17th Sep

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Iran admits Guards in Syria, warns US, Israel

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Bibi claims Iran on brink of bomb as gap with US widens conspiracy theories

Technology and hatred

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

T

echnology advances beyond belief and with the speed of light. Just two decades ago we were using an ordinary landline. Then the first mobile weighing almost a kilo came around. Alcatel was the first brand that entered the region. Then Nokias filled every shop, shelf and pocket around the world.

I remember back in the days my son was studying in the United Kingdom and I was worried for him to live alone. I went to get him a mobile so I could reach him at any time. The man in the Vodafone shop was shocked that I wanted to buy a mobile for my son who was a student. The other salesmen were surprised why I was buying a mobile phone for a student. It was so expensive that it was considered a status symbol reserved only for the rich. At first, people used to show off with a mobile in hand. After two years everyone was carrying a mobile phone, from the pizza delivery guy to second graders, and blue collar workers were all armed with mobiles.

I am sure you know the rest. Blackberrys, iPhones and Samsungs hit the market. Smartphones are the new it. They are all competing with new services offering free mobile chat programs and hundreds of other services like cameras, songs, GPS, downloading video content and reading books. Even the phone became like a supermarket with many options, like the App Store. It is no longer just a mobile phone. It is a multipurpose tool and mobile office. You can use it to buy stocks or transfer funds.

A mobile is efficient and makes life easy. But it could be dangerous if it is not used in the proper manner. It is a two-edge sword. I’ll give an example with the low-budget movie that insulted Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) which could be seen on any mobile that has YouTube. A guy with a criminal idea decides to do an insulting movie about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The filmmaker then quickly messes the whole world up. Uploading the film ends in violence, deaths and detention, in addition to the rage of demonstrators across the Middle East.

I am still surprised why everybody gathered around the American embassies around the world but why nobody thought of demonstrating in front of YouTube headquarters in the United States because they were the organization that allowed the world to see the low-budget film. Why no one so far from YouTube has taken responsibility and no one removed the film from their stream?

My argument is: A worldwide law should be initiated and enforced by an international organization which will be responsible to oversee that religious freedoms are preserved and those who insult religion get punished. Those who discriminate against religions and cause animosity and incite hatred between people - be it for racial or ethnic reasons - should also be punished. If this movie was made 30 years ago, it would have never made it to Libya and Egypt, but now the world is a global village.

ANKARA: Turkish demonstrators hold placards and banners during a protest against a US-produced film mocking Islam and insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in front of the US embassy yesterday. — AP

Max 43º Min 29º High Tide 11:33 Low Tide 05:20 & 17:46

TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards admitted yesterday for the first time that members of its elite Quds Force are in Syria, and warned Israel and Washington against any attack on the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites. Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned yesterday that Iran was just six to seven months away from the brink of being able to build a nuclear bomb, adding urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama set a “red line” for Tehran in what could deepen the worst US-Israeli rift in decades.

In a rare Tehran news conference, Guards commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari said officials from the Quds Force - the Guards’ special forces unit tasked with missions abroad - were active in both Syria and Lebanon to “counsel” forces fighting the Syrian opposition. Iran was “proud of defending Syria, a member of the (anti-Israeli) Gen Jafari resistance”, Jafari said. “But it does not mean that we have a military presence there.” By designating the Quds Force members as advisors, not fighters, Jafari was maintaining Iran’s denial of accusations by Western and Arab states that it was militarily shoring up the regime of embattled President Bashar Al-Assad.

Jafari also spoke of the heightened tensions over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, which Israel has warned it could disrupt with air strikes, with or without US help. Any attack on Iran would result in retaliation against the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the oil-rich Gulf, US military bases in the Continued on Page 13

Western embassies on alert as anger simmers Libya arrests 50 as protests rage DUBAI: Western embassies across the Muslim world remained on high alert yesterday and the United States urged vigilance after days of anti-American violence provoked by a film mocking Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Germany followed the US lead and withdrew some staff from its embassy in Sudan, which was stormed on Friday. Libya’s parliament chief announced yesterday the arrests of some 50 people over the killing of US

ambassador Chris Stevens in an attack he said was planned, although Washington said it was spontaneous.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, meanwhile, said the American military has no major plans to bolster its forces in the Middle East despite a week of violent protests targeting diplomatic outposts, including at the US consulate in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi where Stevens died.

“The number reached about 50,”

Mohammed Al-Megaryef, president of the Libyan National Congress, said in an interview with CBS News.

Stevens and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday when suspected Islamist militants fired on the US consulate in Benghazi with rocketpropelled grenades and set it ablaze.

Megaryef said “a few” of those who joined in the attack were foreigners who had entered Libya “from different Continued on Page 13

NATO strike kills 8 Afghan women 4 US soldiers die in ‘insider’ attack KABUL: NATO was accused of killing eight women yesterday, capping a weekend which saw six soldiers shot dead by presumed Afghan colleagues and a Taleban assault cause unprecedented losses on one of the biggest military bases in the country. The US-led International Security Assistance Force initially said an air strike targeted about 45 insurgents, but later expressed its sincerest condolences over “possible ISAFcaused civilian casualties” numbering five to eight. Civilian casualties have strained relations between the United States and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In June, ISAF ordered an end to air strikes on homes, except as a last resort.

Yesterday’s attack came shortly before dawn, in Alingar district of Laghman province, east of Kabul, as women set off to collect firewood, said a local official. “In this raid, eight women are killed and Continued on Page13

ALINGAR, Afghanistan: Bodies of Afghan women killed by NATO air strikes are brought to a hospital in this district of Laghman province yesterday. — AP

Statement by US ambassador

T

he past several days have been extremely difficult for the Department of State and our diplomatic missions around the world. I want to thank His Highness the Amir, the Crown Prince, and Government of Kuwait officials for their messages of condolence and for their condemnation of the attack on our consulate in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of our Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other colleagues. I have been touched by the many Kuwaitis who have personally contacted me to condemn this act and to offer their condolences. This is a testament to the strong and enduring partnership between the United States and Kuwait - a relationship which is rooted in mutual understanding and support for US Ambassador one another. to Kuwait As President Obama and Matthew Tueller Secretary Clinton have made clear, the United States government had absolutely nothing to do with the video that has caused such offense, and we reject both its content and its message. The motivations of those responsible for it are deeply cynical and reprehensible. Those who respond to it with violence are equally cynical and should be condemned. There is no justification none at all - for responding to this video with violence. The United States condemns in the strongest terms the violence that has resulted, and greatly appreciates that many Muslims in the US and around the world have spoken out. Violence, we believe, has no place in religion and is no way to honor religion.

in the

news

Male-staffed Saudi lingerie shops shut

Iran foundation boosts bounty to kill Rushdie

Omani blogger jailed for anti-govt writings

Tooth patch can be end of decay

RIYADH: The labour ministry has ordered the closure of around 100 lingerie shops in the Saudi capital for having men on their sales staff, a newspaper said yesterday. Al-Eqtisadiah quoted a ministry official as saying all shops which violate a decree on the “feminisation and nationalisation of jobs” would be shut down.

The measure aims to “provide a safe environment for working women,” he said. King Abdullah issued a decree in June 2011 limiting work for females at lingerie shops to Saudi women only in a bid to reduce high female unemployment in the conservative kingdom, estimated at 30 percent. Separately, Saudi Arabia said yesterday it had arrested a man suspected of killing a policeman and injuring another in a shooting last month in a restive area populated by members of the kingdom’s Shiite minority.

TEHRAN: An Iranian foundation has reportedly increased a bounty for the death of Salman Rushdie, saying that if the British writer had previously been killed for blasphemy an anti-Islam film currently enraging Muslims would never have been made. Iranian media quoted Hassan Sane’i, a cleric heading the 15 of Khordad Foundation, as saying in a statement that he was “adding another $500,000 to the reward for killing Rushdie”. With the increase, the foundation was now offering $3.3 million for the death of Rushdie. The foundation’s statement added that “these days are the most appropriate time to carry it (Rushdie’s murder) out”.

MUSCAT: An Omani court sentenced a blogger to one year in jail for slander over writings against the government, state news agency ONA said yesterday, extending a crackdown on dissent in the Gulf Arab state. The verdict against Moukhtar ben Mohammed Al-Hanaei, who works at Al-Zaman newspaper, is a further move by Oman to deter unrest inspired by Arab Spring revolts that have swept the region since last year. Hanaei was also accused of “violating information technology regulations” and was fined 1,000 rial ($2,600), ONA said. His case is part of what the court called “abusive and provocative writings cases”.

Ruling in the cases of other defendants was postponed until Oct 14, the agency added. Around 12 Omanis were sentenced to up to a year in jail last month for illegal gathering.

TOKYO: Scientists in Japan have created a microscopically thin film that can coat individual teeth to prevent decay or to make them appear whiter. The “tooth patch” is a hard-wearing and ultra-flexible material made from hydroxyapatite, the main mineral in tooth enamel, that could also mean an end to sensitive teeth. Researchers can create film just 0.004 mm thick by firing lasers at compressed blocks of hydroxyapatite in a vacuum to make individual particles pop out. These particles fall onto a block of salt which is heated to crystallise them, before the salt stand is dissolved in water.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: The Scientific Center announced the conclusion of the 2012 Voluntary Program, in a celebration held yesterday featuring Minister of Finance, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Nayef AlHajraf. CEO of the Scientific Center Mejbel Al-Mutawa was also present at the event.

Americans feel safe, comfortable in Kuwait Demonstration ‘largely peaceful’

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The intense reaction of the Arab world to the US-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), has made many Americans living in the Middle East restless and worried about their safety.

However, they feel safe in Kuwait, the American expats stated. The blasphemous depiction of the Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) has resulted in the death of four Americans during protests staged at US embassies located in different Arab countries, some of which were also attacked.

This current situation has made some American citizens uneasy as they have been made to feel as if they are responsible for making the film.

In a statement released yesterday in response to a request made by Kuwait Times for information about the current situation being faced by Americans living in the country, US Embassy Spokesperson Tracy RobertsPounds stated, “There was a demonstration outside the US Embassy in Kuwait that was largely peaceful. The government of Kuwait has provided additional security to protect our diplomatic facilities and personnel.”

American citizens feel Kuwait offers a safe haven. “I’m not too alarmed about any particular danger or reactions. Kuwaitis are friendly by nature and there is no need to worry, yet one has to remain cautious due to the extremists, who may want to act in a way that can cause harm,” a 52- year-old American of Arab-

origin, who is living in Kuwait, told the Kuwait Times.

Another American citizen, who practices the ‘better-be safethan-sorry’ approach, said he was avoiding identifying himself as an American and just being cautious. “I heard instances of some people who were treated harshly by individuals who found out they were American, but these persons were stopped immediately. Still it’s better not to reveal one’s identity, unless it is absolutely necessary. I’m not fearful, just cautious,” he added.

Other Americans, who have lived here for some time, admitted that life has not changed much following recent events.

38-year-old Valery stressed that she feels comfortable as ever in Kuwait. “I’m not afraid, and I am living as I normally would. On

Thursday, a friend told me about the protest in front of the embassy, and we then went to a shopping mall. We didn’t bother much with the news or the rumors. Also, I know that my other friends also spent their weekend following the protests normally and didn’t change their plans or program,” she pointed out.

She said that while life was continuing as usual, the offensive movie in question, which she watched with her husband was indeed very insulting. “I agree with the right to freedom of speech but this is not the way to assert that right. I think it’s the Muslims’ right to protest against this insulting movie. I’m not afraid, and we don’t expect things to turn violent in Kuwait,” Valery noted.

KUWAIT: Jamal Dashti, Deputy Chairman of diving team (Senyar) said that the team received several calls about sharks near the ports of Kuwaiti territorial water. The diving team also spotted a shark near Qarah Island and said that these kind of sharks visit Kuwait between June and September and do not pose a risk to humans. Sharks are one of the largest kinds of fish in the world and live in warm water.

They sustain themselves on small fish.

Asian woman in custody for trading in drugs

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: Drug enforcement agents have arrested an Asian woman for possession of 150 grams of heroin, in addition to some other variety of drugs, after they were tipped off earlier about the woman being involved in the drug trade.

Following this a team was formed to closely watch the woman, and after all the necessary information was gathered and legal permission granted, the residence of the accused was raided during which the police recovered drugs. The woman confessed to trading in drugs and using them as well, after which she was arrested and sent to be presented before the concerned authorities.

Car accidents A car accident that occurred between Qadesiya and Hawally on the Third Ring Road injured three men, identified as a 20-year-old Kuwaiti man who was suffering from extreme chest pain, a an 18-year-old Kuwaiti who complained of neck pain and another Kuwaiti man, aged 18, who was suffered back pain. The three have been sent to the Mubarak hospital.

A car accident on the Al Ghazali road, near the entrance of the Avenues resulted in injuring a 34-year-old Lebanese expat, who complained of back pain and was taken to the Sabah hospital.

A 28-year-old Egyptian expat broke his right arm and suffered other injuries after meeting with a car accident on the Fahaheel road near the Hadi hospital. He was rushed to the Mubarak hospital.

Two men were hurt in a car accident at Sulaibikhat near the grave yard, which resulted in hurting the head of a 23-year-old Kuwaiti man, and injuring the head of a Saudi man, aged 22 years. Both were taken to the Sabah hospital.

A car accident in Salmi, opposite the

grocery store, broke the arm of a 16year-old Kuwaiti boy and also injured him in a few other places. He was taken to the Jahra Hospital.

A 22-year-old Bangladeshi man sustained head and chest injuries following a car accident in Fahaheel. He was taken to the Adan hospital.

A car accident on the 5th Ring Road, opposite Al Reqie, injured a 37-yearold Indian woman, who was rushed to the Sabah hospital.

A 31-year-old Bangladeshi expat, who fell from a height and broke his left foot, in addition to sustaining other injuries has been moved to the Farwaniya Hospital.

KUWAIT: The Asian drug trader pictured after her arrest yesterday.

Iranian politician denies ‘plot to occupy Kuwait’ remark TEHRAN: An eminent Iranian political figure has denied recently-published remarks attributed to him, calling for Iran’s occupation of the State of Kuwait and described the remarks as fabricated.

Mohammed Karim Abedi, a former member of the parliament, said in remarks to the Iranian news agency, Fars, broadcast yesterday, “I have not conducted any interview recently and I have never heard of the website that posted the fabricated interview with me.” He categorically denied remarks, quoting him as calling for Iran’s takeover of Kuwait, re-stressing that they were fabricated.

He praised the “excellent ties” bounding Tehran with Kuwait, and charged that some powers sought to spread such reports with the aim of scuttling Iran’s success of hosting the recent conference of the Non-Aligned Movement.

“Great success of Iran at the summit prompted those with evil intentions toward Iran and Kuwait to take such a misfortunate move,” he said, indicating that certain powers sought to drive a wedge between the two states.

Abedi touched on Iran’s stance against the 1990 Iraqi aggression on Kuwait, noting that the people of the Islamic republic had stood alongside the Kuwaiti people against the Iraqi regime that sought to plunder resources of Kuwait.

Abedi’s emphatic denial of the remarks, attributed to him, followed a statement by Alaa Al-Din Brojerdi, Shura Council Foreign Security and Political Committee chairman, who denied the claims that Iran plotted to take control of Kuwait. “The State of Kuwait is a friend and a neighbor for the Iranian people and government,” Fars news agency quoted him as saying, on Saturday.

“We respect this Islamic country and neighbor, and what has been raised over Iran regarding Kuwait is baseless allegation, and aim at tarnishing relations between Iran and Kuwait,” he added.

Brojerdi strongly denied the allegation.

“Reports about Iran’s quest to control Kuwait are false and designed to hurt relations between Kuwait and Iran,” he added. — KUNA

VIVA announces winners of BMW 320i, Ford Mustang KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, celebrates the first year anniversary of its exciting and successful “Win a Car Every Week” by drawing two cars and choosing two winners every week rather than one. The latest lucky winners were Nahida Darweesh Aleraifi who won the BMW 320i and Fayez Shaikh Basha who won the Ford Mustang Coupe.

VIVA congratulated each of the lucky winners and invited its customers to participate in the longest on-going campaign of its kind. The upcoming draws will take place on each of the 16th and 23rd of September. This campaign is the longest ongoing campaign of its kind in Kuwait, and is available only to VIVA’s prepaid customers.

The VIVA “Win a Car Every Week” offer is available only to prepaid customers. Entering the draw can be done through two options. The first option is to subscribe with 500 Fils per day giving customers infinite minutes and SMS to any VIVA line. This option entitles the customer to one chance to enter the draw each week.

The second option is to subscribe to the BlackBerry KD3.9 service, which gives customers full and unlimited BlackBerry Services. This option provides customers with 15 automatic

chances to enter the draw each week.

In addition, customers who purchase a new prepaid line are given a single entry to the draw on the week they activate their new line and send the SMS “GO” to 535.

Customers can also subscribe to both options, increasing their chances each week to win a luxurious car. In the case a customer does not win, the points will be accumulated and carried on to the next draw. The upcoming draw prize will be a brand new BMW 320i and a Ford Mustang Coupe.

VIVA also created the ‘Flavor of the Week’, an additional means to entering the draw and increasing the customers chance to win a new car every two weeks. The ‘Flavor of the Week’ will be a ‘special service’ for those two weeks, to which the customers can subscribe. This week’s ‘Flavor of the Week’ will last until 26 September 2012, and will give prepaid customers two chances to win the BMW 320i or a Ford Mustang Coupe upon using the Surf On KD 1 to get 500MB of mobile internet for 5 days by sending “On1” to 255 or “3” to 535. Prepaid customers interested in the full, unlimited, local KD 3.9 BlackBerry offer, can send an SMS with the number ‘2’ to ‘535’. For the full menu of the prepaid offers, send an SMS with the word “GO”, to number ‘535’. m

Two masked foreigners held outside US Embassy KUWAIT: Investigations have been launched after two men were arrested outside the United States embassy during a recent demonstration when they tried to gain access to a restricted area and later failed to cooperate with the police.

The two accused, whose faces were covered with ‘ghutras’ stood near the embassy’s barrier, and were detained shortly afterwards for ignoring repeated calls made by the police asking them to step away from the restricted area.

It was soon discovered that the two were foreign nationals, could speak Arabic, and claimed during interrogations that they were Muslims. Preliminary investigations revealed that the two; who were dressed in ‘dishdashas’ at the time of the arrest, had also been involved in mobilizing protestors. The suspects were taken to the criminal investigations department following their arrest, before being referred to the concerned authorities for further action.

Meanwhile, the Central Operations General Department issued instructions for securing US army bases north of the country, based on information that they might become a target of angry protestors complaining against the recently released low-budget movie that mocks the Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and which was produced in America. These statements were pub-

lished yesterday by the Al-Rai in which sources, requesting to remain anonymous were quoted.

In a related development, the Kuwait Lawyers Association has launched an initiative aimed at coordinating a unified Arab action, which will take legal action against the people found guilty of insulting Islam or the Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him), in European and American courts. This was announced by KLA President Khalid Al-Kandari, who told the Al-Rai that, “a letter was sent to the Arab Lawyers Union including a request for holding an emergency meeting, which will be aimed at establishing a legal team that will prosecute any person who offends the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).” Meanwhile, the Minister of Communications, Salem Al-Othaina has given an ordered, “local internet service providers to block access to websites that include material, which is offensive to Islam or the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him),” the Al-Qabas reported yesterday, while quoting a Ministry source.

The report did not specify as to how the Ministry plans to block access to videos of the movie, which have been uploaded on websites such as YouTube, but indicated that, “discussions with internet service providers will take place within a couple of days to determine a way to handle the control of this offensive footage.” — Al-Rai & Al-Qabas

15 crimes a day in 2011 KUWAIT: An average of 15 crimes takes place every day in Kuwait, according to official statistics released for the year 2011, which show an increase in criminal offenses “and doubled suicide rates” compared to 2010.

Quoting a report released recently by the Ministry of Interior’s Criminal Evidence General Department, a local daily reported yesterday that 5,702 crimes were committed in Kuwait last year, with an average of 15 crimes a day. The crimes include 3,444 felonies and 2,258 misdemeanors.

Meanwhile, the report lists serious crimes including murder, mugging and fights which doubled last year compared to the year before, while crimes including sexual and battery assault, as well as possession of unlicensed weapons have also increased.

The statistics indicate that 48 homicide cases happened in 2011, including nine cases of manslaughter, while drug over-

doses killed 37 people, whereas 73 others committed suicide. Evidence of foul play was found in 144 deaths in general, according to the report, while no such evidence was found in 1,859 deaths reported the same year. The statistics also show that 88 mugging cases were reported in 2011, while 3,193 thefts and attempted robberies were also recorded. Other crimes include 12 forgery cases, 24 cases of possession of unlicensed weapons, 8 shooting cases, and 10 kidnap crimes, in addition to 16 cases of arson. The statistics cover crimes investigated by Criminal Evidence General Department officers.

The Farwaniya governorate saw the majority of crimes reported last year with 1,626 according to the report, followed by Hawally with 1,583, Al-Jahra with 1,444 and Al-Ahmadi with 1,195. The capital and Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorates came in fifth and sixth places with 1,014 and 726 respectively.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

LOCAL

Parliament’s third attempt to convene expected to fail KUWAIT: An attempt to hold a session for the 2009 parliament in order to vote on requests to lift the immunity of eight lawmakers charged with storming the parliament’s building, is widely expected to fail. However, Deputy Speaker Abdullah Al-Roumi still plans to meet this week with members of the parliament’s head office in order to discuss measures to call the parliament to convene, a local daily reported yesterday.

After being reinstated last June by a Constitutional Court ruling that found its dissolution decree late last year to be unconstitutional, two attempts to hold a session for the parliament elected in 2009 failed over lack of quorum.

Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi announced later that MPs will not be called again to convene, but recent news about the immunity lifting request

submitted by the Public Prosecution revived speculations that a third attempt to hold a session might be made.

The Cabinet is reportedly holding on to procedures to dissolve the parliament until the Constitutional Court makes its verdict on the Cabinet’s challenge of the legality of the electoral law. The ruling is set to be made on Sept 25. The Cabinet had opted to verify the constitutionality of the electoral law - which divides Kuwait into five constituencies - in order to protect future election results from appeals.

If the law is found unconstitutional, the Cabinet can release a modified law via an emergency decree, released only after the parliament is dissolved. The opposition on the other hand strongly rejects “mono-action” by the govern-

ment, requiring that a new law is released by a parliament elected after the 2009 parliament is dissolved. The Majority Bloc, a coalition of 34 oppositionists who dominated majority seats in the 2012 parliament annulled by last June’s verdict, held a meeting late Saturday night to evaluate developments in the political scene after a second demonstration was held last week against the government’s step. According to a local daily, the meeting also discussed public reactions to the establishment of the National Front for the Protection of Constitution which was announced last week. On that note, MP Saleh Al-Mulla criticized “the mechanism based on which the front was formed”, demanding more “transparency and credibility to support claims of defending the constitution”. He further argued in a statement

Armenia condemns killing of US ambassador in Libya FM visit to Kuwait soon

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Armenia, like other countries, condemned the killing of US ambassador to Libya and three other officers in strongest possible terms. The killings in Libya were connected to the low-budget film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ produced in America which mocked Islam. Fadey Charchologhlian, Ambassador of Armenia to Kuwait spoke with reporters yesterday at the embassy in Jabriya to announce the upcoming visit of Armenian Foreign Minister to Kuwait and the celebration of his country’s Independence Day on Sept 19 (Armenia marks Independence Day on Sept 21). The event in Kuwait will be held at Sheikha Salwa Sabah Hall in Salmiya.

“We condemn any action that fuels regional tension. We neither support nor condone such actions from any angry mob and likewise, we are not happy about the film which triggered the attack on various US embassies around the world. People should be more sensitive and tolerant at the same time, so as not to ignite tensions,” he added.

Meanwhile, according to Charchologhlian, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will be visiting Kuwait soon to sign agreements on trade, commerce, tourism, education and cultural exchange. The date was not officially mentioned as it could change at any given time.

Charchologhlian said both countries will also sign cooperation agreement in agricultural sector. “They are going to sign protocol of coopera-

KUWAIT: Fadey Charchologhlian, Ambassador of Armenia to Kuwait, center, talking with local reporters yesterday. — Photo By Joseph Shagra tion in various fields. Armenian food and prod- governor of the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, will ucts will be available in Kuwait by next year and visit Kuwait before year-end.

The governor of Yerevan is set to sign ‘sister Kuwait Cultural Week will be held in Armenia cities cooperation’ (Kuwait City and Yerevan City). before year-end.

Also, talks are on with the Kuwaiti ambassador In addition, the educational program between in Armenia to launch direct flight from Kuwait to Kuwait and Armenia continues in the coming Armenia soon,” he said. In preparations for the years including the university students’ exchange upcoming visit, Charchologhlian revealed that a programs.

Saturday that some members of the front “do not believe fully in the constitution, especially Articles 2 and 79”.

Meanwhile, a local daily reported yesterday that “steps to be taken with regard to the constituencies’ distribution” will be discussed during the Cabinet’s weekly meeting today. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, sources with knowledge of the case revealed that “a legal committee assigned to come up with suggestions to modify the constituencies is set to provide the results by the beginning of next month maximum”.

The Cabinet also discusses methods to enforce budgets necessary to fund developmental projects, which cannot be enforced regularly by the parliament at the present time, the sources added. —Al-Qabas, Al-Rai

IASCO expects significant trade growth between Kuwait, India KUWAIT: The volume of trade exchange between Kuwait and India is expected to grow significantly in the upcoming years, as last year’s trade volume figures reached $6.8 billion, an Indo-Arab cooperation committee chief said yesterday.

The volume of Indian exports to Kuwait last year reached $588 million, while imports amounted to $6.2 million, Chairman of the IndoArab Socio-Cultural Organization (IASCO) Ameer Al-Deen Labba said yesterday. He mentioned that the number of Kuwaiti tourists who visited India last year exceeded 9,000, expecting an increase in the coming holidays.

The majority of direct Kuwaiti investments in the Indian market are done through international investment companies, Labba said, noting that Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) is interested in investing in sectors of Indian infrastructure, energy, financial services, real estate and information technology.

He said KIA has a financial portfolio to invest in Indian Securities Market through a number of world portfolio managers and investment funds.

With regard to the state of Kerala, which will host a traveling exhibition, that is held between

September 27-30 every two years, he said that the state encourages foreign investment in various sectors, indicating that the anticipated fourth Kerala Emerging meeting will provide a number of opportunities and investment options.

In addition, Labba called on Kuwaitis to invest in India in general and the state of Kerala specifically - which he said is famed for its alternative medicine - particularly in the infrastructure sector due to the state’s need to invest in “good” projects in this sector.

Furthermore, he said that the number of Kuwaiti tourists in Kerala, mostly medical tourists, reached 2,816 in 2012.

IASCO, sponsored by Sheikha Rasha Al-Sabah together with the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, was founded in 2000, and is expected to send a delegation to visit the Travel Expo in Kerala (Kerala Travel Mart 2012), which includes a number of eminent personalities, media representatives and industry, travel and tourism practitioners.

The organization aims at supporting dialogue and cultural exchange between Kuwaitis and Arab residents in Kuwait, as well as promoting the concept of sustainable development in the Indian tourism sector. — KUNA

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

LOCAL

Local Spotlight

Letters to Badrya Darwish

Is Bin Laden still alive?

You can make the difference badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

Ms Badrya Darwish,

Muna Al-Fuzai

I read your article ‘Shame On You Filmmaker’ in Kuwait Times and liked it very much. May Allah the Almighty bless you. Ameen.

Best regards, Hasam Hello Badrya, I read your article and do agree with you about the film being disrespectful. I, for one, believe that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs with regard to religion and faith. I also strongly feel each person should respect the other religious beliefs, but I do have a few questions for you.

1.

Did you know this video came out on July 2, 2012? This was over two months ago and came to the public’s attention now. It just seems coincidental that attacks on the embassy happened on Sept 11 and not months ago over this video.

2.

Did you watch the movie trailer? If you listen closely to it, you can tell someone did a voice-over for these actors to create such a disturbing video.

I completely agree with you on how disrespectful this film is. I cannot imagine why someone would do this. I believe there is more to this situation and really want to reserve judgement on the person(s) involved in making the video until the whole story comes out. Thank you for your time.

Dwayne Respected Ms Badrya, I read your article. After all these years, it amazes me as to how offended a Muslim gets over a single word against Islam, just as it used to be when I was kid growing up in Kuwait. Has it even crossed your mind that four human beings were killed by Muslims over a movie that they might not have even heard about? Being born in Kuwait in 1970, I was blessed and apparently five Mercedes Benz brought me home from the hospital (this is what my mom tells me). My grandfather came to Kuwait in 1949 and he said “It was the time of great hardship, those were the times when there was limited water and people used to get it from Basra on donkeys.

I also remember growing up in Kuwait where the government prohibits any place of worship except mosque, (except a church here or there).

So we were told that we will go to the mandir (temple) in hiding and not revile if asked during Tafshish “Is this the teaching of Islam?” It makes me wonder what the Prophet (PBUH) would say to the Kuwaitis (both who make these rules and the ones who show a blind eye). I also remember how the Kuwaitis forced my family and me to leave Kuwait or rot in the segin (jail). My grand father and a Kuwaiti started the ‘Halib Safety’ business together! There is so much to write, next time, inshallah. Think about it, maybe you can make the difference.

Sardar Rajesh Merwah Hello, I want to congratulate you for this amazing column. It’s short in length but if we start thinking, it has a lot of meaning. So on both sides, whatever is happening is not good. Thanks for writing that brave column.

Best regards, Haseeb Asghar Kudos Badriya!

Hope the authorities heed your advice. Though I have differed with you and even written articles published in KT refuting your content in the past, I have no doubt that this is a wonderful article.

You can add visa trafficking to the list. The authorities here in Kuwait have never progressed since 1970’s, beyond blaming expats for everything wrong in the country and issuing nonsensical fatwas banning and restricting visa issuances. I suppose this is the only weapon in the hands of insecure state and arrogant locals to prove their superiority over expats, especially the Asians. They dare not speak a word against Americans, Europeans and western expats. Oh I forgot, these are foreigners not expats... God bless the country and God bless expats.

Best regards, Kaizar Shakir Dear Badrya, Thank you for this article. Let me give you a live example when an expat has no wasta and crosses the red signal. This would mean he has committed a serious crime and the ruling would be either deportation or a jail sentence. Okay, we understand the seriousness of red signal and most of the time we have noticed citizens will follow you till they come and stop you and at the same time, they will call the police and complain about it.

I have realised that citizens have more red signal violations than expats. Today I was on my way to office in Hawally near Sadeq roundabout signal that diverts traffic from Shaab. The signal was still green when a young citizen in a 2010 Camaro crossed the red signal and rushed to the right to see cars for sale. When I asked him why he crossed the red signal, he said “Shouf shugluk izlif”. If citizens obeyed the rules, believe me, you will not find a single expat with a traffic violation.

Regards, Ghulam

muna@kuwaittimes.net he last week was marked in our life here in Kuwait and in many other Arab countries around the world with bloodshed, hatred and violence, all in the name of defending Islam and the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). As a Muslim I do not believe that Islam as a religion, which has managed to last thousands of years, will be damaged or will collapse because of the production of one movie reviling it. Throughout history, Islam as a religion has confronted so many challenges and yet it has lasted longer, become stronger and spread all over the world.

I think the reactions sparked by this movie have deliberately come to the forefront and angered the Arab world at the present time because of two main reasons, which are to use the current situation to generate more fear and create instability. I believe that the movie, released in September this year, was to inflame and provoke fresh tensions and possibly incite violence against the American citizens, as it did in Libya, and which could also happen in Egypt and Kuwait, if the security of our country is handed over to maniacal and conservative supporters of the Al Qaeda and if militants are allowed to get closer to the foreign embassies.

So creating an endless fuss and confusion over whether the US administration was a target, isn’t that what actually happened on Sept 11, and wasn’t that the exact motive of the people who made this movie?

What about the motives of these people and the consequent benefits reaped by them? Don’t we normally look for those two things if a murder or any other crime is committed? In the last few days, the focus has also been shifted from the bloody situation in Syria. What have the Russians, the Chinese and their allies been doing? Taking a break because the world has been consistently blaming them for extending support to a region and a power that should be removed? They have historically been enemies of U.S. interests, so does this make them a suspect? For me, they are. But, they don’t have to do their dirty work themselves. Any militant can do that for them for a fee. Money can buy all.

I surely am against the use of religion or any oth-

T

kuwait digest

Should Americans be sorry now?

By Hassan Al-Essa oes the Obama administration regret offering support to the Arab Spring movements in Tunisia and Egypt, where it had earlier approved the Egyptian military’s decision to stop protecting Hosni Mubarak and allow the people of the country to forge their own destiny?

Will America be sorry for spiritually supporting the regional public uprisings in Libya after witnessing how their ambassador to Libya suffocated to death, because of the attacks mounted by Al-Qaeda gangs or Gaddafi suppor ters against the US embassy in Benghazi? It was as if the slain US ambassador or Obama produced the blasphemous movie that has angered Muslims worldwide. They have been riled because of a silly and insignificant YouTube video that undermines the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him).

Apparently, some wicked and fanatic American right-wing supporters uploaded the video for the consumption of some Salafi fanatics in the Arab world, who seized the opportunity to embarrass President Morsi’s government and to smear the term ‘moderate Muslim’ and make it unacceptable as part of the terminology used by new rulers.

Will the US administration recall the questions posed by Bernard Lewis and George W. Bush following 9/11, where they asked, “Why do they hate us?”

The same question can be posed to the Obama administration, which gave Tomahawk missiles as a gift for destroying Ghaddafi’s bases, the same way it had given Stinger missiles to the Afghan Mujahideen and have now received Cenmar’s compensation.

We will display shortsightedness if we believe that the Obama administration was wrong in sup-

D

porting certain Arab countries, who were trying to revolutionize their current existence. It will also be seriously wrong on our part to believe that these countries were better off under their previous totalitarian rulers, and that recent events point towards the US being made to, ‘reap what it had sowed.’

These countries are also aware of the fact that extremism and terrorism were not revealed from heaven, but are a result of the continuous movement of history along with some of the chronic problems that have been faced by Arab countries.

They also know that both the totalitarian Arab regimes and the US cooperated to strengthen and utilize terrorism as a tool in the 1980s to settle personal scores with the Soviet Union.

The same terrorist groups were also used by some Arab regimes to justify their allegiance to the west by smashing those movements. At other points in time, they befriended the fundamentalists to appear religious and make up for their lack of democracy. No matter how religiously, racially or tribally extreme these countries appear, people’s freedom will prevail and the Americans know that, and we have no option but to accept and yield to this change despite all its pros and cons. However, we still hope that moderate Muslims will be able to stop religious fanatics.

An article written by the MBs vice Murshid, Khairat Al-Shatter and published in The New York Times last Thursday, spoke about the same issues and was very inspiring and managed to diagnose the outcome of the Arab spring. No matter how we suffer because of this outcome, we’ll have to show some patience considering that the liberal path is completely blocked at the moment. —Al-Jarida

I am against the use of religion or any other religious sentiments for killing people, especially diplomatic corps or even threatening their lives and those of their families and staff. This is outrageous. So, who could possibly fuel this war against the American people and their interests in our country?

kuwait digest

Political thieves of our country

By Thaar Al-Rashidi recent court verdict pronounced against the corrupt to the core.

If the law is implemented correctly and requires former Egyptian prime minister, who had been jailed for three years on account of his everyone to declare their financial position, we illegitimate wealth, said: “It is clear to the court shall find that politicians and their followers will that the suspect, Ahmad Natheef, has personal fail to prove the source of their wealth, small or wealth amounting to 5 million Egyptian pounds, big, especially the one attained during the 2007 to and he has failed to prove that the money has 2011 phase. They had not inherited any money, they did not win a lottery and for sure they didn’t been earned through legitimate means.”

Natheef is only one in many such cases, where find a magic lamp, or Ali Baba’s cave, but were still officials belonging to different posts are accused of able to become the owners of sizable wealth.

We are fed up of talking about who finances similar misdeeds. Natheef, who is a millionaire, was unable to prove the source of the around KD whom and who attacked whom. We do not need 250,000, which he had offered for buying a house an answer to these questions, as if we don’t in Saad Al Abdullah city. In Kuwait, I can count at already know the answer, or will find out tomorrow, or the day af ter or least 20 persons without even after 10 years, as the any difficulty, who cannot present cannot hide anyprove the legality of the Between 2007 and 2011, the thing from tomorrow. But source of their earnings sky ‘rained money’, so to say, we want this law to be between 2007 and 2011. which only benefitted some implemented, and that it is Most of these people are implemented to cover politicians or involved in people. Some of these people everyone. It is unreasonpolitics, but none of them were political theorists, who able that a person is senis a prime minister, minister attacked the opposition in an tenced to three years in and even an MP. They are prison because he failed to ordinary citizens, who have ugly way. I am not suggesting prove the legitimate source somehow gotten involved that those who claim to be in of KD 250,000, while there in politics through influthe opposition are completely are others, who cannot ence. even prove the legitimate Between 2007 and 2011, innocent, as they too have source of KD 22 million and the sky ‘rained money’, so gained from this ‘rain’. still walking freely down to say, which only benefitthe Arabian Gulf road. ted some people. Some of ‘ Tomorrow,’ shall not these people were political theorists, who attacked the opposition in an ugly have mercy on you, when everything is exposed, way. I am not suggesting that those who claim to and do these people realize the legacy that they be in the opposition are completely innocent, as will leave behind? It would be shameful, but I think they too have gained from this ‘rain’. But you still a suitable punishment will be given for such peofind them in the forefront, talking about doing the ple. When we go through the pages of our history right thing and waving banners asking people to 20 to 30 years from now, we’ll read, ‘x person was a fight corruption, even though they themselves are political thief.’ — Al-Anbaa

A

er religious sentiments for killing people, especially diplomatic corps or even threatening their lives and those of their families and staff. This is outrageous.

So, who could possibly fuel this war against the American people and their interests in our country?

Are protests the only way people can convey their message or make their anger evident? If yes, then why were some people waving Al Qaeda flags during what was ostensibly a peaceful protest?

Clearly some people, whether Kuwaiti or not, had the nerve to brandish black flags marking their support for Bin Laden, who did nothing good for Islam, but destroyed the life of innocents and the reputation and image of Muslims. Bearing in mind that those two countries have their own political agenda, this is doubtful to me.

In fact, I think that because Islam is so strong, some of them have decided to do something, which they knew would provoke the anger of some Muslims, even though not all will resort to violence, but will surely generate some chaos and make things worse.

We all understand how a protest is used in any civilized county, and how it is seen as a tool to convey people’s condemnation and rejection of decisions that can harm the life and future of people. I know that but, what I can’t fathom is how some Kuwaitis have been deprived of this thought.

Demonstrations take place in Kuwait sometimes in response to local changes. At times, even demonstrations that are intended to be peaceful can escalate into a violent event and put the lives of the people participating in danger.

I believe that the local media and security dealt with the demonstration wisely by allowing them to protest in a limited space and not allowing them to go beyond that secure perimeter. I believe it was conducted well.

I also feel sad for the murder of the innocent Libyan ambassador, who was murdered in cold blood while on duty. I hope such horrific crimes are not repeated in any place and especially not against our allies and friends, the United States.

We owe the US for all the pleasures we enjoy, and on top of that for our freedom. Bin Laden did not set my country free and did not push the dictators out. Bin Laden may be alive in the mind of his followers, but will certainly not be allowed to inch closer to our allies and friends.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

local

Gulf Bank supports ‘A Date with Change’

KUWAIT: Najla Al-Essa, Executive Manager, Consumer Banking Group at Gulf Bank, receiving a token of appreciation on behalf of the bank from Dr Ahmed Al-Shatti, General Manager at Ghiras project and Dr Bader Sadeq.

News

CSC suggests early retirement KUWAIT: Sources revealed that the Civil Services Commission (CSC) is about to form a joint team with Social Security to discuss a proposal to lower the age of retirement for government employees in a bid to solve the problem of unemployment and rigidity. The sources said that the step was taken after conducting studies about the reasons for lack of job opportunities for young people and found out that retirement after 30 years of service for men and 25 years for women was one of them. The studies also showed that some senior officials remained in the same posts for over 15 years which made it hard for younger employees to be promoted.

KD 17.89m maintenance contract KUWAIT: Two annual maintenance contracts for engines worth KD 17.89 million in west and east Doha power and water desalination plants were signed yesterday by the Minister of Electricity and Water and State Minister for Municipal Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim. The two contracts include periodic maintenance works, replacement parts for mechanical equipment and appliances to ensure high secure and stable units for both plants, the Ministry of Electricity and Water said in a press statement. As per the contract, the operations are to be completed in 60 months.

KUWAIT: The organizing committee of the 2nd GCC women Economic Forum (GCCWEF) finished preparations to hold the second cycle of the forum under the title of “GCC Women and Investment Opportunities” due to be held under auspices of Sheikha Ayeda Salem Al-Ali at the JW Marriott, Kuwait on Sept 25 and 26. The committee said that the forum will attract a large group of GCC businesswomen, officials, experts, international, regional and local organizations, commercial groups and banks.

A statement issued by the committee said that the forum will have a busy agenda including morning and afternoon workshops, an exhibition and three substantial training workshops presented by a number of specialized experts with international expertise on investment.

The first workshop will be on ‘Strategic Planning for Leading Projects’ and will be presented by lecturer and LAU administration professor Dr Josiane Fahed-Sreih, founder and director of the Family Business Institute, Middle East Coordinator of the Family Firm Institute - USA and winner of the 2007 Family Business Award.

The second workshop will be on “Basics of Real Estate Investment in

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: Recent news that hints at the possibility of women being allowed to apply for judicial positions in Kuwait has sparked strong reactions from Islamist activists, who demanded that the issue be given thorough consideration to avoid any possible violations of Sharia laws.

“Assigning women to judicial posts needs further deliberation of the Sharia, and the opinion of religious scholars should also be taken into consideration before a decision in this regard is made,” Salafist MP Ali AlOmair stated.

Meanwhile, Ammar Al-Ajmi, a member of the Islamist Salafist Assembly has argued that appointing women as judges, “violates Sharia regulations, and will result in unprecedented misconduct that will hinder the judiciary’s functioning.”

According to an official source quoted in an Al-Qabas report yesterday, the Supreme Judiciary Council had ordered that applications be accepted from female candidates looking to work as prosecutors by the end of this month. If that happens, it will signal a new era where Kuwaiti women will be allowed to work in the judicial field.

“The Justice Ministry has received instructions directing it to accept applications filed by both male and female applicants, and around seven female prosecutors are

expected to be hired first,” the source revealed, but chose to remain anonymous.

Applications submitted by female candidates earlier were automatically rejected by the Ministry. In recent years, several female law school graduates won court orders that ruled that no legal restrictions exist that prevent the Ministry from hiring these women for judicial posts.

The Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM), which had previously extended support for women seeking work in the judiciary, is yet to comment on this development.

In other news, an Appeals Court yesterday adjourned the case related to the death of Kuwaiti citizen Mohammad AlMaimouni, and has set November 4 for pronouncing its verdict. A criminal court had sentenced two police officers, accused in the case, to life in prison, while three others were sentenced to 15 years in jail. One officer was handed a two-year jail term and two others were handed one-year jail terms each.

Meanwhile, a criminal court adjourned a case in which, 32 stateless residents are facing charges for demonstrating illegally in Jahra and has set November 4 for the next hearing.

