expires. The main sticking point in the dispute, which threatens a fourth work stoppage in 20 years, lies with the two sides at odds over how to divide $3.3 billion in revenue. The NHL, which enjoyed record-breaking revenues last season, initially wanted players to cut their share of hockeyrelated revenue to 43 percent from 57 percent but have amended that to a six-year deal that starts at 49 percent and drops to 47 percent.

Having had 24 hours to digest the latest offer, NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) head Donald Fehr briefed nearly 300 players on the offer before it was given the thumbs down. “There have been no developments since yesterday,” Fehr told a news conference where he was flanked by several NHL players, including Sidney Crosby and Zdeno Chara. “The players very much want to reach an agreement provided that it’s one which is fair and which is equitable and treats them appropriately.”

No further talks are scheduled although Bettman and Fehr said they are prepared to meet at anytime. The players are believed to be willing to accept a smaller share of projected revenues as the league grows, with an offer that opens at 54.3 percent of revenues and dips to 52.7 percent. The day marked a sharp increase in the rhetoric coming from both camps with the players and owners digging in while staking their position.

Players made it clear that they are united and in no mood to give up the same kind of concessions they did after a labor dispute wiped out the entire 2004-05 season. “We haven’t ignored the owners,” said Fehr. “We have proposed that under these circumstances we could construct an agreement in which, as revenues grow, the players compensation would be protected but it would grow significantly more slowly than revenues so that after a few years the league could grow out of any perceived difficulties that it had.”—Reuters

Lengthy field goals in NFL are no miracles

COLOMBO: Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh (left) greets New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum in a hotel lobby ahead of the World Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament in Colombo. — AFP

India to wear ‘lucky shirt’ for World T20 NEW DELHI: India’s cricketers have been ordered to wear the same jersey design that won them the World Cup last year for next week’s World Twenty20 in a bid to bring them good luck. Nike, the Indian team’s clothing sponsor, had earlier this month unveiled a new Twenty20 design that displayed the national colors prominently and even paraded top stars in the new outfit at a media launch.

But India’s cricket chiefs have asked the players to wear the same blue shirts in which they won the 50-over World Cup in order to bring good luck to the team, the Times of India reported yesterday. “It’s our decision to ask the players to wear the jersey which they had used during the 2011 World Cup,” Indian cricket board official Ratnakar Shetty told the newspaper. India won the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 but failed to make the semi-finals of the

next two editions in 2009 and 2010. The new T20 design had been welcomed by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and senior batsman Virender Sehwag when it was launched.

Dhoni said the design would help fans identify with the shortest format of the game. “When we see players in white, we know they are playing Test cricket,” he said. “Similarly, when you see them in blue, you know an ODI is going on. “Now that we have a different T20 shirt, there will be a strong association between the format and the jersey.” Sehwag had said he liked the new jersey because it displayed the national colors of red, white and green. “I play with my heart and I play for the national flag,” he said. “I like this jersey because the national colors are on my heart.” The World Twenty20 opens in Sri Lanka on Tuesday. — AFP

NEW YORK: David Akers called his 63-yard field goal at Lambeau Field “a miracle.” That’s exaggerating. NFL kickers are trying and making longer field goals every year, and Akers’ record-tying kick last weekend easily could be exceeded this season - provided the circumstances are right. “I’m guessing probably everybody’s always had the ability to do it,” said the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Bryant, who has a 62-yarder. “That would be my thinking. It’s just actually getting a chance to do it.”

Akers received his opportunity at the end of the first half against Green Bay. San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh had seen Akers hit from 60 yards in warmups - some kickers don’t even bother trying from that distance before games - and felt good about going for it. At 37, Akers’ leg is getting stronger. He set a single-season record with 44 field goals in his first season with the 49ers last year, including 7 of 9 from 50 yards and beyond.

He is dependable and relatively immune to pressure after spending a dozen seasons in Philadelphia.

But he didn’t think the kick had a chance.

“There’s no way I hit it good enough,” Akers thought. “It wasn’t like there was like some big wind gust or anything, it just kept kind of going,” he added. “I went a little slower and tried to hit the ball a little higher up to try to drive it a little bit kind of hit my 3-iron and see what happens. It tracked real nice.” Then it hit the goalpost and bounced over, tying Akers with Tom Dempsey (1970), Jason Elam (1998) and Sebastian Janikowski (2011) for the record. It may not be long before someone exceeds the mark.

The number of attempts from 60 yards or longer per year increased from two in 2007 to seven last season. From 55 and longer, still a prodigious distance, there were 16 attempts in ‘07 and 28 last year. There already were two on opening weekend, with Minnesota rookie Blair Walsh hitting a 55-yarder to tie the game at the end of regulation. The success rate from 55-plus is such that coaches don’t see anything miraculous about trying one, even with a rookie. “I was thinking gametying field goal the whole way,” Minnesota special teams coach Mike Priefer said.

“And to be honest with you, anything in that situation inside of 65, you’ve got to go for it to tie the game to send it to overtime.” Walsh came through, then he kicked a more-normal 38-yarder to win it. A major reason teams are willing to gamble from long range is that placekickers no longer are afterthoughts on rosters. Indeed, they are athletes, good athletes with backgrounds playing other positions or other sports.—AP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Kukushkin puts Kazakhs back on track ALMATY: Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin put his squad back on track in their Davis Cup World Group play-off showdown with visiting Uzbekistan by beating Farrukh Dustov at the clay courts of Astana tennis centre yesterday. Kazakhstan’s 24-year-old Kukushkin won 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) in two hours 52 minutes to see off 308thranked Dustov in their first meeting and level matters at 1-1. Kukushkin, who is 70th in the ATP rankings, was in complete command from the start, breaking his unheralded opponent on three occasions to take the first set in 34 minutes.

In the second set Kukushkin under-

lined his supremacy as he broke again in the ninth game to increase his advantage. In the third, Dustov picked up steam to break early to clinch a comfortable 3-0 lead, taking the set in 37 minutes to reduce the arrears. Dustov broke early again in the fourth set clinching a 3-1 advantage but Kukushkin, spurred by the local crowd, broke back in the eighth game to level at 4-4. In the ensuing tiebreak, Kukushkin pulled off the win on his first match point.

Earlier, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan took the opening rubber, beating Evgeny Korolev in a tough five-setter.

Uzbekistan’s 26-year-old Istomin won 6-

3, 4-6, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 to record his first ever win over Korolev, who had won both of their previous head-to-head meetings.

“It was a tough match but nevertheless I was in control throughout, except the fourth set, which I lost to love,” Istomin said. “The fact that Evgeny (Korolev) is below me in the rankings doesn’t matter at all. He’s a dangerous opponent and it was very interesting to play against him. I’m happy that I managed to win today to put my team into the lead.” Istomin looked slightly more confident in the opening set, producing a break in the fourth game to gain a set lead in 35 minutes. In the second Moscow-born Korolev, 24, broke his

rival’s serve twice to level at one set all after one hour 33 minutes, while the Uzbek squad leader managed to break back only on one occasion. In the third set, Moscow resident Istomin was in command again, breaking twice to restore his one-set lead. But local crowd favorite Korolev refused to surrender and pulled the scores level again at 2-2 winning the fourth set to love in just 26 minutes. In the decider, Istomin moved up a gear to take three consecutive games, wrapping up the match in three hours 14 minutes. The doubles clash will continue the tie’s schedule today, while the reverse singles will decide the winner tomorrow. — AFP

Cavendish faces uphill battle to defend crown

GIJON: Spain’s David Ferrer returns a ball against US Sam Querrey during the first match of the Davis Cup semi-final Spain vs USA at the Hermanos Castro park court in Gijon, northern Spain yesterday. — AFP

Ferrer beats Querrey in opening Davis semi GIJON: Spain’s David Ferrer beat Sam Querrey of the United States 4-6, 6-2, 62, 6-4 in the opening singles rubber in their Davis Cup semi-final on his home red clay yesterday. Querrey won the first set but the Spanish world number five held his nerve, neutralizing the gangly American’s blistering forehand with deft returns to the delight of the rowdy crowd in Gijon. “It was a hard match, difficult at every moment,” said Ferrer, 30, currently Spanish number one in the absence of injured Rafael Nadal.

“Querrey played a very good match but in the end I was up to it.” Ferrer broke Querrey’s serve in the first game of the match but then flagged as the American recovered to break him twice and win the set.

“I’m a bit tired, but that’s normal. It’s almost the end of the year and it’s impossible to play perfect tennis,” said Ferrer, who had arrived in Gijon this week straight from the US Open where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal. Ferrer, one of the world’s finest clay-court players, soon found his rhythm and cruised through the next two sets. He finally stamped out Querrey’s resistance in the fiercelyfought fourth, defending several break points in a series of dazzling rallies.