Meanwhile, nine Majority Bloc members have informed their colleagues that they still wish to take part in future elections

Dr Josiane Fahed-Sreih

Azema Zaher

Adam Cava

Zeyad Jarjou’e

UK” and will be presented by two top senior Gatehouse Bank (A Londonbased Islamic Sharia compliant bank) officials CEO Azema Zaher and Adam Cava, real estate manager at the bank. The third workshop will be on ‘Way to Successful Investment in the Aftermath of the International Economic Crisis’. It will handle explanation and examples of dealing with the risks created by the crisis and the end of the easy stock revenues decade.

The workshop will be co-presented by the Special Investment Dept manager at the Kuwait Financial Center Co (Al-Markaz), Dina Al-Refa’e and the senior officer at the same department, Zeyad Jarjou’e.

The forum organizer, the Leaders Group Co said that registration for workshops will be open for participants from both Kuwait, the GCC states and the Arab countries till the eve of the opening day. it also stressed that taking part in the forum’s sessions would be open to all without registration and that there would be travel and accommodation arrangements for interested participants from outside Kuwait. Leaders Group recently announced that the sponsors of the forum would be the UNIDO, CBK, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Kuwait Financial Center, the Gatehouse Bank and a number of other sponsors who would be named later this week.

Annual volunteer youth camp ends KUWAIT: A scouting official said the annual Volunteer youth camp witnessed wide participation in its various programs and activities from boy scouts, voluntary groups and sports clubs.

Director of boy scouts and camping department at Kuwait’s Public Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS) and camp coordinator, Imad Al-Khamees, said yesterday that the camp, which was organized by PAYS under the title of

amongst the younger generation and encourage them to develop and positively invest their time.” During the program, Gulf Bank set up a booth to highlight its support for Ghiras’ campaign and to promote its redTM account, which is specially designed for young people between 17 and 24 years. Gulf Bank is and will remain heavily committed to supporting and promoting initiatives which encourage the progress and development of the younger generation.

‘Violation of Sharia regulations’

GCCWEF Forum set to attract officials, experts

Dina Al-Refa’e

led by Dr. Bader Sadeq, who covered a range of personal development topics such as ‘Developing communication skills’, ‘Public speaking’, ‘Developing Logic and Creative Capabilities’ and ‘Working in a Group’. Najla Al-Essa, Executive Manager, Consumer Banking Group, at Gulf Bank said: “We are proud that Gulf Bank has been able to be a part of Ghiras’ National Anti-Drug Media Project. By contributing to this initiative, we hope that we have been able to raise the level of awareness

Salafists oppose proposal for allowing women in judiciary

in brief

Foreign embassies’ security KUWAIT: In view of the political incidents over the past week, today’s Cabinet meeting is expected to have a busy agenda, discussing issues starting with the protests at the determination yard. The blasphemous movie against Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) which resulted in attempts to break into foreign embassies in Kuwait, namely the US Embassy will be discussed. In this regard, informed sources said that the meeting would discuss and assess the incidents and emphasize the importance of observing the rallies law. The sources added that the Cabinet would also discuss reinforcing security measures around foreign embassies in Kuwait, especially after noticing Al-Qaeda glorification in the protests outside the US Embassy.

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank recently participated in a six-day training program titled “A Date with Change” organized by Ghiras- The National Anti-Drug Media Project. The program focused on developing participants’ personal skills to help them manage their lives more effectively and succeed in their ambitions and endeavors.

Held from Sept 8 to 13 at the Radisson Blu SAS Hotel, the program targeted youth between 17 to 24 years old.

The training program and lectures were

Citizenship and Youth March that concluded on Saturday, witnessed huge interaction by the participants.

He noted that the activities included several seminars on the role of youth volunteering, enhancing the values of citizenship and developing minds towards building a better future for Kuwait. In addition, the events also included organizing a lecture and a workshop on the concept of national

unity, by lecturer Dahham Al-Shammari, aiming at instilling the values of citizenship and loyalty and renouncing violence and factions. Al-Khamees added that PAYS is keen to set up such forums to develop youth’s physical, moral, mental and artistic potentials as well as proving means to show their creativity in parallel with what it is offering to them of international participations in various fields.— KUNA

that will be held as per modified electoral laws, despite the faction’s decision to boycott elections if the distribution of constituencies is changed solely by the Cabinet.

Their decision is however, pending till new information is presented by the Cabinet, sources close to the bloc stated.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, identified the nine members as, “Ahmad Mutie’a, Salem AlNamlan, Shaya Al-Shaya, Riyadh AlAdasani, Saifi Al-Saifi, Mohammad Hayef, Ammar Al-Ajmy, Abdullah Al-Turaiji and Mohammad Al-Kandari.

RIHS condemns movie A leading Kuwaiti Islamic organization has condemned the offence meted out to Islam and the Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him), while vehemently rejecting the violent reactions aroused by a movie aimed at offending Islamic beliefs, which include the attacks on embassy buildings and diplomats.

“The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) cannot be defended by violating his teachings,” a statement from the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) said, insisting that, “Islam rejects killing and protects the rights of people who are at peace with Muslim countries.” The statement moreover reiterated that Islam, “prohibits killing

women, children and the elderly during battle, let alone killing ambassadors at their workplace.”

Meanwhile, the RIHS demanded immediate action from governments of other Muslim countries and urged them to, “take legal action against anyone who offends Islamic beliefs,” and suggested launching a worldwide project to defend the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), which include, “printing his biography in different languages, establishing Islamic research centers and establishing radio and T V stations to spread the message of Islam.”

New MOE post The Ministry of Education has announced the establishment of a post for an undersecretary assistant for legal affairs, who will be expected to handle multiple duties that will include adopting disciplinary measures against employees.

The announcement was made in an official statement, which was released yesterday, and outlined the holder of the new posts’ duties as, “shelving investigations, and enforcing disciplinary measures such as suspensions and salary deductions.” The undersecretary assistant will also have the authority to release and sign documents to be sent to other state departments when it comes to legal cases that the MOE will be a part of.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

LOCAL

Police officer assaulted by mentally unstable man Bottle of liquor found in car KUWAIT: A mentally unstable man is likely to be charged on multiple counts, following his recent arrest for assaulting a police officer on duty, as well as driving under the influence. The scuffle broke out on the Sixth Ring Road near Saad AlAbdullah, when the suspect reportedly blocked a patrol vehicle, after becoming annoyed by its flashing lights. The man immediately approached the police car, forced an officer out and started physically assaulting him, even as it became evident that he was drunk. Backup forces arrived at the spot soon after and took the suspect into custody. The police also found an empty bottle of imported liquor in his car. Meanwhile, the assaulted police officer was rushed to the Jahra Hospital for treatment. Later, the suspect’s brother arrived at the Saad Al-Abdullah police station, with the suspect’s card stating his mental condition, which had been issued by a psychiatric facility. He also explained that his brother had earlier stormed out of his ‘diwaniya’ before the incident took place, but denied any knowledge of him getting drunk. The authorities are awaiting an evaluation report from the psychiatric facility before they proceed ahead with charging the accused.

Homicide investigation A criminal investigation has been initiated to determine the circumstances behind the death of a Kuwaiti man, said to be in his forties, whose body was found on Saturday at his residence in Doha area. Officials from the forensic department and the criminal evidence gathering team examined the body and revealed that the man had died nearly a month ago. However, they were unable to find any signs of the man having been

assaulted because of the decomposed state of his body. The Jahra police were handed a search warrant, allowing them to break into the man’s house, two days after his brother reported him missing at the Waha police station. An investigation in the case, which has been classified as a homicide, is currently pending because the autopsy report is yet to be filed.

Separately, another homicide investigation is underway into the death of a man, who died after plunging from a height in Salmiya. Evidence proving foul play has been recovered from the crime scene. The Egyptian man died at the Mubarak Hospital after being hospitalized in a critical condition. Medical examination has uncovered bruises on his body that suggest he was involved in a fight before falling from the top of a residential building. A homicide case has been filed accordingly.

Murder threat Police are looking to arrest a number of suspects, accused of threatening their own grandfather with murder. The case was filed at the Al-Nugra police station, after a Jordanian senior citizen handed police officers a written murder threat. He alleged that the letter was slipped under his door by his grandchildren, who have been threatening him because of some family disputes. Investigations into the case are ongoing.

Wife beater A Salmiya resident was arrested recently on charges of domestic violence for imprisoning and brutally assaulting his wife. The Salmiya police were approached by an Egyptian woman, who alleged that she had been abused by her

Kuwait to host GCC health media excellence prize KUWAIT: The last day of November is the deadline to present entries for the GCC Health Media Award, member of the GCC Health Information and Media Committee and Director of the Health Ministry’s Health Promotion Department Dr Abeer Al-Bahhooh said yesterday. The official noted entries can be presented till said day at the department’s headquarters at Sabah Health Area. The prize is the first of its kind in the Middle East region, and shifts its focus this year to “Healthier lifestyle ... Promoting better health among the old.” The focus of the last three years had been on health of the young,” Al-Bahhooh explained.

On the fields covered by the prize, she said they include electronic content, printed material, journalism works such as columns, health pages, short fiction, television works, and radio productions. The value of the prize is $50,000 distributed among the winning works in different categories, she said. — KUNA

Youth conference to transfer Arab culture to world MANAMA: Bahrain hosts tomorrow the “Arab Youth Conference” with a wide range of participants from the Gulf and Arab countries, with a major aim to emphasize that Arab culture could be international in nature.

The three-day conference, dubbed “Arab Identity ...

International Culture,” aims at building bridges of communications between Arab youth, and to emphasize that “Arab culture has the ability to be an international culture,” a senior Bahraini official said Saturday. Hesham Al-Jawdar, President of the Public Authority for Sport and Youth, said the conferees would discuss cultural identity, understanding foreign culture as well as role of family, educational institutes and media in influencing youth. — KUNA

husband, who regularly beats her and uses a stick, a belt and sometimes cigarette burns to do so. She reportedly managed to flee from her apartment on the pretext that she needed to head to work in order to place a request for leave or her position would be terminated. Instead, she headed to the Mubarak Hospital where she obtained a medical report indicating serious bruises caused by repeated assault, which she handed over to the police. The Egyptian man was arrested soon after and even admitted to locking up his wife inside their apartment, but denied all the physical assault charges. He remains in custody pending legal action.

Panic attack A Filipina housemaid was rushed to a psychiatric hospital after reportedly suffering from a panic attack at the Philippine embassy, where she had gone to seek asylum after escaping from her employer’s house. Paramedics and police rushed to the embassy following an emergency call, and were able to restrain the woman after which she was taken to the hospital. An investigation is being conducted into the case.

Suicide case A domestic servant has committed suicide inside his employer’s home in Qurain for unknown reasons.

The domestic helper was discovered hanging inside his room, by his employer who had gone to check on him when he failed to answer his phone. The body has been handed over to the forensic department after conducting preliminary investigations at the scene. Investigations are ongoing. — Al-Rai, Al-Anba, Al-Watan

Kuwaiti support for Louvre Museum hailed PARIS: Kuwait’s Ambassador to France Ali Suleiman Al-Saeed underscored here yesterday that the participation of HH the Amir’s representative HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah at the opening of the new Islamic art wing at the Louvre Museum in Paris reflects the great attention given by the political leadership to Islamic art.

The ambassador said that the presence of the high-level Kuwaiti delegation, led by His Highness the Prime Minister, representing His Highness the Amir at the invitation from French President Francois Hollande, reflects Kuwait’s pioneering position in the ranks of influential countries on the map of world culture.

He noted to the generous support of His Highness the Amir of five million euros for the Islamic wing at the Louvre during his official visit to Paris in 2006.

He also stressed that “this donation is not strange to His Highness as he is always keen to support the concept of dialogue with different cultures, especially since the Islamic wing will be an important milestone stationed in the heart of the arts and literature capital and tells

the story of a global bright civilization”.

He said that “Kuwait and France enjoy distinct friendship and cooperation ties which stretch for many years in various fields, and the success of the establishment of this edifice, which includes masterpieces from around the Muslim world is undoubtedly of interest to both parties and is a form of bilateral cooperation in the cultural field.”

The Ambassador welcomed the participation of Sheikha Hessa Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah as general supervisor of the Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah in the opening ceremony, pointing to her acclaimed role in the preservation of the Islamic heritage and cultural exchanges between nations through organizing several international exhibitions in this field.

The Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah had carried out in collaboration with the Louvre Museum the establishment of (Treasury of the World) Gallery in the Louvre in 2007. French President Francois Hollande is set to inaugurate the new wing at the Louvre on September 18 in the presence of several world officials and representatives, including Kuwait. — KUNA

NBK Academy welcomes newly hired young Kuwaitis KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) recently welcomed the sixth batch of newly hired young Kuwaitis in the NBK Academy. NBK Academy aims to train and develop the professional skills of young Kuwaitis as part of NBK’s strategy to attract and develop national human resources.

NBK organized a special welcoming ceremony for the newly hired employees.

The ceremony was attended by Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer Isam J. Al-

Sager, Mazin Al-Nahedh, General Manager, Consumer Banking Group, Adel Hechme, General Manager, Human Resources Group, and Emad Al-Ablani, NBK Deputy General Manager, Human Resources Group, along with a group of NBK officials. “NBK Academy is the first initiative of its kind in the private sector in Kuwait, and is part of NBK’s strategy to attract young Kuwaitis by offering them a range of career and professional development opportunities,” said Al-Sager. “I wel-

come the new employees to NBK’s family and call on them to exert every effort in order to continue their path of professional excellence,” Al Sager added. “This program marks the start of what will be a continuing process to nurture and grow our young talent.” NBK Academy programs run for five months and are specially tailored to provide trainees with theoretical and practical skills covering the different aspects of the banking industry in addition to on job training.

KUWAIT: NBK Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer, Isam Al-Sager along with a group of NBK officials in a group picture with NBK Academy newly hired staff.

KUWAIT: Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Kuwait, Dr Ali Ahmed Bin Shokr recently hosted a dinner banquet to honor the UAE delegation taking part in the 19th Arab School Sports Tourney currently held in Kuwait. The delegation presented a number of presents and trophies to the ambassador. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Returning American soldiers face unique challenges in job market MINNESOTA: Adam Peterson’s last job was as a military intelligence analyst. Back in civilian life, in the local job market that doesn’t amount to much. Though his deployment in Kuwait with the Army ended in April, he’s no closer to finding a full-time job in his field: computer network administration. “The IT world changes so quickly that a year in IT can be like five years somewhere else,” said Peterson, who holds a bachelor’s degree in computer networks and systems administration from Michigan Technological University.

Peterson, 27, was deployed for a year. He was welcomed back to a tougher mission: finding a job in the quickly changing world of technology. “From just coming back from a deployment, there is always going to be a civilian that did not go to war that has a little bit more current skills than a veteran,” said Peterson, of West St. Paul, who was at a job fair for veterans Wednesday, Sept 12, at Holman Field in St Paul.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. Soldiers are returning home to Minnesota, and what Peterson has found is playing out again and again. Military skills are hard to translate into job market currency. Although many employers like to say they’re committed to putting vets back to work and they make vet hiring a priority, the reality can be far different. Often, it’s someone at the top who makes a decree, but lower down the ranks, managers face obstacles in deciphering transferable skills.

“It’s the nature of being in the military,” Peterson said. “Employers can say whatever they want, but in my experience they say they want to help veterans, but what they actually do is they hire the person who is going to benefit them the most and usually, usually that has been a civilian.”

The resumes are often riddled with military acronyms, confusing job titles and duties, said Emily King, a Virginia-based consultant on military reintegration. Hiring a civilian who has done exactly the same job is “lower risk.” Veteran hiring priorities often never get beyond the talking phase.

King sees the biggest struggles among young male veterans who lack a college degree and work experience outside the military. The jobless rate among male veterans

ages 18-24 who served after 9/11 was 29.1 percent in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares with an unemployment rate for young male nonveterans of 17.6 percent.

Though Justin Ollerich of Falcon Heights is outside the age group counted in those stats, he’s a military veteran having trouble finding work in the white-collar world.

The 31-year-old has a quick smile and, unlike many of his peers at Wednesday’s job fair who were dressed in camouflage, he looked the part of a young executive in a dark suit and tie. But as he looks for a managerial job, all of his professional experience is as a helicopter mechanic in the Marines and Minnesota National Guard.

A 2009 graduate of the University of St. Thomas, he’s long on military experience yet short on civilian interviews. Since college, “I have not had one interview other than with the military,” he said. “I don’t know why. I’m mainly filling out applications online, and maybe I’m not hitting all the key words that the employers are looking for. It’s been a little frustrating, having all this experience and no one calling me to utilize it.”

King said hiring managers often balk at the resumes of military personnel. During a morning session with hiring managers from Comcast, she heard the complaints: “There are too many acronyms and jargon, and I don’t understand what they did,” she was told. “The resume is too long, and it’s too intimidating.” Comcast, with 2,000 employees in the Twin Cities, has put a special focus on hiring veterans. The training was aimed at digging out transferable skills, even if the job candidate doesn’t know how to talk about them. From the corporate office, the mandate at Comcast is to hire more than 1,000 military veterans over the next three years.

“Our effort to hire veterans is really about recruiting them-making sure they are aware of our jobs and interested in our jobs,” said Caroline Aspenson, Comcast’s regional vice president human resources. “I wouldn’t call it preferential hiring status, but we work really hard to make sure we are exposed to military personnel.” Ecolab, the St Paul-based cleaning giant, makes a point to attend military job fairs around the nation. — MCT

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Kate photos to spread despite legal action

Anti-Japan protests erupt again across China Page 11

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ALEPPO: A Free Syrian army fighter walks in an empty street in the northern city of Aleppo yesterday. — AFP

Syria envoy’s mission doomed: Rebels ‘God curse you, O army’ DAMASCUS: Fighting raged in Syria’s two biggest cities yesterday as UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi ended his first visit to the country on a peace mission that a rebel commander said was doomed to fail.

Iran admitted for the first time it has elite forces present in Syria and neighbouring Lebanon, where Pope Benedict XVI added his voice to calls for an end to the bloodletting, urging Arab states to propose workable solutions. As Brahimi made his way to the airport at the end of a four-day visit to the war-ravaged country, a commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army who had an Internet conference call with the envoy yesterday said his mission would fail.

“We are sure Brahimi will fail like the other envoys before him, but we (the rebels) do not want to be the reason of his failure,” the FSA chief for Aleppo province in north Syria, Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, told AFP by telephone. “We discussed the general situation in Syria, mainly focusing on the destruction wielded by the regime on the country,” said Okaidi, who talked to Brahimi along with the FSA spokesman in Syria, Colonel Qassem Saadeddine, and the group’s chief in Damascus, Colonel Khaled Hobous.

Brahimi, who replaced former UN chief Kofi Annan following the failure of his six-point peace plan, warned on Saturday after meeting President Bashar al-Assad that the worsening conflict threatens both the region and the world at large. The Algerian former foreign minister insisted that “the solution can only come from the Syrian people.” But Okaidi accused the international community of “giving political cover to the regime” and of pushing the opposition to hold talks with the regime but without pressuring the government to stop its repression. “We are sure Brahimi will fail because the international community does not actually want to help the Syrian people,” he said. “We do not want the international community to help the Syrian people. We just want it to remove the political cover it grants to the criminal regime. We cannot be in dialogue with criminals.” Eighteen months into the crisis, the international

community remains paralysed, with the West, the Gulf and Turkey calling for the removal of Assad, and Russia and China standing by its ally in Damascus.

The relentless violence affected the start yesterday of the educational year, with activists saying few schools opened in flashpoint areas, including Aleppo, and the UN reporting more than than 2,000 schools damaged or destroyed countrywide since the uprising began in March 2011. Violence that raged from early yesterday killed at least another 55 people, including 37 civilians, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The army battered the rebel-held Shaar district of Aleppo, killing 11 people and wounding dozens, while 11 others, including seven rebels, were killed in fighting elsewhere in the northern city.

Amateur video posted on YouTube by activists showed what appeared to be the streets of Shaar in ruins, with rubble strewn across the ground, electricity cables hanging down from residential buildings, and black smoke rising.

“God curse you, O army,” said an unidentified cameraman shooting a video in Shaar after the bombing, his voice trembling. Another video showed bloodied corpses, at least one of them a child’s. Troops also pounded districts of Damascus, Daraa in the south, Hama and Homs in the centre and Deir Ezzor in the east with aerial bombardments and heavy artillery, said the Observatory. In a rare news conference, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, were present in Syria and Lebanon.

But he insisted they were only there to provide “counsel.” “A number of Quds Force members are present in Syria and Lebanon... we provide (these countries) with counsel and advice, and transfer experience to them,” said Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari.

“But it does not mean that we have a military presence there,” he added. Western and Arab countries have accused Iran of giving military aid to the Assad regime.

As the fighting raged, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass in Lebanon, praying that leaders in the Middle East work toward peace and reconciliation.

“In a world where violence constantly leaves behind its grim trail of death and destruction, to serve justice and peace is urgently necessary,” Benedict told an estimated 350,000 faithful at an open-air mass in Beirut.

“May God grant to your country, to Syria and to the Middle East the gift of peaceful hearts, the silencing of weapons and the cessation of all violence,” said the pope. Benedict also appealed to Arab countries that, “as brothers, they might propose workable solutions respecting the dignity, the rights and the religion of every human person.” Despite the disruption to schooling in Aleppo and other flashpoint areas, Syrian state media announced “more than five million students and 385,000 teachers and employees” went back to school.

UNICEF described the return to school as an “immense challenge.”

“For children, being back at school is one of the most effective ways of giving them a sense of stability, hope and normality,” said spokeswoman Marixie Mercado. “It really is a hugely important way of enabling children who have gone through a nightmare to see that they do have a future.”

The death toll from the conflict has risen to more than 27,000 people, according to the Observatory, which relies on activist accounts from the ground. The United Nations puts the toll at 20,000. —AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

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

Death drops from sky in Syria’s Al-Bab AL-BAB: Shrapnel peppers the bloodspattered walls of the Al-Bab home where two bombs dropped from a Syrian warplane in the middle of the night wiped out Abu Nasser’s family.

Regime planes bombarded the Birar district of the rebel-controlled town, 35 kilometres (22 miles) northeast of Syria’s second city Aleppo, killing 12 civilians and wounding around 60 others on Friday night.

“I lost my daughter, her husband, two cousins... Three other family members are in hospital. They’re so seriously wounded I don’t think they’ll survive,” the 41-year-old man said with tearful eyes. “When the MiGs flew in at around 4:00 pm, we fled to the countryside to hide among the olive groves. But my daughter and her husband didn’t want to come. They hid in the sewing shop,

thinking they were safe.”

The building is gutted inside out.

Tables are strewn across the room in pieces, blood sprayed across a partition wall. The house next door, built from old stone, is reduced to rubble that lies outside blocking the alley. Two motorbikes have been mangled, their handlebars twisted, seats melted, engines pierced by shrapnel.

Neighbours come to see what happened, curious passers-by slow down to watch as people sweep up and dig to shift the rubble. Water drips from the balconies, a result of the shrapnel penetrating tanks perched on the roofs.

“The MiGs circled tighter and tighter above our heads. We knew they would strike nearby. People had time to flee,” Abu Nasser said. He and his family jumped into the car to hide among olive

trees in the surrounding countryside.

They spent the night there with thousands of others listening to the bombardment.

“The poorer people have no cars.

They stay in their homes and pray to God.” At daybreak the planes flew off and Birar’s residents came back to inspect the damage and bury the dead.

Mustafa Tamro, a 39-year-old who taught English for several years in the United Arab Emirates, lives in a nearby street. “I guess the target was the school,” Mustafa said. “But they hate all the people here, they hate everyone who supports the revolution. It’s collective punishment.” “The planes come everyday. Sometimes they bomb, sometimes not. They come to terrorise us. At night, it’s terrible. We can’t see the planes, just hear them. We sit and wait

for our destiny,” he added.

The school next door, Hailma Saadia, was hit by three bombs. One caused two floors to collapse on top of each other, another ripped out the surrounding wall and the third left an enormous crater in the courtyard six metres (yards) across and two deep.

Free Syrian Army rebels had set up positions in schools at the start of the uprising. But they soon discovered these were easy targets, moving on to betterhidden locations. There was not a single rebel or armed inhabitant in Birar on Saturday morning. “The FSA was here two months ago, but they left,” said a neighbour who refused to give his name. Suddenly a warplane appeared in the sky and began circling above Al-Bab. People looked up. Motorists, seeing pedestrians looking skyward, did not

know where to go. They put on the brakes and got out of their vehicles to see for themselves.

Some sheltered next to walls, others under trees. Some dashed from one place to another, unsure where to go.

After three high-altitude swoops and without opening fire, the plane vanished to the west, towards Aleppo airport.

Yesterday, a fighter dropped two bombs targeting the headquarters in the town of an FSA chief, Sheikh Omar, and spraying nearby streets with heavy machinegun fire, said an AFP correspondent whose team was working in the area. The rebels said one fighter was lightly injured, as most of them had evacuated the premises once the approaching aircraft was heard in the sky. Residents nearby rushed to underground shelters and staircases. —AFP

Be peacemakers in ME, pope tells Christians Hezbollah politicians attend Mass at seafront

CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (R) meets with his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir at the presidential palace in Cairo yesterday. Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, arrived in Cairo for talks with Morsi, officials said. The two-day visit is his first to Egypt since Islamist Morsi’s election in June, following a popular uprising last year that toppled Hosni Mubarak. — AFP

Egypt militants attack Sinai security headquarters CAIRO: Militants attacked a security building in Egypt’s Sinai yesterday sparking clashes, while three policemen were wounded in separate fighting in the area, security officials told AFP. The clashes erupted as armed men belonging to Islamic militant groups attacked the North Sinai security headquarters in the town of Al-Arish at dawn using rocket propelled grenades and automatic rifles, one official said.

“They positioned themselves on the roofs of buildings opposite the security headquarters and launched the RPGs,” the official said.

Fighting stopped after the militants fled the area. “It seems they set off an explosive device at the security headquarters first before using the RPGs,” the official said.

In a separate incident, fighting between militants and security forces in the town of Sheikh Zuwayyid near the border with the Gaza Strip left three policemen wounded, another official said. Militants then attacked the Sheikh Zuwayyid police station. One woman and one child were injured in the ensuing clashes, the officials said. Eight people were also arrested in a town south of Sheikh Zuwayyid.

A security official said the eight have “connections to militant groups” but residents denied the allegations. Egyptian security forces launched a campaign to crush increasingly brazen Islamist militants in the restive Sinai peninsula after an attack on an army

outpost killed 16 soldiers on August 5.

The government always struggled with militancy and smuggling in the region but it lost its grip after an uprising overthrew president Hosni Mubarak early last year, prompting the collapse of his discredited police force and allowing the militants to flourish.

Earlier this month, the army said its forces had killed 32 “criminal elements” in the ongoing Operation Sinai which was launched days after the border post attack. “The operation will continue until its goals have been achieved... These are not just military goals but also developmental goals for the Sinai,” army spokesman Ahmed Mohammed Ali said at the time.

Ali said that during Operation Sinai 31 smuggling tunnels connecting Egypt to the neighbouring Gaza Strip had been destroyed.

But “there are 225 main tunnels and each has two to three openings,” he said. The tunnels trade, which analysts estimate is worth half a billion dollars a year, has played a significant part in Gaza’s economy since Israel first imposed a blockade in 2006 following the capture of one of its soldiers, who has since been released. They are used for bringing in a wide variety of goods, including food, fuel and building materials in what many say is a lifeline for the Gaza population. But they have also been used to smuggle weapons. “We have seized arms, rockets, RPGs, automatic rifles,” said Ali. — AFP

Syria school year hit by violence DAMASCUS: Syria’s academic year officially started yesterday, according to officials, but most schools remained closed in flashpoint areas including Aleppo as fighting raged between rebels and the army. The United Nations had said on Friday that over 2,000 Syrian schools have been damaged or destroyed and hundreds more are being used as shelters, and warned of the staggering challenge to prepare for the new school year.

Syrian state media reported that “more than 5 million students and 385,000 teachers and employees” went back to school yesterday.

The ministry of education has taken all measures to ensure “the smooth functioning of education” from day one of the school year, official news agency SANA said. But in Aleppo, parents kept their children home and most schools did not reopen yesterday as troops pounded several rebel-held areas and battles for control of the country’s commercial hub and second city continued to rage, an AFP correspondent said. Residents of the northern city said they believe that schools will remain closed in Aleppo as they did last year in the flashpoint central city of Homs, amid fierce clashes between government forces and antiregime fighters.

The AFP correspondent who toured several districts of Aleppo said schools were closed in trouble spots, including the central neighbourhood of Midan, Bustan al-Basha, Haidariyeh and Tariq AlBab. But even in safer areas where schools were open, classrooms sat empty and teachers signed into work solely as a

formality. Many schools have been destroyed in the violence that has shaken Aleppo since July while others are being used by rebels as hideouts and still more are sheltering refugees, the correspondent said.

Meanwhile a hospital employee told AFP she took her two boys to their school in the western Damascus suburb of Mashruh Dummar where there was a big crowd of parents and children. “There were a lot of people this morning. The kids were excited to go to school,” she said. There was also a large turnout in Daouhat Al-Horriyeh, a kindergarten in central Damascus. But on the outskirts of the capital and the suburbs, which have been transformed into battlefields, children remained holed up at home. “I did not send my children to school, simply because schools are closed in the area,” complained a taxi driver from the southern Damascus suburb of Tadamun, which has come under regular shelling attacks.

Several schools were closed in other Damascus districts. “Schools in Tadamun and Al-Hajar Al-Aswad did not open,” a Damascus-based activist who identified herself as Alexia told AFP via Skype.

“Some in Midan did open, but most families would not send their children for fear of the security situation. As a result, many classes were cancelled,” she said. Several schools in the southern belt of the capital, scene of fierce summer battles, were used as shelters for people displaced from their homes. “We have worked to coordinate the shelters better, so that children can go back to school, and the displaced still have a refuge,” said Alexia. —AFP

BEIRUT: Pope Benedict urged Middle Eastern Christians yesterday to work for peace and against “the grim trail of death and destruction” in the world, in a sermon delivered in Lebanon as civil war raged in neighbouring Syria.

Benedict was speaking at an open-air Mass on Beirut’s Mediterranean seafront attended by 350,000 worshippers, according to the organisers’ estimate, and leaders of Lebanon’s Christian and Muslim communities including from militant Shi’ite group Hezbollah.

Peace between warring factions and among the many religious groups in the Middle East has been a central theme of his visit to Lebanon, along with his call to Christians not to leave the region despite war and growing pressure from radical Islamists.

Lebanon, torn apart by by a 1975-1990 sectarian civil war, is a religious mosaic of more than four million people whose Muslim majority includes Sunnis, Shi’ites, Alawites and Druze. About a third of the population is Christian, divided into more than a dozen churches.

“In a world where violence constantly leaves behind its grim trail of death and destruction, to serve justice and peace is urgently necessary,” Benedict said at the Mass, praying for “Middle East servants of peace and reconciliaton”.

“This is an essential testimony which Christians must render here, in cooperation with all people of good will,” he said.

Benedict appealed on Friday for an end to the import of weapons into Syria, branding it a “grave sin” and saying a halt to the arms flow could help end the civil war.

Activists say more than 27,000 people have been killed in Syria’s 18-month-old mainly Sunni Muslim uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the minority Alawite sect that grew out of Shi’ite Islam.

Few of Syria’s Christians, about 10 percent of Syria’s population, have joined the uprising against Assad, fearing that it could bring hostile Islamists to power in

BEIRUT: Pope Benedict XVI arrives in his popemobile to lead an open-air mass in the Lebanese capital Beirut yesterday. Pope Benedict XVI prayed that leaders in the Middle East work toward peace and reconciliation, in his homily at an open-air mass on Beirut’s waterfront. — AFP Damascus. Politicians from all sectors of multi-faith Lebanon attended the Mass, held on reclaimed land next to the port. Leaders of the country’s main religious all assured the Vatican of their support for the visit in advance.

With no shade from the hot sun for the crowd, many fanned themselves as temperature rose over 30 degrees centigrade (86 Fahrenheit).

The 85-year-old pope was seen mopping sweat from his forehead at one point although the altar was under a canopy.

Red Cross workers carried away at least two worshippers who fainted from the heat halfway through the celebration. Many in the crowd wore white caps bearing the motto of the visit, “salami o-tikum!”

(Arabic for “my peace I give to you”), a phrase the pope has repeated in several speeches.

Cedars of Lebanon, the country’s symbol, featured on a white backdrop to the altar where Benedict presided over Mass, and on white capes worn by prelates of the Maronite Church, the largest of six Lebanese Christian churches

linked to the Vatican.

Prelates from other Eastern Catholic churches stood out in their distinctive gold or black vestments, in contrast to the green chasuble worn by the pope. Hymns in Arabic added a local touch to the Gregorian and classic Catholic works being sung.

Streets near Beirut port were closed to traffic in the morning and soldiers manned main intersections. Three military helicopters buzzed overhead and a navy ship patrolled offshore.

There were some pre-visit concerns about security because of a wave of protests across the Muslim world against an anti-Islam film produced in the United States. One protester was killed on Friday in violence in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

Worshippers at the Mass said they were grateful the pope had come to Lebanon. Eli Baalina, 17, a Maronite Christian, said the visit “came at a perfect time, when things were heating up a bit”. “He gave us a chance to stop and think about the bigger things in life,” he

said. “It’s a good chance to reflect on the things like sectarianism and extremism, things that we all need to work to change about ourselves in this region.”

A Filipino maid named Julianne, 31, said: “Everyone thinks the Middle East is only about Muslims, but there is a big Christian community and we should celebrate too.”

Several in the crowd were heartened by the pope’s repeated calls for Christians to stay in the Middle East, where war, emigration and discrimination have cut their ranks to 5 percent of the population now compared to 20 percent a century ago.

“His message is to give us pride and encouragement that it is worth the effort to work for coexistence and understanding and to ensure Christians remain here,” said Lebanese Maronite Silva Mansour, here with her husband and onemonth-old baby.

The German-born pontiff conducted the Mass in French and Latin and lay people also offered prayers in Arabic, Armenian, Greek and English. — Reuters

‘Iraq letting Iran ferry arms to Syria’ ISTANBUL: Iran is using Iraqi airspace to fly supplies to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and thousands of Iraqi militia fighters have crossed into Syria to support his troops, Iraq’s fugitive vice president said yesterday.

Tareq al-Hashemi, who fled Iraq in December and was sentenced to death a week ago by an Iraqi court, said the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was failing to stop ammunitions and armaments reaching Assad’s forces.

“My country is unfortunately becoming an Iranian corridor to support the autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad, there is no doubt about that,” Hashemi told Reuters in an interview in Istanbul.

“It is not only the airspace. It is thousands of militia now inside Syria, supporting Bashar alAssad and killing Syrian innocent people,” he said, citing reports he had received from Iraq’s Anbar province, which borders Syria, and from members of the Syrian opposition.

He said Iraqi militia fighters had been detained inside Syria by members of the Syrian opposition.

A senior adviser to Maliki rejected the accusations, saying Iraq was committed to not siding with any party in the Syrian conflict.

“The prime minister ... is always confirming that Iraq will not allow any state to use its airspace to transport arms to Syria,” said Ali alMoussawi, Maliki’s media adviser.

Hashemi, a senior Sunni Muslim politician and fierce critic of Maliki, a Shi’ite, fled Iraq after the authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in December, a step that risked shredding a fragile power-sharing agreement among Shi’ite, Sunni

and Kurdish blocs. An Iraqi court sentenced him to death by hanging last Sunday after a trial on charges that he ran death squads. Hashemi says the case is politically motivated and is built on testimony extracted under torture.

Although Maliki’s government has said it backs neither side in the Syrian conflict, Iraqi Shi’ite leaders fear that if Assad falls, Syria would splinter along sectarian lines and this would bring about the rise of a hardline Sunni government likely to upset Iraq’s fragile security and Shi’iteSunni mix. Assad’s forces have been battling outgunned but increasingly effective rebel fighters seeking his overthrow in Syria for the past 18 months, an uprising in which activists say 27,000 people have been killed.

The mainly Sunni Muslim rebels are supported

by Gulf Arab states and neighbouring Turkey in their struggle to topple Assad, whose minority Alawite faith is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam. Shi’ite Iran has been Assad’s staunchest ally.

The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Sunday IRGC members were providing non-military assistance in Syria and Iran may get involved militarily if its closest ally comes under attack. Western countries and Syrian opposition groups have long suspected Iran has troops in Syria. Iran has denied this. Hashemi said Iraq had been allowing Iran to get around U.S.-led economic sanctions aimed at forcing the Islamic Republic to give up its nuclear programme. He said Iranians, faced with a sharp deterioration of the rial, were using banks in Iraq to buy U.S. dollars which they then smuggled

back into Iran. He said Iraq’s government had also failed to enforce sanctions against Syria. “It is not only prolonging the life of Assad’s regime but at the same time deepening the poverty of Iraq, because we are still in need of (every) single US dollar,” he said.

Hashemi’s accusations raise questions about the extent of US influence in Baghdad, nine months after US troops left.

President Barack Obama withdrew the last US troops in December, after almost nine years of war. Critics say the move has diminished US influence in Baghdad despite massive investment in the country. Maliki’s government has said it wants good relations with the United States, but also has close ties with US foe Iran.

The sentence against Hashemi threatened to stoke sectarian tension in Iraq, whose Shi’ite-led government is battling political instability and a Sunni Islamist insurgency.

Hashemi said his trial was symptomatic of the injustice, corruption, abuse of human rights and growing sectarianism plaguing Iraq under Maliki.

“I see my country drifting from democracy to some sort of tyrannical regime ... We do now have one single major stumbling block, which is the prime minister,” he said. He said he was working with his lawyers on a legal challenge to the sentence against him and hoped Iraqi President Jalal Talabani would intervene “to uphold the constitution”. He had also written to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and was ready to face the accusations against him anywhere he could be guaranteed a fair trial, he said. —Reuters

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

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

Young us illegal immigrants may get driver’s licenses FRESNO: When 17-year-old Alondra Esquivel needs to get from her rural central California home to classes at Fresno State University 20 miles (32 kilometers) away, she must rely on rides from her relatives or her boyfriend.

Most Californians her age can drive.

But Esquivel, a college freshman, was brought illegally to the United States from Mexico when she was 7. And California has denied driving privileges to immigrants lacking legal status since 1993. “ Without a license ... I have to depend on others to do the basic things,” said Esquivel, who lives in rural Parlier, California, has classes at the college four times a week in Fresno.

“It’s a big inconvenience.”

But Esquivel soon could get driving privileges: She is one of an estimated million eligible for a new federal program that temporarily defers deportation and grants work permits to people who were brought to the US illegally as children. California has the largest number of potential applicants.

The new immigration policy has brought to the forefront the long-running and bitter debate over whether illegal immigrants should have access to driver ’s licenses. The US Department of Homeland Security said that each state could determine whether to issue licenses or extend

other benefits to young immigrants who qualify for the deferred status.

Some states, such as Oregon and Georgia, have announced that they will grant driving privileges to those eligible for the new program. Others, such as Arizona and Mississippi, have vowed to deny them.

California legislators this month approved a bill that would allow an estimated 450,000 eligible young immigrants in the state to use the federal work permits at the Department of Motor Vehicles as proof of lawful presence in the country. The bill is now headed to the governor.

For young people like Esquivel, foreign-born but steeped in America’s language and lifestyles, the single administrative policy at the federal level, coupled with a state decision, could spell a life-changing moment transforming school and work opportunities, daily nuisances and even social lives.

In California, where the automobile is king and car-culture dominates, the change could be most profound.

Nearly inaccessible without a car, the state is famous for its freeways, streets lacking sidewalks and spotty or nonexistent public transportation. Driving is more than a practical necessity for Californians: it’s a birthright.

Illegal immigrants in California who can’t drive face a long series of daily inconveniences and calculated risks.

Some drive without a license, unable to find another way to get to work or school. Others depend on family, friends and co-workers for rides.

It’s especially hard on young people like Esquivel, who was raised in the US, but has had to miss out on the quintessential American rite of passage.

She got top grades at Parlier High School, earning a merit scholarship to attend college, and plans to become an elementary school teacher. But at an age when getting behind the wheel seems pivotal, Esquivel can’t drive to the mall or to see her friends, not to mention to school or work.

“Sometimes I feel like going out, but I can’t really do that,” she said.

Esquivel was smuggled by relatives through a border checkpoint in a car with her younger sister - an experience she barely remembers. In high school, she watched classmates get driver’s licenses and cars as soon as they turned 16. Esquivel and a few others could not apply because of their legal status.

“It was hard,” she said. “I felt left out.

They were able to do things, go places, and I couldn’t.” Parlier, population 14,500, has little in the way of public transportation, stores or services.

Residents drive virtually everywhere to get to work, grocery shopping, to the doctor and to church.

Esquivel’s parents, who pick grapes, olives and other crops in nearby fields,

don’t have time to drive her places and have not allowed Esquivel to drive without a license, because it’s too dangerous, she said. “If I get stopped, I could get deported,” she said. “Things like that worry them.”

Numerous bills to grant licenses to those without legal status in California have failed or been vetoed by several governors over the past decade. Still, the commute to college has proved a challenge. Family members have to wait for hours while Esquivel is in class.

And while the young woman’s boyfriend, a US citizen, also studies at Fresno State, their schedules don’t coincide.

Her parents told her she might soon have to drive on her own, which fills Esquivel with dread. For the past month, she has occasionally sat behind the wheel with a relative in the passenger seat, in lieu of driving lessons. Esquivel, who is in the process of applying for the new immigration program, hopes a license will come with it. To benefit, immigrants must prove they arrived in the United States before they turned 16, were younger than 31 as of June 15, have been living in the country at least five years, are in school or graduated, and have not been convicted of certain crimes.

Young immigrants who qualify won’t get permanent legal residency or a path to citizenship, but will receive a work authorization card and

a Social Security number. “I’m really hoping the law that allows us to drive will pass,” Esquivel said. “It would be a great relief for me.”

Critics of the new immigration program say granting licenses to young immigrants like Esquivel would reward and accommodate illegal immigrants.

“We’re already paying for the costs of illegal immigration. Why should we pay for additional benefits?” said Bob Dane, spokesman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington D.C. “The driver’s license is a breeder document which opens up a full spectrum of rights and privileges” such as access to banking accounts, credit cards and mortgages.

But immigrant advocates say denying licenses to people approved under the new immigration program is illogical. “This is a common sense issue,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the Los Angeles based National Immigration Law Center.

“These are young people who will have valid work authorization and Social Security numbers. They will need to drive to school, to work, to medical appointments. From a policy perspective, granting them licenses makes sense.”

For Esquivel, a license would also mean fulfilling another wish: driving 200 miles (320 kilometers) north to Sacramento to visit grandparents she has not seen for years. — AP

Kate photos to spread despite legal action ‘All proportionate responses to be kept under review’

MEXICO CITY: Members of the Movement called YoSoy132 protest with a banner during celebrations of Mexico’s Independence Day at the Zocalo Square in Mexico City yesterday. Mexicans celebrated independence from Spanish rule yesterday. — AFP

Man charged with trying to bomb Chicago bar CHICAGO: An 18-year who tried to set off what he thought was a car bomb outside a downtown Chicago bar on Friday night has been arrested and charged in a federal undercover sting, authorities said Saturday. Adel Daoud, a US citizen who lives in the Chicago suburb of Hillside, planned for months for the attack and prayed with a man who turned out to be an undercover agent before attempting to set off a bomb in a Jeep outside a bar, authorities said. Daoud , who considered up to 29 possible targets , was charged with one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of attempt to damage and destroy a building by means of an explosive.