“David is tough, he makes you work for every point. I could have been a little more aggressive on some of the points I should have hit,” Querrey said. “I think

it was just a few points that were really the difference.”

Holders Spain took a 1-0 lead into the second rubber of the tie, with world number 12 Nicolas Almagro facing giant American John Isner and his formidable serve. Spain have dominated the Davis Cup over the past decade, winning it five times, and are surfing a wave of 23

consecutive home victories. Today, the American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the world’s top-ranked doubles players, face Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, before the reverse singles ties tomorrow. In the other semi-final, Argentina continue their campaign for a first-ever Davis Cup title when they host the Czech Republic in Buenos Aires. — AFP

Old-hand Hewitt eager to return to World Group HAMBURG: Veteran Lleyton Hewitt is eager to help Australia get back into the Davis Cup World Group as the promotion/relegation match against Germany begins. “It is very important to me for us to be in the World Group once again,” Hewitt said at Hamburg’s clay-court Rothenbaum stadium with Australia last having been involved in the Davis Cup’s top tier back in 2007.

Wins over China in February and South Korea in April have given Australia the chance to face Germany for a place in next year’s World Group, while the hosts face the relegation battle after February’s home defeat to Argentina.

Australian teenager Bernard Tomic will face Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in Friday’s opening singles rubber before Hewitt, now ranked 100th in the world, faces top German Florian Mayer, ranked 25th. In today’s doubles tie, Hewitt lines up alongside Chris Guccione to face Philipp Petzschner and Benjamin Becker, while Hewitt is ear-marked for Sunday’s fifth and final rubber in the singles.

Having played alongside current team captain Pat Rafter in Australia’s last Davis Cup match against Germany in 2000, when the hosts enjoyed a 3-2 quarter-final win on grass in Adelaide, Hewitt, 31, says he still feels fresh. “I think I wear it well. In comparison to you, I look fresh faced,” Hewitt cheekily told Rafter, 39, in a press conference when the pair shared a joke. But there is no ignoring the effects of time on Hewitt, who has not won a tournament on the ATP Tour for two years. — AFP

LIMBURG: The world cycling championships get underway tomorrow, with seven days of racing set to produce several new champions as Britain’s Mark Cavendish attempts to defend his road race crown on the final day of the competition on September 23. The Isle of Man rider who has racked up 23 stage wins on the Tour de France, and became the first British rider since Tom Simpson in 1965 to triumph on the world stage last year on the roads of Copenhagen, is not one of the outright favorites on a rolling circuit suited more to punchers rather than outright sprinters. The 267km route will feature the first 100km raced over the streets of several Limburg municpalities and two challenging climbs, before the final 10 laps over a 16.5km circuit and an ascent towards the finish before a slight dip to the line.

The first section of the route is almost identical to that used in the Amstel Gold races and suited to the likes of Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert who has won the one-day classic in 2010 and 2011 and will fancy the rolling conditions.

However Gilbert could only finish sixth during the 2012 Amstel Gold race and has also lost his Belgian road race and time-trial titles in the build-up to the championships, although a win on the ninth stage of the Tour of Spain will have boosted his confidence.

Newly-crowned Tour of Spain champion Alberto Contador is part of a strong Spanish team although the 29-year-old will only race the time-trial, while three-time world champion Oscar Freire, Alejandro Valverde and Samuel Sanchez will be contenders for the podium in the road race. Tour de France and Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins is part of the British team but will not attempt to better his silver medal in last year’s time-trial behind Germany’s Tony Martin as he also opts to concentrate on the road race and the Cavendish cause.

“Brad has opted out of riding the time-trial at the worlds. This year’s focus for him has been fully on the Tour de France and the Olympics, so to expect him to hold form going into the worlds is a big ask,” explained British Cycling director Dave Brailsford. Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara has declined the opportunity to add to his four time-trial world titles as the 31-year-old continues to recover from a nasty fall during the closing stages of the Olympic road race in London. The competition kicks off tomorrow with the return of the team time-trial and will feature outfits from the UCI World Tour and not national teams while there is also a chance for Pro-Continental and Continental teams to qualify.

The women will race over 34.2km with two climbs while the men’s race covers 53.2km and both finish lines appearing after an ascent to the line at Valkenburg. Italy’s Giorgia Bronzini has won the last two women’s road races, although she had to dig deep last year in Denmark to hold off Dutch legend Marianne Vos who won gold and relegated Bronzini to fifth in the Olympics as she comes to what can be deemed her home championships as UCI World Tour leader. Germany’s Judith Arndt is the defending champion in the women’s time-trial while there are also events for under-23 riders and juniors during the seven days of racing that feature twelve events. — AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Italian League Preview

Juventus begin long march to success MILAN: Ambitious Serie A champions Juventus will be looking to maintain their 100 percent start to the season in an away match at Genoa which is the first of an impressive run of seven in 23 days. Antonio Conte’s side is aiming for four trophies this season and while recently acquiring Denmark international Nicklas Bendtner, the “Old Lady of Turin” has eyes for a striker with arguably more to offer. Juventus’s trip to Genoa will be short, but next week they travel to Chelsea and then face Cheivo, Fiorentina and Roma before hosting Shakhtar in Europe and then league minnows Siena in early October.

It is no wonder the club’s director general, Beppe Moratto, is intent on bolstering a squad some observers feel has a real chance in Europe this season. “If there’s one Italian side that can excel in the Champions League this season it’s Juventus,” Gianluca Vialli, who won the trophy with Juve and also played with their group rivals Chelsea, told Tuttosport in midweek. Spain international Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao remains Juve’s main target, especially as Fiorentina have included an “anti-Juve” clause in the contract of their Montenegrin

international Stevan Jovetic. Moratta said: “He (Jovetic) could be a very useful player for us, but it will be up to Fiorentina to decide his future.”

Whether Bendtner will get a chance for Juventus soon remains to be seen, although Moratta says the former Arsenal man has impressed Conte in training. “The first judgment of Conte is very positive,” he added.

Juventus are one of only four teams-along with Napoli, Lazio and Sampdoria-to have won their first two games of the season. It means the other title favorites, AC Milan and Inter, need three points this weekend if they are to keep the pressure on the Turin giants. Milan will be hoping striker Giampaolo Pazzini, who scored a hattrick in a 3-1 win over Bologna a fortnight ago, shakes off a knock he received in training Thursday.

If Pazzini is given the all-clear, Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri could decide to give new signing Bojan Krcic, the Spanish international who arrived from Barcelona, a run-out with the Italy international. A fitness test should determine whether Allegri decides to risk Pazzini three days ahead of Milan’s Champions League group stage opener against Anderlecht. Milan

are already missing Robinho, Alexandre Pato, Riccardo Montolivo and Ignazio Abate but the good news is that midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng is set to play with a newly-fitted arm brace following surgery on a fractured hand bone last week. San Siro rivals Inter make the short trip to Torino looking to make up for their stunning home defeat to a Francecso Totti-inspired Roma two weeks ago.

Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni, however, could will be without Rodrigo Palacio after he picked up a knock playing for Argentina in midweek. Antonio Cassano, who scored Inter’s goal in the 3-1 reverse to Roma, is expected to play in support of Argentinean striker Diego Milito with Dutchman Wesley Sneijder providing the service to the attacking duo. Roma, who sit fifth, host Bologna at the Olympic Stadium looking to replicate the performance which humbled Inter two weeks ago. Bologna are one of seven teams, the others being Cagliari, Udinese, Palermo, Pescara, Atalanta and Siena, who have yet to win. Napoli and Lazio will be expected to maintain their perfect start with games respectively against Parma and Chievo. —AFP

Terry and Cole to shake hands with Ferdinand LONDON: Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has confirmed John Terry and Ashley Cole are expected to take part in the potentially explosive pre-match handshake with QPR’s Anton Ferdinand at Loftus Road today. Terry and Cole have recovered from the ankle injuries which ruled them out of England’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine on Tuesday and that means the duo are in line for a showdown with QPR defender Ferdinand. In July, Chelsea captain Terry was cleared in court of racially abusing Ferdinand during a Premier League match at QPR last year, with Cole giving evidence as a character witness for his team-mate.

Terry, who was stripped of the England armband by the Football Association before his trial, is still facing a separate FA charge over the incident and that hearing is expected to begin on September 24.

Ferdinand, Terry and Cole are set to come face to face today for the first time since the trial and the Premier League have insisted the pre-match handshake, which was cancelled ahead of the clubs’ last two meetings, will go ahead. “There has been dialogue between the Premier League, Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea in relation to today’s match between the two clubs,” read a Premier League statement. “All parties understand and acknowledge that the prematch handshake will go ahead as part of the normal pre-match activity.”