The inert explosives posed no threat to the public and were supplied by undercover law enforcement, acting US Attorney Gary Shapiro said in a statement.

Daoud was closely monitored and offered several opportunities to change his mind.

According to an FBI affidavit, Daoud used email accounts starting in about October 2011 to gather and send materials “relating to violent jihad and the killing of Americans.” Daoud emailed a lengthy powerpoint presentation to several people defending the tactics of al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and emailed him-

self several articles on Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born Muslim cleric who the US said was a leader of al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate, the affidavit said.

Awlaki was killed in a drone strike in September 2011. Daoud also was registered in an Internet forum where members “discuss violent jihad and distribute jihadist propaganda and related instructional materials,” the affidavit said.

Two undercover FBI employees began corresponding with Daoud in May, exchanging several electronic messages with him in which he expressed an interest in “engaging in violent jihad, either in the United States or overseas,” the affidavit said. From late May to mid-June, Daoud sought guidance on whether to carry out an attack in the United States, then sought online resources on how to carry out an attack, the affidavit said. An undercover FBI agent then was introduced to Daoud by one of the undercover employees as a cousin and operational terrorist living in New York, the affidavit said. Daoud listed 29 possible targets on four handwritten pages from a notebook he showed the undercover agent at a meeting on Aug. 6, including military recruiting centers, bars, malls and other Chicago-area tourist attractions, the affidavit said. — Reuters

Russian opposition divided on rally results MOSCOW: Russian opposition leaders yesterday argued over the success of the latest rally defying President Vladimir Putin after tens of thousands marched through central Moscow.

The rally on Saturday, called the March of Millions, featured playful Tshirts and slogans mocking Putin and calling for the release of jailed punk band Pussy Riot, but crowds thinned long before it was billed to end at 10 pm. Police put numbers at around 14,000, down from 18,000 at a previous rally in June. But organisers insisted numbers were not in decline, estimating a turnout of up to 150,000.

Influential business broadsheets Vedomosti and Kommersant headlined their stories on sparse crowds: “They buried the opposition at the March of Millions” and “Phantom of the opposition”. “It is amazing that Kommersant and Vedomosti have written such rubbish about the rally. Their correspondents were evidently not on the stage,” opposition lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov

retorted on Twitter. “Who was it shouting that the march failed?” the lawmaker from the centre-left A Just Russia party wrote in his blog, posting a photograph of protesters packing a boulevard. Nevertheless a prominent protest organiser, Sergei Udaltsov of the radical Left Front movement, argued the rally had failed to make any political impact.

“Today’s march confirmed the status quo: the protest is not declining, but the authorities are ignoring it. The situation is still heading for a dead end,” he wrote on Twitter. Other protest organisers insisted the event had been a success. “It’s obvious that more people came than on June 12 and that’s the main thing: the protest is growing,” A Just Russia lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov wrote on the website of Moscow Echo radio station. Another organiser, Ilya Yashin of the pro-democracy Solidarity movement, lashed out at Udaltsov for his comments. “I think he should not have done this. — AFP

LONDON: Britain’s royal family said yesterday it would seek legal damages from French magazine Closer as it tries to prevent the spread of topless photos of Prince William’s wife Catherine.

The couple’s legal team will also seek an injunction at a court hearing in the Paris suburb of Nanterre today to prevent further publication of the pictures. “We will be seeking an injunction from them (Closer) using the pictures and it will lead to a longer court case where damages will be sought,” said a spokesman for St James’s Palace.

In a fresh blow to the royals the images appeared again in Saturday’s Irish Daily Star.

“There can be no motivation for this action other than greed,” said a spokeswoman for Catherine and her husband, the second-inline to the British throne.

Italian gossip magazine Chi, meanwhile, is planning to devote 26 pages to the grainy paparazzi photographs in a special issue on Monday-a move the palace said would heap “unjustifiable upset” on the former Kate Middleton.

Both Closer and Chi are published by the Mondadori Group, part of the media empire of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The company backed both magazines’ decisions to print the photos, which were taken with a long lens while William and Catherine, both 30, were holidaying at a private chateau in the south of France.

“The editors of both titles decided to publish the photos because their content is a clear expression of the news, they depict a true event, and they do not undermine the people photographed,” Mondadori said in a statement. Chi magazine’s editor Alfonso Signorini said the pictures were “a scoop” he could not afford to miss. “If I wasn’t capable of recognising the true value of a scoop I would do better to go and sell artichokes at the market,” he told the ANSA news agency.

He said did not ask Berlusconi’s permission to print the images. A palace spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the royal family was launching legal action against either Chi or the Irish Daily Star.

“All proportionate responses will be kept under review,” she said. Former British prime minister John Major said yesterday it was “absolutely right” that the couple had initiated legal proceedings. Speaking on the BBC, Major branded the offending publications

“peeping Toms”.

Unlike Mondadori, the two media groups that jointly own the Irish Daily Star condemned its decision to run the pictures.

Britain’s Northern and Shell group said it was taking “immediate steps” to shut down the joint venture with Dublin-based publisher Independent News and Media which runs the Irish Daily Star.

“The decision to publish these pictures has no justification whatever and Northern and Shell condemns it in the strongest possible terms,” said the company’s chairman Richard Desmond. Independent News and Media said it had no prior knowledge of the decision, which it described as “regrettable and in poor taste”. The Irish Daily Star’s editor Mike O’Kane admitted that he was running the pictures to sell more papers, and said he had treated Catherine as he would any other celebrity.

“The duchess would be no different to any other celeb pics we would get in, for example Rihanna or Lady Gaga,” he told the BBC on Saturday. The photos would not appear in the British or Northern Irish editions of the Daily Star, he added. The prince is said to be furious

over the images, which drew comparisons with press harassment of his mother Diana who died in a Paris car crash in 1997 while pursued by paparazzi. The prince is believed to blame the press photographers for his mother’s death. In a strongly worded statement, palace officials described the topless pictures as a “grotesque” breach of privacy.

“The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to The Duke and Duchess for being so,” they said.

The palace has said the couple “remain focused” on their nine-day southeast Asian and Pacific tour marking Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years on the throne, which on Sunday took them to the lush Solomon Islands.

Their Pacific islands leg includes an oceanthemed motorcade and Jubilee Thanksgiving service in the capital’s cathedral before a traditional island feast in the Government House gardens. The couple are also to make a short stop in Tuvalu, one of the world’s smallest independent nations, lying about halfway between Australia and Hawaii. — AFP

HONIARA: Britain’s Prince William (L) and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge (C), receive a traditional welcome from Island Warriors following their arrival at the airport in Honiara yesterday. Britain’s Prince William and wife Catherine were greeted by huge crowds as they landed in the lush, steamy Solomon Islands, while a row raged in Europe about topless photos of the Duchess. — AFP

White House race nudges toward Obama WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has carved out a clear advantage in the White House race even as he juggles the demands of his re-election campaign with managing a raging Middle East crisis.

Obama appears to be enjoying a resilient bounce following the Democratic National Convention nearly two weeks ago, while his Republican challenger Mitt Romney has struggled to land telling blows.

The US leader has a small but definite advantage in most national polls of the race to the November 6 election, and more importantly looks strong in swing states that will decide whether he wins a second term.

But while he has benefited from the advantages of incumbency, including an ability to appear statesmanlike, Obama

could also experience its downside if anti-US feeling racing through the Muslim world takes another deadly turn.

So far, Obama appears to have avoided missteps following the deaths of four Americans, including the US ambassador to Libya, that would erode his national security edge over Romney. The president was up 10 points over his rival when voters were asked before the crisis whom they trust more to steer foreign policy, in a CBS/New York Times poll.

Obamaís campaign team would welcome an election fought over the more friendly terrain of national security, rather than the tepid economy. But with Americans, including diplomats and Marines sent to protect them, vulnerable in the Arab world, Obama cannot yet afford to breathe easy.

ìIf this mushrooms and goes on, and weíre seeing people attacking US interests, then yes, it would raise foreign policy on the agenda of the election,î said Michele Dunne, director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council.

But Dunne added that even if unrest in North Africa and elsewhere went on, it was unlikely to trump the economy as the dominant issue of the election. In recent days, Obama has repeatedly been called upon to handle the threats to US targets in Yemen, Sudan, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere, with one eye on his political prospects.

On Friday, he officiated in the return of the American dead from Libya, then nipped out of the White House for meetings with his campaign team and a big-money fundraiser in Washington.

Obama also managed to make trips last week to swing states Nevada and Colorado, with visits to Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin and Virginia on deck. Eight weeks before the election and three weeks before the first of three presidential debates with Romney, Obama appears well placed.

In Gallupís daily tracking poll Saturday, Obama was up 49 percent to 45 percent on Romney, and in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, he was up three percent on the Republican.

In Wall Street Journal/NBC/Marist College polls, Obama led Romney 49 percent to 44 percent in Florida, 50 percent to 43 percent in Ohio and 49 to 44 percent in Virginia.

Should Obama duplicate that performance in November, he would easily capture the required 270 electoral votes. — AP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

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

S Korea opposition picks presidential candidate SEOUL: The race for South Korea’s presidency gathered pace yesterday as the main opposition party picked a former top presidential aide as its candidate for the December polls, amid speculation that a popular software mogul may derail his bid.

The left-wing Democratic United Party chose Moon Jae-In, former senior aide to the late ex-president Roh Moo-Hyun, after he won a combined 56 percent of some 600,000 votes in 13 primaries that have been held across the country.

“Thank you for rallying behind me for this enormous challenge of administrative change... I promise that I will win the December race,” Moon said in a speech, to thunderous applause from the crowd at a stadium in Seoul.

“We are faced with endless corruption cases involving the president’s aides, with democracy and human rights in retreat...now is time to put things right back,” he told thousands of supporters who chanted his name. A former pro-democracy activist and presidential chief of staff, Moon has vowed to push for a summit with North Korea if he becomes South Korea’s next president in the December 19 vote. Moon yesterday also vowed to expand welfare spending and to overhaul the economy dominated by a few conglomerates that had overgrown under the state-directed growth in the past but are criticised for their omnipresence.

“I will reform policies on chaebol (conglomerates). I will never tolerate the privileges they enjoy, or their abuse of power,” he said. A human rights lawyer who

was jailed in the 1970s for protesting against military rule, Moon, 59, has impeccable liberal credentials that helped him unify disparate opposition groups into the DUP last year. Moon is expected to compete against the conservative ruling party’s confirmed candidatePark Geun-Hye, daughter of the late military strongman Park Chung-Hee. With President Lee Myung-Bak constitutionally barred from a second term after serving five years, Park wrapped up the nomination of the New Frontier Party last month.

But it remains uncertain whether Moon will eventually be able to join the presidential race, as the highprofile software mogul Ahn Cheol-Soo is set to announce whether or not he will make his own bid.

A political novice with no official party affiliation,

Ahn enjoys massive popularity among young liberal voters, and polls show that he has nearly twice the support for a presidential bid as Moon.

The DUP had repeatedly urged Ahn to join the party as a presidential candidate, amid speculation that whoever wins the DUP nomination may have to negotiate with Ahn over which one will race against the conservative bulwark Park.

So far Ahn has demurred, and his close aides reportedly said he would announce his decision sometime this week after the DUP’s nomination process ends. Both Ahn and Moon should individually consolidate as much support as possible and “at some time negotiate over which one of the two will run”, Cho Kuk, a political analyst, told reporters. — AFP

Anti-Japan protests erupt across China Banner calls for a ‘bloodbath’ in Tokyo

MANILA: Filipino children play on a flooded area in suburban Malabon, north of Manila, Philippines yesterday, a day after heavy rains spawned by typhoon Sanba (local name “Karen”) flooded low-lying areas of metropolitan Manila. — AP

Japan’s new envoy to China dead TOKYO: The newly appointed Japanese envoy to China died in a Tokyo hospital yesterday, officials said, ruling out any link to growing anti-Japan protests in Chinese cities over an escalating territorial row.

Shinichi Nishimiya, who was officially appointed on Tuesday, was taken to hospital after falling ill on a street near his home in the capital’s fashionable Shibuya district on Thursday, according to reports.

“Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya died in a hospital”, the foreign ministry said in a statement. The death had “nothing to do with any accident or anti-Japanese demonstrations” in China, a foreign ministry official told AFP. Nishimiya, a career diplomat, was to replace Uichiro Niwa at a time Japan and China are at loggerheads over a disputed

island chain in the East China Sea. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Japan’s embassy in Beijing on Sunday, throwing water bottles and chanting antiJapanese slogans, a day after angr y demonstrators tried to storm the building.

Niwa raised hackles at home when he said a plan by Tokyo’s nationalist governor to buy the islands could cause a crisis between China and Japan, jeopardising economic ties. Japan insists there is no territorial dispute over islands it administers and calls Senkaku, but which China claims under the name Diaoyu.

Nishimiya had planned to leave for Beijing in October. The government is now considering a replacement from among retired foreign ministry officials, local reports said. — AFP

Philippine rebels ‘will not attack US over film’ MANILA: The Philippines’ largest Muslim insurgent group yesterday rejected AlQaeda calls to attack US targets over an anti-Islam film that has sparked protests around the world. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has instructed its 12,000 members to observe a ceasefire pact with the government, and will not attack US targets in the country, the MILF’s chief political officer Ghazali Jaafar said.

“We do not live in the dark ages, there are rules and laws that need to be followed,” Jaafar told AFP by telephone from the MILF’s southern headquarters.

“We have an existing ceasefire with the Philippines, and we will not violate that.”

He branded the killing of the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans at the US consulate in Benghazi a “senseless act of vio-

lence”. “Even in war, there are international norms that need to be accepted, including the protection of diplomats and embassies,” he said, while condemning those behind the amateur film produced in the United States that sparked the violence.

Jaafar said the MILF would monitor other Muslim groups in the mainly Catholic Philippines, adding: “We will inform government negotiators of any impending terror attacks.” A Muslim rebellion has raged in the southern Philippines since the early 1970s, leaving some 150,000 dead. The MILF has dropped its bid for an independent state in the south, and is negotiating a peace pact with Manila to create an autonomous region. The Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group also operates in the country. — AFP

Asian territory disputes could trigger war: Panetta TOKYO: China and other Asian countries could end up at war over territorial disputes if governments keep up their “provocative behaviour ”, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters before arriving in Tokyo on a trip to Asia, Panetta appealed for restraint amid mounting tensions over territorial rights in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. “I am concerned that when these countries engage in provocations of one kind or another over these various islands, that it raises the possibility that a misjudgment on one side or the other could result in violence, and could result in conflict,” Panetta said, when asked about a clash between Japan and China.

“And that conflict would then have the potential of expanding.” The Pentagon chief’s trip coincides with an escalating row between Asia’s two largest economies over an archipelago in the East China Sea administered by Tokyo under the name Senkaku and claimed by China under the name Diaoyu. Tensions have steadily mounted since pro-Beijing activists were arrested and deported after landing on one of the islands in August. Japanese nationalists then followed, raising their flag on the same island days later.

On Tuesday, Japan announced it had nationalised three of the islands in the chain, triggering protests in China. Tokyo

already owns another and leases the fifth.

The uninhabited islands are in important sea lanes and the seabed nearby is thought to harbour valuable mineral resources.

Sometimes violent demonstrations have been held in China near diplomatic missions in the days since Tokyo’s announcement, although there have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

Panetta said he and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “both strongly urge that these countries-rather than engaging in that provocative behaviour-engage in an effort to find ways to peacefully resolve these kind of issues.”

Panetta, who is due to hold talks on Monday with his Japanese counterpart before heading to China, predicted economic rivalry would lead to more feuds in the future over potentially resource-rich areas in the Asia-Pacific region. “ We’re going to face more of this.

Countries are searching for resources,” he said, adding: “There’s got to be a peaceful way to resolve these issues.” “What we don’t want is to have any kind of provocative behaviour on the part of China or anybody else result in conflict.”

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea also have Washington worried, as China has refused to withdraw claims to virtually all of the strategic waterway and has been accused of bullying smaller states in the area. —AFP

BEIJING: Thousands of anti-Japanese demonstrators mounted protests in cities across China yesterday over disputed islands in the East China Sea, a day after an attempt to storm Tokyo’s embassy in the capital.

Beijing was infuriated last week when Japan said it had bought the rocky outcrops and while the authorities often suppress demonstrations, many of yesterday’s events took place with police escorting marchers, while state-run media called the protests “reasonable”.

Still, there were repor ts of violence.

Demonstrators in the southern province of Shenzhen-some holding a banner calling for a “bloodbath” in Tokyo-clashed with riot police, who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, Hong Kong broadcaster Cable TV showed.

It also showed footage of more than 1,000 protesters burning Japanese flags in the nearby southern city of Guangzhou and storming a hotel next to the Japanese consulate. Chinese state media reported a turnout of more than 10,000. Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called on China to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens and businesses after widespread protests on Saturday saw attacks on individuals, establishments and Japanese-built cars.

“This situation is a great disappointment and so we are protesting” to China, he told Fuji Television. The relationship between China and Japan, the world’s second and third largest economies, is often strained by their historical rivalry even though they have significant business links. The row over the islands, which Tokyo administers and calls Senkaku while Beijing claims them and knows them as Diaoyu, has heightened in recent weeks. Six Chinese ships sailed into waters around the disputed archipelago Friday, with Beijing saying they were there for “law enforcement”, prompting Tokyo to summon the Chinese ambassador to protest what it called a territorial incursion.

Pictures posted on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, showed marches in half a dozen cities around the country yesterday. In Beijing, thousands of protesters gathered outside the Japanese embassy, carrying posters of Mao Zedong and Japanese flags scrawled with obscenities, throwing beer bottles and singing the national anthem.

But large numbers of police escorted the protesters as they marched past the building, while volunteers wearing red armbands gave

CHENGDU: A Chinese riot policeman (C) directs protesters as they march and display antiJapanese banners during a protest over the Diaoyu islands issue, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan, in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan province yesterday. Thousands of anti-Japanese demonstrators mounted protests in cities across China over disputed islands in the East China Sea, a day after an attempt to storm Tokyo’s embassy in the capital. — AFP food and water to demonstrators and a medical team stood by. In Shanghai, where there were major protests on Saturday, more than 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside the Japanese consulate, one group chanting “Down with little Japan.” Police in the commercial hub blocked off roads using shipping containers and plastic barriers, but guided marchers through police lines to protest in front of the building.

One Weibo user in the southeastern city of Quanzhou contacted by AFP said: “There’s no violence, just peaceful marches under police guidance.” Hundreds of protestors also marched to the Japanese consulate in the former British colony of Hong Kong, chanting pro-China slogans. Microbloggers questioned whether Sunday’s demonstrations were spontaneous.

“Such large-scale uniform banners and dresses cannot be made in one day. Do you really believe it’s people-initiated?” wrote a Weibo user named Linglingqi.

Another user named Afraxafra said: “I feel such a massive demonstration definitely cannot be organised by a small number of average

people.” A commentary from the Xinhua-state news agency called the weekend protests “a reasonable move and natural reaction” to Japanese “provocation” and urged Tokyo to take notice, even as it warned protesters against damaging property. China National Radio said 1,000 Chinese fishing boats were preparing to head to the disputed waters this week after the fishing season in the area resumed. Another flashpoint could be Tuesday’s anniversary of the 1931 “Mukden incident” that led to Japan’s invasion of Manchuria, which is commemorated every year in China. Willy Lam, a China expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that while the protests may have been encouraged and could continue through Tuesday, the authorities should be able to rein them in soon afterward. Already they seem to have made greater effort to contain the protests on Sunday than the day before, he said. “In the beginning the leadership wants to use the so-called public opinion card to put pressure on Japan,” he said, adding that they had sufficient manpower to quell protests as needed. — AFP

Khmer Rouge ‘First Lady’ walks free PHNOM PENH: The former “First Lady” of Cambodia’s murderous Khmer Rouge regime was freed yesterday, a court official said, after the country’s war crimes tribunal had ruled she was unfit to stand trial. Ieng Thirith, 80, who experts say has Alzheimer’s disease, was driven in a convoy with police and officials from the purpose-built detention facility at the Phnom Penh court where she has been held since 2007. “ The accused Ieng Thirith has been released with some provisional conditions,” court spokesman Neth Pheaktra told AFP. “She was picked up by her children,” he added, without giving details of where the genocide suspect would be taken.

The release of the ex-social affairs minister, one of only a handful of people ever brought before a court over atrocities during the Khmer Rouge era, will come as a bitter blow to many who survived the 1975-1979 regime, blamed for the deaths of up to two million people.

Cambodia’s UN-backed tribunal ordered her release on Thursday but the move was delayed after prosecutors requested tighter conditions.

In a statement on Sunday, the court’s highest appeal body said it had agreed to impose extra provisional conditions, including that she registers her address and must relinquish her passport and other travel documents.

It will make a final decision on conditions at a later date. Judges said on Thursday that Ieng Thirith would be incapable of remembering or adhering to any rules, though they stipulated she should not interfere in the case in any way and should remain in Cambodia.

Charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity against Ieng Thirith, who was the sister-inlaw of the late regime leader Pol Pot, have not been withdrawn. Youk Chhang, a leading researcher on the

Khmer Rouge who lost many relatives during the the “Killing Fields” era, said the decision to free Ieng Thirith would be difficult for victims to accept.

But in a statement yesterday, he said it also represented “defiant com-

passion” that contrasted to the brutality of the regime. “Some satisfaction can be salvaged from victims being stripped of the opportunity to hold Ieng Thirith to account in a court of law by refusing to compromise basic fair trial standards, even in the

PHNOM PENH: This picture taken on July 9, 2008 shows the former Khmer Rouge “First Lady” Ieng Thirith (C), 76, sitting in the court room at the Extraodinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh.

The former “First Lady” of Cambodia’s murderous Khmer Rouge regime was freed yesterday, a court official said, after the country’s war crimes tribunal ruled she was unfit to stand trial. — AFP

face of the horrific crimes she stands accused of,” he said.

Three other senior Khmer Rouge leaders, including Ieng Thirith’s husband Ieng Sary, are currently on trial accused of the same atrocities. This case-only the second ever heard by the court-is seen as vital to healing mental scars in Cambodia, 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.

The court has so far jailed just one man-former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who was sentenced to life in jail this year for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people.

Led by “Brother Number One” 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 movement’s most drastic policies. She remained a staunch defender of the regime long after its demise in the 1990s, but consistently denied the charges brought against her since her 2007 arrest.

Owing to fears that not all the suspects will live to see a verdict, the court has split their complex case into several smaller trials, starting with the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh and related crimes against humanity.

The trials have been dogged by funding problems and accusations of political interference from Cambodia’s current government, which counts many former Khmer Rouge figures within its ranks. — AFP

12

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

international

Girl’s death 24 years ago haunts quest for justice in Myanmar YANGON: The first two bullets struck her legs. The third one ploughed through her chest, shredding a lung and drenching her uniform with blood. The death of schoolgirl Win Maw Oo, 16, shot by soldiers during Myanmar’s military crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 1988, so torments her family that they have yet to perform the Buddhist rites to release her soul into the afterlife.

“We still can’t forget her,” says Khine Nyein Ei, 30, as she prepares to mark the anniversary of her sister’s death on Wednesday. “The tears never dry.” The authorities haven’t forgotten either.

Political reform in Myanmar is fostering greater openness about past atrocities but little accountability, especially when the country’s still-powerful military is involved. Today, Win Maw Oo’s impoverished and long-suffering family remains under police surveillance.

Hers is one of many families now demanding recognition for abuses suffered by loved ones under decades of dictatorship. Their struggle for justice could test both the sincerity of President Thein Sein’s reforms and the patience of Myanmar’s untouchable and seemingly remorseless military.

It also runs counter to a political mood of reconciliation promoted by both opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the once-critical Western governments now engaging with a government packed with former generals. The United States and European Union have lifted most sanctions against Myanmar.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) no longer calls for a U.N. Commission of Inquiry into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar. Instead, the Nobel

Peace Prize laureate wants South African-style “restorative justice”, which precludes putting members of the former regime on trial.

But unlike post-apartheid South Africa, post-junta Myanmar has no Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where victims and perpetrators of violence can put their country’s tortured history to rest.

Myanmar’s toothless Human Rights Commission is only empowered to investigate alleged abuses committed since its formation in September last year. None of this has deterred the many bereaved relatives yearning for justice and closure. “So many people died in the 1988 revolution,” says Khine Nyein Ei. “They also had families. It hurts so much to lose a son or daughter or sister. Everyone feels the same way.”

Her family have turned their oneroom shack on a swamp in Yangon’s northern suburbs into a shrine for Win Maw Oo. Its thin bamboo walls are decorated with a harrowing image of the schoolgirl taken by an American photographer just moments after she was shot.

During their interview with Reuters, the first by the foreign media, two plainclothes police with walkie-talkies loitered outside, reported neighbours. Her mother Khin Htay Win, 59, recalls begging her daughter not to join the neardaily protests in Yangon. Martial law had been declared and the soldiers were expected to be merciless.

“If they dare to shoot, then we dare to die,” her daughter told her. She was marching with fellow protesters towards the US embassy when the troops opened fire. Everyone scattered, recalls Steve Lehman, who pho-

tographed two medics carrying Win Maw Oo’s bloodied body to a nearby ambulance.

“The military was clearing the streets and had shot many people,” he says. “I was shocked by how they were killing girls.” Yangon General Hospital, where Win Maw Oo was taken, was overwhelmed with dead and wounded protesters. “It was like a horror movie,” says Lehman. Thousands of people were killed or injured during the crackdown.

The surgeon who operated on Win Maw Oo didn’t save her life. But he did buy her time. Her father, Win Kyu, struggled to reach the hospital through streets patrolled by trigger-happy soldiers. He arrived to hear her last words.

“Can you promise me something?” she asked. Then she made her father swear not to perform the last rites for her “until you get the democracy we asked for”. Then she died. Bodies bearing gunshot wounds were often taken away by the authorities and secretly cremated to hide the death toll. Win Kyu could only retrieve his daughter’s body from the morgue after a friendly doctor lied to the military that she had died of bone cancer.

On the post mortem report, which the family has kept and laminated, the “cause of death” is left blank. Win Kyu didn’t know about Lehman’s now-iconic photo until he saw it in a magazine some two years after his daughter’s death. “It awoke my sadness again,” he said.

For years, Win Kyu burned with rage: “Whenever I saw soldiers or police I wanted to kill them.” Today, his anger has subsided, but he still bristles at the military’s version of events. It labelled his daughter and other protesters “loot-

ers”, while state-run media still trumpets the former junta’s role in establishing Myanmar’s “discipline-flourishing democracy”.

Finding people who disagree with this account is easy in Yangon, where Internet access is widespread and critical biographies of former dictator Than Shwe are discreetly sold at street stalls.

Myanmar’s democratic progress “has nothing to do with” the military, Win Kyu says. He attributes it to the sacrifices of ordinary people such as his daughter, as well as to Buddhist monks who led the 2007 Saffron Revolutionanother democracy uprising bloodily suppressed by the military.

But government soldiers aren’t the only ones with blood on their hands.

San San Aye’s father escaped Rangoon in 1989 to join the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), an armed insurgent group formed by activists fleeing the junta’s crackdown. He died three years later of natural causes. Or so she thought.

Then, in February, she learned that he had been among 107 soldiers arrested and tortured for weeks on ABSDF orders in the early 1990s on suspicion of spying for the government. Her father, Maung Sein, and 37 others were either executed or died from their injuries. The horrific episode - victims were electrocuted, crucified, decapitated and shot - is recalled in a book published in May and freely available in Yangon bookstores.

San San Aye, 42, a teacher in northern Yangon, filed a police complaint in August against the seven ABSDF leaders she believes are responsible. She says police in remote Kachin State, where the killings took place, are now

investigating. “I know everyone must die one day,” she says, struggling to hold back tears. “But my father was wrongly accused. I want the truth to be known.” The relatives of another ABSDF victim have also filed a complaint, she says.

Meanwhile, the family of schoolgirl Win Maw Oo prepare for the annual remembrance ceremony they have held every September, despite intimidation by the authorities. One year, the army parked armoured cars with machine-guns outside their house.

Suu Kyi attended the ceremony in 1997, between periods of house arrest.

“So many police came,” recalls sister Khine Nyein Ei. This year, for the first time, the family will hold a public ceremony in a temple. Permission was granted by the local authorities on condition that no more than 200 people attend.

Among the expected guests are celebrated democrat Min Ko Naing, who was jailed for 15 years for his role in the 1988 protests, and Win Tin, who cofounded the NLD with Suu Kyi just eight days after the schoolgirl was killed. Even so, Win Maw Oo’s father won’t be saying the last rites.

He says the “true democracy” she wanted must wait until Myanmar holds its 2015 general election. The NLD is expected to win it comfortably, after a landslide victory in April by-elections swept Suu Kyi and 43 other party candidates into parliament.

Even this will not appease Aung Ko Ko, 27, who was just three years old when those three bullets felled his schoolgirl sister. He wants her killers exposed. “They still have to pay for their mistakes,” he says. —Reuters

Suu Kyi departs on landmark US visit Suu Kyi visit laced with political trouble YANGON: Democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi left Myanmar yesterday for a landmark trip to the United States, set to see her feted by the US president and quizzed on the progress of reforms.

The Nobel laureate, who was elected to parliament this year, flew out of Yangon accompanied by new US ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Suu Kyi’s high profile visit, the first to the US since she began her democracy struggle in 1988, will include a trip to Washington to meet US President Barack Obama whose government has been at the forefront of Western reengagement with the long-time military dominated country.

She will also be showered in awards including the Congressional Gold Medal, the top honour bestowed by the US Congress, and meet Burmese diaspora groups as far apart as New York and San Francisco.

During her near three-week trip Suu Kyi is likely to be questioned about reforms that have seen Myanmar take tentative steps onto the global stage after decades under a secretive military regime.

“I think Daw Suu can talk at least

about the reforms situation in Myanmar. She will get this opportunity,” Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party told AFP, using a common honorific for

ed to arrive in Washington today.

Despite the predicted red carpet welcome, her visit is laced with potential political trouble.

Suu Kyi’s stay coincides with that of

YANGON: Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (C) holds a bouquet as she walks through the international airport in Yangon yesterday. Suu Kyi left Myanmar for her first visit in two decades to the United States, where she will be garlanded by supporters keen to discuss the progress of reforms in the former junta-ruled nation. —AFP the opposition leader.

Suu Kyi will travel with just three other people, he added, and is expect-

Myanmar’s President Thein Sein, who is due in the US later in the month to attend the United Nations General

Assembly. “There is a risk that she will overshadow this significant first US visit

by Thein Sein-who has not yet really gotten the international recognition that he deserves for the remarkable reform process that he has put in place,” according to Richard Horsey, an independent Myanmar analyst.

Horsey said it would be “particularly unhelpful” if the US president chose to meet Myanmar’s democracy champion but not its leader, “which unfortunately looks to be the case”.

The 67-year-old could also face tricky questions on the treatment of stateless Rohingya Muslims after a wave of deadly communal violence in western Myanmar. Suu Kyi has remained cautious in her comments about the group, who many in Myanmar believe are foreigners and therefore not entitled to citizenship.

Last week the US embassy in Yangon expressed its “great concern” at the humanitarian situation in Rakhine state. Following sweeping moves to lift or suspend sanctions by other Western nations this year, Washington in July gave the green light to US companies to invest in Myanmar, although a ban on all imports from the country remains. —AFP

JANDOL: Local residents gather near the remains of bomb blast victims in Jandol town, in the district of Lower Dir, 100 kilometres from the once Taleban-infested Swat Valley yesterday. — AFP

Bomb blast kills 14 in northwest Pakistan PESHAWAR: A remote-controlled bomb targeting a passenger van killed at least 14 people and wounded 10 others in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, police said, blaming militants for the attack.

The blast took place in Jandol town, in the district of Lower Dir, 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the once Taleban-infested Swat Valley. “It was a remote-controlled bomb blast which killed 14 people including three women and wounded 10 others,” local police official Farman Khan told AFP. Khan, who was supervising the aftermath at the site, said the vehicle was targeted because it was carrying people known to be pro-government. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Khan said militants were responsible.

Another local police official, Javaid Khan, confirmed the incident and casualties. In 2009, about 30,000 Pakistani troops went into battle against Taliban fighters controlled

by Maulana Fazlullah, who for two years had

terrorised people with a campaign of beheadings, violence and attacks on girls’ schools in Swat and parts of Dir. Dir borders the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, where a number of security officials believe Fazlullah and some of his fighters sought refuge. After heavy fighting that displaced an estimated two million people, the army declared the Swat region back under control in July 2009, and said the rebels had all been killed, captured or had fled.

However, there have since been sporadic outbreaks of violence in Swat and Dir. The government has been trying to encourage tourists to return to Swat, which was once popular with Pakistani and Western holidaymakers for its stunning mountains, balmy summer weather and winter skiing. Suicide and bomb attacks blamed on Taleban and AlQaeda-linked militants have killed more than 5,000 people since July 2007 across nucleararmed Pakistan. —AFP

Dokdo, an integral part of ROK territory The Government of the Republic of Korea exercises Korea’s territorial sovereignty over Dokdo, where Korean police forces are stationed and civilians are residing.

The ROK reaffirmed that Dokdo, subjected to the forced annexation by Japan, was Korean territory in the Founding Constitution drafted after the independence in 1945 and Presidential Proclamation of Sovereignty over Adjacent Seas issued in 1952. The government has exercised territorial sovereignty over Dokdo by stationing police forces on the easternmost island since 1954.

The Founding Constitution proclaimed in July 1948 sets forth that the territory of the Republic of Korea shall be the Korean Peninsula and its ancillary islands, giving Dokdo the Constitutional status as Korea’s territory. Again, the Presidential Proclamation of Sovereignty over Adjacent Seas promulgated in January 1952 (also known as Declaration of the Peace Line) reiterated the ROK’s dominion over the island.

ROK police forces have been stationed on Dokdo to patrol the island since 1954. Korean civilians have moved to live on the island since 1965. A Korean fisherman and his wife are living on Dokdo where around 2,600 people have registered as their legal domicile to date.

That Dokdo is irrefutable Korean territory is well evidenced in early Korean documents and administrative records.

The Joseon (Korean) government publication, Sejong sillok jiriji (geography section of the Annals of King Sejong’s reign written in 1454), which provides a geographic record of Korean territory, stated that Ulleungdo and Dokdo are two islands that are part of Joseon, recording that “the two islands are on the east sea of Joseon. They are not far from each other and thus visible on a clear day.”

Back in 1900 before the Korean Empire was

deprived of its diplomatic rights by Japan in 1905, the government issued Imperial Edict No.41, elucidating that Dokdo was an ancillary island of Ulleungdo that was part of Korea’s territory.

To be more specific, the Empire of Korea officially announced the Edict No.41 in Official Gazette No.1716 published in 1900. In the second article of the same edict, it is provided that “All of Ulleungdo as well as Jukdo and Seokdo [Dokdo] shall be placed under the jurisdiction of Uldo county [or Ulleung county].”

Also, a report submitted by the county magistrate of Ulleungdo in 1906 stated that Dokdo fell under the jurisdiction of Ulleungdo, demonstrating the fact that he had continued to govern the island pursuant to the Edict since 1900.

Japan illegally incorporated Dokdo into its own territory dining the colonization of the Korean peninsula. Dokdo was the first Korean territory to fall prey to Japan’s imperialist ambitions. However, Dokdo is now a symbol of the ROK’s independence and sovereignty.

By 1904, Japan had already coerced the Korean Empire into signing the Korea-Japan Treaty of 1904 and was exercising control over its internal affairs. When the Russo-Japanese War broke out that same year, Japan decided to incorporate Dokdo into its own territory, Shimane Prefecture, for strategic military reasons. A watch tower was built on the island to monitor the activities of the Russian Navy ships.

Yamaza Enjiro, an aggressive proponent of the territorial incorporation of Dokdo, stated, “The incorporation is urgent particularly under the present situation, and it is absolutely necessary and advisable to construct watchtowers and install wireless or submarine cable [on Dokdo] and keep watch on the hostile warships.”

Japan’s decision to illegally incorporate Dokdo into its own territory through Shimane

Prefecture Public Notice No. 40 on February 22, 1905 was aimed at meeting its military need in the face of naval battle with Russia in the East Sea. By winning the Russo-Japanese War Japan was able to eliminate Russian competition for dominance over the region and was free to coerce Korea into signing the Eulsa Protection Treaty in November of 1905 and completely deprived Korea of its sovereignty in 1910.

Japan itself has reaffirmed that Dokdo is Korean territory The Edo shogunate (the central government) sent an inquiry to Tottori-han (a local government) on December 1695 regarding the sovereignty of Ulleungdo. Tottori-han’s response was that neither Ulleungdo nor Dokdo belonged to Japan. During the Meiji period (1868-1912), the Japanese government twice acknowledged that Dokdo was not Japanese but Joseon’s territory.

During the formative years of the Meiji Government, the Japanese Foreign Ministry dispatched three officials on a scouting mission to Joseon. In 1870, these officials submitted a report to the Japanese government which contained an entry on “How Ulluengdo and Dokdo became Joseon’s possession” that stated “Dokdo is a neighbour island of Ulleungdo and there is no document stipulating that Dokdo is Japanese territory.” This demonstrates the fact that Japan also perceived Dokdo to be part of Joseon’s territory.

In 1877, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Shimane Prefecture sent the “Inquiry on Takeshima [Ulleungdo] and Mother Island [Dokdo] in the East Sea as regards to Land Registry Project” to the Daijokan (Grand Council of State), Japan’s highest decision making body during the Meiji period, stating that “Though it was agreed through the negotiations between the old government [Edo shogunate] and the Joseon [Korean] government that the two

islands [Dokdo and Ulleungdo] do not belong to our country [Japan], we seek confirmation [from the Daijokan].” Thus, the Daijokan sent a directive to the Ministry of Home Affairs stating as follows: “Regarding Takeshima [Ulleungdo] and another island [Dokdo]...bear in mind that our country [Japan] has nothing to do with them.”

At this period of time, the Japanese government called Ulleungdo Takeshima and Dokdo Matsushima. Conversely, Ulleungdo is now dubbed Matsushima and Dokdo is named as Takeshima.

In addition, Japan evidently marked Dokdo as Korean sovereign territory in its official publications including the Hydrogrophic Map of Korea (Chosen suiroshi) which was published in 1894 by the Hydrographic Department of Japan, the Map of Japan’s Jurisdiction (Chizukuiki ichiranzu), which was issued in 1936 by the Japanese Army Land Survey Department, and the Historical Map of Japan (Nihonrekishi chizu), which was published in 1922 by what is now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology.

There is no need to substantiate Korean sovereignty over its irrefutable territory to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Without the consent of both countries involved the matter cannot be brought to the ICJ. This constitutes the core principles of the ICJ statute under which the territorial issue, the essence to the existence of a state, should not be taken unilaterally to the court in respect for national sovereignty.

The ROK has a solid legal ground concerning its sovereignty over Dokdo, which leaves no room for territorial dispute. As such, Korea’s sovereignty over the island is incontestable. Therefore, even if another country files a petition with the ICJ, the ROK

has no obligation to respond.Japan has referred the issue to the ICJ because it is trying to give off the impression that the island is a disputed area and that the ROK is not willing to solve the issue peacefully.

Japan’s ulterior political agenda is well demonstrated by its unwillingness to file a suit to the ICJ over the Senkaku islands that it occupies.

As such, Japan is demonstrating an opportunistic attitude by arbitrarily interpreting the international law in a way that could serve its own interest, while disrespecting the law and letting down expectation of the international community. Japan should transform itself into a responsible nation by expressing an unfeigned apology for the past wrongdoings as Germany did. It is a well known fact that Japan committed war crimes and atrocities against its neighbours during the Second World War when it pursued imperialism. Japan first attempted to incorporate Dokdo during the Japanese invasion of the Korean peninsula.

Japan’s ambitions persist to this day as it has refused to sincerely repent its past wrongdoings. Long-standing conflicts with its neighbouring nations, i.e. China and Russia, over territorial issues reflect Japan’s lack of contrition.

In December 1970, German Chancellor William Brandt dropped to his knees and shed tears of repentance before the monument honoring Jewish victims in Warsaw, Poland.

The Chancellor’s genuine gesture of penitence and apology have provided Germany with the moral grounds to take on a leading role in not only Europe but in the world. If Japan truly wishes to be accepted as a leading state, it must shoulder the responsibilities such status entails by apologizing for its past faults and striving to build amicable relations with its neighbours. — South Korea News Agency

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

NEWS

LAHORE: Supporters of Pakistan’s outlawed Islamic hardline group Jamaat ud Dawa (JD) shout anti-US slogans during a rally against an anti-Islam movie yesterday. — AFP

Israel military moves major ops to south HANEGEV JUNCTION, Israel: The Israeli military has begun construction of its largest training base ever, moving operations from some of the country’s priciest real estate to the barren sands of southern Israel in a new attempt to realize the longtime dream of making the desert bloom.

The $650 million construction project is the military’s biggest in three decades: Beginning in late 2014, 10,000 soldiers will be moved into the new base 30 km south of the city of Beersheba from their current quarters in the country’s Tel Avivarea heartland. The program is designed to streamline combat support training, now carried out at multiple facilities, by funneling it into a single site.

But critics question whether it will

jumpstart the economy of the Negev region as officials promise. They also note the project doesn’t even discuss benefits for Arab Bedouin who account for a third of the 500,000 Israelis living in the area. Not since Israel pulled up its bases from Egypt’s Sinai desert in the early 1980s under the two countries’ landmark peace treaty has the military carried out a project of this scope, in terms of cost, number of soldiers involved and sheer physical size, said project director Lt Col Shalom Alfassy.

Today, only a few spare buildings stand on the 250 hectares earmarked for the site. But within two years, 250,800 sq m of construction is supposed to go up, including barracks, hundreds of computerized

classrooms, simulation sites and firing ranges. The base will not train combat soldiers, but drivers, paramedics and other troops who would support them at the front. It will not draw operations from the main military headquarters and Defense Ministry in the heart of Tel Aviv.

The project is part of a broader move to relocate military facilities to the Negev. Alfassy says about half of the bases in Israel’s center will move to the region by the end of the decade. The Negev accounts for over half of Israel’s land mass but is home to just 8 percent of its 8 million people. Making it flourish was the vision of Israel’s founding father, David BenGurion. But poor services have kept the area languishing, despite a series of government programs and

improved road and rail links designed to boost it.

Alfassy believes things will be different this time. He estimates the project will create 20,000 to 30,000 temporary construction jobs for Negev residents. Some 500 civilian workers will work at the base and 2,000 to 2,500 jobs will be created for outside vendors, he predicted. The military expects 200 to 300 career soldiers will move their families to the south to be near the base, boosting the economy as well as educational and medical services, he said.

Erez Tzfadia, head of the department of public policy and administration at Sapir College in the Negev, scoffed at that notion. “There are half a million people” in the area where the base is being built, he

said. “Will 200 families of career soldiers really pull up the Negev?” The project’s champions also talk about bringing more buying power to the Negev through the 10,000 soldiers to be based there. But “soldiers don’t have any money”, Tzfadia said. “At most they will buy felafel at the central bus station in Beersheba. You don’t build an economy on that.”

None of the tribal Arab Bedouin who have been living in the area for decades will have to move to make way for the base, reducing any opposition to the project. Past attempts to develop the south have been marred by forced evictions of unauthorized Bedouin villages. At the same time, the relocation program does not specifically consider ways to involve the impoverished

Bedouin community. “They aren’t even taken into consideration as a party that should be a beneficiary, even at the level of discourse,” Tzfadia said. Alfassy said Bedouin would be considered for projects but had no information on plans designed to benefit them.