Reports in the build-up to the West London derby claim Ferdinand is planning to ignore Terry and Cole during the traditional greeting, while some of his QPR teammates may also refuse to shake hands with the Chelsea defenders. With bad feeling still lingering, Chelsea and QPR officials have held talks in a bid to defuse the tension, but Di Matteo insists his players will all take part in the handshake as usual. “We’ll go ahead with it, yes,” Di Matteo said yesterday.

“We’re going to respect the rules and the protocol that is in place from the Premier League and set a positive standard to the millions of people watching across the world.” “They’ve recovered (from injury), had a couple of days training and we expect them to be available for today.”

Di Matteo revealed he had held talks with QPR manager Mark Hughes, a former team-mate of the Italian at Chelsea, but did not know whether the home players would snub Terry and Cole. “I do not know, but I hope that they will as well respect the rules and go ahead with it and we can all focus on the football,” Di Matteo added. QPR striker Bobby Zamora has indicated he would shake the hand of Terry, whom he played alongside at schoolboy level. “I’ve known John Terry for years and he’s a very good friend of mine,” Zamora told The Sun. “We grew up together and of course I’ll shake his hand if he’s playing today.”—AFP

English Premier League Norwich v West Ham Abu Dhabi Sport HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sport HD 5 Stoke City v Man City Abu Dhabi Sport HD 3 Arsenal v Southampton Abu Dhabi Sport HD 3 QPR v Chelsea Abu Dhabi Sport HD 5 Man United v Wigan Abu Dhabi Sport HD 6 Aston Villa v Swansea Abu Dhabi Sport HD 7 Fulham v West Brom Abu Dhabi Sport HD 8 Sunderland v Liverpool Abu Dhabi Sport HD 5

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Spanish League Malaga v Levante Aljazeera Sport +2 Valencia v Celta de Vigo Aljazeera Sport +8 Getafe v Barcelona Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport +3 Sevilla v Real Madrid

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Italian League Palermo v Cagliari Aljazeera Sport +1 AC Milan v Atlanta Aljazeera Sport +1

John Terry Spanish League Preview

Ronaldo to shine despite Real row MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo will put his latest controversy behind him and rescue Real Madrid from their faltering start to La Liga season, his teammates have insisted. The Portuguese star described himself as being ‘sad’ after scoring twice in a 3-0 win over Granada without offering further explanation and his words have kept him in the eye of a storm in Spain during the international break. Media speculation has focused on his current contract being the source of his discontent, but Ronaldo has denied this. “I want to underline that all my attention is fully on winning games and all the trophies possible, with no worries about contracts, and to do that I am

Today’s matches on TV

counting on the crucial support of my teammates and all Madrid fans,” he said.

A number of his colleagues have also been quick to play down any problems his words may have caused within the Madrid camp and defender Alvaro Arbeloa believes the fans will also be supportive when the team takes on Sevilla today. “All parties involved have put behind them whatever problem there was and I think the fans will also, in fact I think the crowd will cheer him more than ever,” he said. Strike partner Gonzalo Higuain has added his support, declaring Ronaldo “always seems happy”. “We should not pay too much notice to what he said,

but we have to win in Seville, we can’t afford to drop more points in the league,” he said.

Madrid find themselves five points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona after only three league games. Barcelona go to a Getafe side yesterday that has already beaten Madrid this season. They were also just one of the teams to beat the Catalans last term.

Getafe midfielder Jaime Gavilan is confident his side can repeat those two results. “We want to take something positive from the match. On paper they are better then us but it’s eleven against eleven and each match is different so anything is possible,” he said. —AFP

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German League Bayern v FSV Mainz Dubai Sports 2 Borussia v Nuremberg Aljazeera Sport +5 Hannover v Werder Bremen Aljazeera Sport +6 Borussia v Leverkusen Aljazeera Sport +1 SpVgg Gr Furth v Shcalke Aljazeera Sport +1 French League Valenciennes v Bordeaux Aljazeera Sport +5 Nice v Brest Aljazeera Sport +8

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SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Liverpool seek Sunderland solace LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is targeting a first Premier League win since taking charge when the team travel to Sunderland today. The match comes at the end of an emotional week for the club. A damning report into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans, found police changed statements and tried to blame supporters for the crush.

Rodgers, who was only 16 when the disaster happened, said on Thursday he hopes the publication of the truth about the Hillsborough disaster will end disgraceful and tasteless chants by “idiots” at future matches.

“I speak as a human being and I don’t ever like to hear anything like that, whatever club it is, that associates with other people’s tragedies and death,” said Rodgers. “Unfortunately there are that minority of supporters

who will maybe disappoint, but let’s hope we can all move on and we can all learn from this whole process.”

Liverpool have yet to win in the league since Rodgers took charge in pre-season, collecting just one point from their opening three games. And with a match against bitter rivals Manchester United on September 23, three points at Sunderland are essential although they are by no means certain.

Steven Gerrard, sent off for England against Ukraine in midweek, is set to continue in midfield while winger Stewart Downing, whose career includes a loan stint at Sunderland, is pushing for a recall. Martin O’Neill, the Sunderland manager, is preparing his players for the special atmosphere that will accompany Liverpool’s first game since the independent panel’s Hillsborough verdict. “I’m never sure it is a good time or a bad time to play

Liverpool, but it will be a very emotional occasion with Liverpool fans coming in their droves for the first game afterwards,” O’Neill said.

“They always felt they were maligned greatly and it has now worked for them. It is a total vindication. They must draw some sort of comfort from this, even though 96 people lost their lives. “Liverpool come here with great tradition. I know the word legendary is used at the throw of a dice these days but that club is legendary, especially since Bill Shankly came in. “It’s a club of real proud traditions. It will be a really highly charged atmosphere,” added O’Neill. Whether James McClean is given the chance to sample that atmosphere is the chief decision that O’Neill must make before the match. O’Neill was upset by McClean’s Twitter outburst after he was left on the bench for the Republic

Wenger ponders Arsenal’s future LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has given the club a glimpse of the future by saying he could leave the club when his contract expires in two years’ time. The Frenchman has been in charge of the Gunners since September 1996 but is currently overseeing a sevenyear trophy drought. That prompted previously unthinkable scenes last term, as some Arsenal fans turned on Wenger with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing”. And the departure of then captain and star striker Robin van Persie in pre-season-the latest in a line of Gunners skippers to leave the London side to Premier League giants Manchester United, sparked fresh concerns.

Those will only be intensified if Arsenal drop points to a newly promoted Southampton side at the Emirates today, with the visitors bottom of the table and the only team in the division still without a point. “I’m an Arsenal man,” said the 62-year-old Wenger. “I think I’ve always shown that. I have to consider if I do well or not. If I don’t do well, I have to consider my future. “At the moment we are not there. Two years is a long time in my job. I just want to do well for the club as long as I can and accept all the rest.”

Meanwhile Southampton manager Nigel Adkins, having seen his side score against both Manchester United and Manchester City, remained in upbeat mood. “We have to win games, we know that and we’re positive about that. We’ll get ready for the next one and fight all the way. “We managed to score goals

Arsene Wenger against United and City and have to make sure we keep doing that.”

Table-toppers Chelsea, the Champions League holders, make the short journey to local rivals Queens Park Rangers with the only played three, won three record in the Premier League. But the latest edition of the west London derby continues to be over-shadowed by the fall out from allegations involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand. The match will be the first between the clubs since Chelsea and England defender Terry was found not guilty of using a racial slur against the Hoops’ Ferdinand in the corresponding fixture last October. Terry, still the subject of a Football Association investigation over charges he has always denied, is set to

be fit for today’s game following an ankle injury suffered on England duty.

Ferdinand is also recovering from a shoulder injury, meaning the defenders are on course to come face to face for the first time since the Chelsea captain’s race trial in July. Reigning champions Manchester City will hope to welcome back Argentina striker Sergio Aguero,who injured his knee during the opening weekend win over Southampton, for the tricky trip to an always obdurate Stoke. “The balance of the squad is good in terms of the alternatives that we’ve got,” said City assistant manager David Platt. “I think we’ve got more strength in depth than we did have.”

Meanwhile United great Peter Schmeichel is looking forward to van Persie, who has scored four goals in his first three appearances for Alex Ferguson’s side, continuing his form against Wigan. “He has been perfect for what we needed to do,” said the former goalkeeper. “We have brought the right player in.” Liverpool travel to Sunderland looking for their first league win under new manager Brendan Rodgers. The match comes at the end of an emotional week for the club. An independent report into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans, found police changed statements and tried to blame supporters for the crush. Today also sees Aston Villa playing Swansea, Fulham up against West Brom and Norwich at home to West Ham, while Reading and Tottenham meet tomorrow. — AFP

Mancini hopes Man City haven’t lost momentum MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini hopes the international break hasn’t ruined his side’s earlyseason momentum. City started the season with two wins over Southampton and QPR and a hard-fought draw against Liverpool at Anfield sandwiched in between.