A top benefit of the relocation is having the military vacate soughtafter real estate in central Israel. The Ministry of Construction and Housing estimates 35,000 apartments, including about 9,000 classified as affordable housing, will be built on the emptied sites. That could bring some relief to the masses of young families who cannot afford their own home in an area where even a modest apartment can cost $500,000. — AP

Iran admits Guards in Syria, warns US, Israel NATO strike kills 8 Afghan women Continued from Page 1 Middle East and Israel, he warned. “This is a declared policy by Iran that if war occurs in the region and the Islamic republic is involved, it is natural that the Strait of Hormuz as well as the energy (market) will face difficulties,” he said.

US military bases - such as those in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - would equally be considered fair game. “The US has many vulnerabilities around Iran, and its bases are within range of the Guards’ missiles. We have other capabilities as well, particularly when it comes to the support of Muslims for the Islamic republic,” he said. Jafari explained that Tehran believed Israel was unsuccessfully trying to push the United States to take part in military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “I do not think the attack would be carried out without US permission,” he said. However if Israeli jets or missiles did strike Iran, “nothing of Israel would be left”, he warned bluntly.

Anti-missile defence shields deployed by Israel and the United States in Arab states of the Gulf would be ineffective against a rain of Iranian missiles, he added. “The defence shields may be capable against a few missiles, but they would not stand a chance against a massive number of missiles,” he said. But despite Israel’s sabre-rattling, Iran had no intention of launching a pre-emptive strike, Jafari said. “Iran does not believe in pre-emptive action to prevent a military strike ... We are ready to respond to their attacks quickly and forcefully, and they are aware of our capabilities. This is our strongest deterrent.”

Jafari also said that, in his opinion, any attack would prompt Iran to leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which is designed to prevent states developing nuclear weapons while permitting peaceful atomic energy generation. “In case of an attack, Iran’s obligations will change. My assessment is that Iran may leave the NPT but it would not mean a dash towards a nuclear bomb because we have a religious edict from the supreme leader” against atomic weapons, he said.

Jafari also said an anti-Islam film made in America that has enraged Muslims in several countries did not justify the killing of the US ambassador in Libya. “Definitely this did not warrant killing,” he said. It was the first time a high-ranking Iranian official has not fully backed a protest last Tuesday in the Libyan city of Benghazi in which the ambassador, another US diplomat and two American members of a protection squad were killed.

Iranian officials have previously come out in full support of the display of outrage, with the foreign ministry suggesting the deaths occurred because of Muslim fury over US foreign policy. While the feelings of Muslims were “hurt” by the film, “the only thing to do was to protest in front of embassies,” Jafari said. “Due to their anger, this incident (the killings) happened.”

Meanwhile, the gap between Israel and the United States on Iran widened yesterday as Netanyahu insisted there must be “red lines” on halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a stance the United States has rejected. Israel has consistently said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state and has wielded the threat of military action, but Washington favors tough sanctions and diplomatic arm twisting. “They’re moving very rapidly to completing the enrichment of the uranium that they need to produce a nuclear bomb. In six

months or so they’ll be 90 percent of the way there,” Netanyahu told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.

“It’s important to place a red line before Iran, and I think that actually reduces the chance of military conflict, because if they know there’s a point, a stage in their enrichment or other nuclear activities that they cannot cross because they’ll face consequences, I think they will actually not cross it.” Israel and major Western states believe Tehran is using its civilian nuclear program as a cover for building atomic weapons capability, a charge the Iranians have repeatedly denied.

With relations between Netanyahu and Obama already viewed as frosty, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Friday highlighted the policy split further when he rejected Israel’s demand for so-called “red lines”.

“The fact is, look, presidents of the United States, prime ministers of Israel or any other country - leaders of these countries don’t have, you know, a bunch of little red lines that determine their decisions,” Panetta said. “What they have are facts that are presented to them about what a country is up to, and then they weigh what kind of action is needed to be taken in order to deal with that situation,” he told Foreign Policy magazine in an interview. “I mean, that’s the real world. Red lines are kind of political arguments that are used to try to put people in a corner.”

To CNN and in a second interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” - both aired yesterday -Netanyahu maintained that telling Iran there is a definite point it cannot cross would serve as a pre-emptive and effective deterrent.

“There wasn’t such a red line before Saddam Hussein, on the eve of the Gulf War, when he invaded Kuwait, maybe that war could have been avoided,” Netanyahu told CNN, drawing a parallel not likely to go down well with the Obama administration. “As Iran gets closer and closer to its completion of its nuclear program, I think it’s important to put a red line before them and that’s something we should discuss with the United States,” he added.

Netanyahu even sought to equate the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran with the Islamist fury that fueled attacks on US embassies across the Muslim world last week and shocked many Americans. “It’s the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?”

Netanyahu asked in the NBC interview, in a clear emotional appeal to Americans still reeling from the angry protests.

Netanyahu said a strong ultimatum was needed to Iran, which denies it is seeking a nuclear bomb. “They’re in the ‘red zone’,” Netanyahu said, using a colorful American football metaphor that describes when a team is close to scoring a touchdown. “They’re in the last 20 yards. And you can’t let them cross that goal line,” he said.

“Because that would have unbelievable consequences.”

Asked whether Israel was closer to acting on its own despite Obama’s call for more time for sanctions and diplomacy to work, Netanyahu said: “We always reserve the right to act. But I think that if we are able to coordinate together a common position, we increase the chances that neither one of us will have to act.”

Possibly seeking to soften the edge with Washington, Netanyahu said he appreciated the US president’s assurances that Iran would not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. “I think implicit in that is that, if you’re determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, it means you’ll act before they get nuclear weapons,” he said. — Agencies

Continued from Page 1 another eight women are wounded,” provincial spokesman Sarhadi Zwak told AFP. Tribesmen carried bodies to the provincial capital Mihtarlam, shouting “death to America, death to the Jews” outside the governor’s office, an AFP reporter said. Karzai expressed sadness and condemned the killing of the women. Seven other women were wounded and a delegation had been ordered to travel to the remote area to investigate, his office said.

In Zabul province, part of the south where the 10-year Taleban insurgency is traditionally strongest, four US soldiers were shot dead and two wounded after being scrambled to help police repel an insurgent attack, officials said. Details of the incident were murky. ISAF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Hagen Messer said the shooting happened at around 1:00 am (2030 GMT Saturday) but that it was still unclear whether the attacker “was an individual wearing a police uniform or definitely a policeman”. “Three to four other policemen have disappeared. At the moment, we don’t know where they have gone. We don’t know if they fled fearing arrest or if they are linked to the Taleban,” a provincial official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Taleban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi denied that the militia planned the attack.

Yesterday’s deaths took to 51 the number of Western soldiers killed by Afghan colleagues in 36 incidents so far this year, in a growing trend that jeopardises NATO plans to train local forces to take over when they leave in 2014. Two British soldiers were killed on Saturday in the southern province of Helmand by a man wearing the uniform of the Afghan Local Police (ALP). US special forces have suspended training for about 1,000 recruits to the controversial ALP,

which has been accused of corruption and violence towards civilians.

The killings came as NATO detailed unprecedented damage costing well into tens of millions of dollars in a sophisticated, well-coordinated attack on Camp Bastion, in Helmand, where Britain’s Prince Harry is deployed. Two US Marines were killed and several others wounded late Friday, when at least 15 attackers dressed in US Army uniforms, armed with guns, rockets and suicide vests stormed the airfield. Six US AV-8B Harrier fighter jets were destroyed and two significantly damaged. Three coalition refuelling stations were also destroyed and six aircraft hangars damaged.

The militia claimed the assault was to avenge a US-made film insulting to Islam that has sparked deadly riots across the Middle East and North Africa. The British royal was never in danger, officials said. Although the Taleban have vowed to kill him, its spokesmen told AFP the attack was to avenge the insult to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). “Prince Harry is there and if we’d caught him, we would have killed him but this attack was solidly in retaliation to the film,” Ahmadi reiterated yesterday.

But the attack raises major questions about how insurgents managed to penetrate such a massive logistics hub in the desert, home to 28,000 soldiers. Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, a Western security official said it underscored how well trained, precise and coordinated the insurgents had become. “It’s a clear success for them. They managed to destroy a lot of aircraft in one of the most secure bases of the country,” the official said. NATO is gradually withdrawing its 112,600 remaining troops. The Pentagon said last week that there are currently 77,000 US troops in Afghanistan. — AFP

Western embassies on alert as anger simmers Continued from Page 1 directions, some of them definitely from Mali and Algeria”.

“The others are affiliates and maybe sympathisers,” he added.

Megaryef said the government has learned the attack was not the result of spontaneous anger over a US-made anti-Islam movie which has triggered sometimes deadly protests across the Arab and Muslim world. “It was planned, definitely, it was planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago. And they were planning this criminal act since their arrival,” he told CBS. But Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, offered a very different account, saying the assault began with a “spontaneous” protest over the video. “Our current best assessment, based on the information that we have at present, is that, in fact, what this began as, it was a spontaneous - not a premeditated - response to what had transpired in Cairo,” Rice said. “We believe that folks in Benghazi, a small number of people came to the consulate to replicate the sort of challenge that was posed in Cairo,” she told ABC’s “This Week” program.

“And then as that unfolded, it seems to have been hijacked, let us say, by some individual clusters of extremists who came with heavier weapons. And it then evolved from there.”

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has said in a statement the attack was revenge for the killing of the terror network’s deputy leader Sheikh Abu Yahya Al-Libi in a drone strike in June, and called for more attacks on US targets. US officials have already deployed counter-terrorism Marine units to Libya and Yemen and stationed two destroyers off the North African coast. Panetta told reporters before arriving in Tokyo that with a substantial force already deployed in the region and now boosted by extra Marine units, the military has the ability to respond as necessary to protect American diplo-

mats. “We do have a major presence in the region,” he said.

“Having said that we’ve enhanced that with FAST (Fleet AntiTerrorism Security Team) teams and others so that if they are requested, they can respond more quickly.”

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti on Saturday flatly rejected a US request to send special forces to protect the Khartoum embassy, the official SUNA news agency said, quoting his office. Hours later, US officials announced Washington would evacuate all non-essential staff and family members from Sudan and Tunisia, and warned US citizens against travel to the two countries. The US embassy in Yemen, meanwhile, suspended all consular services for two weeks, the mission said on its website, after four people were killed in violent antiAmerican protests in Sanaa.

Across the Muslim world protesters have since vented their fury at the “Innocence of Muslims” - an amateur film produced in the United States - by targeting symbols of US influence ranging from embassies and schools to fast food outlets.

Although the US government itself has condemned the film, protests erupted again yesterday, with hundreds of students pouring into the streets of Kabul shouting anti-American slogans, as the Bangladesh government condemned the film as “reprehensible” and New Delhi called it “offensive.”

Belgian police said they detained 230 people in the northern city of Antwerp after clashes at a demonstration against the film. Protests were also staged in Britain, Niger, Pakistan, Turkey and France, whose interior ministry said it would block any further anti-American demonstrations over the film. A total of 17 people have died in violence linked to the film, including the four Americans killed in Benghazi, 11 protesters who died as police battled to defend US missions from mobs in Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen, and two US soldiers in Afghanistan. — Agencies

14

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

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Issues

Stiff test ahead for Indian reform drive

By Rupam Jain Nair and Adam Plowright he Indian government faces protests, strike threats and internal dissent this week in what promises to be a test of its reform credentials and its bid to regain momentum. Determined to reduce public borrowing and revive investor confidence, the country’s beleaguered left-leaning coalition last week unleashed a slew of long-stalled measures aimed at opening up the economy and boosting growth. “It’s a big gamble, but they had to take this chance,” Neerja Chowdhury, an independent political analyst in New Delhi, told AFP. In the space of 24 hours, ministers hiked diesel prices by 12 percent, opened the doors to foreign investors in retail, aviation and the broadcast media sectors, and approved the part-privatisation of four state-run companies. The administration of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been roiled by a string of corruption scandals that have put him and other ministers on the defensive almost since the last elections in 2009.

With legislation held up by a perceived lack of political courage as well infighting in the coalition, optimism about India’s vibrant prospects has slowly drained away.

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma denounced a “motivated campaign to project India in a bad light” as he unveiled the new foreign investment rules on Friday evening, which he said were a message to doubters.

Economists, Indian business leaders, rating agencies as well as sections of the domestic media have long been calling for bold action from Singh, the architect of a radical wave of liberalisation reforms in the 1990s.

One of India’s most famous businessmen, NR Narayana Murthy who founded IT outsourcing giant Infosys, said earlier this month that while travelling abroad it was “no longer possible to sell the ‘India story’”. The test this week will be whether Singh can face down trade unions, protests and his unreliable coalition ally Mamata Banerjee, who runs the regional Trinamool Congress party based in the state of West Bengal. She along with other regional parties and the main national opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have called for the reforms to be reversed, creating a powerful counter-weight along with truckers’ unions, which have threatened strike action.

The coalition “has run up a record of sorts making promises it could not keep, which is why the critical period for the government starts now”, the Indian Express newspaper wrote in an editorial on Saturday.

Sharma pledged to AFP on Friday that “come what may, there will be no policy reversal. The reforms are here to stay”.

The mood would be brightened today if the central bank cuts interest rates at a policy meeting in Mumbai, a move business leaders have been clamouring for to revive growth in the moribund industrial sector. The bank’s governor, Duvvuri Subbarao, has consistently stressed that policy action was needed from the government to reduce subsidies and improve the investment climate before further rate cuts could be countenanced.

Analysts are unsure of the outcome given the fastchanging environment. “There have been so many swings and so fast that it has been tough to take a call,” said Siddhartha Sanyal, chief India economist with Barclays Capital, when asked what he thought the bank would do. “But now the RBI cannot remain silent, it has to deliver something. Growth is faltering to new lows.”

The once-booming economy grew by 5.5 percent in the March-June quarter - holding around a three-year low and US ratings agency Standard and Poor’s has threatened to downgrade the country’s credit rating into “junk” status.

Under the reforms, the government has allowed foreign supermarkets to own up to 51 percent in Indian subsidiaries in the retail sector providing they met a series of conditions including investing at least $100 million. In the aviation sector, foreign airlines will be able to buy stakes in domestic carriers for the first time up to 49 percent. There may still be further announcements this week from Singh, whose description as a “dithering bureaucrat” in a recent Washington Post profile drew a furious response from his office. A senior leader from his Congress party hinted last week at a cabinet reshuffle that could see 42-year-old Rahul Gandhi, the next-in-line in the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, take his first cabinet berth. — AFP

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Evolution of the Refaiest in Egyptian politics

By Omar Mekky he “Refaiest” is an acknowledged term in the Egyptian judiciary. A term that judicial authority members use to identify a group of judges who rejected the shackles of previous regimes, calling for serious reform, namely, a more independent judiciary. This movement privileged impartial elections under judiciary oversight, the end of the state of emergency and the necessity to try civilians before civilian (not military) courts. The movement was named after its founder and leader, Judge Yehia El Refaie.

As Vice President of the Court of Cassation and the Head of the Judges Club, Judge El Refaie spent his career defending human rights and judiciary independence. Although Judge El Refaie passed away two years ago, his legacy is now, finally, illuminating the Egyptian horizon.

The emergence of the “Refaiest Movement” dates back to the middle of the 20th century. Immediately following the 1952 coup, tyrannical regime actions began: exceptional courts and special tribunals were created by the rulers to issue “certain” verdicts against “certain” people in “certain” cases. At this early stage, Egypt’s rulers chose to accomplish their political targets outside the state’s official judicial structure rather than subordinating the judiciary to their political will.

However, within a few years, they changed their approach entirely - trying to legitimate their politically motivated actions by harboring them under the umbrella of the state’s ordinary judiciary. In the 1960s, under the authoritarian regime of the former President GamalAbdelnasser the government attempted to convince - or, rather, compel - the judges to join the Arab Socialist Union (the only political party back then) in order to take control over the judiciary. This would enable the regime to use the courts to achieving its political objectives, in line with its general dictatorial policies. In response, some patriotic judges met in the Judges’ Club and issued a statement on 28 March 1968 stating their rejection of the government’s program and affirming that judicial independence is a red line.

In response, Abdelnasser issued a decree Number 83 of 1996, branded as the “Judiciary Massacre Decree”, which required the reestablishment of judiciary organizations and the dismissal of a significant number of judges, including, of course, the leadership of the Judges’ Club. Judge El Refaei appealed this decree and accordingly all the dismissed judges were reinstated; a step that was reflected as the first great victory of the Refaeist movement’s fight for justice as it restored the most dedicated soldiers back to the independence battlefield.

In 1972, law no 46 of the Judicial Authority was issued to regulate and organize ordinary judiciary affairs. This law submitted the Egyptian Judiciary under the control of the executive authority, more specifically, the Minister of justice. It controlled the appointment of judges and public prosecutors, their assignments, secondments, referral for retirement, inspections and supervision. Indeed, many of these measures were often used by the executive branch to exert control over the judiciary. For instance, the executive branch insisted on hiring loyalists’ judges and firing or punishing independent

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judges, thereby keeping judges in the middle in check - palpably threatened and intimidated.

During 1973 to 1984 period, the Judges’ Club was headed

by Refaiest masters, who campaigned for the amendment of the 1972 Law with a particular focus on liberating the judiciary from executive authority domination. This campaign was partially successful and consequently, law number 35 of 1984 was issued. The crux of this law was to re-establishing the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) which consisted of the most senior high-ranking judges. The SJC was in charge of regulating many judicial affairs. Although, SJC represented positive progress towards attaining the institutional independence of the judiciary in Egypt, its formation noticeably failed to eliminate the interference of the executive authority in judicial affairs. In 1986, the country’s judges voiced their opinion by electing Judge El Rafie as the head of the Judges’ Club - in order to officially lead their march toward a truly independent judiciary. He started his administration with organizing the “First Justice Conference”.

During this conference judicial authority members, human rights activists and other public figures discussed the multitude of obstacles judges faced to deliver justice, including their then limited ability to overcome pressing defects in the Egyptian judiciary and the role of judges in supervising elections. This pivotal event gave rise to various recommendations aiming to strengthening the judicial authority’s independence.

On 18 Jan 1990, the Judges’ Club agreed on a draft law to amend some elements of the Judiciary Law. The Refaiest judges struggled relentlessly with the government to legislate this draft, to no avail. From 1991 to 2000, the Judges’ Club became overrun by less confrontational judges - anti-Refaiest judges to be precise. During this period, not a single attempt or decision was made to forward judiciary independence.

By 2001, optimism returned following the election of Judge Abdel-Aziz to Head the Judges’ Club - a Refaeist triumph. He immediately revived the Refaeist draft law which had been collecting dust since 1990. In 2002, new campaign began to legislate this draft law and calls within the judiciary for a public dialogue were revived. In May 2005, the judges led by Refaiest figures - decided to fight for their independence more aggressively; more specifically, judges threatened to abdicate their legal obligation to monitor parliamentary elections unless the regime met their longstanding demands.

After the Mubarak regime failed to respond adequately to this threat, the Judges’ Club instead set up a Monitoring Commission to oversee the parliamentary elections and issued a damning report documenting the electoral abuses.

The commission identified violations in a large number of electoral constituencies and called for election fraud investigations. Some leading Refaiest judges began to speak to the national and international media about the struggle and even launched a brief silent protest outside the High Court of Cassation.

In 2006, Mubarak instructed Judge Abo El-Liel (Minister of Justice at that time) to bring Judge Mahmoud Mekky and Judge El-Bastawesy before the disciplinary court on charges of insulting the judiciary. In response, the Judges’ Club called a protest sit-in. A large number of judges and other citizens turned up to show support for the judges’ demands. During the sit-in judges’ supporters were attacked by the police several times - surrounding, beating and forcibly removing protesters. For example, nearly 150 protestors were arrested on charges of “supporting the judges” - this included Dr

Mohamed Morsi - the current President of Egypt.

A month later, Judge Mekky and Judge El-Bastawesy were acquitted by the court. However, this victory was short-lived since Mubarak devised a more convenient method to repress Refaiest resilience in 2007: he amended article 88 of the Constitution, robbing the judiciary of its election monitoring role.

In 2009, the Judges’ Club leadership swung again to less confrontational judges, headed by Judge El-Zend. In 2010, the parliamentary elections took place with very limited judiciary supervision - leading to the unsurprising and widely criticised victory of the National Democratic Party who claimed 81 percent of the seats. These elections results were criticized by Refaiest judges as well as other political figures. Indeed, the poll was described by national and international media as the most fraudulent elections in Egyptian history.

Although the effort of the Refaiest seemed fruitless at that time, they strived to give Mubarak regime a black eye: unmasking the regime as corrupted power abusing its people and depriving them of their rights - something that later proved lethal to the reputation and strength of the Mubarak regime.

On 25 Jan 2011, the Egyptian revolution took place following a popular uprising - which included Refaiest judges.

Shortly after the toppling of Mubarak, Judge El-Ghieriany was appointed as the Chairman of SJC, giving hope to Refaiests and other Egyptians that the judiciary might finally exercise its independence. The first step Judge El-Gheriani took was assigning Judge Mekky to head a judicial committee responsible of amending the current judiciary law. Having drafted the amendments, Judge Mekky referred them to the legislative authority for endorsement. However, this process was suspended by the dissolution of parliament in June 2012.

Although the road has been a long rocky one, the Refaiest effort yielded some fruits in the end, since support for judicial independence presently animates the entire political spectrum. Moreover, nowadays we can see Refaiests holding power at different political podiums; Judge Mahmoud Mekky was appointed as Vice President of the Republic; Judge Ahmed Mekky is Justice Minister, Judge El-Ghieriany is Chairman of Constituent Assembly and also Chairman of the National Council of Human Rights, Judge Genena is the President of the Central Auditing Organization, El-Khodiery is Head of the People’s Assembly Legislative and Constitutional Committee (recently dissolved), and many other Refaiests hold top ranking public offices.

Now is a time when the Refaiests can finally realize an ideology that they have nurtured and articulated for generations, in the face of an imperious and impervious presidencies: A state ruled by the law, as defined by the United Nations, is a State in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards - is now a possibility in the new Egypt. This also requires measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency.

NOTE: Omar Mekky is a judge, Egyptian Judicial Authority and lecturer of international law and human rights researcher

Influence of Salafists grows after Arab Spring

By Acil Tabbara iolent protests across the Arab world triggered by a film insulting Islam could reflect the growing strength of Salafist groups that benefit from a widening freedom in Arab Spring countries, analysts say. The Salafists, a group of Sunni Muslims who promote a strict lifestyle based on the traditions of early “pious ancestors”, have made a surprising surge in their influence, mainly in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. Although the majority of the Salafists are not violent, some groups now tend to believe in using force.

They have the “desire to create a balance of power in the street using the excuse of fighting the ‘violations of the sacred’,” said JeanPierre Filiu, a lecturer at Paris’ Science Po university. Religious television channels broadcasting from Saudi Arabia, the homeland of Salafism, are seen as the force behind augmenting the numbers of Salafists across the Arab World over the past 20 years. But although they have been kept under tight control in many Arab countries, some states have encouraged them in secret to “divide

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Islamists” and weaken mainly the Muslim Brotherhood, according to Basheer Nafi, senior researcher at Al-Jazeera Centre for Studies.

Other regimes, such as Syria, use the Salafist “scarecrow” and exaggerate their influence among armed groups as propaganda against popular uprisings demanding regime change in entrenched autocracies.

Unlike the Muslim Brotherhood, a wellstructured organisation that is very political, the Salafists assemble in small groups around influential clerics and are focused on defending the beliefs, according to experts. “Their political discourse remains in a state of infancy, and socio-religious reforms remain their main priority,” according to Stephane Lacroix, the author of “Awakening Islam: The Politics of Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia”. Filiu argued that the term Salafists is widely used to “distinguish Islamists backed

by Saudi Arabia from the Muslim Brotherhood,” adding that Qatar, which played a pivotal role in supporting Arab uprisings “is now more engaged with the Muslim Brotherhood”.

Salafists are becoming more present in

Arab countries where dictators who ruled with an iron fist have been removed by unprecedented uprisings. In Libya, Salafists dared to destroy Muslim shrines, which they consider in violation of Islamic teachings, after strongman Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed last year. Many of them have organised themselves in armed groups. But a Salafist armed group named Ansar al-Sharia Brigade denied this week that it was involved in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, which killed four, including the American ambassador. The attack took place as protesters targeted the US mission, angered by a film titled the “Innocence of Muslims,” excerpts of which were posted online, sending thousands across Muslim countries into the streets in protest.

In Tunisia, four protesters were killed and 49 injured as police clashed Friday with protesters, who appeared to be Salafists, attacked the US embassy. Salafists were banned under the regime of ousted Tunisia president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who fled the country in January last year, bowing to the first uprising that triggered the Arab Spring

wave of protest. They are now divided into two branches: preachers who reject violence, and a jihadist line responsible for recent attacks on cultural events deemed in violation of Islam.

“A majority of Arab Salafists continue to reject meddling in politics” said Filiu, adding that they remain “ready to move violently” against an act they deem to be in violation of Islamic teaching. And, they are more likely to indulge in excessive acts “in countries where they are not assimilated in politics,” such as Libya and Tunisia, according to Lacroix.

But in Egypt where the Salafist Al-Nour party is now deeply involved in politics, the group has opted to “moderate its discourse”, he added. Salafists made a spectacular burst onto the political scene in Egypt, grabbing 25 percent of parliament seats in the first legislatives after the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak. They came second to the Muslim Brotherhood. According to Nafi, the phenomenon will not last. “The rise of the Salafists is a transitional phenomenon. Freedom and democracy will push them back to their real size,” he said. — AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

sp orts Promising Irish player dies

Orfevre wins Arc trial

Bhupathi, Bopanna barred

BELFAST: Promising Irish rugby player Nevin Spence has died after falling into a tank of animal waste on his family farm in an accident that also killed his father and brother. The 22-year-old, who played centre for Irish province Ulster, played an exhibition game for the Irish senior team against the Barbarians this year, but had not made his full competitive debut.

Spence, his father and older brother drowned in a slurry tank on their family farm in Northern Ireland, on Saturday evening, a police spokesman said.

A slurry tank contains animal waste and other biodegradable material that is turned into organic fertiliser.

Nevin’s sister, who was present when the accident occurred, is in a stable condition in hospital after suffering from fume inhalation. “Nevin was an outstanding young player,” Irish Rugby Football Union President Billy Glynn said in a statement. “ The game has been robbed of a very talented young man.” — Reuters

PARIS: Japanese equine star Orfevre was promoted to favorite for the world’s most prestigious middle distance race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, after winning the influential Arc trial the Group Two Prix Foy at Longchamp here yesterday.

The 2011 Japanese Triple Crown winner — who will bid to end a 32-year win drought for Japan which has seen three of their 12 runners finish in the frame came home ahead of three-time European Group One winner Meandre in a slowly-run five runner race.

Some bookmakers made him favorite on the back of the win — William Hill make him 4/1 favorite — but some remained loyal to last year’s Arc winner, German filly Danedream, who will bid to become the first horse to land successive Arcs since Alleged in 1978-79. However, despite the victory leaving some question marks about how it would translate to a far bigger field and a rougher race in the Arc on October 7, the four-year-old colt impressed his rider, crack 31-year-old Belgian Christophe Soumillon. “I was very happy with the performance, the pace was a bit slow and he was a bit fresh but I just wanted to keep track of him on his first time at Longchamp,” said Soumillon, who has won two Arcs on Dalakhani in 2003 and the remarkable filly Zarkava in 2008. “In two strides I got exactly what you need from an Arc de Triomphe horse. — AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s tennis association has handed doubles specialists Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna a two-year Davis Cup suspension for their refusal to partner Leander Paes in this year’s London Olympics.

The trio figured in an ugly row ahead of the Olympics that forced the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to change their original decision to field Paes and Bhupathi as a pair.

Paes eventually partnered rookie Vishnu Vardhan while India had a second pair in Bhupathi and Bopanna but none returned with a medal from London.

“It is ... decided not to consider Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna for selection to play for India until June 30, 2014,” AITA Secretary Bharat Oza said in a statement late on Saturday. After regular pair Bhupathi-Bopanna refused to be separated for the London Games, the AITA decided to pair Paes with Vardhan and indicated action would be taken against Bhupathi and Bopanna. The AITA has decided to retain the current Davis Cup squad, which does not include Paes, for next year’s Asia/Oceania group matches. —Reuters

MLB results/standings Pittsburgh 7, Chicago Cubs 6; Boston 3, Toronto 2; Chicago White Sox 5, Minnesota 3; Atlanta 5, Washington 4; NY Yankees 5, Tampa Bay 3; Detroit 5, Cleveland 3; Houston 5, Philadelphia 0; Kansas City 3, LA Angels 2; Milwaukee 9, NY Mets 6; Miami 6, Cincinnati 4; Seattle 8, Texas 6; San Francisco 3, Arizona 2; San Diego 4, Colorado 3; Oakland 5, Baltimore 2; LA Dodgers 4, St. Louis 3.

National League American League Eastern Division Eastern Division Washington 89 56 .614 NY Yankees 82 63 .566 Atlanta 83 63 .568 6.5 81 64 .559 1 Baltimore Philadelphia 73 73 .500 16.5 Tampa Bay 78 67 .538 4 NY Mets 66 79 .455 23 Boston 66 80 .452 16.5 Miami 65 81 .445 24.4 Toronto 65 79 .451 16.5 Central Division Central Division Cincinnati 87 59 .596 White Sox 78 66 .542 St. Louis 76 70 .521 11 Detroit 77 67 .535 1 Pittsburgh 73 71 .507 13 Kansas City 66 79 .455 12.5 Milwaukee 73 72 .503 13.5 Chicago Cubs 57 88 .393 29.5 Cleveland 60 86 .411 19 Houston 47 99 .322 40 Minnesota 60 86 .411 19 Western Division Western Division San Francisco 83 62 .572 Texas 86 59 .593 LA Dodgers 76 70 .521 7.5 Oakland 84 61 .579 2 Arizona 71 74 .490 12 LA Angels 79 67 .541 7.5 San Diego 70 76 .479 13.5 Seattle 70 76 .479 16.5 Colorado 58 86 .403 24.5

White Sox top AL Central MINNEAPOLIS: Francisco Liriano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Paul Konerko homered and drove in three runs Saturday, and the Chicago White Sox stayed on top of the AL Central with a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

The White Sox entered the day with a one game lead over Detroit in the Central.

Liriano (6-11) was tremendous against his former team, allowing only a two-out homer in the seventh to Trevor Plouffe. He walked two, hit a batter and struck out nine in seven innings. Samuel Deduno (64) struggled with his control from the start, throwing only 40 of his 86 pitches for strikes.

Tigers 5, Indians 3 In Cleveland, Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Detroit beat the Indians despite losing a run on an appeal play.

Sanchez (3-5) struck out seven over 6 2-3 innings as Detroit stayed one game behind the first place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central with its fourth straight win. Carlos Santana spoiled Sanchez’s nohit bid with a two-out triple in the seventh, but Cleveland was officially eliminated from the playoffs after falling to 1645 since the All-Star break. Starter Justin Masterson (11-14) took the loss.

Athletics 5, Orioles 2 In Oakland, Stephen Drew homered and made a pair of big defensive plays to back Jarrod Parker, and the Athletics beat the Orioles. Chris Carter had a two-run double as part of a five-run third inning while Josh Reddick added two hits and an RBI for Oakland, which has won two straight over Baltimore to clinch the season series between the top two teams in the American League wild card race.

The A’s also pulled within two games of first-place Texas in the AL West, the closest they’ve been since April 13. The Rangers lost to Seattle earlier in the day. Nate McLouth homered for Baltimore, which dropped one game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Yankees 5, Rays 3 In New York, Ivan Nova was sharp in his return from a shoulder injury and the Yankees got back-to-back home runs

from Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez in a victory over Tampa Bay. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez each had an RBI single for the Yankees. Evan Longoria homered for the third-place Rays, who fell four games behind New York. Nova (12-7) missed a little more than three weeks with inflammation in his right rotator cuff.

Making his first start since Aug. 21, he was charged with two runs and four hits in sixplus innings. He struck out eight and walked two. James Shields (14-9) allowed four runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 2 In Toronto, Pedro Ciriaco drove in the tiebreaking run with a two-out double in the ninth inning, Cody Ross hit a solo homer and the Red Sox won their second straight, beating the Blue Jays.

After stranding runners at third base three times in the previous five innings, the Red Sox finally broke through in the ninth. Jarrod Saltalamacchia led off with a double against Steve Delabar (4-2), Ryan Lavarnway struck out and Saltalamacchia moved to third on Mike Aviles’ flyball.

Ciriaco followed with a double to left.

Craig Breslow (1-0 AL, 3-0) worked one inning for the win and Andrew Bailey finished for his fourth save in five chances.

Mariners 8, Rangers 6 In Arlington, Justin Smoak homered in the eighth and drove in a run in the ninth to lead the Seattle Mariners to an 8-6 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.

Smoak had three hits, two runs and three RBIs. Seattle built a 6-0 lead in the first three innings before Texas rallied to tie the game.

Lucas Luetge (2-1) got two outs for the victory while Tom Wilhelmsen got the final four outs for his 27th save in 30 chances.

Tanner Scheppers (1-1) took the loss.

Royals 3, Angels 2 In Kansas City, Ernesto Frieri needed just four pitches to ruin a spectacular start by Zack Greinke, giving up two home runs in the ninth inning as the Royals rallied to hand the playoff-contending Angels a stunning loss. Frieri (31) replaced Greinke with one out in the ninth after Alex Gordon singled. Billy Butler homered to center on Frieri‘s first pitch to tie the score. — AP

MINNEAPOLIS: Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Francisco Liriano throws against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning. —AP

Braves get past Nationals ATLANTA: Pinch-runner Jeff Baker scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning when reliever Ryan Mattheus hit Andrelton Simmons’ uniform with a bases-loaded pitch that helped the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 5-4 on Saturday.

Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman homered for the Braves, who have won the first two games in the series and nine of 13.

Atlanta moved within 61/2 games of firstplace Washington in the NL East. The Braves began the game with a seven-game lead over third-place Los Angeles in the NL wild-card race. Braves closer Craig Kimbrel earned his 36th save in 39 ties after striking out the side.

Eric O’Flaherty (3-0) faced the minimum in the eighth for Atlanta, extending his scoreless innings streak to 19 1-3 innings, a span of 22 games. Mattheus (5-2) allowed one hit, one walk, two walks and no strikeouts.

(15-10) allowed three runs on eight hits and a walk over seven innings.

Posey broke a 1-all tie in the fifth with a two-out home run two rows deep into the right-field stands. The All-Star catcher is hitting .390 in 55 games since the All-Star break with 12 homers and 49 RBIs. Astros 5, Phillies 0 In Houston, Dallas Keuchel pitched five-hit ball into the sixth inning and the Astros beat the Phillies and avoided their 100th loss of the season.

The Phillies were slowed in their surge for an NL playoff spot for the second time in

Jenry Mejia (0-1) pitched three innings in his first major-league start exactly two years after undergoing ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery.

Padres 4, Rockies 3 In San Diego, rookie Casey Kelly carried a shutout into the seventh inning and Jesus Guzman hit a three-run homer, leading the Padres to a win over the Rockies.

Kelly (2-1), making his fourth major league start, kept the Rockies off balance with a mixture of fastballs and curveballs. He allowed three runs - two earned - on seven hits over six-plus innings with six strikeouts.

Pirates 7, Cubs 6 In Chicago, Andrew McCutchen homered and reached base four times, and the Pirates held off a late rally to snap a seven-game losing streak with a win over the Cubs.

Wandy Rodriguez (11-13) held Chicago to three runs - one earned - in helping the Pirates stop their free-fall in the NL playoff race. Pittsburgh had lost 17 of 22, yet was just three games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild-card slot entering the day.

Rodriguez is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA over his last four starts after struggling initially upon being acquired midseason from Houston.

McCutchen launched Jason Berkin’s pitch off the rear fence behind the left-field bleachers leading off the third, his 28th round-tripper of the season. He also singled and walked twice, improving to .394 in 27 career games at Wrigley Field.

Marlins 6, Reds 4 In Miami, Carlos Lee homered and drove in three runs to help the Marlins beat the Reds.

Mark Buehrle (13-12) allowed four runs on seven hits over 7 2-3 innings to improve to 4-1 in his last six starts. Jose Reyes had three hits and also drove in a run for Miami.

Johnny Cueto (17-9) suffered his third straight loss and failed to last five innings for the second straight start. Cueto gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 1-3 innings, and hasn’t won since August 28 at Arizona. Ryan Ludwick homered for the Reds in the eighth to make it 6-4. Steve Cishek pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 18 opportunities.

three games by the worst team in the big leagues. Philadelphia entered the day three games behind St. Louis for the final wild-card spot. The Carindals played the Dodgers later Saturday.

Kyle Kendrick (9-11) struggled early and was done after just five innings, his shortest outing in more than a month. He gave up four runs on seven hits, including a two-run homer to Justin Maxwell.

Giants 3, D’backs 2 In Phoenix, Buster Posey had a two-run home run in the fifth to help the Giants beat the Diamondbacks. Barry Zito scattered six hits and one run over 6 2-3 innings for the Giants, who have won four straight and 22 of their past 32. Zito (12-8) walked one and struck out four. Sergio Romo pitched the final 1 1-3 for his 11th save.

Justin Upton hit his 14th home run for the Diamondbacks, who have scored four runs or fewer in 12 straight home games to match a franchise record. Arizona starter Wade Miley

Brewers 9, Mets 6 In Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks hit a two-run homer during a five-run fourth inning to lift the Brewers to a win over the Mets.

Trailing 4-1 in the fourth the Brewers rallied for five runs to win for the 19th time in 25 games and stay in the hunt for a wild card.

The Mets lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

Weeks’ homer capped the inning and was his 20th of the season. He also had a double, scored two runs and drove in three. Reliever Brandon Kintzler (2-0) pitched a scoreless fifth to get credit for the victory.

ATLANTA: Braves’ Andrelton Simmons reacts after scoring the game-winning run on a base hit by Tyler Pastornicky in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals. —AP Luke Gregerson pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save in 12 chances. Rookie Drew Pomeranz (1-9) allowed four runs on four hits in three innings with three strikeouts for Colorado.

Dodgers 4, Cardinals 3 In Los Angeles, Luis Cruz came up with his second clutch hit in two nights, a tying twoout RBI double in the ninth inning, and pinchhitter Juan Rivera followed with a run-scoring single to lift the Dodgers to a victory over the Cardinals. Jason Motte (4-5) came in trying to protect a 3-2 lead for Jaime Garcia and retired his first two batters. But Andre Ethier kept the Dodgers alive with a single and pinch-runner Dee Gordon stole second before Cruz drove him in with a drive that center fielder Jon Jay barely missed on a diving attempt in front of the warning track.

Rivera batted for AJ Ellis and lined a single off the tip of second baseman Daniel Descalso’s glove, enabling pinch-runner Elian Herrera to score the winning run. —AP

Latvala triumphs in Rally of Great Britain CARDIFF: Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala of Ford won the Rally of Great Britain, the 10th leg of the World Rally Championship, ahead of France’s Sebastien Loeb in Cardiff yesterday.

Also victorious in last year’s race, Latvala led practically from the start to finish 27.8sec ahead of championship leader and eight-time world champion Loeb, with Latvala’s Norwegian team-mate Petter Solberg a further 0.9sec back in third place.

The result prevented Citroen from claiming victory in the constructors’ championship, but both Citroen and Loeb will expect to be crowned champions at the Rally of France in Alsace on October 4-7.

Despite a late fightback yesterday, Loeb was unable to undo the damage inflicted during the first two days of the race, when Ford proved more adept at handling the slippery roads in the south Wales countryside.

He did, however, succeed in overhauling Solberg, who began the day more than six seconds in front of him. Latvala recorded the seventh victory of his career and his second win this season, after a previous success in Sweden.

It enabled Ford to bring an end to a run of five straight victories for the all-conquering Loeb, who is nonetheless closing in on his ninth successive world championship crown. —AFP

CARDIFF: Jari- Matti Latvala of Finland drives his Ford Fiesta RS during the Wales Rally. —AFP

MANSOORI

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

S P ORT S

NHL on ice: Lockout in place NEW YORK: The chance of averting an NHL lockout all but disappeared long before the midnight deadline Saturday, setting up the third major work stoppage of a major sports league in 18 months, following the NFL and NBA. With less than an hour left, there were no signs either side would signal a desire to resume talks, all but guaranteeing NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman would make good on his vow to shut down the league at midnight EDT. Splitting a revenue pot of $3.3 billion was the central issue. A lockout was considered such a foregone conclusion, that an NHL spokesman said the league wouldn’t even officially announce at midnight that it actually was in effect.

“We talked with the union this morning, and in light of the fact that they have nothing new to offer, or any substantive response to our last proposal, there would be nothing gained by convening a bargaining session at this time,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement earlier Saturday. “I’m sure that we will remain in contact in the coming days.”

Barring a last-minute development, this will be the league’s fourth work stoppage since 1992, and the latest chapter in labor unrest that has vexed American professional sports. The NFL was locked out for much of the offseason in 2011 while the last NBA season was shortened from 82 games to 66 and began on Christmas.

Baseball successfully reached a labor deal and some have suggested that the fact MLB didn’t have a work stoppage has to do with the fact that baseball has no salary cap, allowing for more wiggle room in negotiations. Despite a third straight day of telephone discussions between Daly and players’ association special counsel Steve Fehr, the brother of NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, hopes of face-to-face talks were dashed early Saturday. “We suggested that the parties meet in advance of the owners’

self-imposed deadline of midnight tonight,” Steve Fehr said Saturday in an emailed statement to the AP. “Don Fehr, myself and several players on the Negotiating Committee were in the City and prepared to meet. The NHL said that it saw no purpose in having a formal meeting.

“There have been and continue to be private, informal discussions between representatives of both sides.” While the NHL lockout might not wipe out the whole season as the one in 200405 did, a sizeable chunk of games could be lost without productive talks soon.

In jeopardy are a couple of key dates on the calendar: the New Year’s Day outdoor Winter Classic at 115,000-seat Michigan Stadium between the host Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs; and the Jan. 27 All-Star game hosted by the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of the league’s struggling small-market teams.

The sides traded proposals Wednesday, but neither new offer moved them closer to a deal.

The lack of progress then made a lockout almost inevitable.

“I think it’s fair to say there was no realistic expectation to avoid lockout as of developments on Wednesday and Thursday,” Daly told the AP. Bettman has insisted that hockey management is determined to come away with economic gains, even if it forces another work stoppage. Damage is certain to occur almost immediately, and there is no telling how jilted fans and sponsors will react to another shutdown, especially if it lasts through the fall and into the winter.

Players are concerned management hasn’t addressed the league’s financial problems by reexamining the teams’ revenue-sharing formula.

Having made several big concessions to reach a deal in 2005, the union doesn’t think it should have to make more this time after record financial growth.

Once the lockout was imposed in September 2004, the sides didn’t get back together until December. That stalemate was finally resolved in July 2005.

Players absorbed a salary-cap system - the major issue then - and took an immediate 24 percent rollback of existing contracts in exchange for 57 percent of hockey-related revenues. The NHL now says that figure is too high, and is willing to have another league shutdown to reduce that share to 49 percent to 47 percent.

Its original offer was to cut it to 43 percent, and an updated proposal raised it to 46 before another new offer pushed it a little higher Wednesday, the last time the sides met.

Instead of making a percentage-based offer, the union is seeking a deal that would guarantee players annually at least the $1.8 billion in salaries paid out last season.