The Premier League champions now face a tough away trip to Stoke straight after the inconvenient international break, which saw many of his players travel across the world to play for their countries. Mancini’s men, who also face a daunting trip to Spain to face Real Madrid on Tuesday in the Champions League, had their first training session as a full group following the break on Friday as City’s transfer deadline day signings

finally got the chance to work their new colleagues. “Friday is the first training that we all did after the international break.

We don’t have any players with injury,” Mancini said yesterday.

“But it is always the wrong time for us. We have a lot of players, some that are tired. “After the international break every game is difficult, we had six or seven players here at the training ground who did some work but every game after the break is difficult.” The physicality of Stoke will also provide a challenge for Mancini’s side, but while some managers have criticized Tony Pulis’s team for their aggressive long-ball approach, the City boss is full of praise for his opposite number. — AFP

of Ireland’s game in Kazakhstan last weekend.

But O’Neill, who had his fair share of run-ins as a player under successful Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough, said McClean should not have reacted so publicly to veteran Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni’s decision. “It’s good when a player wants to play and also wants to manage the team, but James is rather young for that at the moment. “Mr Trapattoni has a couple of years and a couple of titles on him. “James has been rather foolish and he has admitted it himself. He has taken himself off Twitter, he could have a situation with Facebook as well-and 14 other accounts. We will have to rectify it.

“Some of his language is pretty poor and we will genuinely have to deal with it. Now it is getting a bit ridiculous.” — AFP

Van Persie the key to United’s title charge MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson was relieved to welcome a fit Robin van Persie back to Manchester ahead of today’s clash against Wigan at Old Trafford. The Dutch forward, who has started the season in impressive goal-scoring form for United, came off at half-time of Holland’s 4-1 victory over Turkey with a thigh injury. But it appears that his removal from that World Cup qualifier was merely a precaution and, with England centre-forward Wayne Rooney still sidelined after cutting his leg badly in the recent win over Fulham, van Persie’s fitness is all the more important for United.

Former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has certainly been impressed by the start the Dutchman has made to his United career, with four goals in his first three appearances. “The very important thing is Robin van Persie absolutely chose us,” said Schmeichel. “He wanted to come to us, it wasn’t a question of us paying more than Manchester City or any other club. He wanted to be with Manchester United and that, I think, is the most important thing. “He has been perfect for what we needed to do. We have brought the right player in.” That concluding day of last season, when United lost the league title on goal difference to bitter rivals Manchester City, remains a painful memory for Ferguson and his team.

Thanks to van Persie, the Reds have scored six goals in their last two league games - wins over Fulham and Southampton - but their goal difference only remains at plus one. United’s Brazilian midfielder Anderson, however, believes that van Persie and fellow pre-season signing Shinji Kagawa, the Japan midfielder, will make a significant difference. “I think the team looks good,” said Anderson. “At the beginning of the season it’s always difficult but we’ve got a couple of wins and now we want more. “Shinji Kagawa and Robin van Persie have a lot of quality. They make it easier for the rest of the team when they have so much talent. It also means everybody works harder to try and keep their own place.”

Wigan’s visit to Old Trafford offers United a chance for revenge after the Latics delivered a fatal blow to Ferguson’s Premier League title ambitions last season.

Battling relegation, Roberto Martinez’s side secured a surprise 1-0 win at the DW Stadium in April, but they have failed to pick up a single point in any of their seven Premier League visits to Old Trafford. Wigan have scored just once at United’s home, a stoppage-time penalty by Leighton Baines on Boxing Day 2006, and have conceded 24 times. In addition, they have had three players sent off in their last two visits to United - Conor Sammon, Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega.

Defender Alcaraz is a major doubt with a groin injury he suffered in Paraguay’s 2-0 home defeat to Venezuela in a World Cup qualifier in midweek. — AFP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Sports

Wenger ponders Arsenal’s future

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NFL result/standings Green Bay 23, Chicago 10.