Bettman said the league’s latest offer would be pulled off the table once the current CBA expired because immediate damage caused by a lockout would force the NHL to reassess what it could then offer. Without a philosophical difference this time over the salary cap, the sides merely have to figure out a way to divide hockey revenues that grew from $2.1 billion to $3.3 billion under the expiring deal.

NHL players struck in April 1992, causing 30 games to be postponed. This would be the third lockout under Bettman. The 1994-95 lockout ended after 103 days and the cancellation of 468 games.

The most recent lockout was settled after 301 days and a month after the league would have awarded the Stanley Cup. It marked the first time a North American professional sports league lost an entire season because of a labor dispute, and the first time the Stanley Cup wasn’t handed out since 1919, when a flu epidemic prevented a champion from being crowned. —AP

SAALBURG: Hovercrafts start during the third F2 race at the Hovercraft World Championship on the accumulation lake ‘Bleiloch’ near Saalburg, central Germany. —AP

Carter a doubt as All Blacks face tough finish on the road WELLINGTON: Flyhalf Dan Carter’s calf strain is still causing him problems but he will be given until the last minute to prove his fitness before New Zealand embark on a two-game road trip to conclude the Rugby Championship.

While four wins out of four have put the world champions on the verge of clinching the title in the inaugural version of the southern hemisphere competition, they have a tough finish to the championship. They play Argentina in La Plata on Sept. 29 and South Africa in Johannesburg on Oct. 6 and coach Steve Hansen told reporters that Carter, who missed the All Blacks previous two matches with the injury, was still causing some concern.

“No he’s not running full noise yet. The medical staff think he will be (okay), but we’ll have to wait and see,” Hansen told Fairfax Media in Dunedin yesterday. “We’ll probably make a decision late in the week, probably Friday.”

Carter’s calm reassurance was sorely missed in atrocious conditions against the Pumas last week, though his understudy Aaron Cruden

grew into the game at Wellington Regional Stadium and looked more composed directing the team against the Springboks in Dunedin on Saturday.

“The two young guys (Cruden and scrumhalf Aaron Smith) drove us around the park quite well in the second half,” Hansen said after the All Blacks snuck to a 21-11 victory over South Africa. “They’re continuing to grow and get experience and that experience will do us well in the future.” The All Blacks have won 14 successive tests and have had to do so largely without Carter, who has played just six of the matches due to injuries.

The youthful exuberance and growing experience of Cruden and Smith will be needed on their road trip. While the All Blacks are undefeated in their 15 tests against Argentina, winning 14 tests and drawing one, the Pumas are much tougher to beat at home than on the road.

The All Blacks only blemish on their perfect record was the 21-21 draw in Buenos Aires in 1985, while on their last two trips to South

America they have had to grind out tough wins, 25-19 in 2006 and 24-20 in 2001.

The Pumas also drew with South Africa in Mendoza last month and will be fuming they let a rare away victory slip through their grasp on Saturday when they led Australia 19-6 in the second half only for the Wallabies to fight back and win 23-19.

Once they leave Argentina the All Blacks head to Johannesburg, where they will play the Springboks at the Soccer City stadium in Soweto and are likely to face the same physical encounter they came up against in Dunedin on Saturday.

The All Blacks were lucky to win the match at Otago Stadium, with the normally reliable Springboks’ goalkickers missing six shots at goal. While their tactics under new coach Heyneke Meyer are one dimensional, they can nonetheless be effective and the Springboks are unlikely to let victory over the world champions slip from their grasp twice in one season. —Reuters

FONTANA: Cars pit during a caution flag in the IndyCar auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. —AP

Hunter-Reay wins, Power crashes FONTANA: Ryan Hunter-Reay became the first American to win the IndyCar championship since 2006 with a thrilling final drive Saturday in the season finale.

Australia’s Will Power crashed out of the race early, and had to watch on television in street clothes as Hunter-Reay snatched the title away at Auto Club Speedway.

Power’s accident should have given Hunter-Reay a wide-open road to his first championship. Instead, he had to hang on for 500 nerve-racking miles, withstand several hairy restarts and a controversial red-flag to snatch the title away from Power on Saturday night.

Needing to finish fifth to win the title after Power exited the race, Hunter-Reay did one better, finishing fourth to put the American flag back atop the IndyCar podium.

Hunter-Reay claimed the title by three points over Power to become the first American since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006 to win the IndyCar championship.

“I just drove 500 miles like it was for my life,” he said. “I can’t believe we’re IndyCar champions. I cannot believe this. My dream has come true.”

Power, denied for a third consecutive year, was in street clothes watching the finish on television after crashing out early at Auto Club Speedway. He took a 17point lead into the finale, but once out of the race, gave Hunter-Reay total control of his destiny.

Hunter-Reay struggled all week at California, even wrecking in Wednesday’s open test session, and was off at the start of the race. But he picked his way through the field and was on the edge of where he needed to finish as the laps wound down.

Still, a flurry of late cautions made for some hair-raising restarts and a late redflag that drew the ire or team owner Michael Andretti. Hunter-Reay managed to hang on in a race that was won by Ed Carpenter, another American.

“We were struggling all weekend. I didn’t want to let anyone really know about it that much. We were really in the woods,” Hunter-Reay said. Power, who has finished second in the points three years in a row, visited Hunter-Reay after the finish. “At the end of the day, Hunter-Reay is a deserving champion, a real fighter,” Power said.

Hunter-Reay won a series-best four races this season, his third with Andretti Autosport. He used a string of three consecutive wins during the summer to climb into the championship, and with Power in position to clinch two weeks ago at Baltimore, he won again to stay in the hunt.

He was rewarded on the eve of the championship race with a new two-year contract from Andretti, the team he has credited for giving him the continuity and

support he needed to put together the best season of his career.

“It was really an unbelievable weekend,” said Andretti, who won his fourth championship as an owner but first since 2007. Power, meanwhile, was left wondering how yet another title slipped away.

He’s the most dominant driver on road and street courses, and knows that racing on ovals is the one glaring weakness in his program. And when he looks back at this season, he knows that a blocking penalty at Texas and crashes on the ovals at Indianapolis, Iowa, and now, California, cost him the title.

“I wish I could put my finger on one particular thing I don’t do right,” Power said. “If you look at it, three ovals I crashed out of is a massive hit on points. It’s over a whole season that you win a championship and that was proven tonight.”

Power crashed 55 laps into the race, spinning hard into the outside wall when his car slipped in a seam in the track. It’s the third consecutive year Power has gone into the finale with the title on the line and had an incident snatch away his chances.

He brushed the wall at Homestead in 2011 and lost the title by five points to Dario Franchitti. Last year, his points lead was gobbled up when another car hit him on pit road in the penultimate race, and he was involved in the 15-car accident that killed Dan Wheldon in the finale.

Power broke his back in that accident in Las Vegas. “Man, depressing,” Power said after leaving the wreck. “I wish I could care less.” Power laughed nervously, searching and failing to find the right words to describe his frustration.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s depressing,” he said. “Depressing to lose the championship again that way. Nothing I can say, mate, it’s just depressing. I don’t know what emotion to even feel right now.”

But his Penske team, which has not won a championship since Hornish in 2006, worked furiously to get his car back on the track so he could turn 12 laps and gain more points in the standings. Power had already changed into street clothes, rushed back into his firesuit, and had a total change of attitude when he got back in the car.

“Keep our fingers crossed,” he smiled, his mood completely changed. Both Power and Hunter-Reay went into the race seeking their first career title, and Power said he watched on TV the closing laps unsure how it would end. He was cracking self-deprecating jokes when it was over, perhaps an unusual reaction for one of the most intense and driven drivers in the series. “Well, I’ve done it for two years in a row, so I’ve kind of learned how to cope with it,” he said. —AP

Lorenzo cruises to victory

ITALY: Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, of Spain, celebrates on the podium after winning the San Marino MotoGP at the Misano circuit. —AP

ITALY: Jorge Lorenzo cruised to victory in the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix on Sunday after championship rival and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa fell during the first lap.

Issues with Karel Abraham’s Cardion AB Racing Ducati prompted a restart, and the race was shortened from 28 to 27 laps and polesitter Pedrosa ended up starting last after a tire warmer problem. Pedrosa was then taken out by the front wheel of Pramac Racing’s Hector Barbera on one of the opening turns. Lorenzo clocked 42 minutes, 49.836 seconds on his Yamaha Factory bike, seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy pleased the home fans by finishing second on his Ducati, 4.398 seconds behind, and Spain’s Alvaro Bautista of San Carlo Honda Gresini held off Andrea Dovizioso in a photo finish for third, 6.055 back. Lorenzo increased his lead over Pedrosa in the standings to 38 points, with five races remaining. “It was a strange race,” Lorenzo said.

“It’s too bad for Dani, but it was a good result for us.” Rossi matched his best result of the season and went over to a fence to salute his legions of fans. “This is for everyone who kept believing in me,” said Rossi, who will return to Yamaha next season. Spanish rider Marc Marquez of the CatalunyaCaixa Repsol team won the Moto2 race and German rider Sandro Cortese of the Red Bull KTM Ajo team won the Moto3 race.

The Moto2 warmup was marred by a crash involving Ratthapark Wilairot, whose motorcycle nearly bounced on top of him as he slid off the track. But the Thai rider walked away and came back to race later, finishing 19th. The crash initially brought back memories of the fatal accident involving Japanese Moto2 rider Shoya Tomizawa, who died after crashing and being hit by two other riders in this race two years ago. The Misano circuit is named after Marco Simoncelli, who died in a crash in last year’s Malaysian GP. —AP

GERMANY: A judge watches the leather ring held by two competitors with their middle fingers at the German Finger Wrestling championships.

Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over the marked line on the table. —AP

Coach denies abusive methods LOS ANGELES: US short track speedskating team coach Jae Su Chun has denied claims of physical and verbal abuse levied by more than a dozen skaters, including five Olympic medallists.

“I have not abused athletes in any way and am confident I will be found innocent at the outcome of the investigation,” South Korean-born Chun said in a statement released Sunday through spokesman Hyonmyong Cho. Nineteen athletes filed a grievance against US Speedskating over Chun’s alleged behavior and the federation’s failure to stop it, and 14 signed a code of conduct complaint with the US Olympic Committee on August 30.

A USOC spokesman confirmed on

Friday that the organization is probing allegations that Chun slammed an athlete against a wall and repeatedly hit him, threw bottles and chairs at skaters, and told women skaters they were “fat” and “disgusting”.

“US Speedskating takes this grievance very seriously and we intend to investigate each and every allegation,” Tamara Castellano, the federation’s communications and marketing director, said, according to reports in the Chicago Tribune and the Salt Lake City Tribune. Chun, who was born in Daegu, South Korea, coached the Korean national team until shortly before the 2006 Olympics. He worked with the Canadian team before he was hired by US Speedskating in 2007. —AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

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Alabama, Florida State win FAYETTEVILLE: The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide demolished the beleaguered Arkansas Razorbacks 52-0 in top-25 college football Saturday Arkansas’ much-anticipated season has crumbled three weeks into the season. The Razorbacks lost 34-31 in overtime last week to Louisiana-Monroe, and Wilson suffered a head injury in that game. Eddie Lacy ran for three touchdowns and Atlanta forced five turnovers to win its 21st straight to SEC opener.

LAS VEGAS: Canelo Alvarez, of Mexico (left) punches Josesito Lopez during a super welterweight championship boxing match.—AP

Alvarez defends belt, stops Lopez LAS VEGAS: Josesito Lopez threw every punch he could muster at Saul Alvarez, and Canelo Alvarez barely flinched. A few moments later, Lopez was seated on the canvas with a sore midsection and a growing sense of doom.

The 12-to-1 underdog just wasn’t going to conjure up his second upset of the year.

Lopez’s Rocky story would have no sequel.

Alvarez stopped Lopez late in the fifth round Saturday night, defending his WBC super welterweight title with a relentless display of power from a 22-year-old Mexican star who’s ready to fight boxing’s biggest names after dominating one of its most unlikely contenders.

Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KOs) methodically erased Lopez’s improbable title hopes by knocking down Lopez in the second, third and fourth rounds. Another series of relentless combinations finally forced referee Joe Cortez to step in with 5 seconds left in the fifth, sending Alvarez to his 37th consecutive victory.

“Josesito has a big heart and is very brave, but I came in and did what I had to do and finished business,” Alvarez said. “I’m not usually looking for the knockout, but tonight it was perfect.”

Lopez (30-5) earned this unlikely title shot by knocking off Victor Ortiz in June, but the Riverside, Calif., native realized he was simply outclassed by a dynamic young champion.

“He proved that he’s the better fighter,” Lopez said. “I felt good going in, but his size is pretty good. There was a big difference. He’s a smart fighter. I was hoping to land some punches, but he was smarter, stronger and patient. I was looking for a good punch to change the momentum.” Lopez got into the MGM Grand Garden by breaking Ortiz’s jaw and eventually accepting the golden ticket to fight Canelo when Ortiz, Paul Williams and James Kirkland all couldn’t or wouldn’t take on the rising Mexican star.

His life story - rising from boxing anonymity and keeping his family together while his father serves a major stretch in prison - is an inspiration, but Lopez realized pretty quickly he wasn’t about to add another unbelievable chapter. Alvarez wouldn’t allow it. He has his own dreams of superstardom, and he’s well on the way.

“I think I’m improving with each fight,” Alvarez said. “I had a big responsibility tonight to all my fans watching around the world, and I think I did my job. I want the big fights now. (Miguel) Cotto, (Floyd) Mayweather, I’ll fight them all.”

Although Lopez had never fought at 154 pounds and was a junior welterweight last year, Alvarez insisted he wouldn’t overlook any opponent. Lopez spent most of his career fighting in hotel ballrooms and casinos in his

native Southern California before stepping in against Ortiz under Staples Center’s bright lights when Andre Berto failed a doping test.

Lopez is slightly taller, but Alvarez’s rocksolid build presented a sharp contrast with Lopez’s more wiry frame - and Canelo made sure Lopez felt his power throughout the fight.

Alvarez won every round on every judge’s scorecard before the fight was stopped. The Associated Press also had Canelo winning 4033.

Alvarez landed 52 percent of his 269 total punches, including 64 percent of his 162 power shots. Lopez actually threw more punches, but landed just 32 percent of his 279.

Alvarez dropped Lopez with left hooks to the body in the second and third rounds while also blankly absorbing everything Lopez could throw at him. Alvarez knocked down Lopez with another combination with 15 seconds left in the fourth.

Cortez, a veteran official refereeing his final fight before retirement, stepped in when Lopez offered little resistance to a long barrage of shots. Alvarez paraded around the ring briefly on his cornermen’s shoulders while the pro-Mexican crowd roared one last time.

Even with a big crowd attending Sergio Martinez’s middleweight fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. a few blocks down Tropicana Avenue at the Thomas and Mack Center, a sellout crowd of 14,275 packed into the MGM Grand Garden to watch Alvarez, whose redheaded good looks and furious punching power have put him in competition with Chavez and Juan Manuel Marquez for the top spot among Mexico’s most beloved fighters.

Alvarez was guaranteed a $2 million purse to just $212,500 for Lopez, although he’s likely to make more. Canelo even got the $100,000 bonus from promoter Golden Boy for the Knockout of the Night on a show dubbed “Knockout Kings,” beating out Marcos Maidana’s sensational eighth-round stoppage of Jesus Soto Karass on a strong undercard.

Lopez unloaded a series of shots early in the second round that backed up Alvarez, but didn’t appear to hurt him in the slightest.

Alvarez replied with his typically heavy hands, putting Lopez on his back heel and eventually flooring him late in the round with a right to the face and a devastating left hook to the ribs. Lopez went down again in the third, stumbling backward after a straight blow to the stomach. A combination basically forced Lopez to the ground in the fourth - and though he didn’t appear beaten, he also had little to offer.

“He’s a way better fighter than Victor,” Lopez said of Alvarez. “He’s got a lot of skill, and he’s very smart.”—AP

LAS VEGAS: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. of Mexico (left) and Sergio Martinez of Argentina (right) compete during their WBC middleweight boxing title fight.—AFP

Martinez defeats Chavez LAS VEGAS: Argentina’s Sergio Martinez survived a torrid final round to defeat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and claim the WBC middleweight title in Las Vegas on Saturday.

A series of Chavez left hands early in the final round knocked Martinez down, and had him badly hurt but the challenger returned fire and hung on to reach the final bell in a fight that, until the knockdown, he had been dominating.

“Julio fought a great fight,” Martinez said.

“He showed he had heart right until the end.”

Until the final round, the 37-year-old Martinez, 50-2-2 (28 KOs), was far too fast and skillful for Chavez, 46-1-1 (32 KOs). He bloodied his opponents’ nose and closed his left

eye with southpaw right jabs and straight left hands, and progressively weakened him with left hands to the body.

For his part, Chavez seemed intent on attempting to pin the smaller Martinez in a corner or against the ropes and dig to the body with hooks and uppercuts.

But each time it appeared he might be starting to turn the momentum in his favour, Martinez would respond, repeatedly succeeding in spinning away or returning fire. “I was 20 seconds away from knocking him out,” Chavez said. “I started way too late. Going into the fight, I thought I was going to be able to do all night what I did in that final round. “A rematch is justified.”—Reuters

STANFORD 21, USC 14 At Stanford, California, Stanford still had every answer for Matt Barkley and Southern California. Josh Nunes threw a go-ahead 37-yard touchdown to Zach Ertz, Stepfan Taylor ran for 153 yards and scored two touchdowns, and No. 21 Stanford upset second-ranked USC for its fourth straight win in this series.

LSU 63, IDAHO 14 At Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Tigers safety Ronald Martin and defensive end Lavar Edwards each snagged deflected passes and returned them for scores. Kansas State had 39 straight non-conference regular-season wins from 19932003.

OREGON 63, TENNESSEE TECH 14 At Eugene, Oregon, Marcus Mariota threw for 308 yards and four touchdowns before Oregon pulled its starters. Multitalented De’Anthony Thomas had 222 all-purpose yards on 10 touches. He ran for a 59-yard touchdown and caught a 16-yard scoring pass from Mariota.

FLORIDA STATE 52, WAKE FOREST 0 At Tallahassee, Florida, Chris Thompson scored on runs of 74 and 80 yards on consecutive carries in the first half to lead the Seminoles.

Thompson, who suffered a broken back at Wake Forest a year ago that nearly ended his career, already had a career-high 197 yards following his 80-yard touchdown run that put the Seminoles into a 28-0 lead with 9:42 remaining in the first half.

his season debut and Clemson won its 30th straight over Furman.

335 yards and two touchdowns, both to Brandon Carter, and TCU won its Big 12 debut.

OHIO STATE 35, CALIFORNIA 28 At Columbus, Ohio, Braxton Miller lofted a 72yard touchdown pass to an all-alone Devin Smith with 3:26 left and Christian Bryant snuffed out California’s last chance with an interception for the Buckeyes.

MICHIGAN 63, UMASS 13 At Ann Arbor, Michigan, Denard Robinson put up 397 yards of total offense and accounted for four touchdowns for Michigan.

PITTSBURGH 35, VIRGINIA TECH 17 In Pittsburgh, Ray Graham ran for 94 yards and two scores and added an 18-yard touchdown reception to lead Pitt to its first victory of the season. Tino Sunseri passed for 283 yards and two touchdowns and freshman running back Rushel Shell added 157 yards as Pitt (1-2) gave coach Paul Chryst his first career victory in emphatic fashion.

Virginia Tech (2-1) had won 13 straight true road games, the longest active streak in the country, but let Pitt race to a quick three-touchdown lead and never really threatened. Logan Thomas completed just 14 of 31 passes for 265 yards and one touchdown against three interceptions.

TEXAS 66, MISSISSIPPI 31 At Oxford, Mississippi, David Ash threw for a career-high 326 yards and four touchdowns as Texas easily beat Mississippi.

KANSAS STATE 35, NORTH TEXAS 21.

At Manhattan, Kansas, Collin Klein threw for 230 yards and accounted for three touchdowns and Tyler Lockett returned a kickoff 96 yards for another score.

TCU 20, KANSAS 6 At Lawrence, Kansas, Casey Pachall threw for

FLORIDA 37, TENNESSEE 20 At Knoxville, Tennessee, Jeff Driskel threw a pair of touchdown passes and Trey Burton rushed for two more scores as Florida scored the final 24 points to beat the Vols for the eight straight meeting.

LOUISVILLE 39, NORTH CAROLINA 34 At Louisville, Kentucky, Teddy Bridgewater threw three first-half touchdowns and No. 19 Louisville scored on its first six possessions, and then had thwart North Carolina’s comeback with a late defensive stand.

UCLA 37, HOUSTON 6 At Pasadena, California, Redshirt freshman Brett Hundley passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns, and UCLA’s hard-hitting defense held high-scoring Houston in check.

ARIZONA 56, S CAROLINA STATE 0 At Tucson, Arizona, Matt Scott accounted for 349 total yards and four touchdowns in three quarters, and Arizona breezed through its final nonconference game, rolling over South Carolina State.

UTAH 24, BYU 21 At Salt Lake City, Jon Hays had two touchdown passes, Moe Lee returned a fumble 47 yards for another and BYU missed two last-second field goal attempts as Utah upset the Cougars.—AP

GEORGIA 56, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 20 At Athens, Georgia, Aaron Murray passed for a career-best 342 yards and two touchdowns, and scored twice on short runs.

Playing without Jarvis Jones and two other defensive starters, Georgia (3-0) struggled in the first half to slow a Florida Atlantic team that scored a single touchdown against lower-division Wagner.

The 44-point underdog Owls kept converting third downs and found themselves tied at 14 early in the second quarter.

SOUTH CAROLINA 49, UAB 6 At Columbia, South Carolina, Connor Shaw went 8 of 14 for 107 yards before reinjuring his throwing shoulder. Shaw left the game after taking a brutal hit just after he released a 20-yard pass to Bruce Ellington late in the first half.

Athletics officials said the junior aggravated the bruised right shoulder that kept him out of last week’s game.

WEST VIRGINIA 42, JAMES MADISON 12 At Landover, Maryland, Geno Smith completed 34 of 39 passes for 411 yards and five touchdowns for West Virginia. Smith set the school’s career passing yardage record, topping Marc Bulger.

NOTRE DAME 20, MICHIGAN STATE 3 At East Lansing, Michigan, Everett Golson made plays with his arms and legs, and an inspired Manti Te’o helped Notre Dame’s defense smother Michigan State.

The Fighting Irish are off to their best start in 10 years, with the type of marquee victory that’s eluded them for almost as long.

CLEMSON 41, FURMAN 7 At Clemson, South Carolina, Tajh Boyd threw for 310 yards and three touchdown passes, Sammy Watkins had a 58-yard touchdown run in

KNOXVILLE: Tennessee wide receiver Justin Hunter (11) catches a pass as Florida defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy (15) defends during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game.—AP

Ferrer puts Spain in final GIJON: Holders Spain clinched a berth in their fourth Davis Cup final in five years when David Ferrer overcame the big-serving John Isner to help beat the United States 3-1 in the last-four tie in Gijon yesterday. World number five Ferrer had to fight from a set down on the clay in the northern Spanish city, coming through 67 6-3 6-4 6-2 against the 10th-ranked Isner for his 16th victory in 16 singles rubbers on clay.

Isner told Spanish TV before the match Ferrer was probably his favorite player on the tour for his work ethic and fighting qualities but it was the American who battled back from a break down to take the opening set 7-3 in the tiebreak.

One US fan held up a card counting each of Isner’s booming aces-he powered down 16 in the match to Ferrer’s five-but the American also made 70 unforced errors to Ferrer’s 32 and he was visibly tiring as his challenge faded in the fourth set. He saved a match point on his serve to stay in the match but it was merely delaying the inevitable as Ferrer sealed victory the next game when Isner went wide with a limp backhand.

Ferrer flung his racket into the crowd before he, Isner and captains Alex Corretja and Jim Courier shook hands at the net. Shortly after it was announced that Nicolas Almagro and Sam Querrey would not contest the final rubber. Spain will play away against 2011 runners-up Argentina or Czech Republic in November’s final.

The Czechs were in a strong position at 2-1 ahead after Saturday’s doubles, with Tomas Berdych due to play Carlos Berlocq in late yesterday’s first reverse singles following the withdrawal through injury of Juan Martin del Potro.—Reuters

GIJON: Spain’s David Ferrer returns a ball against US John Isner during the fourth match of the Davis Cup semi-final Spain against USA at the Hermanos Castro park court.—AFP

Shin leads British Open HOYLAKE: South Korea’s Shin Jiyai, five shots ahead at halfway, held a three-shot lead after a third-round 71 at the weather- delayed Women’s British Open at Royal Liverpool yesterday.

With 36 holes having to be squeezed into the final day after Friday’s play was postponed due to wind, Australia’s Karrie Webb made the biggest charge in round three with five birdies in a 68. Shin stood on ten-under-par 206, with

Webb, a three-time former winner, on seven under par and South Korea’s Park Inbee alone in third place on four under after a 72 that included a double-bogey six at the 17th. Lydia Ko (76), the 15-year-old New Zealander who won the Canadian Open last month, and England’s Holly Clyburn (74) were the joint-top amateurs on three over par. Yani Tseng, the two-time defending champion, slipped back to four over par after a round of 76.—AFP

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

S P ORT S

Much ado in NFL and England on handshakes NEW YORK: This weekend, the two kinds of football played on opposite shores of the Atlantic for once have a shared fascination — handshakes.

Which is stunning, really, because how hard can this be? Extend hand, clasp opponent’s hand, squeeze gently, let go.

This is a form of greeting that toddlers manage. It has been performed for centuries, yet in sports it can confound and confuse.

This hang-up over handshakes is mostly a masculine affliction. Poor guys. It must be their man juices. Testosterone.

Male pride. Call it what you will. That and thin skins can make them as volatile as gasoline and make the handshake their emotional Everest. Too hard, too soft, not respectful enough, too respectful and — boom!

But what a laugh. Re-watching Jim Schwartz, coach of the Detroit Lions, or Mark Hughes, manager of Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League, lose it over handshakes gone awry doesn’t grow tiresome. And because sports pit the same protagonists against each other

season after season, these mini-dramas keep on giving.

In the NFL, The Handshake, Part I, was last October. After his Lions lost 25-19 to the San Francisco 49ers, Schwartz didn’t take at all kindly to the over-exuberant handshake and backslap he got from the Niners’ winning coach, Jim Harbaugh. So he chased and shoulder-barged him.

Words were exchanged. Players stepped in to keep them apart. “That’s totally on me,” Harbaugh said later. “I shook his hand too hard.” Part II is in prime time Sunday night, when their teams meet again at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. This time, will the coaches act like big boys?

There was also a will-they-or-won’tthey handshake question across the pond in the Premier League, at Hughes’ QPR. English newspapers said Hughes’ defender, Anton Ferdinand, was contemplating not shaking hands with John Terry and Ashley Cole of Chelsea.

Unlike Schwartz’s oversensitive reaction to Harbaugh’s handshake, this one was perhaps easier to understand, if not sympathize with.

When Terry and Ferdinand played against each other 11 months ago, things turned ugly. They traded insults after a disputed penalty call. Ferdinand goaded Terry, the Chelsea captain, about an alleged extramarital affair. It later led to Terry being summoned to court to face charges that he racially abused Ferdinand, who is black. Terry was subsequently cleared in July. Cole testified in Terry’s defense. There still seems to be ill feeling.

Hughes said Friday that his team will shake hands with Chelsea’s players, if that’s what the Premier League wants, but also suggested that Ferdinand could opt out.

“I’m conscious of the fact that every time we play Chelsea the issue of the handshake clouds everybody’s mind and the focus is taken away from a great Premier League game,” he said. “It’s not my decision to make. We’re governed by the Premier League and if we’re told it will go ahead, then we will do that.” But he added: “Everybody has a mind of their own and will make a personal decision.”

Some commentators suggest that

the tradition of pre-game handshakes in soccer as well as other sports — has become more trouble than it is worth and should be abandoned.

But it does at least serve to give the impression that the players have a minimum of respect for one another, for the match officials and for the rules — even if they don’t subsequently display that on the field. It also reminds everyone, not least the excessively tribal soccer fans, that this is sport, not conflict. And all of that makes this tradition a worthwhile one.

If Ferdinand is still harboring a grudge, so be it. Refusing to shake hands with Terry and Cole would telegraph that. But would it say much more? No. That was also true of Wayne Bridge’s refusal in 2010 to shake the hand of Terry.

That was after newspapers reported that Chelsea’s captain had an affair with Bridge’s former partner, Vanessa Perroncel. Bridge perhaps felt that he made a point by studiously ignoring Terry’s outstretched right hand, but what that point was exactly was never clear.

Terry surely didn’t lose sleep over it.

Hughes and Roberto Mancini, the manager of English champion Manchester City, also looked silly when they had a handshake spat in February last year.

After their teams drew 1-1, Mancini pointedly didn’t look at Hughes as he extended his hand. Hughes took offense and snatched his own hand away.

“I am little bit old-fashioned,” Hughes said. “Maybe I misread it, but I just felt Roberto didn’t really acknowledge the efforts of my team and how well we’d done by the manner of the way he offered his hand.” It was all very petty. That is often the case when sportsmen make mountains out of handshakes. Shaking hands can reflect well on them. It at least can make them look like adults capable of putting personal differences aside for the duration of a game or able to graciously accept defeat - even if they are seething inside.

But, often, making an issue of what really is a token gesture can make them look small-minded. So get on with it.

Shake. Move on. —AP

Real Madrid in real mess after second league loss BARCELONA: After dominating the Spanish league last season, defending champion Real Madrid was supposed to brush aside its lesser domestic rivals in this campaign and focus on winning a coveted 10th Champions League trophy. But after losing its second league match 1-0 at Sevilla on Saturday, Madrid is reeling only two days before facing Manchester City in the Champions League.

Coach Jose Mourinho says he “doesn’t have a team,” forward Cristiano Ronaldo is “sad,” and the entire club is wondering what has so quickly gone so wrong.

Through four rounds, Madrid has just one win to go with a draw and a pair of losses and already trails pacesetter Barcelona by eight points as it languishes in the middle of the standings.

Mourinho has to find a quick turnaround as Madrid plays English titleholder Manchester City tomorrow in their Champions league opener, a game that it can ill afford to lose in a challenging group that includes German champion Borussia Dortmund and Dutch team Ajax.

“We didn’t expect to have this start,” said Madrid club spokesman and former star Emilio Butragueno. “(Eight points) are a lot of points.

We have a very important game on Tuesday. It’s critical.”

In his first two seasons at Madrid, Mourinho rarely blamed his players for a bad result. But he has been openly critical of his squad from week one when it slipped to a home draw with Valencia.

After its loss at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Saturday he was brutal in his judgment of his team’s effort, saying that for many of his players

“football is not a priority.”

“I am worried because since the beginning of the season we have only played well in the Spanish Supercup (vs. Barcelona), but nothing else,” said Mourinho, whose

state of alarm in Madrid.” Barcelona, meanwhile, remained perfect through four games after Lionel Messi scored a brace to take his league-leading tally to six goals in its 4-1 rout at Getafe on Saturday.

SPAIN: In this photo taken Saturday Sept. 15, 2012. Real Madrid’s coach Mourinho from Portugal looks on during their La Liga soccer match against Sevilla.—AP team hadn’t dropped this many points until week 15 last season.

“More than being worried about the points, what worries me at this moment is that I don’t have a team.” Madrid-friendly Spanish sports daily Marca’s cover on Sunday read: “Eight points from Barca in week four, Mou declares a

“The gap (with Madrid) is surprising,” said Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets on Sunday. “But there is still a long way to go.”

Mourinho said Madrid’s poor form predated Ronaldo’s enigmatic comments two weeks ago that he wasn’t happy with the Spanish club, sparking speculation that he

was seeking a better contract or even a move to another team.

“This game wasn’t very different from the other games,” Mourinho said after the defeat in Seville.

“Therefore I don’t think it has any relation with the rumor of the last two weeks.”

Either way, Ronaldo was key to Madrid’s title fight last season with a club-record 46 league goals. So far this season he has scored two, both coming against the modest Granada at home when he showed his displeasure with the club by not celebrating his goals.

To Mourinho’s chagrin, Madrid has proven to be particularly vulnerable on set pieces, despite having physical defenders like Sergio Ramos and Pepe along with imposing midfielders in Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso. Madrid left Sevilla midfielder Piotr Trochowski unmarked to blast a corner kick into the top of the net two minutes into Saturday’s match, and then failed to mount a comeback. In previous rounds, Madrid conceded goals off set pieces in its 1-1 draw with Valencia and its 2-1 loss at Getafe.

“The problem is the attitude from minute one,” a perplexed Mourinho said. “We cannot work more on set pieces. Every player knows his role, the opponent he has to mark, the zone he has to cover, and yet we concede a goal just a minute into the game. It is an image of a team without focus or a willingness to suffer.” Ramos did not dare contradict his coach’s opinion. “(Mourinho) is the best at seeing football. It is true that the moment has arrived to look at what we can improve and what things we need to change,” he said. “It is time to change our attitude.” —AP

World T-20 winner is anyone’s guess COLOMBO: The World Twenty20 explodes into action this week in tropical Sri Lanka with no runaway favorite and upsets likely in cricket’s shortest and least predictable form.

At least half of the 12 participating nations will consider themselves strong contenders to lift the trophy in Colombo on October 7, with the others hopeful of living up to the event’s reputation for shocks.

From defending champions England, the powerful West Indies and formidable South Africa to Asia’s top three-former winners India and Pakistan, and Sri Lankathe field is strong and deep.

The others won’t be taken lightly either, if a string of sensational results in the tournament’s three previous editions are any indication. While many purists are unconvinced by Twenty20, and fear the impact on Test cricket, there’s no doubting its entertainment value.

India, initially reluctant to embrace the newest format, won the inaugural event in South Africa in 2007 under rookie skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni after senior pros Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly opted out.

It was in the same tournament that Zimbabwe stunned Australia, Bangladesh upset the West Indies, and India brushed aside England, South Africa, Australia and Pakistan in successive games to grab the title. Pakistan won the second edition in England in 2009, a tournament that made a stunning start when the Netherlands, a non Testplaying nation, upset the hosts by four wickets in front of a packed house at Lord’s.

England claimed the 2010 title in the Caribbean, but it was Australia’s amazing win over Pakistan in the semi-final that remained the talking point.

With 34 needed from the final two overs, Michael Hussey smashed 38 off 10 balls to take Australia home with one delivery to spare.

Only last week, Australia trounced Pakistan by 94 runs to avenge two successive defeats

The 12 sides have been divided into four pools for the preliminary league, with the top two from each advancing to the Super Eights round.

If the seedings go to plan, fans can expect high-voltage action in the Super Eights-a week-long race to the one-off semis and final in the Sri Lankan capital.

England, the West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand are seeded

AMRITSAR: Indian kitemaker Jagmohan Kanojia displays kites adorned with images of the Indian cricketers. The ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, played every other year in cricket’s shortest format, will take place from tomorrow to Oct 7 in Sri Lanka. —AFP against the same opponents.

“It’s the sort of format where nothing can be taken for granted,” said India’s Dhoni. “We have seen one ball change the whole game.

“The idea is to do well for all the 40 overs. That is all that matters.”

to meet in group one of the Super Eights, with the top two teams making it to the semi-finals.

Group two is already being billed as the “Group of Death”, with arch-rivals India and Pakistan seeded to face Australia and South

Africa. Sri Lanka’s frontline batsman Kumar Sangakkara cautioned rivals not to expect spin-friendly pitches at the three venues in Colombo, steamy hill town Pallekele and Hambantota, site of a major new port.

“Be ready for a stiff breeze in Hambantota, swing and seam in Pallekele and a good batting surface at the Premadasa (stadium) in Colombo,” the veteran batsmanwicketkeeper said.

“Each venue will have a different challenge and sides will have to adjust accordingly. It will make the tournament more exciting.”

England are out to prove they can defend the title without star batsman Kevin Pietersen, the man of the tournament in 2010 who has been axed from the national team on disciplinary grounds.

The West Indies are touted as potential champions, with explosive batsmen in Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Marlon Samuels, and a wily spinner in Sunil Narine.

The men to watch out for are plenty. Australian spinner Brad Hogg, aged 41, and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, 37 next month, will look to rubbish the theory that Twenty20 is a young man’s game.

Ace Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh is assured of a warm welcome from the stands, having battled cancer earlier this year to return to the big stage. Also vying for the spotlight will be prolific Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal, dashing Australian opener David Warner, local boy Lasith Malinga, England’s Jonny Bairstow and South African Richard Levi.—AFP

Allesandro Del Pierro

I’m here to win not retire, Del Piero tells Australia SYDNEY: Italy and Juventus great Alessandro Del Piero arrived in Australia to a rapturous welcome from some 400 fans at Sydney airport yesterday and immediately declared that he had come to win the ALeague title.

The 37-year-old striker, released by Juve after 19 years at the club in May, will be paid A$4 million ($4.23 million) over the two years of his contract with Sydney FC but was keen to emphasise that this was not the start of his retirement.

“I am here not for the end of my career but for the start of my new career,” he told reporters in a media scrum outside the terminal building. “I want to win some (titles). I play to win.”

Hundreds of chanting fans were already in place two hours before the 91-cap Italy international and his family emerged from the arrivals gate. A huge banner created by “Juventus Club Sydney” welcomed him in his own language and there were plenty in the crowd from Sydney’s large Italian community sporting the famous black and white shirt of the Turin club.

There was plenty of Sydney FC sky blue on show too, though, and the chants, with the exception of a few renditions of “c’e solo un capitano” or “there’s only one captain”, were mostly about their affection for their “harbor city” club.

“S-Y-D-N-E-Y, I am Sydney till I die, with a nick nack paddy wack give a dog a bone, Alessandro welcome home!” ran one. Del Piero’s wife and three children emerged first and the decibel level rose to new heights

when the former Juventus captain finally greeted fans.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “It’s good to see so many people come out to welcome me, we start work tomorrow,” he added in Italian.

Sydney FC chief executive Tony Pignata, on hand to welcome his new signing, said he was certain the gamble of offering Del Piero the richest contract in Australian sporting history would reap rewards both on and off the pitch.

“There’s lots of anticipation for our first home match and I’m sure we’ll have a big crowd,” he told reporters. “Over the course of the year, it will definitely pay off. He’s just played a full season with Juve, he’s been training since July and I’m sure he’ll have a good year.”

Sydney FC have won the A-League twice in the seven seasons of the league but were fifth last season and knocked out of the title playoffs in the first round.

The eighth season of the league begins in early October with Del Piero likely to make his debut against Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on Oct. 6.

A-League officials are hoping the arrival of such a big name in soccer will help them as they fight for a bigger share of the domestic sports market.

The world’s most popular game lags behind rugby league in popularity in New South Wales, a factor not lost on at least some of the Sydney FC fans. “Are you watching rugby scum?” they chanted with pride as Del Piero’s car drove away from the terminal building. —Reuters

‘Believe you’re special,’ Calhoun did NEW YORK: If you know Jim Calhoun, then you knew exactly what he was going to say on his last day as a coach. He got this far believing he could talk almost anyone into practically anything. He was not about to stop now. “The first step in being special is to believe you’re special,” Calhoun began.

“Fortunately,” he added a moment later, “being stubborn and Irish - which go together I believed it.” Calhoun was special, a guy who bludgeoned his way into the NCAA record book and rulebook and refused to change even one thing in how he went about his business.

He was a three-time national champion and the sixth successful coach in major college basketball, but in his mind, still always the underdog. It’s not hard to understand why.

Calhoun beat back cancer three times to return to work and on another occasion, only four days after back surgery so he could be on the sideline for Huskies’ regular-season finale.

Even at Thursday’s retirement announcement in Storrs, Conn., despite doctors’ orders to use crutches while recovering from a fractured hip, Calhoun left them at his seat and stubbornly made the short trip to the podium on his own two feet. Some surprise. He was selling the audacity of hope long before it became a campaign slogan.

In 1999, on the eve of the first of his three titles, Calhoun recalled making the short hop from Northeastern in Boston, where he built a one-time commuter school into a mid-major

power, to take over perennial Big East doormat UConn. Upon arrival, with no tradition and only the most meager facilities, he pitched recruits instead on the chance to get their heads handed to them by the best players in the best arenas in the best conference in the country. “We would tell kids, ‘Would you like to play against Reggie Williams and Alonzo Mourning? Would you like to play in the Carrier Dome - just not for Syracuse?’ And if a kid said, ‘I love Georgetown an awful lot,’ I’d ask, ‘Have you talked to Coach Thompson? No? Good.’

“And then,” he added, laughing, “we went from there.” After seven failed attempts to get past the round of eight in the NCAA tournament, Calhoun played for the championship the next night. When the evening began, everyone figured it was his lousy luck again to run into Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski, with one of his best teams ever. What no one knew until the end was how much the events of the preceding month had buffeted the gruff, tough-talking Calhoun.

He had only recently lost a young friend he treated like a son - former Connecticut equipment manager Joe McGinn, who died of kidney disease at age 26 - and gained a granddaughter whose picture he tucked into the breast pocket of his sport coat for the entire ride. When it was his turn to climb the ladder on the floor of Tropicana Field to cut down the net, he made sure to leave one strand dangling.—AP

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

SPORTS German League

French Ligue 1

No fanfare for Rafael as Hamburg lose in Frankfurt

FRANCE : Lyon’s Argentinian forward Lisandro Lopez (center) celebrates after scoring during the French L1 football match Olympique Lyonnais against AC Ajaccio. —AFP

Traore lifts nine-man Lorient PARIS: Olympique Lyon beat Ajaccio 2-0 to go top of Ligue 1 yesterday and Alain Traore’s splendid double earned nineman FC Lorient a 2-1 win at neighbours Stade Rennes that lifted them to third.

Dejan Lovren and Lisandro Lopez scored in each half to take Lyon to 13 points, one ahead of Olympique Marseille who visit AS Nancy later (1900).

Ajaccio are 14th.

Lyon struggled to create chances until centre back Lovren put them in front when he headed home Clement Grenier’s corner kick in the 25th minute.

The seven-times French champions tightened their grip on the match but Bafetimbi Gomis twice shot narrowly wide.

Ajaccio goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa made a couple of great saves after the break, parrying Grenier’s fine lob and stopping a point-blank Gomis header.

Boosted by Romanian striker Adrian Mutu, who came off the bench to make his Ligue 1 debut, Ajaccio pushed hard

to level, only for Lopez to double the advantage after a lightning counterattack on 75 minutes.

“We knew it would be difficult. We tried to do our best but unfortunately, we did not get a point,” Mutu told French channel Canal Plus. “I am very confident I’ll soon be in better shape.”

In Rennes, Traore put the visitors ahead in the 23rd minute with a stunning shot from 30 metres and doubled his side’s lead with a free kick from the same distance minutes before halftime.

Lorient, who had defender Maxime Baca sent off after 32 minutes for a rough challenge on Jonathan Pitroipa, were reduced to nine early in the second half when goalkeeper Fabien Audard was shown a red card for fouling Pitroipa.

Pitroipa pegged one back for the hosts who had Cheick Diarra sent off for a dangerous tackle on Traore with 11 minutes left. Lorient are third on 11 points from five games and Rennes, who suffered their fourth defeat, are 18th.—-Reuters

BERLIN: Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart lost on his first appearance back in the Bundesliga with Hamburg yesterday as his 10-man team went down 3-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt.

The three points puts Frankfurt second in the table behind leaders Bayern Munich, but having returned to Hamburg from Tottenham Hotspur last month for 13 million euros (US$14m), Hamburg are second from bottom after three defeats.

“If you play with fear, you concede goals,” said Van der Vaart, who sank to his knees at the final whistle. “In the first 20 minutes, we played very badly.

We improved after we let in the first goal, but we really have to work hard. We will get through this together.”

Hosts Frankfurt raced into a 2-0 lead after only 18 minutes as first Japan midfielder Takashi Inui, then Canadian striker Olivier Occean scored for Eintracht at the Frankfurter Arena.

Hamburg pulled a goal back through defender Heiko Westermann, but the guests were reduced to 10 men when Petr Jiracek was shown a straight red at the end f of the first-half for a heavy challenge on Brazilian defender Anderson.

Frankfurt pulled further ahead when Stefan Aigner made it 3-1 with 52 minutes played before Van der Vaart set up South Korea’s Son HeungMin to score on 63 minutes to make the scoreline respectable.

Earlier, Hoffenheim crashed to their third league defeat of the season despite coming from behind twice in losing 5-3 at Freiburg with the hosts scoring twice in a dramatic last 10 minutes. Midfielder Max Kruse was Freiburg’s star after scoring his team’s second goal, then creating two more to pile more pressure on Hoffenheim coach Markus Babbel whose team are rock bottom of the Bundesliga.

With the score locked at 3-all going into the last ten minutes Freiburg scored twice as first Cedrick Makiadi slotted home on 83 minutes, then striker Sebastian Fries netted the fifth on 87 minutes to give his team three points.

On Saturday, Bayern Munich maintained their perfect start to the season when their 3-1 home win over Mainz gave them a third win in three league matches.

GERMANY: Hamburg’s Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart (center) runs with the ball during the German first division Bundesliga football match against Eintracht Frankfurt. —AFP Munich won without Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben after they both picked up thigh injuries in the final training session, while new signing Javier Martinez only came off the bench for the final 15 minutes.

Schalke 04 went fourth with a 20 win at Greuther Fuerth, thanks to goals from teenager Julian Draxler, who turns 19 on Thursday, and midfielder Lewis Holtby.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was in the stands to watch Fuerth play,

having been born in the north Bavarian town before his Jewish family fled Nazi Germany in 1938.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was at Borussia Dortmund to watch the defending champions enjoy a convincing 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen to move up from sixth place to fifth at a sold-out Signal Iduna Park.

Hanover are third after a dramatic 3-2 win over Werder Bremen at home in the north German derby with midfielder

Szabolcs Huszti scoring the winner in the 92nd minute, but his shirtless celebration saw him sent off. Japan midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake is making a name for himself in Nuremberg after scoring a 55nd-minute winner in his team’s 3-2 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach to put his team sixth.

Stuttgart were held to a goalless draw at home to Fortuna Duesseldorf and on Friday, Wolfsburg were also held to a goalless draw by Augsburg.—AFP

German League results/standings Freiburg 5 (Guede 17, Kruse 27, Diagne 68, Makiadi 83, Freis 87) Hoffenheim 3 (Delpierre 2, Vukcevic 57, Usami 76); Eintracht Frankfurt 3 (Inui 13, Occean 18, Aigner 52) Hamburg 2 (Westermann 45, Son 63).

German league table after yesterday’s match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Bayern Munich Eintracht Frankfurt Hanover Schalke Borussia Dortmund Nuremberg Fortuna Duesseldorf Moenchengladbach VfL Wolfsburg

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

0 0 1 1 1 1 2 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

12 9 9 7 6 5 2 4 1

2 3 4 3 2 3 0 4 4

9 9 7 7 7 7 5 4 4

Werder Bremen Bayer Leverkusen Greuther Fuerth Mainz Augsburg VfB Stuttgart Hamburg Hoffenheim

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0

2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3

5 3 1 2 1 1 2 4

5 5 5 5 5 7 6 11

3 3 3 1 1 1 0 0

United condemns tasteless chants about Liverpool

RENNES: Lorient’s French midfielder Benjamin Corgnet (left) fights for the ball with Rennes’ French midfielder Yann Mívila during the French L1 football match.—AFP

French Ligue 1 results/standings Lyon 2 (Lovren 25, Lisandro 75) Ajaccio 0; Rennes 1 (Pitroipa 71) Lorient 2 (A. Traore 23, 43).

Playing later: Nancy v Marseille Played Saturday: Troyes 1 (Grax 88) Lille 1 (Payet 38); Valenciennes 0 Bordeaux 0; Saint-Etienne 0 Sochaux 1 (Doubai 75); Nice 4 (Meriem 46, Pejcinovic 51, Bautheac 67, Eysseric 90) Brest 2 (Ayite 78-pen, Baysse 90+3); Evian 3 (Barbosa 31, 78, Sagbo 73) Bastia 0.

French League 1 table ahead of yesterday late match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Lyon 5 Marseille 4 Lorient 5 PSG 5 Bordeaux 5 Valenciennes5 Toulouse 5 Reims 5 Saint-Etienne5 Nice 5 Lille 5 Bastia 5

4 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2

1 0 2 3 3 2 2 1 0 3 3 0

0 11 4 13 0 7 1 12 0 11 6 11 0 6 3 9 0 5 3 9 1 6 3 8 1 5 5 8 2 6 5 7 3 9 5 6 1 7 6 6 1 7 7 6 3 7 12 6

Brest 5 2 0 3 5 10 6 Ajaccio 5 2 1 2 3 5 5 Evian 5 1 1 3 6 7 4 Montpellier 5 1 1 3 6 8 4 Nancy 4 1 1 2 2 5 4 Rennes 5 1 0 4 5 9 3 Sochaux 5 1 0 4 4 9 3 Troyes 5 0 2 3 5 10 2 Note: Ajaccio deducted two points over incidents during league match against Lyon in 2011-12 season.

MANCHESTER: Manchester United has condemned the tasteless chant sung by a small section of fans about fierce rival Liverpool during the Premier League match against Wigan.

The early stages of United’s 4-0 win at Old Trafford on Saturday were marred by some home supporters singing a song that included the lines “always the victims” and “it’s never your fault.”

The taunts came a day after United manager Alex Ferguson urged supporters of both teams to stop the chants that mock the tragedies of Hillsborough and Munich, the darkest episodes in the clubs’ histories. United released a statement saying the club “deplores” the chant and that “the manager has made the club’s position very clear on this matter.” It was unclear whether Saturday’s chant was in reference to the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush.

Documents were released Wednesday revealing new evidence about the tragedy. Seven United players were among the 21 killed in an air crash in Munich in 1958.—AP

Match on TV (Local Timings)

English Premier League Everton v Newcastle United 22:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3

Spanish League Real Valladolid v Real Betis 22:30 Aljazeera Sport +2

EGYPT: Oussou Konan of Egypt’s Al Ahly club (right) vies for the ball with Ahmed Hassan of Egypt’s Zamalek during their CAF Champions League football match in Borg El-Arab. —AFP

Al- Ahly dodge sperance in Champions League semis JOHANNESBURG: Al Ahly won Group B of the CAF Champions League yesterday despite being held 1-1 by Zamalek in an Egyptian derby and dodged a semi-finals showdown with Esperance of Tunisia.

Ahly face Sunshine Stars of Nigeria in the semi-finals next month while Group B runnersup TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo meet defending champions Esperance.

Apart from a $1.5 million first prize, the teams are chasing a place in the FIFA Club World Cup to be hosted by Japan during December with the line-up including Chelsea of England and Corinthians of Brazil. Mohamed Barakat levelled for Ahly midway through the second half at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Mediterranean city Alexandria after Mohamed Ibrahim broke the deadlock just before halftime. Ahly completed a six-match schedule with 11 points-one more than four-time African

champions Mazembe-after three victories, two draws and a loss in difficult circumstances.

Spectators were barred from home fixtures because of post-Arab spring security concerns and domestic football has been halted since more than 70 people died in rioting last February after Al Masry defeated Ahly in Port Said.

Already sure of a semi-finals spot, Mazembe surrendered first place after losing 1-0 away to Berekum Chelsea of Ghana with Jordan Opoku scoring 10 minutes from time.

Chelsea came third with nine points-a creditable achievement in their first Champions League appearance-and 12-goal Emmanuel Clottey is likely to finish leading scorer this season.

Clottey scored hat-tricks against former Champions League winners Raja Casablanca of Morocco and Zamalek during his campaign and will line up for Esperance next year.—AFP

Al- Ahly dodge Esperance in Champions League semis

Alvarez defends belt, stops Lopez

19

17

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Much ado in NFL and England on handshakes

Page 18

ITALY: Juventus’ players celebrate defeating Genoa 3-1 after the Italian Serie A football match against Genoa. —AFP

Juventus back on top after Genoa win MILAN: Two late goals from Mirko Vucinic and Kwadwo Asamoah sent Serie A champions Juventus back to the top of the table thanks to a 3-1 win away to Genoa yesterday.

A double strike from Brazilian midfielder Hernanes and a second half effort from Miroslva Klose had been enough to send Lazio top on goal difference thanks to a 3-1 away victory away to Chievo in the day’s early match.

But three days before meeting Chelsea in the Champions League, Juve showed poise and determination to remain unbeaten in 42 matches. Genoa dominated the first half and went in for the break a goal up thanks to a 17th minute strike from Ciro Immobile.

But a double Juve substitution just before the hour mark, with Vucinic coming on for Alessandro Matri and Asamoah replacing Paolo De Ceglie, proved inspirational. Genoa seemed ready to

grab a second goal with Marco Borriello slamming his header against the bar just before the hour mark. Gianluigi Buffon then did well to save Andrea Bertolacci’s strike.

But Juventus pulled level moments later when midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini shaped a great shot past French keeper Sebastien Frey from 25 metres.

The match then turned when Bertolacci fouled Asamoah and Vucinic put the visitors ahead from the spot. Asamoah put the match beyond reach for Genoa when he pounced to slam the ball past Frey after Vucinic’s cross-goal pass came off Genoa’s Swedish defender Andreas Granqvist.

Juve’s caretaker coach Massimo Carrera, standing in as Antonio Conte serves a 10-month ban for his role in an illegal sports-betting affair, said the match could have gone either way.

“We suffered in the first half,

but in the second half we played wider, increased the pace and managed to turn things around,” Carrera told Sky Sports, underlining Buffon’s contribution.

“Gigi made a great save, without that miracle it might have finished 3-2.” Prior to yesterday, only four teams had managed to win their first two games of the season and the same four maintained their 100 percent records.

In a highly entertaining match Sampdoria gave the other half of Genoa some cheer with a 3-2 win away to struggling newcomers Pescara.

Napoli, meanwhile, continued their promising start with a 3-1 home win over Parma. While Lazio were celebrating, their cross-town rivals Roma were left scratching their heads after a 3-2 reverse to Bologna at the Olympic Stadium.

Roma had a 2-0 lead at halftime thanks to a headed goal from Alessandro Florenzi and a left-foot

strike from Argentinian Erik Lamela.

But the Giallorossi were stunned late in the second half.

On-loan Genoa striker Gilardino pulled one back on 72 minutes and the visitors levelled through playmaker Alessandro Diamani a minute later. Alberto Gilardino then grabbed a shock winner on 90 minutes to leave Zdenek Zeman’s fancied side in sixth with only four points from three games.

“We had a solid first half and after we’d settled into the game Bologna came back at us,” said Zeman, admitting the hosts had suffered a “heavy blow ”.

Elsewhere, Siena drew 2-2 at home to Udinese and Fiorentina moved up to fifth place with a 2-0 win which came courtesy of goals from Stevan Jovetic and former striker Luca Toni, who made his debut after recently re-signing for La Viola. —AFP

Tottenham beat Reading Tottenham 3

Reading 1

LONDON: Andre Villas-Boas secured his first Premier League victory as Tottenham Hotspur manager when his side outclassed Reading 3-1 yesterday with two goals from England striker Jermain Defoe Without a win in their first three games of the season, Tottenham took the lead after 18 minutes when Gylfi Sigurdssdon and Aaron Lennon combined to set up Defoe for a cool finish.

Gareth Bale made it 2-0 after 71 minutes with a scuffed shot from Kyle Walker’s cutback and Defoe continued his hot streak with a superb solo goal, running from inside his own half to clip a shot across Reading keeper Alex McCarthy. Reading scored a consolation in the 90th minute when Hal RobsonKanu hooked the ball in at the far post.

Villas-Boas, who failed to complete a season at Chelsea after being sacked in March, had come under pressure after replacing Harry Redknapp at Tottenham but victory lifted his side to 10th in the table with five points.

Promoted Reading are still searching for their first win since returning to the top flight. Defoe, who spent much of last season as a substitute under Redknapp, has enjoyed a bright start to the campaign, bagging three Premier League goals and one for England in the World Cup qualifier against Moldova.

Starting as a lone striker, he was a

LONDON: Reading FC’s English midfielder Danny Guthrie vies with Tottenham Hotspurs Belgium midfielder Moussa Dembele during the English Premier League football match. —AFP constant menace to Reading’s defenders and guided a shot inside the post to put the visitors in front.

Tottenham should have added to their lead as Reading were guilty of giving the ball away in dangerous areas, Sigurdsson having one close-range effort cleared off the line after Defoe had robbed McCarthy. Reading enjoyed a little more possession after the break but rarely threatened Spurs keeper Brad Friedel, who kept his place in the starting team ahead of France international Hugo Lloris.

Wales winger Bale scored his first league goal since January to give Tottenham breathing space with 20 minutes to go before Defoe put the result beyond doubt. “It was a welldeserved win. Everyone performed to their top level and it is a win that will lift

us up for the season,” Villas-Boas told Sky Sports. “We created lots of chances and the second goal gave us the stability. It was a good solid performance from everybody. The most important thing today was the motivation of the players to change the negative results at home,” the Portuguese added.

“Hopefully we can now build for the season ahead, it takes away the anxiety and gives us a good relaxed week ahead.” Chelsea lead the table after four matches with 10 points following their 0-0 draw at local rivals Queen’s Park Rangers on Saturday. Manchester United crushed Wigan Athletic 4-0 to go second on nine points with Arsenal, 6-1 winners over Southampton, and champions Manchester City, who drew 1-1 at Stoke City, on eight. Everton host Newcastle United today.—Reuters

Italian League results/standings Chievo 1 (Pellissier 83-pen) Lazio 3 (Hernanes 5, 74, Klose 38); Fiorentina 2 (Jovetic 43, Toni 65) Catania 0; Napoli 3 (Cavani 3-pen, Pandev 39, Insigne 77) Parma 1 (Parolo 44); Genoa 1 (Immobile 18) Juventus 3 (Giaccherini 61, Vucinic 78-pen, Asamoah 84); Pescara 2 (Celik 74, Caprari 90) Sampdoria 3 (Maxi Lopez 31, 76, Estigarribia 60); Roma 2 (Florenzi 6, Lamela 16) Bologna 3 (Gilardino 72, 90+1, Diamanti 73); Siena 2 (Calaio 70, Ze Eduardo 77-pen) Udinese 2 (Basta 3, Di Natale 5); Torino v Inter Milan - late kickoff.

Played Saturday Palermo 1 (Arevalo Rios 41) Cagliari 1 (Sau 88); AC Milan 0 Atalanta 1 (Cigarini 64).

Italian Serie A table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Juventus Napoli Lazio Sampdoria Fiorentina Roma Catania Torino Inter Milan AC Milan Genoa Chievo

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 2 2

9 8 7 6 5 7 5 3 4 3 5 3

2 2 1 3 3 6 6 0 3 3 6 5

9 9 9 8 6 4 4 3 3 3 3 3

Parma 3 1 0 2 3 5 3 Bologna 3 1 0 2 4 7 3 Atalanta 3 1 1 1 2 2 2 Cagliari 3 0 2 1 2 4 2 Udinese 3 0 1 2 4 8 1 Palermo 3 0 1 2 1 7 1 Pescara 3 0 0 3 2 9 0 Siena 3 0 2 1 3 4 -4 Note: Sampdoria (one point), Torino (one point), Atalanta (two points) and Siena (six points) all docked points for involvement in ‘Calcioscommesse’ illegal betting scandal.

Llorente scores for Bilbao BARCELONA: Fernando Llorente played for Athletic Bilbao for the first time this season and added a goal to Aritz Aduriz’s double to help secure a 3-3 draw at 10-man Espanyol in the Spanish League yesterday.

Llorente had not played through the first three rounds after telling his boyhood club he wouldn’t renew his contract beyond next summer, adding to Bilbao’s tumultuous offseason that saw it lose midfielder Javi Martinez to Bayern Munich.

The Spain striker said that his decision to leave Bilbao was “personal” and one that “people have to respect.” “It hurts that people doubt me, I have always given my all for Athletic,” Llorente told Spanish radio SER after the game. “In January I will be free again to negotiate, but I want to push that all to the side now to help my team. The less people talk about me, the better.”

Also yesterday, Mallorca drew 1-1 at Osasuna after both teams went down a man in the first half, Real Sociedad beat Zaragoza 2-0, and Granada drew 1-1 with Deportivo La Coruna at home.

Joan Verdu appeared to set Espanyol on its way to an easy win at Cornella-El Prat stadium after assisting Javi Lopez’s 18th-minute opener and punching in a rebound from a shot

by Samuele Longo in the 44th. But Aduriz started Bilbao’s fightback with a thumping header in the 56th, and Llorente went on as a substitute in the 69th and scored on his first touch two minutes later, firing in a pass from Iker Muniain to make it 2-2.

Longo, on loan from Inter Milan, reclaimed the lead for the hosts in the 80th, only to be sent off for two yellow cards for taking off his shirt and delaying the restart.

Bilbao quickly made good on its numerical advantage when Aduriz whipped home a vicious volley three minutes later to split the points.

Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa said Llorente’s scoring return was “positive” for both the player and the club whose fans have been critical of his desire to leave.

“Goals always have repercussions for the player who scores them, for his team and his fans,” Bielsa said. Osasuna and Mallorca were reduced to 10 men in the 34th when Osasuna striker Joseba Llorente and Mallorca defender Jose Nunes were sent off with straight red cards for striking at one another while disputing the ball.

Osasuna’s Kike Sola gave some life to the match when he headed in fellow substitute Roland Lamah’s cross in the 69th, only to see Mallorca level through Tomer Hemed’s header in

the 78th, making the Israeli forward the league’s second-leading scorer with four goals.

Sociedad had little trouble handing Zaragoza its third defeat in four rounds in San Sebastian with Inigo Martinez opening in the 55th and Carlos Vela converting a penalty he had earned six minutes later.

At Los Carmenes stadium, Floro Flores scored from close range in the 81st to level for Granada after Nelson Oliveira had put Deportivo in front four minutes before halftime. Atletico Madrid plays Rayo Vallecano later.

On Saturday, leader Barcelona routed Getafe 4-1 to remain perfect through four rounds, while Real Madrid lost 1-0 at Sevilla to fall eight points behind the pacesetters. Also, Valencia beat Celta Vigo 2-1, while Malaga downed Levante 3-1. — AP

Spanish League results/standings Granada 1 (Floro Flores 81) Deportivo La Coruna 1 (Nelson Oliveira 41); Espanyol 3 (Lopez Rodriguez 18, Verdu 44, Longo 80) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Aduriz 56, 83, Llorente 71); Osasuna 1 (Echaide 69) Real Mallorca 1 (Hemed 78); Real Sociedad 2 (Martinez Berridi 55, Vela 61pen) Real Zaragoza 0 Spanish league table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Barcelona Malaga Real Mallorca Sevilla Rayo Vallecano Deportivo Valladolid Real Sociedad Valencia Atletico Madrid Real Madrid Getafe Levante Athletic Bilbao Real Betis Celta Vigo Real Zaragoza Granada Espanyol Osasuna

4 4 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 2 4 4 4 4 2 4 4 4 4 4

4 3 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

0 1 2 2 1 3 0 0 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 2 2 2 2 1 3 3 2 3 3

12 6 5 4 3 7 3 5 6 5 5 5 5 8 6 4 2 2 7 2

3 2 3 2 1 5 2 7 6 1 4 8 8 12 5 5 5 6 10 7

12 10 8 8 7 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 1 1

Islamic financial assets to reach $1.6tn in 2012 Page 22

BAE ready to ring-fence defense projects: Report Page 23

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

JAL set to return to Tokyo exchange

Privatizations, a long-haul task in debt-ridden Greece Page 25

Page 24

SUINING: Workers building a substation in Suining, in southwest China’s Sichuan province. Asia must fight complacency and transform its economic and social models if it is to keep driving global growth in years to come as Europe and the United States slow, experts say. — AFP

Former Elf chief extradited to Togo Floch-Prigent arrested in Ivory Coast in fraud probe LOME: The former head of French oil giant Elf, Loik Le Floch-Prigent, has been extradited to Togo after his arrest in Ivory Coast in a fraud probe, his lawyer and a government source said yesterday.

Le Floch-Prigent’s lawyer denounced the move, saying his client appeared to be the victim of internal politics in Togo.

The former Elf chairman is to appear in court in the Togolese capital Lome today.

“Loik Le Floch-Prigent was arrested yesterday (Saturday) in Abidjan,” the Togolese government source told AFP. “He was extradited to Lome yesterday around 2000 GMT. He will be presented to a judge tomorrow for questioning.”

The investigation involves a complaint from an Emirati businessman who alleges he was the victim of a $48-million (37million-euro) fraud. Togo’s former minister of territorial administration, Pascal Bodjona, has been charged over the allegations as well as Togolese businessman Bertin Sow Agba. A judicial source in Togo has said that the Emirati businessman, Abbas Al Yousef, claims Le FlochPrigent was acting as his personal advisor during the alleged fraud.

Patrick Klugman, lawyer for Le FlochPrigent, accused the Togolese authorities of kidnapping his client, before backing off the claim in subsequent comments. “(This is) an abduction and in no way an extradition, because my client was arrested and handed over to the Togolese authorities without the intervention of any judicial authority,” he said. “My client

is the object of an internal Togolese political affair and I am not convinced that he is really being held over an embezzlement probe.” Klugman later said his client had not been abducted but that the

The case involves a complex set of circumstances, with accusations that a network claimed to have access to $275 million in a Togolese account left by former Ivorian military ruler Robert Guei, who

A file photo at the Paris’ courthouse shows former Elf Chief Executive Loik Le Floch-Prigent. — AFP “forms of extradition as we know them were not respected”. The lawyer said he knew where Le Floch-Prigent was being held and that his client had been able to consult with a lawyer in Togo. But he also said he feared for Le Floch-Prigent’s health and that the 69-year-old had a medical appointment in France on September 26.

was killed in 2002. Al Yousef alleges $48 million was embezzled from him in the affair. Le Floch-Prigent, currently an oil industry consultant, has already served jail terms in France for corruption which dated from his time as head of Elf from 1989 to 1993. Several Elf senior managers were jailed after a corruption scandal that broke in the 1990s. The company was tak-

en over by French oil giant Total in 2000.

Le Floch-Prigent, who was first jailed for five months in France in 1996 for misuse of company assets, claimed at the time that Elf had been “considered as an arm of the state’s foreign policy”.

He was jailed again in 2003 on other charges and freed on probation in 2004 on health grounds, on condition that he pay compensation, at a rate based on his own revenues, to Total for the case involving Elf. He was sent back to jail for six months in 2010 for failing to pay adequate compensation to Total. Le FlochPrigent’s extradition comes after Togo earlier this year arrested the former defense minister of Ivory Coast’s disgraced ex-president Laurent Gbagbo.

Moise Lida Kouassi had fled to Togo in the chaotic and bloody months after Gbagbo refused to acknowledge his defeat to current President Alassane Ouattara in November 2010 presidential polls.

The crisis led to about 3,000 deaths and Ivory Coast’s new government issued several arrest warrants for members of the old regime. Togo, a nation of some six million people under French control prior to independence in 1960, has been run by the same family for more than four decades.

The military installed President Faure Gnassingbe in power after the 2005 death of his father Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had ruled the west African nation with an iron fist for 38 years. He has since won elections in 2005 and 2010. — AFP

Jordan lawmakers clear way for sovereign sukuk DUBAI: A long-awaited law allowing Jordan to issue sukuk has been cleared by both houses of its parliament, paving the way for the government to tap strong global appetite for Islamic bonds as it tries to repair public finances. The law, which had been in development since 2010, was passed by the lower house of parliament earlier this month and approved by the upper house at the end of last week. It may take effect in about 30 days, after the government promulgates it, Sufian Elhassan, director of the research and information department of the house of representatives, said by telephone.

A sovereign sukuk would broaden Jordan’s sources of funding, giving it access to a huge pool of Islamic investment funds in the Gulf. Its need for external financing prompted it to

agree with the International Monetary Fund in July on a $2 billion stand-by loan arrangement.

State finances are under pressure af ter Jordan hiked subsidies and wages to limit social discontent in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings, and because it is having to absorb tens of thousands of refugees from Syria’s civil war. The government is struggling to keep its budget deficit to around 5 percent of gross domestic product this year. In July, Standard and Poor’s said its BB credit rating for Jordan had a negative outlook because of the vulnerability of the economy to regional shocks and “limited fiscal flexibility”.

It is not clear when Jordan might issue its first sovereign sukuk, and hurdles remain, including the choice of an asset pool for the sukuk and arranging for the central bank to manage pay-

ments on it, said a senior Islamic banker in Amman, who declined to be named because of his bank’s briefing rules. Because of Islam’s ban on interest, sukuk instead pay returns on funds invested in a pool of assets.

The government is keen in principle to tap the domestic and international sukuk markets, the banker said. “The assumption is that Islamic banks (within the country) would buy 400 million dinars ($565 million) of government issuance.”

Last week, Jordan’s finance minister said the country was discussing the issue of a seven- to 10-year sovereign, conventional Eurobond wor th between $750 million and $1.5 billion to foreign banks.

Because global investor demand for sukuk exceeds supply, Jordan might be able to issue Islamic bonds more

cheaply than it could sell conventional bonds. Jordan has a small but growing Islamic finance industry. Last year local company Al-Rajhi Cement issued an 85 million dinar, seven-year sukuk, the first in the countr y. Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank began operating in January 2010. In order to facilitate corporate issuance of sukuk in Jordan, the securities commission may seek amendments to the company law and set up a committee to study issues such as compliance with sharia law, a source at the commission said.

The committee would include experts on both sukuk and finance in general as well as representatives from the securities commission, the central bank, the ministry of finance and the ministr y handling awqaf (Islamic endowments), the source told Reuters.—Reuters

Gulf markets rally as Fed move lifts world stocks MIDEAST STOCK MARKET DUBAI: Most Gulf Arab markets rose yesterday following the US Federal Reserve’s latest round of money printing that has helped lift asset prices worldwide.

The Dubai and Oman benchmarks hit their highest closing levels since May, but Saudi Arabia’s index fell for a first session in four as the feel-good factor from global market gains gave way to apprehension about petrochemical producers’ quarterly results.

In Dubai, Emaar Properties, which yesterday launched its first major hotel project in Dubai since 2009, rose 3.2 percent to its highest finish since January 2011. The developer plans to build a new hotel in the city’s high-end Downtown area, marking its return to the sector following a sustained property crisis in the emirate.

Dubai house prices have tumbled by more than half in the past four years, with developers’ share prices suffering even steeper declines. This slump spurred Emaar to diversify into retail and hospitality and, in July, it reported a second-quarter profit more than double the previous year’s. Dubai rose 1.4 percent, its eighth gain in 10 sessions.

“QE3 is pushing markets higher,” said Musa Haddad, head of investment advisory services at National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

“We’re seeing foreign investors coming into UAE markets - the upside looks promising and there is limited downside.”

The Fed on Thursday said it would launch a third round of quantitative easing (QE3), with the central bank’s measures sending world stocks to a 13-month high on Friday. Abu Dhabi’s index rose 0.8 percent to a six-month peak.

Etisalat was the main support, rising 1.5 percent to extend gains since the telecom operator sold most of its stake in Indonesia’s PT XL Axiata. “We have been in a long-term sideways trend, which some medium- to long-term investors took as an opportunity to accumulate on low volumes,” said Haddad. “Not all stocks are to buy - there are only five or six companies worth looking at for the long term, but when the upside comes in this market it is very strong.” These include Etisalat and rival du, plus First Gulf Bank, DP World and Emaar, Haddad said.

First Gulf Bank rose 0.8 percent, du climbed 1.2 percent and Nasdaq Dubai-listed DP World added 1 percent. Saudi Arabia’s index fell 0.1 percent to ease from Saturday’s four-month peak.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) dipped 0.5 percent and Sahara Petrochemical lost 0.4 percent.

“All eyes are on Q3 results and investors don’t expect great numbers from petrochemicals,” said Hesham Tuffaha, Bakheet Investment Group’s head of asset management. “Average petrochemical product prices in Q3 are below that for Q2.”

Petrochemicals and financial services are the two heavyweight sectors on the bourse and combined they account for more than half the index weighting, so worries about producers’ profits have capped broader market gains.

Saudi Arabia companies are among the earliest in the Gulf to report earnings, with results season to likely start in the first week of October. Oman’s index rose 0.6 percent to an 11-week high.

“There is strong accumulation in insurance and investment stocks because these have the largest (local) stock portfolios and so should benefit from the market rally,” said Adel Nasr, United Securities brokerage manager. — Reuters

22

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

BUSINESS

Islamic financial assets to reach $1.6tn in 2012

The argument for international equity investing

By Hayder Tawfik

KFH report sees great potential for industry KUWAIT: The Islamic finance industry has great potential for global expansion after achieving the most rapid growth among global financial services sectors, a specialized economic report showed yesterday.

“The total value of Islamic financial assets is expected to reach $1.6 trillion this year, and the financial sector is expected to continue its robust growth in 2013,” reads a report released by Kuwait Finance House Research (KFHR) yesterday. “(This expansion) is underpinned by: an increase in the demand for Sharia-compliant assets and an active role played by some jurisdictions around the world to promote the development of Islamic financial markets in their respective countries.”

The KFHR also noted that the flexibility of Islamic banks during global financial crisis has supported its global growth.

“Islamic banks demonstrated great resilience during the global financial crisis, despite the turmoil which unfolded across the world’s financial markets. While the equity, mortgage and insurance markets suffered huge financial losses post-US property market bubble burst, the balance sheets of Islamic banks emerged relatively unscathed as compared to their conventional counterparts.”

The report attributed the resilience of the Islamic banks to usually safe financial products and the consumers’ loyalty.

“Credit portfolios were essentially domestic rather than foreign, with limited pressure on asset quality; high consumer loyalty and deposit stability limited the possibility of massive bank runs and high capitalization and ample liquidity provided rel-

went on to say that “Based on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1 percent between 2007 and 2011, the Islamic banking assets are expected to grow to $1.3 trillion in 2012, accounting for more than 80.0 percent of global Islamic finance assets market share.

It also stressed that the Islamic banking industry is not only confined to Muslim majority countries, but also into new territories within Central Asia and Europe. “At the end-2011, there are 363 full-fledged Islamic financial institutions and a further 108 conventional financial institutions operating an Islamic window.

Although the Islamic banking industry currently constitutes only 1.6 percent of the total assets of the top 50 largest banks in the world (totaling $66.2 trillion at the end-2011), it remains one of the fastest growing segments in the global financial services sector.” The Islamic banking industry is expected to witness further developments in the future, particularly in terms of the development of new products and services as well as the opening up of new markets or jurisdictions, in light of the industry’s resilience during the global financial crisis.

“In 2011, the Islamic banking industry witnessed robust growth. Whilst approximately 80.0 percent of Islamic banking assets are in the Middle East, Asia represents a significant market with Malaysia having the largest market share of 9.6 percent. In terms of growth rate, Indonesia witnessed the strongest growth of 48.6 percent y-o-y, followed by Pakistan (34.4 percent y-o-y),” the report added. The

atively higher levels of confidence to counterparts,” the reads the report.

The report underlined that the sukuk market has evolved as a major contributing factor driving the internationalization of Islamic finance. “For the past 30 years, Islamic finance has been largely domestic driven, though in recent years it has gradually become the fastest growing segment of the international financial system. The sukuk market in particular has evolved as a major contributing factor driving the internationalization of Islamic finance, becoming an important avenue for international fund raising and investment activities, generating significant cross-border flows.”

It added that the internationalization of Islamic finance has been facilitated by further developments of the international Islamic financial infrastructure, prompting Islamic financial institutions to venture beyond their domestic borders. “Today, there are more than 600 Islamic financial institutions operating in more than 75 countries, offering a wide range of products and services. With the internationalization of the industry, Islamic finance is expected to contribute to the more efficient mobilization and allocation of funds across regions. This trend will strengthen the international financial and economic linkages between jurisdictions, bringing mutual benefits to all stakeholders.”

Data showed that the Islamic finance Industry has grown at a strong rate of 15.0 percent-20.0 percent annually over the past decade, from approximately USD150.0 billion in the mid-1990s to an estimated $1.1 trillion in 2011. The report

KFHR also forecast a remarkable growth in the Islamic banking industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council member states in the coming years. “The GCC is home to some of the world’s largest Islamic banks such as Al-Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait Finance House in Kuwait. The increase of Islamic banking activities in the GCC attributed to a number of factors which include an increasing domestic demand for Islamic financial products and, above all, the considerable growth of savings in the Gulf linked to oil price trends, “It is expected that the Islamic banking industry in the GCC will continue to grow underpinned by their strong economic fundamentals, economic stimulant via government sponsored infrastructure projects, consolidation of Islamic banks in certain jurisdictions (Bahrain), growing numbers of Islamic banks (Saudi Arabia and Oman) and changes in regulation(Qatar) which will benefit the industry as a whole.”

The Islamic banking industry is also expected to witness encouraging developments as emerging economies such as Turkey, Indonesia, India and China promote the alternative form of financial intermediation, underpinned by the increasing demand for alternative banking products and services.

“Despite the positive developments, moving forward the deteriorating global economic environment, a shortage of education and product awareness in some jurisdictions as well as legal and tax issues are some of the challenges that will be faced by the Islamic banking industry,” warned the report. — KUNA

Deutsche to trim Mideast investment banking staff Tougher investment banking environment DUBAI: Deutsche Bank is cutting several senior jobs in its investment banking business in Dubai, including directors, as it cuts costs to adapt to a tougher investment banking environment globally, three banking sources said.

The German lender last week outlined plans to cut bonuses, axe more jobs and sell assets, and senior executives said expected job cuts would be “over and above” the 1,900 positions already announced. “There are at least seven people confirmed to be leaving front office roles (in Dubai),” said a source familiar with the matter, adding the jobs were mostly in the investment banking business.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that three or four of the job cuts were at director level.

Among those leaving is Zulfi Khan, a

director in its global markets operations who handled client coverage in the United Arab Emirates, two other sources said. A separate source within the bank, who is familiar with the process, said Khan was currently on its payroll. The source declined to be identified.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on specific job cuts but said it remained committed to the region, in an emailed statement.

“A lot of the job cuts in the region have so far remained confined to junior level bankers. Shifting higher up shows the region is clearly no more an appealing destination as it used to be for investment bankers,” one of the banking sources said, adding Deutsche is cutting about a quarter of its total Dubai investment banking team. Other global banks, including Bank

of America, Credit Suisse and Rothschild, have also shed investment banking jobs in the region in recent months, as dwindling deal volumes and a low fee paying culture makes the business model unviable.

Middle East investment banking fees were $234.8 million in the first half of 2012, a five percent rise from a year-ago but still a far cry from the nearly $1 billion fees earned by banks during the boom years of 2005 and 2006, Thomson Reuters data showed. That fee pool has to be shared between as many as 20 global banks who have hired or brought in some senior bankers to lure business in the region.

Nomura Holdings, Japan’s largest investment bank, shut down its research department in the region last year, while Credit Suisse laid off its London-based MENA equity research head. — Reuters

MUMBAI: An Indian Shiv Sena party activist carries a replica of a cooking gas cylinder over his head during a fuel price hike protest in Mumbai yesterday. The Indian government faces protests, strike threats and internal dissent this week in what promises to be a test of its reform credentials and its bid to regain momentum. — AFP

The argument simply is about investment diversification. Why I am saying this because there has been a lot of talk about why should any investor diversifies, when there is a correlation between all or some markets! This is fine only when those markets which are tied together or are in economic blocks such as the European Union. Good returns from diversification can be gained by investing internationally and away from the domestic market. The most important factor when you invest internationally is that you should construct a portfolio which is focused on the evaluation and the importance of the industry factor rather than just the country, when selecting the equities. Again focus should be given to where the company’s business is rather than where the company is based.

For example by investing in Apple Inc. which is based in the US, investors actually will have a global exposure as Apple generates most of its profits globally.

The convincing argument for international investing is that it provides higher returns for a given level of risk or the opposite ie lower risk for lower return. We at Dimah Capital think by just choosing a foreign country to invest in is not an effective investment strategy and this has been proven over the last few years.

What is needed is to be able to select stocks based on company specific business and financial criteria and also on portfolio investment criteria. Global competition has resulted in a more efficient allocation of resources which has led to producing goods and services far less expensive.

Actually global competition has led to better quality goods and services produced at lower costs hence cheaper for consumers.

Most multinational companies which dominate the global consumer markets are only available to investors who invest internationally.

Global economic integration has been indeed very useful for some multinational companies as this helped them to eliminate many regional barriers to entry and helped them to understand the global consumer markets hence the formation of a global corporate thinking. By moving overseas these companies have improved their product designs, efficiency, quality and above all their cost structure.

By investing internationally, investors can capture all of these in a single company without having the troubles to research them in great details. Global expansion combined with faster growth prospects and less concentration on a specific geographical area for some of these companies means that they should command much higher valuations than those companies which are domestically orientated.

International investing combined with a good quality equity selection can deliver superior returns in the future.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds

.2740000 .4490000 .3650000 .2980000 .2850000 .2930000 .0040000 .0020000 .0759190 .7396520 .3870000 .0720000 .7250960 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2796500 GB Pound/KD .4534660 Euro .3671390 Swiss francs .3016560 Canadian dollars .2879280 Danish Kroner .0492530 Swedish Kroner .0426630 Australian dlr .2950170 Hong Kong dlr .0360760 Singapore dlr .2292780 Japanese yen .0035670 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0761680 Bahraini dinars .7420720 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0745930 Omani riyals .7266470 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Malaysian Ringgit

3.632 5.145 2.967 2.125 3.239 232.460 36.288 3.425 6.786 9.133 92.603

.2860000 .4600000 .3710000 .3040000 .2950000 .2990000 .0058500 .0035000 .0766820 .7470860 .4100000 .0780000 .7323840 .0510000 .2817500 .4568720 .3698950 .3039210 .2900900 .0496230 .0429830 .2972320 .0363470 .2309990 .0035940 .0052180 .0021400 .0029890 .0034570 .0767400 .7476450 .3985150 .0751530 .7321030 .0068600

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.977 77.254 730.280 746.780 76.560

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.950 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.028 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.312 Tunisian Dinar 181.380 Jordanian Dinar 397.020 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.886 Syrian Lier 4.904 Morocco Dirham 33.659 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 281.050 Euro 371.970 Sterling Pound 458.670 Canadian dollar 292.460 Turkish lire 156.600 Swiss Franc 306.490 US Dollar Buying 279.850 GOLD 328.000 166.000 84.250

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria

SELL CASH

300.000 747.040 3.680 292.700 551.700 45.800 50.100 167.800 47.990 372.900 36.900 5.380 0.032 0.160 0.234 3.680 398.070 0.190 94.830 44.900 4.320 237.000 1.820

50.500 729.650 3.050 6.990 77.700 75.000 231.480 36.280 2.676 459.400 43.800 306.600 4.300 9.440 198.263 76.590 281.300 1.350

10 Tola

GOLD 1,789.920

Sterling Pound US Dollar

729.470 2.974 6.775 77.270 75.000 231.480 36.280 2.122 457.400 305.100 4.300 9.320 76.490 280.900

COUNTRY

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 457.400 280.900

SELL DRAFT

298.500 747.040 3.427 291.200

231.500 46.054 371.400 36.750 5.160 0.031

SELL DRAFT

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

300.64 293.59 303.77 371.90 280.45 458.82 3.66 3.433 5.165 2.123 3.238 2.974 76.42 746.75 46.05 399.55 729.90 77.45 75.00

SELL CASH

299.50 292.00 307.50 370.50 281.50 458.00 3.69 3.560 5.315 2.300 3.550 3.150 77.00 746.50 47.90 398.50 735.00 78.00 75.30

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 398.030 0.189 94.830 3.250 235.500

Rate for Transfer

Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro

280.800 288.195 456.020 368.993

Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

294.602 743.404 76.430 77.077 74.845 395.827 46.050 2.124 5.165 2.965 3.432 6.780 688.801 4.579 9.022 4.354 3.247 89.514

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Currency

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

280.800 2.967 5.176 2.130 3.425 6.810 76.555 75.035 746.500 46.050 460.800 2.990 1.550 374.400 295.700 3.200

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

280.800 370.050 456.600 290.200 3.605 5.145 46.050 2.123 3.425 6.785 2.980 747.000 76.420 75.000

MONDAY, SEPREMBER 17, 2012

BUSINESS

Risk rally continues amid QE3 move, dollar falls KUWAIT: Last week, the Dollar dropped slowly against most of its major counterparts towards mid-week as the markets gradually shifted to riskier assets, a move sparked by disappointing data from the US labor market in the previous trading week.

However, on Thursday the greenback plunged at a faster pace across the board, breaking a number of major technical levels, amid the German Constitutional Court Ruling and the Fed announcing a third round of quantitative easing. The dollar Index continued its downward momentum on Friday and closed the week at the low of 78.83.

The US dollar suffered against the euro, as the highly anticipated German Constitutional court ruling cleared the way for Germany to participate in the EU’s Permanent 500 billion firewall.

Although the ruling comes with a couple of conditions, the Euro broke above the 1.2900 level minutes after the announcement. The single currency continued to rally amid the Feds announcement of additional easing, reached a four-month high of 1.3168, and closed high at 1.3124.

The sterling pound had a similar performance. Cable opened the week at the 1.5990 level and surged against the greenback to break the 1.6100 level amid the announcements from Germany and the US. Despite further deterioration in economic conditions in the UK, the Pound extended its gains after the Federal Reserve announced aggressive monetary easing which weighed on the US dollar.

Cable reached a high of 1.6256 but failed to sustain that level and closed the week at 1.6213.

In parallel, the Japanese yen started

NBK MONEY MARKETS REPORT the week at the 78.20 level, and then gained momentum to reach a low of 77.11 amid the GCC ruling on Thursday. The yen quickly lost its gains as the Fed reserve announce an additional round of QE, fuelled the risk-on trade. The yen also lost its footing against the Euro, trading at 103.00, a three-month high. EURJPY closed the week at 102.90.

Euro rose to an eight-month high against the Swiss franc on Friday after a fall in euro-zone peripheral bond yields, which reduced demand for the safe haven Swiss currency. EUR/CHF opened the week at the 1.2091 level, the currency range traded towards mid week then started to lose momentum as risk appetite increased. On Friday,

euro reached a high of 1.2179 and closed at 1.2167.

Gold and oil surged on Friday after the US Federal Reserve’s announcement to stimulate the economy spurred expectations for increased global demand for raw materials and a heightened need to hedge inflation risks. Gold rose 0.6% to hit a session peak of $1,777.51, the highest since

February as the Fed’s open-ended debt purchase plan raised inflation concerns. Additionally, US crude hit a session high of $99.75 a barrel, a level last seen in early May. Brent crude reached a high of $116.99, not far off a fourmonth top of $117.48.

Trade balance The US trade deficit widened for the first time in four months as the global economic slowdown reduced demand for US goods. The gap grew 0.2% to $42 billion, smaller than projected $44 billion, from a revised $41.9 billion in June. Exports fell by the most since April, outpacing a decline in imports that reflected cheaper petroleum. A stagnant Europe and weaker

economies in emerging markets such as China may be starting to weaken demand for US products.