American Football Conference AFC East W L T OTL PF PA New England 1 0 0 0 34 13 NY Jets 1 0 0 0 48 28 Buffalo 0 1 0 0 28 48 Miami 0 1 0 0 10 30 AFC North Baltimore 1 0 0 0 44 13 Cincinnati 0 1 0 0 13 44 Cleveland 0 1 0 0 16 17 Pittsburgh 0 1 0 0 19 31 AFC South Houston 1 0 0 0 30 10 Jacksonville 0 1 0 1 23 26 Tennessee 0 1 0 0 13 34 Indianapolis 0 1 0 0 21 41 AFC West San Diego 1 0 0 0 22 14 Denver 1 0 0 0 31 19 Oakland 0 1 0 0 14 22 Kansas City 0 1 0 0 24 40 National Football Conference NFC East Washington 1 0 0 0 40 32 Philadelphia 1 0 0 0 17 16 Dallas 1 0 0 0 24 17 NY Giants 0 1 0 0 17 24 NFC North Detroit 1 0 0 0 27 23 Minnesota 1 0 0 0 26 23 Green Bay 1 1 0 0 45 40 Chicago 1 1 0 0 51 44 NFC South Tampa Bay 1 0 0 0 16 10 Atlanta 1 0 0 0 40 24 New Orleans 0 1 0 0 32 40 Carolina 0 1 0 0 10 16 NFC West San Francisco 1 0 0 0 30 22 Arizona 1 0 0 0 20 16 Seattle 0 1 0 0 16 20 St. Louis 0 1 0 0 23 27

PCT 1.000 1.000 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 0 1.000 1.000 .500 .500 1.000 1.000 0 0 1.000 1.000 0 0

GREEN BAY: Chicago Bears’ Devin Hester (23) is tackled by Green Bay Packers’ John Kuhn on a punt return during the second half of an NFL football game in Green Bay, Wis. — AP

Bears fall to Packers 23-10 Bears quarterback Cutler berates team mates CHICAGO: The Green Bay Packers made amends for a surprise opening week loss with a dominant 23-10 victory over division rivals the Chicago Bears on Thursday, as visiting quarterback Jay Cutler endured a game to forget. The home defense swarmed all over Cutler, who was given little protection from his offensive line as he completed just 11-of-27 passes for 126 yards and a lone touchdown while getting sacked seven times and throwing four interceptions. By contrast, his counterpart Aaron Rodgers completed 22-of-32 passes for 219 yards with one touchdown and interception, helping the Packers improve to 1-1 following their shock home loss to San Francisco last Sunday. The Bears (11) also suffered an injury blow when running back Matt Forte left the field with a damaged right ankle early in the third quarter. “It was a good win for us, we’re one and one now, but it’s one game,” Rodgers told reporters. “We (have) got to get better on offence, the defense played incredible.”

The writing was on the wall for Cutler from his opening snap, as DJ Smith cut a swathe through the Chicago line for the first of seven sacks on the night. The quarterback was clearly agitated throughout at his protection and is now 0-3 as a Bear at Lambeau with the loss also Chicago’s fifth on the trot at the hallowed field. “I care about this, this isn’t just a hobby for me, I’m not doing this for my health,” Cutler said when defending his onfield berating of his team mates. “I’m trying to win football games, I’m trying to get first downs. If we’re not doing the little things consistently the right way I’m going to say something. “If

they want a quarterback who doesn’t care they can get someone else.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Green Bay grabbed first points early in the second when Mason Crosby nailed a 48-yard field goal after Packers coach Mike McCarthy kept the drive alive after he successfully challenged the Bears defense for having too many men on the field. With all the pre-game talk centered on the high-powered offense for both teams it was the Packers special teams who claimed the opening touchdown. The home side successfully fooled the Bears with a fake field goal attempt, with Tim Masthay flicking the ball to Tom Crabtree who duly romped the 27 yards for the touchdown and a 10-0 lead. Cutler was intercepted by Tramon Williams with just over a minute remaining in the first half, allowing Crosby to tack on a 35 yard field goal to extend the lead to 13-0.

Chicago claimed their first points with a Robbie Gould 45yard field goal midway through the third quarter, coming a play after wide receiver Brandon Marshall dropped a pass in the end zone while wide open. Marshall, the big off-season signing for the Bears, failed to make a catch until midway through the final quarter. Crosby slotted a 54-yard field goal early in the fourth to move the score to 16-3 before Rodgers hit Donald Driver deep down the middle for a 26-yard score, the play after another Cutler interception, for a 23-3 lead. Kellen Davis scored a consolation touchdown for the visitors with just over six minutes remaining. — Reuters