Unemployment claims The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits rose more than projected last week, showing negligible improvement on the outlook for jobs. Jobless

claims increased 15,000, the biggest gain in almost two months, to 382,000.

The report showed that 9,000 of the applications were a result of the tropical storm Isaac. The report also shows that global slowdown is weighing on the country’s labor market The US dollar plunged on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced a new mortgage bond buying program that will run in parallel with its current “Operation Twist” and an extension of its zero-rate outlook to mid-2015.

The new program consists of monthly purchases of $40 billion of mortgage bonds, with an indefinite duration, to continue until the outlook for the labor market improves substantially. In his verbal testimony, Chairman Bernanke re-emphasized that evidence of economic recovery would not quickly produce the termination of the program. Together with the existing “Operation Twist” buying of long-term Treasuries and its purchases to replace maturing bonds, the Fed expects to be intervening by $85 billion monthly in the long-term bond markets until yearend. When asked what further steps the Fed might take, Bernanke emphasized on “communication” actions. The Fed statement also emphasized that it expects inflation to run at or below 2% annually over the medium term. The central bank’s main objective is to lower interest rates and mortgage rates in particular. By keeping rates low, the Fed hopes to fuel more spending and eventually, more hiring and to stabilize home prices. Meanwhile, economists expect the benefits to be minor, and the risks are uncertain. The first two rounds of quantitative easing lowered interest rates and fueled stock market gains, but banks have not been eager

to lend out money willingly.

Inflation within range US consumer prices rose 0.6% last month after being flat in July; the rise was due to the jump in gasoline prices, which recorded their largest increase since June 2009.Also the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 0.1% for a second month in a row. In the past year, the overall CPI increased 1.7%, staying below the Fed’s 2% target. The Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said “inflation would remain close to the Fed’s target, noting that longer term inflation expectation were quite stable.” US retail sales rose by the most in six months in August, boosted by automobiles and high gasoline prices, retail sales increased 0.9 %, the largest increase since February.

The University of Michigan’s preliminary September consumer sentiment index rose to 79.2 from 74.3 in August.

The index rose to its highest level in four months, as more Americans were more positive about their economic and job prospects.

Germany’s Constitutional Court gave a green light on Wednesday for the country to ratify the Euro zone’s new rescue fund and fiscal pact but gave parliament veto powers over any future increases in the size of the fund.

The highly anticipated verdict by the court lifted global stocks and the Euro as investors breathed a sigh of relief that the euro-zone’s rescue fund could take effect after months of delay.

Kuwait Kuwaiti Dinar at 0.28020 The USDKWD opened at 0.28020 yesterday morning.

BAE ready to ring-fence defense projects: Report Merger with EADS could fail over EU law

NEW YORK: A person associated with the Occupy movement is arrested in New York in front of Trinity church on Broadway on Saturday. — AP

Occupy Wall St plans to mark anniversary NEW YORK: Occupy Wall Street will mark its first anniversary today by attempting to blockade the New York Stock Exchange and re-launch the movement against what it sees as inequality, organizers said. The social protest movement has seen a steep drop in support since it was founded a year ago, when hundreds of people camped in Zuccotti Park near Wall Street to protest bank bailouts and what they called the ruling “one percent.”

But activists promise to make a comeback on the September 17 anniversary, about six weeks before Americans decide whether to reelect President Barack Obama or bring in his Republican challenger Mitt Romney. About 250 of them already marched on Broadway Saturday in an opening salvo of anniversary celebrations. Police said several people were arrested, but declined to give an exact number. The New York Times put the number of those detained at least 15.

The arrested, according to the paper, included a woman who tried to burn an American flag and got into an argument with a man who tried to stop her. “This first year anniversary is the opportunity to put our concerns, the concerns of the 99 percent of the people, on the top of the agenda again,” Chris James, a 26year-old student from Brooklyn and one of the organizers of the upcoming event, told AFP. The highlight of several days of street action will be a “people’s wall” at the NYSE, said Dana Balicki, a spokeswoman for the group.

“We want to bring people down to the belly of the beast,” she said. “That will be a pretty substantial act of civil disobedience.” In addition to staging a sit-in outside the heavily guarded building, there are plans to conduct policy workshops and training session in civil disobedience.

“There’ll be a mass of people converging on the Stock Exchange to deliver our message: that we’re the 99 percent and we’re not going to take it,” 31-year-old

Balicki said.

Balicki said Occupy leaders have learned from past mistakes and are ready to get around any police crackdown.

Occupy’s camp in Zuccotti Park last year spawned similar protests in cities around, the world as the movement tapped into widespread resentment over the economic slump, persistent unemployment and anger at Wall Street practices.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire entrepreneur, was initially tolerant. However, after authorities cleared out the increasingly squalid tent camp, new attempts to protest were quickly overwhelmed by police, who regularly made dozens, occasionally even hundreds, of arrests.

Since then, the movement has failed to make good on promises to return as a significant force. Notably, efforts to make an impact at this week’s Republican convention in Florida have fizzled out.

But Chris James denies the moving was waning. “Occupy Wall Street has been growing even if we were not on the news,” he said. “We have people from all the country and some of them are here.”

Last year’s protests brought together activists from major US cities like Chicago, Seattle and Portland. There were supporters even from Spain and the Netherlands.

“Last year people gathered spontaneously, and it was a chaos which it was good,” recalled Sara Blom, a 30-year-old Dutch anthropologist and filmmaker, who brought to New York a film about Occupy Amsterdam. “It was a good kind of chaos at the beginning, but now it feels like either it has to be structured or it is just going to disappear,” Blom continued. “It has to attract more people, not only the people that are already familiar with an alternative lifestyle. It has to be more diverse.”

Balicki said “some really good tacticians” were at work on ensuring that the upcoming return to the streets won’t be immediately quashed. — AFP

LONDON: British defense group BAE Systems is prepared to ring-fence projects such as the Trident nuclear submarine program to calm growing fears over the impact on security and employment of its planned merger with European aerospace giant EADS. A source close to BAE told Reuters yesterday that Trident and Detica, BAE’s cyber security arm which handles sensitive government information, were “exactly the sort of projects” that BAE would seek to protect under its own control should a deal to create the world’s biggest aerospace firm come off. The two companies face swelling political obstacles to the 30 billion pound ($49 billion) deal, which is being driven largely by the need of US and European defense firms to offset the impact of shrinking national military budgets.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper cited senior Whitehall sources as saying that BAE had been given a list of “red line” issues focusing on British defense contracts.

Britain had raised a series of national security concerns arising from the deal and would block it if they were not resolved, it said. There are also concerns over 10,000 jobs connected to the EADS Airbus operations in Bristol and north Wales which could be put at risk by the merger as the new headquarters of the merged company would probably be in France.

The Conservative-led coalition government had made it clear it wants the issues dealt with before lifting the threat of using its “golden share” to block the merger, the paper reported. It said Britain in particular wants safeguards over the future of the Trident nuclear submarine program, built by BAE in Cumbria, northern England. Meanwhile, the Independent on Sunday reported thousands of British jobs would be slashed if the government failed to back the deal.

A source close to BAE told Reuters it would “always match the workforce to the workload”. The same source

BERLIN: (Left to right): Brandenburg State Premier Matthias Platzeck, German Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Philipp Roesler, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak, German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer, Berlin CDU Chairman Frank Henkel and BDLI President Thomas Enders watch as German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) cuts the ribbon during the opening of the Berlin airshow ILA in Schoenefeld, outside Berlin. — AFP added that, if the deal does go through, job losses would be minimal as there is not much overlap between the two businesses.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills declined to comment on the reports. The government said on Wednesday it wanted to “ensure that the UK’s public interest was properly protected”. Britain in May moved closer to renewing its Trident nuclear weapons system, awarding 350 million pounds worth of contracts to design a new generation of submarines, mainly to BAE. Meanwhile, German officials believe a proposed tie-up of British arms maker BAE Systems and European aerospace giant EADS could fail because it does not comply with European law, a news magazine said yesterday.

Spiegel, citing an unnamed source familiar with discussions at the German chancellery on the planned merger, said the potential problem focused on the issue of so-called golden shares.

Under the plan being discussed, the two groups would issue special golden shares in BAE Systems and EADS to each of the French, German and British governments. The French and German governments hold big stakes in EADS, while the British state has a golden share in BAE that allows it to veto deals that it perceives not to be in the public interest.

But Spiegel said the European Union only allowed golden shares for armaments divisions when it was a question of protecting national security interests. “For the civilian part of the company, that contravenes EU

law,” the news weekly cited the source as saying. On Thursday, a spokesman for the German economy ministry said Berlin had been “informed” of the merger negotiations and had been “asked to support this merger.”

“The federal government is currently examining all relevant questions,” the spokesman said. But German news agency DPA also reported on Thursday that the government had expressed skepticism.

“It is questionable whether the proposed structure can actually be agreed to,” DPA said citing government sources, and spoke of “serious reservations”. “Alongside questions of European law, there is also the question as to the value of such an arrangement,” DPA quoted sources as saying. — Agencies

EADS chief Enders closer to his goal of BAE merger PARIS: For more than a decade, Tom Enders, the German head of European aerospace giant EADS, has dreamt of a united European aerospace industry strong enough to take on US behemoths.

With the proposed blockbuster tie-up with Britain’s BAE Systems, he may be closer than ever.

Enders and his director of strategy Marwan Lahoud held secret talks over several months with BAE to create a aerospace and defense giant on equal footing with the likes of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

The merger would create the world’s biggest aerospace and defense group, uniting the maker of Airbus passenger jets with the builder of Eurofighter/Typhoon fighters, in a deal worth $48 billion at the time of announcement on Wednesday. But markets, skeptical that self-interested governments would loosen their grip on industrial champions, sent the share price for both companies down sharply as soon as the deal was announced, although BAE shares have recovered.

The deal, if completed, would leave EADS with a 60 percent share to BAE’s 40 percent, and gov-

ernments in France, Germany and Britain with special rights, although reports said BAE insists on keeping states out of corporate decision making.

Enders and Lahoud are veterans of the tectonic shifts that shook the defense industry in the 1990’s when European companies scrambled to keep up with US mega mergers that made Lockheed Martin a giant and saw Boeing combine with McDonnell Douglas. To fend off the American onslaught, Enders, as head strategy of Deutsche Aerospace AG at the time, led intense talks to merge his group with BAE Systems, with the stated goal of inviting French partners to join later.

But France backed away from the deal, unwilling to find itself a junior partner in a larger company. In the heat of the moment, French companies Aerospatiale and Matra merged on their own, in a deal negotiated by Lahoud, then of Aerospatiale. With BAE talks in tatters, Enders then turned to France’s newly fangled Aerospatiale-Matra, and Mahoud, to create EADS (European Defense and Space Company) with Spanish CASA on board as well. “Tom Enders has

always regretted not having succeeded in bringing BAE closer,” a source close to Enders said.

But he never left the goal fall out of sight.

Enders knows everyone at BAE and kept in close contact. EADS and BAE cooperate on the Eurofighter combat plane as well as on missile technology through MBDA, a subsidiary co-run with Italy’s Finmeccanica. And with his eye on BAE Systems, Enders also kept another goal in view: conquering the US market.

Once the merger frenzy had cooled, BAE Systems pulled out of the civilian aerospace business virtually altogether, selling off its 20 percent stake in Airbus in 2006.

But soon after the global financial crisis hit and Western governments slashed military budgets, leaving BAE Systems suddenly vulnerable. “Given their financial situation and the poor outlook in the defense sector, a part of the (BAE) management could have very well reconsidered its positions,” said aerospace expert Philippe Plouvier from Roland Berger consultancy.—- AFP

24

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

business

Storm clouds gather over Russia’s dominant Gazprom From falling profits to EU anti-trust probe MOSCOW: From falling profits to an EU anti-trust probe and a possibly misguided strategy based on pipelines-storm clouds are finally gathering over Russia’s previously invincible gas giant Gazprom.

A January to March net profit slip of 23.5 percent marked the start of an ugly month in which Gazprom has waged diplomatic war with the EU Commission and then had President Vladimir Putin personally shield it from the probe.

The world’s largest producer also outraged local players by refusing to buy their gas-a move whose contractual legitimacy is open to question-and binned its biggest offshore project ever due to a client shortage.

“For the first time since 1998, Gazprom is facing serious financial troubles,” VTB Capital wrote in reference to the year of post-Soviet Russia’s worst economic crisis to date.

“Russia has over-utilized Gazprom for a long time and this has been happening in many different ways, including to achieve some foreign policy goals..., fill the budget and employ state officials,” it told clients in a special report.

Gazprom was created in the late Soviet era from the USSR Ministry of Gas ‘Industry and took its current form in 1993 under the iron-fisted leadership of the late prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The firm

almost instantly became known as a “state within a state”-a behemoth so large and powerful it formed its own foreign policies while running loose of taxpayer control. Gazprom today ships natural gas to one in four European households and employs 400,000 people in regions where it often replaces the government in duties such as providing health care and schools.

It is this very scale and ungainliness that has made Federal AntiMonopoly Ser vice chief Igor Artemyev this week call Gazprom “a highly-inefficient company that has enough money and must simply bring its house in order.”

The company’s stock has rarely suffered too badly from it because investors often view Gazprom as a “Russia” play dissociated from the fundamentals. —- ‘It just looks like a joke’ —- But its Achilles heel has been a failure to grasp the significance of shale and liquefied natural gas products that created instant supply gluts in North America and lay the foundation for a global market trade.

Gazprom meanwhile is now work ing on two massive new pipelines to Europe at the staggering cost of around $30 billion.

Analysts question if EU clients-with supply diversification top of their agenda-will need either in the years to come. “While other producers are building LNG plants,

grabbing a share of Gazprom’s market against the backdrop of falling European demand... Gazprom is insistently building new pipelines.

To Europe,” the Kommersant Vlast business weekly wrote.

“It just looks like a joke.” Data show Gazprom also losing nearly 10 percent of the domestic market in the past five years to private rivals such as Novatek-a firm coowned by an old-time colleague of Putin which is quickly expanding abroad.

Things will grow only worse should the government strip the group of its exclusive right to international pipelines and allow ambitious competitors such as Rosneft to deliver their growing gas volumes to EU states. And some even fail to see the silver lining in deciding to mothball the $40 billion Stockman project in the Arctic-a priority in the past decade made redundant by US liquefied natural gas.

“We can only expect a positive impact if Gazprom reviews all its long-term expenditures and makes them correspond to global gas demand,” the Otkritie Financial Corporation observed.

Yet the biggest concern for the group is being branded by the EU a monopoly that must eliminate some of its European pipeline and refining capacities while promoting regional trade. —AFP

RUSTENBERG: Demonstrators hold placards during march by protesting miners in Rustenburg yesterday after a security crackdown in the restive platinum belt where officers shot dead 34 strikers exactly a month ago. — AFP

S African miners plan ‘peaceful march’ after crackdown MARIKANA: Striking South African miners have called for a “peaceful march” on a police station yesterday after authorities launched a major crackdown in the country’s restive platinum belt.

Police on Saturday fired rubber bullets at protesters and seized weapons from worker hostels at platinum giant Lonmin in an operation to quell unrest in the mining sector.

Soldiers were also deployed as back-up in the troubled Rustenburg platinum belt where militant protests have forced several mine closures since police gunned down 34 people last month at Lonmin’s Marikana mine. The troops had been sent in to Marikana at the request of the police, Brigadier General Xolani Mabanga told AFP. But the police were leading the operation, he added.

Forces moved into Marikana less than 24 hours after the government announced a security clampdown.

The unrest has forced three leading producers to halt mining operations on the world’s richest platinum deposits. The striking miners said there would be a “peaceful march” on Sunday, heading towards the police headquarters in Rustenburg.

“Everyone will be here. No vandalizing, maybe sticks but no iron. It will be a peaceful march, But I can’t guarantee there won’t be rubber bullets,” said one of the strike leaders, who called himself Gadaffi.

Yesterday marked a month since the 34 miners were killed on August 16. Five hundred police officers, assisted by the army, raided hostels at Lonmin’s mine at 2:00 am (0000 GMT)

Saturday, seizing piles of metal rods, machetes and sticks. Later that morning, police fired tear gas to disperse gathering protesters. There were clashes as workers regrouped and threw stones at officers amid the shacks opposite the mine.

Plumes of black smoke poured into the sky from burning tyres which workers used as barricades along with large rocks dragged across the dirt roads inside the humble settlement.

But the area was calm by the afternoon. It was the biggest show of force since officers shot dead the 34 miners, the worst police bloodshed since democracy in 1994, which sparked comparisons with the apartheid-era brutality of the white -minority regime. A mediator in Lonmin’s wage talks warned that the crackdown could lead to a “complete revolt across the platinum belt”. “Government must be crazy believing that, what to me resembles an apartheid-era crackdown, can succeed,” said Bishop Jo Seoka, president of the South African Council of Churches. “ We must not forget that such crackdowns in the past led to more resistance,” he added.

The government could ill afford to be seen as the enemy of the people that had put it in power, he said.

Police have sworn to carry out the government’s orders to stamp out the illegal gatherings, illegal weapons, incitement and threats of violence that have characterized the protests.

“The police are not going to hesitate to act,” spokesman Brigadier Thulani Ngubane told AFP. The police confirmed they had

used rubber bullets on Saturday and said that in addition to seven arrests of protesters at a mine on Friday, they had detained at least another 12 people. An AFP photographer saw a man bleeding after having been shot in the arm and the side of his body.

“A police nyala (armored truck) drove past us. We were a group of women and others ran away. I just stood there watching and they shot me in my leg,” Melita Ramasedi told the Sapa news agency, showing her bleeding leg. Seoka said six women had been shot and one of them had to be hospitalized.

The troubles at Lonmin, the world’s third largest platinum producer, over a wage dispute in which 45 people have died, have spread to surrounding mines and to a Gold Fields mine near Johannesburg.

The world’s top platinum producer Anglo American Platinum has closed five mines because of safety fears.

Leading ferrochrome producer, Xstrata Alloys, and Aquarius Platinum also halted work on Friday due to the mounting protests. President Jacob Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj told AFP that the actions were “very proper, firm, some people would even say, inadequate measures” given the violence and threats of intimidation.” “If we allow the situation to continue, the economy will suffer severely and we will be going down the road of lawlessness,” he added. Mining is the backbone of South Africa’s economy.

It directly employs around 500,000 people and once related activities are included accounts for nearly one-fifth of gross domestic product. —AFP

JAL set to return to Tokyo exchange TOKYO: Japan Airlines (JAL), delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange after its bankruptcy in 2010, was set to return to Japan’s biggest bourse this week after a massive overhaul and $8.5 billion share sale.

The carrier is to begin trading on Wednesday following its initial public offering-the world’s secondbiggest IPO this year after Facebook-marked a stunning turnaround for one of Japan’s worst corporate catastrophes.

“The re-listing is a very important milestone for us and something that we had craved, but it is also just part of our bigger goal” of steady profitability, JAL President Yoshiharu Ueki told reporters last week.

“Without being carried away by the euphoria... we will make further efforts so that we respond to our new investors’ expectations,” he added.

JAL crashed into bankruptcy in January 2010, owing 2.3 trillion yen ($29 billion) in one of Japan’s biggest-ever corporate failures, but continued flying while it went through a rehabilitation process under court protection.

The overhauled carrier, recently touted as the world’s most profitable airline, received a huge government bailout and other concessions, drawing howls of protest from rivals including All Nippon Airways (ANA). Led by charismatic businessman Kazuo Inamori, who was brought in by the government to help turn the firm around, JAL also withdrew from unprofitable routes and sold or merged non-core businesses.

Last month, JAL pointed to its improved financial health, saying net profit in the April-June quarter more than doubled to 26.9 billion

yen.

In a regulatory filing last Monday, JAL said it expected to sell 175 million new shares at 3,790 yen eachthe top end of a previously announced range-resulting in proceeds of 663 billion yen ($8.5 billion). That is nearly double the amount of public money spent to keep it afloat during the massive

Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.

But Sugiura warned “uncertainty remains... over international flights” as opposed to the domestic market that “will be steady under a nearduopoly by JAL and ANA”. Japan was slow to the budget carrier sector although several new low-cost

TOKYO: Japan Airlines (JAL) cabin attendants displaying plates for the first class meals as JAL introduces the new service for JAL’s international flights in Tokyo. — AFP restructuring, with the proceeds expected to be used to pay back the government bailout.

The offering was the year’s second-biggest globally behind Facebook, after the social networking giant’s $16 billion IPO in May, although Facebook shares have dived since their much-hyped May 18 debut. JAL’s new shares “look undervalued among market participants and are likely to attract reasonable demand”, Shigeo Sugawara, senior investment manager at

airlines have come online this year.

It remained unclear how much they would eat into their bigger rivals’ profits.

The airline has embarked on an ambitious expansion, saying earlier this year it ordered 10 new fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft as it looks to build on its recovery.

The announcement, part of a fiveyear plan, is in addition to an existing order for 35 of the mid-sized planes capable of flying long-range routes. — AFP

25

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

business

Euro-zone leaders enjoy ‘good week’ while it lasts NICOSIA: Euro-zone leaders had a “good week” with a vital German court decision and Dutch elections going their way, even if bailouts for Greece and Spain remain up in the air.

On the back of a decision by the European Central Bank to ease pressures on bond markets, finance ministers could tackle difficult issues including treaty obstacles to a banking union.

While recession and unemployment cast shadows over debt crisis-fighting efforts on the streets in Madrid and Lisbon, where marchers demonstrated Saturday, and in Barcelona, where a million called for Catalonia’s independence earlier in the week, at the very top the feeling is one of breathing easier.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian premier Mario Monti hailed what they called “a good week for Europe and the euro,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said after the pair spoke by telephone on Friday. The German Constitutional Court’s green

light for Europe’s blocked bailout fund was the main factor for them, alongside a vote won by Dutch Prime Minister and staunch ally Mark Rutte, despite concessions to far-right voters.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said things were falling into “the right place” after the announcement of potentially unlimited buying of euro-zone government bonds on sell-on markets under bailout-like conditions. The Greek bailout, however, will likely only become clearer come an October 18-19 summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is close to winning a two-year extension to meet fiscal pledges, and a liquidity boost from the ECB, in exchange for a new austerity package worth 11.7 billion euros ($15 billion) to avoid leaving the euro-zone.

“We are talking about an extension to 2016,” he told the Wall Street Journal. New figures are also due soon from Spain on financing needs at its banks,

although it has yet to be established how Madrid can avoid a full sovereign bailout after the 100-billioneuro deal agreed in June for loans to recapitalize its banks. Overall, markets have responded positively, turning their focus elsewhere, although analysts remain prudent. The decisions by the ECB, the German court and Dutch voters “have diminished the risk of short-term negative scenarios for the euro-zone,” according to Amsterdam-based ING. However, they have their doubts that the “good week” extends far below the surface.

Italy and France also suffer from a lack of competitiveness, Greek debt has not become any more sustainable and all the data suggests that the most successful European economies have already been dragged down by the turbulence in the euro-zone periphery. Harder-line Capital Economics of London saw “bolstered hopes” of a “turning point”, but sneered that “September could yet prove to be

another false dawn,” and held to their longstanding line that “Greece’s bail-out will probably collapse, resulting in it leaving the euro-zone.”

The birth-pains of banking union serve as a reminder that political dangers lurk behind crisis resolution efforts. Even snail-pace progress on eurozone integration is too fast for some, and powerful voices in London are furious at the direction of travel.

Former Conservative premier John Major told the Daily Telegraph at the weekend that a two-speed Europe could formally be upon us, with a December summit due to tackle treaty changes needed to anchor future integration offering a possible tippingpoint. “There is a bargain to be struck,” Major said, in advice clearly directed at Prime Minister David Cameron. “If an inner core (the euro-zone) can radically alter its relationship with the EU as a whole, then non-core members may feel free to do the same,” Major said. “I believe they should.” — AFP

Privatizations, a long-haul task in debt-ridden Greece Greek exit from euro still being weighed

LISBON: The riot police stands in front of the Parliament during a protest following an online and broadly non-party political campaign against the new austerity measures, in Lisbon, on Saturday. — AFP

Mass anti-austerity rallies in Spain, Portugal MADRID: Mass protests in Spain and Portugal, against ever tougher austerity measures, have ramped up the pressure on Iberian governments struggling to avoid international bailouts.

Tens of thousands of chanting protesters from across Spain packed the centre of Madrid on Saturday, including policemen in blue T-shirts, firemen with their red helmets, teachers decked out in matching green, healthcare workers in white and parents pushing strollers.

Many blew whistles and chanted “we are not paying for this crisis” and “general strike now” as they marched to the Plaza Colon square for the rally. Meanwhile over 100,000 people took to the streets of Lisbon and other Portuguese cities to protest against fresh austerity measures recently announced by their centre-right government. Organizers estimated that 50,000 people turned out in Lisbon, with a similar number in the second-largest city of Porto and several thousands in around 30 other cities. The country’s police generally refuse to release numbers.

In the Portuguese capital, protesters clashed with police in front of the parliament, but no one was injured.

In Madrid, over 1,000 buses ferried people in for the protest, which was organised by Spain’s two leading trade unions, the CCOO and the UGT, along with roughly 150 smaller organisations.

The government said around 65,000 people took part in the demonstration.

“We want to say loud and clear to the government that we do not agree, that its policies cause too much damage, that we will not resign ourselves because there are alternatives,” CCOO head Ignacio Toxo told the rally. In July, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government eliminated public workers’ annual Christmas bonuses, as part of austerity measures worth 102 billion euros ($126.5 billion) to be put in place by 2014 to reduce Spain’s public deficit.

The government’s austerity measures also include an increase in sales tax and cuts to jobless benefits in a nation with nearly 25 percent unemployment. “I see the future as very black,” said 55-year-old public sector worker Rian de los Rios as she made her way to the rally.

“My salary is getting smaller and smaller and my hours longer.” The Madrid government argues the austerity measures

will prevent Spain from needing the kind of multi-billion-euro bailout like the ones already received by Portugal, Greece, Ireland, which come with detailed conditions and regular inspections. “ These sacrifices are absolutely unavoidable if we are to correct the difficult economic climate we are experiencing and lay the foundations for a recovery,” Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told reporters in Cyprus. Madrid has already accepted a euro-zone rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros to save its banks, still reeling from a 2008 property market crash.

The protesters demanded a referendum on the deficit-reduction strategy of cost-cutting and tax hikes put in place by the government since it took office in December. UGT head Candido Mendez said Saturday’s rally was the start of a “long fight” against the austerity measures. Railway workers, along with metro workers in Madrid and Barcelona, will stage a one-day strike today over the austerity measures.

The marchers in Lisbon held up banners reading “Stop social terrorism” and “Soon the State will steal from the dead.”

Another slogan, “Let the troika go to the devil,” made reference to the country’s international creditors-the so-called troika of the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. The global economic institutions are monitoring Portugal’s implementation of spending cuts and reforms required in return for the 78-billion-euro ($102 billion) rescue package the country received in 2011. These cuts and reforms caused the economy to contract by 1.2 percent in the second quarter, faster than the 0.1 percent rate at the beginning of the year, with the drop for the whole year expected to hit 3.0 percent. In response, Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho announced a rise in social security contributions for public and private sector workers together with cuts in employers’ contributions in a bid to kickstart job creation, with unemployment running at more than 15 percent.

On Tuesday, Portugal won a reprieve from its creditors, when the EU and IMF agreed to relax Portugal’s deficit targets for 2012 and 2013, rewarding the Por tuguese for pushing through reforms. — AFP

Greek PM says exit from euro-zone ‘not an option’ WASHINGTON: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said, in an interview published late Saturday, that exiting the euro-zone was “not an option for Greece and expressed his determination to forge ahead with painful reforms. “We have to make sure that we abide by what we have signed because we believe that what they call ‘Grexit’ (a Greek exit from the eurozone) is not an option for us,” Samaras told The Washington Post.

“It would be a catastrophe,” he added. “In 2013, we are going to have a country in the sixth year of a recession with unemployment above 22 percent and rising. We are here to ful-

fill our obligations, to meet our targets.” Samaras, who became prime minister earlier this year, is trying to implement major budget cuts demanded by the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank in return for vital bailout funds. But the Greek prime minister insisted it would be impossible for parliament to approve these cuts right now. “I have to pass it through parliament, and it will pass parliament because we all realize the No. 1 prerequisite for our future is to stay in the euro-zone,” he said. “But it is a four-year program, not something we can do today.” — AFP

ATHENS: Greece has relaunched its privatization program to appease its bailout creditors, but efforts so far to raise money by selling off state assets have failed to attract investors due to the country’s uncertain economic outlook. The election of a conservative and economically liberal prime minister in June raised expectations in a country where no major privatization has taken place for several months.

But analysts believe that the year could well end without any significant developments.

During his recent visits to Berlin, Paris and Frankfurt, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras complained it was impossible to attract investors if high-ranking European officials continued to publicly discuss a possible Greek exit from the euro-zone.

But over the past few weeks, Europe has adopted a more conciliatory tone towards Athens, while insisting privatizations must speed up.

After five months of inaction, the privatization fund relaunched its program last week and announced the candidates selected for the second phase of the tender process for the key property of the Hellenikon park.

Previous attempts to exploit the Hellenikon, which is almost twice the size of New York’s Central Park and borders Athens’s southern coastline, have failed.

It also announced candidates for the second round of the tender process concerning a land plot on the island of Corfu, in western Greece. And the fund’s board will meet again on September 19 to try to finalize the details for the sale of the state lottery to private investors. This process will then prime the tender concerning the sale of 29 percent shares in state gambling operator OPAP. This relaunching of a privatization program that is supposed to bring in 19 billion euros by 2015 comes just as Greece is trying to secure a positive report from the troika of auditors representing its EU, IMF and ECB creditors. Their report, expected in October, will determine whether Greece, which is fac-

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (left) speaks with French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici during their meeting in Athens. —AFP ing a fifth year of continuous recession, will receive the next vital instalment from its EUIMF rescue loans.

“I think there is a real political will by the government to accelerate and have results on privatization,” economist George Pagoulatos, former advisor to the previous prime minister Lucas Papademos, told AFP. “They understand that a lot of the government’s credibility vis-avis the European partners is staked on delivering in privatization,” he added.

In July, deputy development minister Notis Mitarakis had admitted that “all these years, Greece did its best to avoid foreign investment.” Greece’s failure to create a land register-despite European funds provided for that purpose-as well as the bureaucracy, have hindered exploiting public property.

Yet this also spared, to a certain extent, the Greek coastline from the real estate craze that took over Spain and greatly contributed to that country’s crisis. Following Samaras’s recent statements concerning the exploita-

tion of Greek uninhabited islands, the fund launched an inventory which, to this day, has evaluated 562 out of 6,000 islands under Greek sovereignty.

The only important privatization that Greece has carried out in the past two years was the transfer of 10 percent of Greek telecom OTE to the German company Deutsche Telekom, which was already in possession of 30 percent. According to an economist specializing on state sales, who wished to remain anonymous, there will likely not be any progress before another “three or four months.” “We have to stop waiting for an immediate announcement of privatizations, it is a very lengthy process,” added the economist. Each case needs a process of “pre-qualifying the bids, launching them, analyzing them, choosing a candidate and then starting negotiations with the buyer.”

“Not a single case could be treated in less than a year and the troika (auditors) is well aware of this,” said the source. — AFP

German banks lose taste for food commodities trading FRANKFURT: German banks seem to be losing their appetite for agricultural commodities trading as public opinion turns against the investment vehicles blamed for driving up global food prices.

Catastrophic droughts this summer in the United States and Russia have led to an explosion in global cereal prices, fanning the flames of debate on whether it is ethical for investment banks to make billions of dollars in profits from speculation in food commodities while millions of people are condemned to live-and die-in hunger and poverty.

“By betting on price developments for agricultural commodities, investment banks are driving up food prices. They are accessories to the world’s famine crisis,” the German-based NGO, Foodwatch, says on its website. “And because the banks are using the money that we invest in life insurance policies and pension funds to gamble in this global commodities casino, it’s a problem that implicates all of us,” the campaign group said.

But the tide of public opinion is turning. And in face of growing pressure, Germany’s secondbiggest bank Commerzbank, regional banks LBBW and LBB and the savings bank DekaBank have all announced in recent months that they are pulling out of agricultural commodities trading and ceasing to offer such investment vehicles to their customers.

Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest lender and which for most people embodies the German banking system, announced in March that it was shelving a new set of investment products based on basic agricultural goods.

Nevertheless, its DWS investment arm would continue to offer existing products, at least for the time being.

“We cannot with a clean conscience advise our clients” on investments in agricultural commodities, said Commerzbank’s chief commodities analyst Eugen Weinberg. “The media and politicians are currently convinced that these are driving up prices. And even if we do not share that opinion, for the sake of image, we don’t want our products to be associated with speculation,” he said.

German banks are nevertheless still relative-

ly minor players in the agricultural commodities markets in comparison to big investment banks such as Britain’s Barclays or HSBC, insurers and even agricultural companies themselves.

Industrial-scale agricultural producers, for example, use so-called futures contracts to guard themselves against short-term price volatility by fixing prices several months in advance. “It could actually prove counter-productive to bar banks from investing in agricultural commodities,” warned Thorsten Polleit, former chief economist at Barclays Capital and now chief economist at the precious metals trading group Degussa Goldhandel.

“Agricultural firms would find it difficult to finance their investments” and that would push up prices even more, Polleit argued.

Expert opinion is in fact divided over whether there is a real causal link between agricultural

exchanges and rising food prices. “The majority of studies reach the conclusion that investors aren’t behind price movements per se, but that they reinforce the underlying trends be it up or down,” said Manfred Schoepe, an agricultural specialist at the Ifo economic think tank in Munich. In the long term, it is other factors that influence agricultural prices, such as global population growth, large-scale changes in nutritional trends or a decline in the amount of cultivatable land, he argued.

German Development Minister Dirk Niebel recently used the controversy of soaring agricultural prices to propose a ban on the sale of the bio-fuel E10, arguing that land used to cultivate it meant there was less land for growing foodstuffs. In reality, however, E10 was disliked by car drivers because they feared it damaged their car’s engine. — AFP

NICOSIA: Cypriot President Demetris Christofias (right) meets with EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Olli Rehn at the presidential palace in Nicosia on Saturday on the sidelines of an EU finance ministers meeting this weekend in Cyprus. — AFP

26

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

BUSINESS

KIB Real Estate Appraisal division expands record of achievements KUWAIT: Kuwait International Bank (KIB) reported that the Real Estate Division further expanded its record of achievements in the real estate market in the country. Since its incorporation in 1973, the Real Estate Appraisal Division in the bank has been developing until it became a key reference for Governmental authorities, local banks, Financial institutions , investment and real estate companies.

The division was nominated by Kuwait central Bank to appraise debts

settlement real estates in 1986 and has been recently named to undertake real estate appraisal for the companies governed by the Financial Stability Law (Law N 2 of 2009). Moreover, it has been certified as one of the entities authorized to evaluate the projects of partnership Technical Bureau affiliated to the Ministry of Finance, in accordance with Law No 7 of 2008. READ has recently received the approval of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce as a certified appraiser attributable to the accumu-

lated experience of the Division’s technical team, in addition to the credibility and confidentiality of dealing with customers.

In this context, Head of the Real Estate Division in KIB, Eng George Aghajanian commented: “KIB’s Real Estate Appraisal Division applies both world renown and technical approaches to its appraisal methods, and due to its high professional performance over the past years, the division has gained the government and market trust, as

CBK has recently assigned KIB as one of the authorized parties to appraise real estate to local banks in Kuwait.”

Aghajanian added: “READ has many roles and responsibilities that include appraisal of different types of properties for individuals and corporations in Kuwait. In addition, the division’s roles extend to studying projects’ construction costs , their feasibility, and the following-up implementation of the project’s milestones and reporting the same to the concerned

Engineering Group announces ‘integrated maintenance services’ All villa customers to benefit from new initiative KUWAIT: With the new ‘integrated maintenance services’, customers are able to contact Engineering Group for all their villa service needs including central air-conditioning, elevator maintenance, swimming pools, plumbing and electrical works. Previously, engineering maintenance services only included air-conditioning and elevators for villa owners.

The ‘integrated maintenance services’ was launched on Sunday, September 9, 2012 through Engineering Group’s Interactive Centre in Ardiya. The dedicated call agent staff at the Interactive Centre is reaching out to over 4,000 villa customers letting them know

about this new and innovative service. During the launch, Samer

Berekdar, GM - Engineering Group stated, “The evolution and expan-

sion is a natural result of our vision to provide comprehensive and integrated services to our clients in order to achieve and meet their needs”. Since the launch of the new service, Engineering Group has received significant amount of leads and interest from existing and potential customers.

Engineering Group will soon expand the scope of ‘integrated maintenance services’ to professional cleaning and landscaping just to name a few. By launching ‘integrated maintenance services’, Engineering Group is achieving its strategic initiative to become a one-stop-shop for all of Kuwait’s villa maintenance needs.

Abu Dhabi’s ‘Megafactories’ takes you inside the incredible world of Almarai

departments and divisions in the bank or to investors.”

It is worth mentioning that the Real Estate Appraisal Division team is compromised of engineers and assistant engineers specialized in the real estate appraisal field who have received highlevel training and specialized local and abroad courses to be the best in the field in the State of Kuwait. The team has also gained scientific and market experience acquired throughout the years of their service in the division.

Carrier celebrates invention of modern air conditioning KUWAIT: What started as an invention to control humidity in a US printing plant in 1902 has forever changed the way people in Kuwait and around the world ive, work and play. July marks the 110th anniversary of the invention of modern air conditioning by Dr Willis H Carrier, inventor and founder of Carrier, the world’s leader in high technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions and a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp.

As a company, Carrier has a long and distinguished history in Kuwait; with a trading relationship that extends over six decades, dating back to 1946. Carrier’s relationship with the Behbehani Group started with the first-ever air conditioning unit imported into Kuwait and presented to its Emir in 1946.

In 1949, Morad Yousuf Behbehani signed an agreement with Carrier and became the very first distributor of Carrier Air Conditioners in Kuwait. The Behbehani Group was the first and exclusive agent for Carrier Air Conditioners in Kuwait, and had a partnership agreement with Carrier Corporation to work as the “Kuwait American Air Conditioning Company”; the relationship between the two companies developed and led to a joint venture which later was named “Carrier Kuwait Air Conditioning Company KSC.” On July 17, 1902, Carrier, a young research engineer just a year out of Cornell University, finalized the design to stabilize the humidity in the air so the dimensions of the paper at the Sackett & Wilhelms Lithography and Printing Company in Brooklyn, New York, would

remain constant throughout the printing process. Since then this innovation has been applied to everything throughout the world, from malls to manufacturing facilities, buses to businesses and houses

Dr Willis H Carrier to hospitals worldwide- all looking to establish a comfortable environment. In Kuwait, the development of air conditioning has enabled business and day-to-day life to thrive.

“Over the years,Carrier’s innovations looked to make possible what was previously impossible,” said Geraud Darnis, president & CEO, UTC Climate, Controls & Security. “Today our focus remains true to our heritage as we continually push the envelope to create energy efficient, environmentally responsible products for both commercial and residential applications in all areas of the world.”

Nikon launches lightest 1 NIKKOR lens to date Almarai Holstein cows ABU DHABI: National Geographic Abu Dhabi, the Middle East’s leading factual entertainment television channel, formed as a partnership between National Geographic Channels International and Abu Dhabi Media, will proudly premiere the first ‘Megafactories’ episode to focus on a Middle eastern company: Almarai. Tune in to discover the world’s largest vertically integrated dairy company, in this in-depth exploration of the processes that take milk from the cow to the customer.

‘Megafactories’ gives viewers an uninhibited view into some of the world’s most impressive factories. Exciting footage follows the manufacturing process of the most recognizable and loved everyday products. After featuring the world class production facilities of iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Ferrari, IKEA, Boeing and more, ‘Megafactories’ now comes to the Middle East for the very first time to feature the KSA-based dairy company, Almarai.

The episode examines Almarai’s production line process, from the impeccable high standards used in the company’s dairy superfarms, right through to stocking the end product in supermarkets.

“Bringing ‘Megafactories’ to the Middle East for the first time is a positive step for the region’s industry. Initiatives such as this help raise awareness of our local business success stories, which will inspire audiences across the

region to achieve similar accomplishments,” said Mohamed Al-Hammadi, Director of Public Service Affairs at Abu Dhabi Media. “When Abu Dhabi Media partnered with National Geographic Channel to create National Geographic Abu Dhabi, our intention was to provide the region with leading global factual entertainment. This content has always been personalized specifically for the Middle East through dubbing in Arabic, and with ‘Megafactories: Almarai’ we are taking local engagement to a whole new level.”

Megafactories” is one of our most highly acclaimed series. It gives viewers a unique inside perspective on how iconic brands come to life on the assembly line. We are delighted to showcase “Almarai” a true manufacturing behemoth, a global player in its sector and one of the most well-known brands in the Middle East and North Africa, as part of latest season of “Megafactories” which will premiere on National Geographic Abu Dhabi starting 17th September “ said Rohit D’silva, Managing Director (Middle East and North Africa), National Geographic Channels/Fox International Channels Middle East.

“It is an honor to be the first homegrown Middle Eastern company to be included in National Geographic’s ‘Megafactories’. On behalf of Almarai, I would like to thank National Geographic Abu Dhabi for this

unique opportunity to represent the progression, quality, and adherence to international standards of the region’s industry,” said Abdulrahman Bin Abdulmohsin Al-Fadley, CEO, Almarai. “Since our inception in 1977, Almarai has grown steadily to become a household name and an industry leader as the largest vertically integrated dairy company in the world. We are proud of our achievements and are eager to invite our consumers into our operations through ‘Megafactories’, to educate them on the procedures that go into procuring, processing, and delivering their daily glass of milk.”

Founded in 1977 and headquartered in Riyadh, KSA, Almarai is the world’s largest vertically integrated, end-to-end dairy company, as well as being the region’s largest food and beverage producer. It keeps a herd of 135,000 Holstein cows on its ISO 9002-accredited farm (the world’s first to receive the certification), which produces around 2.5million litres of milk every day - almost double the European average. This fresh milk is processed to create the hundreds of dairy products that Almarai serves to more than 48,500 retail customers on a daily basis. Its fleet includes 960 tankers, reefers and tractor heads, as well as 2,925 vans - which, cumulatively, travel more than 193 million kilometres every year. That’s enough to circumnavigate the world 4,800 times.

Joyalukkas announces winners of Easy Gold Plan in Kuwait Joyalukkas announced the names of winners of their Easy Gold Plan for the month of August 2012.

The Joyalukkas Easy Gold Plan is a unique installment based initiative for customers to save and buy jewelry of their choice in easy installments. The Plan assures the customers of more value than their savings deposits, since Gold is considered as one of the safest investment options today.

Under the Joyalukkas Easy Gold Plan, customers can choose a monthly payment option starting from KD 10 and retain it for a period of 12, 18 or 24 months. At the end of the period customers can pick the jewelery of their choice from the Joyalukkas showrooms based on the value saved.

Most customers who have participated in the scheme have endorsed that the Joyalukkas Easy Gold Scheme has given them much better returns than Fixed Deposits. “Joyalukkas is committed to giving customers convenience, value, choice and excellent service. The Easy Gold Scheme is part of our convenience initiative to make the purchase of jewelery very easy and secure for our customers.

We assure their returns and we give them the flexibility of picking the jewelery they like and would love to own”, said Joy Alukkas, Chairman, Joyalukkas Group

HONG KONG: Nikon Corporation launched they like. 1 NIKKOR lenses continue to be the brand new 1 NIKKOR 18.5mm F/1.8 1 produced in the tradition of the Nikon F NIKKOR lens yesterday, the latest comple- mount, which has a history of more than ment for the Nikon 1, an advanced and half a century. Employing the new Nikon 1 powerful interchangeable lens digital cam- mount, 1 NIKKOR lenses are developed for era that combines portability with perform- the Nikon 1 cameras. The optical technoloance. With the fastest maximum aperture gies and superior image quality that Nikon in the 1 NIKKOR lineup, at f/1.8, the 1 continually cultivate, along with the latest NIKKOR 18.5mm F/1.8 is a lightweight and cutting-edge technologies adopted for portable 18.5-mm (angle of view equiva- NIKKOR lenses, ensure sharp rendering lent to 50 mm in 35-mm [135] format) fixed when snapping still images and recording focal length (prime) lens. The combination movies.

The 1 NIKKOR of an aspherical lens 18.5mm F/1.8 is a element with the latsingle lens perfect est optical design for those new to results in extremely fixed focal length sharp rendering, lenses, and users can beautiful blur effects easily express themand a three-dimenselves through the sional feel expected process of switching of a fixed focal lenses. It is optimal length lens. for creating scenes in The lens’ high which the subject speed allows it to stands out clearly not only capture from a beautifully sharp, blur-free D -600 blurred background; images indoors under dim lighting conditions without the whether it is at a party, special event or need to increase ISO sensitivity, it also sup- when the lens is being used to take stanports incredibly fast shutter speeds of up to dard portraits. The 1 NIKKOR 18.5mm F/1.8 1/16,000 s; letting users fully utilise the lens’ is the sixth lens in the 1 NIKKOR lineup, folbeautiful blur ability even outdoors on lowing the 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 normal zoom lens; the 1 NIKKOR VR 30bright, sunny days.

What’s more, weighing approximately 110mm f/3.8-5.6 compact telephoto zoom 70 g, the 1 NIKKOR 18.5mm F/1.8 is the lens; the 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8 slim, widelightest lens in the 1 NIKKOR lineup, mak- angle, fixed focal length lens; the 1 NIKKOR ing it extremely easy to carry around. When VR 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 PD-ZOOM lens used with the compact and lightweight equipped with a power-drive mechanism Nikon 1 J1, J2 or V1, the incredible portabili- recommended for movie recording; and ty of the entire system makes it simple to the 1 NIKKOR 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 2.5x bring along additional lenses - users can normal zoom lens; which were all released take pictures anywhere and of whatever last year.

Al-Tijari announces winners of Al-Najma Account draw

Joyalukkas Easy Gold Plan winners Serafina Pinto and Fazle Raheema receive the prize from the officials of Joyalukkas Jewellery.

The winners for the month of August, 2012under the Joyalukkas Easy Gold Scheme are Serafina Pinto, EGP card no 1491008864 and Fazle Raheema, EGP card no. 1491008450. They each won gold coins from Joyalukkas. Joyalukkas is one of the first ISO certified jewelery retailers in the Middle East and

has also recently won the status of Super Brand in the UAE. In addition to this Joyalukkas has been recognized with the Dubai Quality Awards certificate for its best practices in all aspects of jewelery retailing and has also been awarded with the status of Middle East’s retailer of the year by Retail ME.

KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al-Najma Account draw yesterday.

The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Mr. Abdulaziz Ashkanani.

The winners of the Al-Najma daily draw are: Hani Samir Salama Mussa — KD 7000, Zakir Hussain Mohammed Hussain Khan — KD 7000, AbdulRasol Jragh Abbas Jragh AlHaddad — KD 7000, Sara Jassim Mohammed Al-Mutairy — KD 7000, Joaithen Abdullah Mubarak Al-Obaidan — KD 7000.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega

prizes during the year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al-Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Lives risked on ‘world’s most polluted’ river SUKAMAJU, Indonesia: With dozens of bright green rice paddies, flocks of kites in the sky and children laughing nearby, at first glance the village of Sukamaju in western Java has all the charms of rural Indonesia. But the idyllic setting is spoiled by a strong stench rising from the Citarum river that flows in the distance, thick with mounds of garbage and plastic bags dumped on its banks. This immense aquatic rubbish bin winds 297 km across the island of Java, cutting through the sprawling Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Labelled “the most-polluted in the world” by a local commission of government agencies and NGOs charged with its cleanup, the river is the only source of water for 15 million Indonesians who live on its banks, despite the risks to health and crops.

In the village of Sukamaju, not far from the bustling West Java capital of Bandung, a well at a small village square ser ves as a public shower.

Without any other water source in the

village, it is connected directly to the canal. Noor, a villager in her 40s, has had white patches on her arms for the past six months. “When I first started itching, it was always after washing here. It’s because of the contaminated water in the river. It’s the factories’ fault,” she said. “I don’t know what this disease is, but I don’t have any money to see a doctor.”

The Bandung Basin is the historic centre of Indonesia’s textile industry, where 1,500 factories in the region dump 280 tonnes of toxic waste each day into the Citarum. In the irrigation canals of Sukamaju, between the rice paddies, the water for crops that runs through the fields is a puzzling deep red verging on black. “This is because of the dyes from the factories. The colour changes every two hours (depending on dyes being washed out), and that has a direct impact on the quality of the rice,” complained Deni Riswandani, as he dissected a young sprig. “There are no more grains in the pods. Production

has been reduced 50 percent from the normal harvest,” said Riswandani, who is trying to bring farmers together to lobby for financial compensation.

At the edge of the plantation stands a massive grey building equipped with several chimneys and surrounded by barbed wire. On the coast, a valve connected to the factor y dumps toxic residue at regular intervals right by the rice paddies. “Normally, factories can’t dispose waste into the water without treating it,” Riswandani said. “In theory, there are very heavy penalties for doing this, but the government pretends there are regular checks. But on the ground nothing changes.”

According to Windya Wardhani, head of the West Java provincial environment bureau: “We practice intensive control, and I think that gradually the factories will comply with the rules. But perhaps not every day,” she said. “ There are heavy metals in the Citarum’s water and sediment, probably because of the factories, since you don’t

find heavy metals in rubbish.” She said the river contained mercury, lead, zinc and chrome, which have been linked to cancer, organ damage and even death, affecting babies and children more severely. Mercury and lead can cause joint disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and diseases of the kidneys, circulatory system and nervous system, studies show.

Residents have sought compensation for their damaged rice crops, while the health effects of the river have gone unaddressed, with no data yet gathered to measure the extent of the problem.

The Indonesian Textiles Association asserts that the industry’s contribution to the river’s pollution is no more than 15 to 25 percent.

“It comes mostly from domestic waste and plastic. It is unfair to assume it’s all us. It’s easy to count the number of factories, but who’s counting the number of people who live along the river and throw their waste in the water?” said Kevin Hartanto, head of the

Bandung chapter of the textile association. Cleaning up the Citarum river and its 22 streams has been classified a national priority by the Indonesian government, which in 2010 launched a huge 15-year project to rehabilitate the river. Largely financed by the private sector, this “road map” involves dozens of NGOs, seven ministries and 12 local governments, amounting to a total of $3.5 billion. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will contribute $500 million.

According to Thomas Panella, an ADB water resources specialist, progress has so far been minimal. “At this point there has been little improvement because it’s been a very short time (in which) to address the pollution issues,” he said.

“We need to look at lessons of countries like France, the US and Korea that had incredibly polluted waterways in the first part of this century. You would think at that time it was not possible to address these things. You have to have a long-term vision.” — AFP

Job training transforms lives of B’desh ‘hijras’ Transgenders ‘no longer taboo’

Nuke waste blessing and curse in Taiwan ORCHID ISLAND, Taiwan: Chou Tai-chu, a restaurant owner who sells fried rice and fish jerky on Taiwan’s Orchid Island, remembers 2011 as a good year. The 62year-old received a lump sum payment from the state-owned utility company because he lives in the only place in the country that has a dedicated nuclear waste storage site. The money was enough for him to buy a new refrigerator and some food supplies for his business, as well as a new scooter for himself, totalling around 100,000 Taiwan dollars (US$3,300).

Most people on the windswept outpost, 62 km east of Taiwan’s mainland, would love to see the 100,277 barrels of nuclear waste gone. But many admit they are concerned about their livelihoods if that day comes. Orchid Island has been a flashpoint for Taiwan’s environmental movement since nuclear waste was first shipped there in 1982. Local residents, mostly members of the Tao aboriginal group, say the waste was put on the island without their consent. Periodic protests have claimed negative health and environmental effects.

In response, Taiwan Power Co has showered the community with cash handouts, subsidies, and other benefits. Orchid Island received subsidies worth 110 million Taiwan dollars in 2011, according to company data. That doubled local government spending, according to township secretary Huang Cheng-de. “The current situation, basically, is that Taipower gives us quite a bit of money, and our people are becoming pretty reliant,” Huang said.

Most of the funds are divided into government-managed accounts for each of the island’s 4,700 residents, who can apply for it if they have a business or career-oriented need. Residents also receive free electricity, health-related emergency evacuations, scholarships for higher education and a 50-per-cent discount on all transportation costs to Taiwan’s mainland. Statistics indicate local residents are taking advantage of the benefits. In 2011, they used nearly twice as much electricity per household as the national average, according to company data.

Protests have weakened and for many residents, including Chou the restaurant owner, the existence of nuclear waste has become more acceptable. “Most people here are against the nuclear waste, but since its already here, they should pay us for using our land,” Chou said. “For now, I’m okay with it as long as they don’t add any more barrels.” The utility plans to move the waste off the island by 2021, but only if another township in Taiwan agrees by referendum to take it, according to Huang Tian-Huang, a company deputy director. If it goes to plan, “so goes the compensation”, Huang said, although he acknowledged that gaining consent from another community will be difficult.

Questions remain on what would support Orchid Island’s economy if those subsidies end. Much of the island is little developed, with most residents depending on subsistence farming and fishing. Tourism is starting to grow, but transportation is underdeveloped. The island is served by one 19-passenger propeller aeroplane and one daily ferry. Both are often cancelled due to bad weather, or insufficient passenger numbers.

Some residents insist that the notion of relying on nuclear waste for economic development is perverse. “Taipower is really good at advertising how generous they are, and it makes locals think the community will lose if the subsidies stop,” anti-nuclear activist Sinan Mavivo said. “But if you think about it, how sick is the logic that we need nuclear waste to survive?”

Mavivo helps run the Tao Foundation, which serves to educate the community to stand on its own, and encourage young people who have left the island to come back and start businesses. She concedes that the community is isolated and needs government support, but believes residents must find some way to utilize local resources rather than nuclear waste to improve their quality of life.

“Orchid Island has its own advantages in a rich culture, a mild climate, natural beauty, and biodiversity,” she said. “My goal is to get people use our positive assets, rather than default to something that could be so bad for us.” — dpa

DHAKA: A love for lipstick and eyeliner meant a lifetime of discrimination for Saiful Islam, until a transgender training scheme in Bangladesh helped bring him hard-won acceptance and land him his dream job. Many transgender people in south Asia, where they are known as hijras, are thrown out by their families and forced to scrape a living through begging, prostitution or drug dealing. But each morning, Islam pulls on a pair of lowcut jeans and a tight T-shirt, applies his own make-up, and heads off to work in Dhaka at the offices of ATN Bangla, Bangladesh’s largest private television channel. “The best part of my job here is that my colleagues treat me like any other human being. For a hijra this is a great achievement,” Islam, who started his new career eight months ago, told AFP. “A crowd would build up to see me and my three other hijra colleagues when we joined ATN Bangla. Some would even tease us. Now everything is normal. We’re like any other staff.”

Islam, 22, is the beneficiary of government efforts to help transgender people who are among the most marginalised and discriminated groups in India and Bangladesh. Last year he was one of 30 hijras to attend a technical school to take courses in videography, garment-sewing and beauty care to help them get jobs and integrate into mainstream society. After six months of training, his friends Bobby and Chanchal found positions as video editors at ATN Bangla, while Islam and Opu became make-up artists at the station.

Islam, whose job is to ensure presenters and newsreaders look their best just before they go live on air, says the changes to his life have been “nothing short of a miracle”. “We never dreamt that one day we can work in

offices like other normal people,” he said. Born to a middle-class family in Dhaka, Islam became used to harassment and abuse from when he was a small child and star ted wearing women’s clothes and lipstick. “Seeing me wearing saris and bangles, my brothers would become so furious that they would tie me up, beat me with a cane and keep me hungry,” he said.

At 18, Islam did what tens of thousands of south Asian transgenders do

in the hirja community was blighted by sexual abuse and violence. “Two years ago, I was coming from a dancing show wearing a sari, bangles and fake breasts when this gang held me by pointing a knife at my throat,” he said.

“They tortured me one after another, shouting that my job is to entertain them.”

Now Islam earns 10,000 take ($122) each month, more than three times higher than the national minimum

DHAKA: Transgender Saiful Islam works in the makeup department of Bangladesh’s largest private television channel ATN Bangla on Sept 8, 2012. —AFP and fled home to join a hijra community where he found the freedom to wear what he liked. Hirja groups traditionally earn money by turning up at weddings, births and other occasions, where they loudly refuse to leave until they have been given cash. Islam says he hated using extortion, and his time

wage, and he has a long-term plan to open a beauty parlour. “I’ve now left the hijra den and am back living with my mother. Before this job, I lost my faith in people,” he said. Ebadur Rahman, a government official who oversees the project to train up hijras, said the success of the first batch of

graduates had encouraged him to organise another program to help others develop business skills. “A lot of private sector people have approached us for recruiting hijras. Garment factories are the keenest as they are suffering from an acute labour crisis,” he said.

Last year Rahman’s project did what was until recently unthinkable in this overwhelmingly conservative Muslim country: holding a rally in Dhaka for more than 1,000 transgender people.

“Our biggest achievement is that the hijra issue is no longer taboo. Even the policymakers have now realised that marginalisation is not the answer. If you keep them away, they will remain a problem forever,” said Rahman.

The government has since unveiled a monthly stipend to elderly hijras and is setting up a permanent training centre exclusively for transgenders where they will be able to learn skills to help them find work. “This is the first time a Bangladesh government has taken up any schemes for the hijra community.

We want to ensure social and job security so they have a decent life,” said Abu Taher, deputy director of social welfare ministry.

For Pinki Shikder, a social activist who has fought for decades on behalf of the country’s estimated 150,000 hijras, the apparent change in official attitudes is welcome - but she struck of note of caution too. “We are very happy that the state is at least thinking about our rights, especially in a country where even women often are not given full rights yet,” said Shikder, head of the Bangladesh Hijra Association.

“But we are still at the start of our journey. We’re talking about a few projects and just a few people getting jobs against a need that is so overwhelming and a problem that’s thousands of years old.” — AFP

Myanmar’s junta-built dams take toll on river life RWARMA, Myanmar: Maung Nyo, a fisherman from Rwarma village 40 km north of Yangon, can no longer rely on the Myit Makha River for his livelihood. “We can’t feed our families because we never catch enough fish nowadays. Some are even finding other jobs,” he said. “I don’t want to change my work because all my ancestors were fishermen, but my business is in ruins.”

Five years ago, he used to get about 5 to 8 kg of fish daily during the rainy season, but now he catches between 0.7 to 1 kg per day. “I have no idea why the number of fish in the river has fallen,” Maung Ngo said.

The reduced haul has also affected the fish processing factories that once thrived from the river. “Sheatfish, bream and other kinds of rare fish were found in the river about 20 years ago. Since around 2006, we haven’t seen any of them except very rarely,” said one processor based in Tidegyi.

The Myit Makha River originates in Pyay province and stretches about 400 km to the Yangon region.

The military junta that ruled during 1988-2010 built 10 dams on the river, according to Irrigation and Agriculture Ministry figures. The dams were built with little attention given to the possible impact on fisheries, environmentalists said. “In building dams, bio-engineering technologies should be used so as not to devastate the ecosystem of the area and not to destroy the species of fish in the river,” activist Sein Sein Thein said. “Right now there are at least 10 dams on the Myit Makha River and they were not constructed systematically. That is the reason for the scarcity of fish in the river.”

Sein Sein Thein, a trained zoologist, has been researching the environmental damage done by dams on the river since 2005.

Residents living along the upper parts of the river said the dams do not supply enough water for irrigation during dry seasons. Bank erosion and floods are common

during the rainy season. Some villagers have resorted to eating snakes due to the reduced catches of fish, Sein Sein Thein found. “A river is a precious natural resource. A dying river is very costly for the community,” she said. “River systems should never be destroyed.”

There are four main rivers in Myanmar, of which the Irrawaddy is the longest, flowing from the northernmost state of Kachin to the Andaman Sea. Under the former regime, hundreds of bridges, dams and water gates were constructed on the rivers and their tributaries, to improve the livelihoods of farmers, still about 75 per cent of the population. “We can’t be blamed for destroying the rivers,” said one government engineer, who asked to remain anonymous.

“The dams were built to fulfill the needs of agricultural lands. Thanks to the dams, we can now grow crops even in the dry seasons,” he said.

Blocked from international aid and assistance from development agencies for the past two decades because of sanctions, few of the dam projects conducted environmental impact studies. The current government has begun to show greater concern for the environmental impact of big dams. In Oct 2011, President Thein Sein announced the postponement of the $3.5billion Myitzone dam, to be built by a Chinese company on the Irrawaddy in Kachin State. The delayed project may save the Irrawaddy, seen as a lifeline for millions of farmers and fishermen. The Myit Makha River has not been as fortunate. “The river is dying,” said one villager in Kahmom, on the banks of the Myit Makha, who asked to remain anonymous. “I think it started dying 10 years ago. It barely flows now. In Innma, you can’t even find the river. In some places, the water is no more than ankle deep,” he said. “Now people have lost their jobs, but soon we will also having trouble getting daily water.” —dpa

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Tips on taking care of your teeth

By Thomas Rabadi, DDS

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hen you get your picture taken, everyone says, “Say cheese! Smile!” So you do - you open your mouth and show your teeth. When you see the picture, you see a happy person looking back at you. The healthier those teeth are, the happier you look. Why is that?

It’s because your teeth are important in many ways. If you take care of them, they’ll help take care of you. Strong, healthy teeth help you chew the right foods to help you grow. They help you speak clearly. And yes, they help you look your best.

Why Healthy Teeth Are Important How does taking care of your teeth help with all those things? Taking care of your teeth helps prevent plaque, which is a clear film of bacteria that sticks to your teeth. The tooth brush was invented more than 500 years ago by the Chinese. We hope your toothbrush isn’t that old! Dentists recommend you change your toothbrush every 3 months.

After you eat, bacteria go crazy over the sugar on your teeth, like ants at a picnic. The bacteria break it down into acids that eat away tooth enamel, causing holes called cavities. Plaque also causes gingivitis, which is gum disease that can make your gums red, swollen, and sore. Your gums are those soft pink tissues in your mouth that hold your teeth in

place. If you don’t take care of your teeth, cavities and unhealthy gums will make your mouth very, very sore.

Eating meals will be difficult. And you won’t feel like smiling so much.

Before Toothpaste Was Invented We’re lucky that we know so much now about taking care of our teeth. Long ago, as people got older, their teeth would rot away and be very painful. To get rid of a toothache, they had their teeth pulled out. Finally people learned that cleaning their teeth was important, but they didn’t have toothpaste right away. While you’re swishing that minty-fresh paste around your mouth, think about what people used long ago to clean teeth: • ground-up chalk or charcoal • lemon juice • ashes (you know, the stuff that’s left over after a fire) • tobacco and honey mixed together Yuck!

It was only about 100 years ago that someone finally created a minty cream to clean teeth. Not long after that, the toothpaste tube was invented, so people could squeeze the paste right onto the toothbrush! Tooth brushing became popular during World War II. The US Army gave brushes and toothpaste to all soldiers, and they learned to brush twice a day. Back then, toothpaste tubes were made

of metal; today they’re made of soft plastic and are much easier to squeeze!

Today there are plenty of toothpaste choices: lots of colors and flavors to choose from, and some are made just for kids. People with great-looking teeth advertise toothpaste on TV commercials and in magazines. When you’re choosing a toothpaste, make sure it contains fluoride. Fluoride makes your teeth strong and protects them from cavities.

When you brush, you don’t need a lot of toothpaste: just squeeze out a bit the size of a pea. It’s not a good idea to swallow the toothpaste, either, so be sure to rinse and spit after brushing.

How You Can Keep Your Teeth Healthy Kids can take charge of their teeth by taking these steps: • Brush at least twice a day - after breakfast and before bedtime. If you can, brush after lunch or after sweet snacks.

Brushing properly breaks down plaque.

• Brush all of your teeth, not just the front ones. Spend some time on the teeth along the sides and in the back.

Have your dentist show you the best way to brush to get your teeth clean without damaging your gums.

• Take your time while brushing. Spend at least 2 or 3 minutes each time you brush. If you have trouble keeping track of the time, use a timer or play a recording of a song you like to help pass the time.

• Be sure your toothbrush has soft bristles (the package will tell you if they’re soft). Ask your parent to help you get a new toothbrush every 3 months. Some toothbrushes come with bristles that change color when it’s time to change them.

• Ask your dentist if an antibacterial mouth rinse is right for you.

• Learn how to floss your teeth, which is a very important way to keep them healthy. It feels weird the first few times you do it, but pretty soon you’ll be a pro. Slip the dental floss between each tooth and along the gum line gently once a day. The floss gets rid of food that’s hidden where your toothbrush can’t get it, no matter how well you brush.

• You can also brush your tongue to help keep your breath fresh!

It’s also important to visit the dentist twice a year.

Besides checking for signs of cavities or gum disease, the dentist will help keep your teeth extra clean and can help you learn the best way to brush and floss.

It’s not just brushing and flossing that keep your teeth healthy - you also need to be careful about what you eat and drink. Remember, the plaque on your teeth is just waiting for that sugar to arrive. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and drink water instead of soda. And don’t forget to smile! trabadi@msn.com

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

WHAT’S ON

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!

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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AWARE presentation he AWARE Center welcomes you to ‘break the ice’ with one of the world’s most successful polar expedition leaders, Sean Chapple FRGS the ‘Ice Man,’ who will be speaking at the AWARE Center tomorrow (September 18) at 7:00 pm. Against the backdrop of his recent 72-day ground breaking South Pole journey (a journey completed by less people than have stood on the moon), Sean will offer inspirational and powerful learning in self-motivation, risk-assessment, teambuilding and high performance leadership. Q&A follows a 40minute multi-media presentation. A regular speaker at corporate events and a visiting lecturer at the London Business School, Sean uses a multi-media presentation to share practical insights for unleashing the full potential in yourself and your teams. Sean spent an earlier career as an officer at the elite British Royal Marines gaining operational and management experiences across the globe and has since held positions in senior commercial leadership roles, including the project management and leadership of a turnkey project to create a ‘first-of-type’ maritime security force for Kuwait’s oil sector. Closer to home, Sean recently worked with the Council of Ministers to improve Kuwait’s coastal defense to protect critical oil infrastructure. Here his planning, management and leadership skills were used to build a ‘first-of-type’ operational maritime security force fully staffed by Kuwaiti nationals.

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Study in Canada exhibition 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

Kozhikode District Association felicitation r MN Karassery, who was on a short visit in Kuwait was felicitated by Kozhikode District Association, Kuwait. The noted Malayalam writer, social commentator and orator who deeply professes secular democracy is a native of Kozhikode District, Kerala. Association President E Rajagopalan presided over the function.

Shabeer Mandoly, Patron, Aboobacker.K and Abdulla Kollarath, Vice-Presidents, Joseph George - Joint Treasurer and Hameed Keloth Ex-patron and CEC member felicitated Dr MN Karassery.

Asma Abdulla, President of Mahilavedi of the Association presented a memento to Dr MN Karassery as a token of love and affection. Basheer Ahamed Acting General Secretary welcomed the gathering and Santhakumar, Treasurer expressed vote of thanks. Dr Karassery narrated the rich tradition of Kozhikode in upholding truth and respect towards

xpat Mums in Kuwait will hold its autumn bazaar on Saturday, September 29th by 10:00 am - 1:00 pm at Rumaithiya Block 9, Street 96, House 1, Basement. Free entry! This autumn we’re excited to support our members who hand make crafts, who have home business and who provide services to the expat community in Kuwait. Expat Mums in Kuwait is a group of nearly 400 mums from over 42 countries around the world. We meet online and in person and provide friendship, information, advice, reviews, support and networking opportunities to fellow expat mothers.

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anita vedi, Kuwait will be celebrating the Onam festival this year as titled Ragothsavam-2012 on Friday 28th September 2012 at Kaithan Indian Community school. This is a full day program. Prof.

Omanakutty the famous classical musician will be the chief guest. A classical music recitation ‘Sangeethakacheri’ by Prof Omanakutty will be showcased. Shanta R Nair (Program convener) Dr Vasanthy S Nair, Minerva Ramesh (Joint conveners) Sumathi Babu, Sajitha Scaria, Shobha Suresh, Presanna Ramabhadran, Rema Ajith, Valsa Stanley and Valsa Sam are selected for various committees. Sam Pynummoodu is the patron of Ragothsavam-2012.

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Winter 2012 AMIE examination

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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.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

responsibility of each individual to ensure that secular fabric of the nation is preserved at any cost. It was truly a wonderful experience to listen the words of wisdom from Dr MN Karassery.

spending many years with this team, he played for Incredible Sports Club for few years. Later he went on to form his own team naming it “Saligao Sporting”. In the year 1985, Tony qualified as a Football Referee with IFRA and served the IFRA Association with distinction and graduated to be a Class I Referee. Even during the invasion of Kuwait when back in Goa, he rendered his services to the Goa Referees Federation by officiating inter-village tournaments. As a

token of appreciation, IFRA will hold a 8-a-side one day tournament in his honor, details of which are as follows: Open 8-A-Side Soccer Tournament on September 21, 2012 at Digital Grounds, Kuwait City at 7:30 am. The draw will be held on September 20, 2012 at 7:30 pm at Indian English Academy School (Don Bosco’s), Salmiya.

AMEC 6-A-SIDE CRICKET

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Vanitha vedi Onam

all communities. He also reminded the audience some incidents which put a black mark on the rich tradition of communal amity of Kozhikode. Dr Karassery reminded that secularism is facing threat from various quarters and it is the

Farewell football tournament in honor of IFRA referee ne of the longest serving football player and qualified football referee with Indian football referee Association (IFRA) Anthony D’Costa, who hails from Saligao Goa, India, bids goodbye to Kuwait after glorious 34 years.

Tony, as he is popularly known, came to Kuwait in 1978 and first played for Goan Sporting soccer club, at the famous good old Soor Grounds where his team captured the famous United Goans Trophy for two consecutive years. After

OC Cricket Committee organized the cricket season’s curtain raiser, the AMEC 6-aside cricket tournament at KOC’s Hubara and Unity cricket grounds on Friday in which 20 teams participated in a day long event. The final was played between Titans and Safety Plus in a 5 over exciting contest which was won by Safety Plus by four runs. Batting first, Safety Plus scored four runs in five overs, thanks to a brilliant knock from Khalid who scored 31 runs. Abid (10), Yasir (16) and Saad (10) chipped in useful runs. Haji Javed claimed 2 for 18 and Habibullah took 1 for 4. In reply, Titans began the chase with their openers Hisham (29) and Farhan (21) giving them a good start.

However, two quick wickets claimed by Yasir that of Farhan and Irfan brought Safety Plus hack in the game.

All Shezad and Haji Javed managed to take Titans close to victory but Safety Plus prevailed with 4 runs. Rishi took 1 for 11 and Abid 1 for 9. John Reid, AMEC KOC Project Director was the chief guest. He handed over the winner’s trophy to Rishi of Safety Plus and runners up trophy to Asif of Titans Russel Skoyles and Mathew Sam and Asad Baig and Shub Datta gave away prizes to the Winning and Runners up teams. KOC CC GS, Mohd.

Sarwar gave the man of the finals trophy to Yasir Butt for his all round match winning performance.

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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.

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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 Fest2012”. 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 AlJeel Al-Jadeed School Auditorium, Hawally, the mega musical show, is expected to be a super-hit in Kuwait.

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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 Al-Azmi launches GCC tour usinessman Abdul-Rahman bin Firtaj Al-Azmi launched a tour across Gulf Cooperation Council countries to meet members of the Awazem Arabian tribe. His tour includes stops in Oman where he was invited by Younus Mohammad Al-Sabiri Al-Azmi, United Arab Emirates where the is invited by Rashid bin Saleh Al-Sabiri Al-Azmi, as well as Saudi Arabia.

Discussions will focus on regional developments and their impact on the GCC communities, and members of the Awazem tribe in specific.

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IKFS congratulates Sri Ravi Shankar, Dr Zakir Naik ndo-Kuwait Friendship Society in Kuwait has sent congratulatory messages to spiritual guru Sri Ravi Shankar for his achievement of South American country (Paraguay)’s highest civilian award. As quoted earlier by intellectuals and Dr Zakir Naik that if we want to achieve our true potential and live life to the fullest, we should dare to give up the comfort of the ‘known’ and venture into the “unknown” where we can spread the wings and fly. Sri Shankarji and Dr Zakir Naik are the most respected persons who bring a close relationship with Hindus and Muslims. IKFS also congratulated Dr Zakir Naik as being ranked No. 3, after Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, being the only Muslim in the list and topping them too in the lists. Dr Zakir Naik was featured in the Indian Express list of the “100 Most Powerful Indians” in 2009” and again in 2010, amongst the billion plus population of India. In the special list in 2009 of the

‘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.

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Expat Mums’ Autumn Bazaar

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.

“Top 10 Spiritual Gurus of India”.

As an Indian Association, we are proud to see such a wonderful honorary doctoral award for Sri Guru Ravi Shankarji for his best humanitarian works around the world. IKFS is glad to know this is an historical award as Guruji became the second person to receive the highest civilian award of Paraguay. IKFS also sent appreciation letter to the President of Paragua Federico Franco for his country’s recognition of India’s Guruji by the Art of Living. Dr Ghalb Al-Mashoor, President, IKFS requested Guruji to support Indians elsewhere to bring social equality and education and self attainment through India’s secularist constitution.

Both Sri Guruji and Dr Naik are doing a wonderful job in India for peace and love between different faiths, he added.

Kuwait Cricket to organize open tourney for schools uwait Cricket, the apex body of cricket in Kuwait would like to invite school cricket teams to participate in their tournaments which are planned to be to be held at the turf ground at Sulaibiya. Kuwait Cricket intends to conduct two cricket tournaments for U-15 and U-18 school children who should have valid Kuwait residence and be a student of their respective school. The tournaments will be played on Saturdays at Sulaibiya grounds and the matches will be 30 overs.

Kuwait Cricket’s principal aim is to provide quality cricket to the young school cricketers in Kuwait and guide them to face international exposure which will nurture and develop their sporting skills. Moreover, Kuwait Cricket also aims to make use of sports to strengthen friendship and to bridge the gap between cultures and communities. Kuwait U-16 & U19 teams have made various successful international tours to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Nepal and Pakistan.

Participation of school cricket teams will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of the open cricket tournament and we look forward to your confirmation of attendance. A meeting of school representatives will be arranged shortly.

K

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.

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Patriotic songs competitions ndo-Kuwait Friendship Society, Kuwait (www.indo-kuwaitfriendshipsociety.com) is planning to conduct competitions in Indian and Kuwaiti Patriotic songs. This is the first time in Kuwait, an Indian Association is organizing contests in “Patriotic Songs” for both Indian and Kuwaiti School students. The first 3 places will be declared separately by Judges who are experts in Indian and Kuwaiti Patriotic songs. Several prizes and awards will be handed over for the winning schools. Pradeep Rajkumar and A K S Abdul Nazar said that IKFS wants let our children learn what they mean as a “Patriotic” to their home country. 4 pages of spot Essay competition related to “Patriotism” also will be held in the same day as a spot registration. 1 girl and 1 boy student from each school can participate in the essay contest. Dr Mohamed Tareq, Chairman of the First Indian Model School in Kuwait “ Salmiya Indian Model School (SIMS) already confirmed as a Co-Sponsor of the Program.

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31

WHAT’S ON

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Embassy Information

McDonald’s Kuwait opens new branch cDonald’s Kuwait, celebrates opening its 65th branch in Jahra Industrial.

As part of its global re-imaging strategy, McDonaldís Kuwait introduces its customers to a new revolutionary design concept. McDonald’s welcomes its customers into an entirely new atmosphere as it expands throughout Kuwait continuing to provide a great service.

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Hindi Diwas celebrated at Indian Embassy eptember 14 is observed every year as “Hindi Diwas” across India. On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, a function was organized at the Embassy of India, Kuwait in which embassy officials as well as their family members including children participated.

The function was inaugurated by Vidhu P Nair, Charge d’ Affaires, who spoke on the relevance of Hindi and the need to promote its use. This was followed by competitions in Hindi including composition/speech for adults and recitation/song for children.

The topics for composition this year were: Pravasi Bhartiya aur Hindi, Olympics mein Bhartiya Khiladiyon Ki Badti Bhagidari, Bharat ke Swadhinata Sangram Mein Tatkalin Pramukh Netao Ka Yogdan, Bharat ki Rashtriya Nadi Ganga ko Pradushanrahit evam Paryavaran ke Anukul Kis Prakar Banaya Jaye.

The topics for recitation this year were nature and patriotism. The event witnessed impressive performance by participants who creatively expressed themselves in Hindi. The best presentations received prizes from Vidhu P Nair, Charge d’ Affaires. The program was ably compeered by Manoj Kumar Mandal.

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EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday.

Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF ARGENTINE The Embassy of Argentina requests all Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in order to register or update contact information. The embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the embassy.

The registration process helps the Argentinean Government to contact and assist Argentineans living abroad in case of any emergency.

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EMBASSY OF 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 non-notarial 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.

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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.

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.

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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. 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. 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.

Al Hashemi Marine Museum The World’s largest wooden dhow, owned and build by Hussein Marafie,Al Hashemi is a ‘Baghalah’ of monumental proportions. 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 preoil 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. KOC can also arrange for groups to tour the oil fields themselves.

Kuwait Memorial Museum Before the Iraqi invasion, the museum housed a collection that has been acclaimed by International art historians as one of the most comprehensive collection of Islamic arts. Located near the National Assembly, comprising of four buildings and a planetarium. In 1997, the Muhallab II, the replacement for the magnificent trading dhow from the 1930 that graced the front yard of the museum before it was burned by the Iraqis, was constructed on site and now is open to visitors.

Tareq Rajab Museum Tareq Rajab opened his private collection of Islamic art treasures to the general public in 1980.

The Tareq Rajab Museum in Jabriya features ceramics, silver and gold jewelry, and musical instruments. It also houses one of the finest collections of old Qurans and at her Arabic manuscripts in the world. All artifacts are of Arab or Muslim origin and are labeled for easy viewing. Visiting hours are from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon and from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Saturdays through Thursdays. On Fridays, the museum is open to the general public only in the mornings, with afternoons reserved for tours.

Opening hours 9:00 -12:00 noon; 4:00-7:00 pm; Ramadan open on weekdays: 09:00-12:00; noon 7:00 pm-10:00 pm; Fridays usual time.

Courtesy: Dispatches Magazine

EMBASSY OF FRANCE The Embassy would like to inform that starting September 2nd, 2012, visa demands for France will be handled by the outsourcing company “Capago - MENA Company”. Capago - MENA’S Call Center will be operational starting Sunday August 26 for setting appointments beginning September 2nd (+965 22270555).

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EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com.

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EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, Al-Salaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com.

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EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk.

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EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” - (+ 965) 972-79-206.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Wildest India 01:35 Animal Cops Houston 02:25 Air Jaws Apocalypse 03:15 Worst Shark Attack Ever: Ocean Of Fear 04:55 Great Ocean Adventures 05:45 Cats 101 06:35 Wildlife SOS International 07:00 Baboons With Bill Bailey 07:25 Austin Stevens Adventures 08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Animal Crackers 09:35 Animal Crackers 10:05 Surviving Sharks 11:00 Wildlife SOS 11:25 Bondi Vet 11:55 Animal Cops Houston 12:50 Vet On The Loose 13:15 Vet On The Loose 13:45 Animal Precinct 14:40 Surviving Sharks 15:30 Baboons With Bill Bailey 16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 16:30 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 17:25 Cats 101 18:20 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Bondi Vet 20:10 Cheetah Kingdom 20:35 Shamwari: A Wild Life 21:05 White Shark, Red Triangle 22:00 Dogs 101: Specials 22:55 Bad Dog 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 00:05 Gok’s Fashion Fix 00:55 Baby Borrowers USA 02:20 MasterChef Australia 09:00 Open House 09:25 Open House 09:50 Bargain Hunt 10:35 Antiques Roadshow 11:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 12:15 10 Years Younger 13:05 Gok’s Fashion Fix 13:55 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 14:45 Bargain Hunt 15:30 Antiques Roadshow 16:25 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:10 Come Dine With Me 18:00 MasterChef 18:50 MasterChef 19:40 Home Cooking Made Easy 20:10 Come Dine With Me 21:00 To Build Or Not To Build?

21:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Edition

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

Special Agent Oso Lazytown Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mouk The Hive Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Lazytown Art Attack Imagination Movers Lazytown Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Handy Manny Jungle Junction Imagination Movers The Hive Special Agent Oso Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Hive Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Mouk The Hive 101 Dalmatians Imagination Movers Lazytown Art Attack Handy Manny Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Little Einsteins The Adventures Of Disney Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 101 Dalmatians Mouk Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Mini Adventures Of Winnie The A Poem Is...

Animated Stories Mouk Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Timmy Time Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso

23:50 Lazytown 00:40 07:00 Junior 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 12:45 13:15 14:10 14:35 15:05 16:00 Junior 16:55 17:20 18:15 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Mythbusters American Chopper: Senior vs Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Gi Dough How Do They Do It? How It’s Made X-Machines Crash Course Fifth Gear One Car Too Far Border Security Gi Dough Ultimate Survival American Chopper: Senior vs Wheeler Dealers Deadliest Catch Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Border Security Auction Hunters Deconstruction Around The World In 80 Ways River Monsters World’s Toughest Drive

23:20 Surviving Disaster 00:05 Stuck With Hackett 00:35 Engineering Ground Zero 01:25 Powering The Future 02:15 Things That Move 02:45 Stuck With Hackett 03:35 Tech Toys 360 04:00 Tech Toys 360 04:25 Weird Or What?

05:15 Things That Move 06:05 Race To Mars 07:00 Brave New World 07:50 Head Rush 07:53 Weird Connections 08:20 Test Case 08:50 Prototype This 09:40 Smash Lab 10:30 The Gadget Show 10:55 The Gadget Show 11:20 Mighty Ships 12:10 Powering The Future 13:00 Tech Toys 360 13:25 Tech Toys 360 13:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:45 Smash Lab 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Weird Connections 16:30 Test Case 17:00 The Future Of...

17:50 Prototype This 18:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 19:30 Things That Move 19:55 Things That Move 20:20 Nyc: Inside Out 21:10 The Gadget Show 22:00 Things That Move 22:50 Nyc: Inside Out 23:40 Prototype This 20:20 Bang Goes The Theory 00:15 00:40 01:10 01:30 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:20 03:40

Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Lazytown Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso

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

TNA: Greatest Matches M1 Selection 2010 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ed’s Up Summer Dew Tour 2011 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 Alli Presents Best Of The Streets Best Of The Streets Blood, Sweat And Gears Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Pro Bull Riders 2010 Danger Men Carpocalypse World Combat League Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Alli Presents Best Of The Streets Best Of The Streets Danger Men Pro Bull Riders 2010 Carpocalypse World Combat League The Cool Guy Files The Cool Guy Files TNA: Greatest Matches M1 Challenge

22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:40

Extra Virgin Extra Virgin Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam Guy’s Big Bite

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

I Was Murdered I Was Murdered Evil, I Evil, I Stalked: Someone’s Watching Scorned: Crimes Of Passion I Was Murdered True Crime With Aphrodite Mystery Diagnosis Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Street Patrol Street Patrol Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Stalked: Someone’s Watching Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Stalked: Someone’s Watching Stalked: Someone’s Watching Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Dr G: Medical Examiner

23:40 Scorned: Crimes Of Passion

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

Kimchi Chronicles Food Lover’s Guide To The Departures Travel Oz Don’t Tell My Mother On The Camino De Santiago The Best Job In The World Kimchi Chronicles Kimchi Chronicles Food Lover’s Guide To The Departures Travel Oz Don’t Tell My Mother On The Camino De Santiago The Best Job In The World Kimchi Chronicles Kimchi Chronicles Food Lover’s Guide To The Departures Travel Oz Don’t Tell My Mother Don’t Tell My Mother On The Camino De Santiago The Best Job In The World Kimchi Chronicles One Man & His Campervan Graham’s World Long Way Down Destination Extreme Travel Oz Madventures

23:00 Naked Science

00:00 01:00 01:55 India) 02:50 04:40 05:35 06:30 India) 07:25 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00

Ultimate Predators GPU Warzone Gone Wild Wild India (aka Secrets of Wild Built For The Kill Expedition Wild World’s Weirdest Wild India (aka Secrets of Wild Built For The Kill World’s Deadliest Animals World’s Deadliest Animals Wild Mississippi Hooked Kingdom of The Oceans Built For The Kill How Big Can It Get Wild Mississippi Kingdom of The Oceans Built For The Kill World’s Deadliest Animals

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

Burn Notice Greek Switched At Birth House The Glades Emmerdale Coronation Street The Closer The Ellen DeGeneres Show Switched At Birth House Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Closer The Glades Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Closer House Switched At Birth The Newsroom Boardwalk Empire Greek

02:00 Burning Bright-18 03:30 The Kingdom-18 05:30 Friday Night Lights-PG15 07:30 Twins Mission-PG15 09:15 The Rocketeer-PG15 11:15 Friday Night Lights-PG15 13:15 The Bannen Way-PG15 15:00 The Rocketeer-PG15 17:00 Enter The Phoenix-PG15 19:00 RoboCop 2-PG15 21:00 The Untouchables-PG15 23:00 Reykjavik: Whale Watching Massacre-18 23:00 The Speak-18 Luste

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

Knucklehead-PG15 Rat-PG15 That’s What I Am-PG15 Fat Albert-PG Rat-PG15 Miami Rhapsody-PG15 16 To Life-PG15 Prom-PG15 Miami Rhapsody-PG15 Submarine-PG15 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 The 40 Year Old Virgin-18

01:15 Le Crime Est Notre AffairePG15 03:15 Gardens Of The Night-PG15 05:15 The Social Network-PG15 07:15 Love N’ Dancing-PG15 09:00 The Game Of Their Lives-PG15 11:00 Light It Up-PG15 13:00 Hollywood, I’m Sleeping Over Tonight-PG15 15:00 The Game Of Their Lives-PG15 16:45 Glorious 39-PG15 19:00 Return To Paradise-PG15 21:00 Please Give-18 23:00 Proteger & Servir-18 23:30 Square Grouper-18

01:00 Gardens Of The Night-PG15 03:00 Hop-PG 05:00 African Cats: Kingdom Of Courage-PG 07:00 Henry’s Crime-PG15 09:00 Just Wright-PG15 11:00 Courageous-PG15 13:15 Love The Beast-PG 15:00 B-Girl-PG15 17:00 Just Wright-PG15 19:00 Season Of The Witch-PG15 21:00 Killer Elite-18 23:00 The Hangover 2-18

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

Garfield’s Pet Force-FAM D’fenders-PG The Nimbols: Part II-FAM The Spy Next Door-PG Garfield’s Pet Force-FAM Mr. Popper’s Penguins-PG D’fenders-PG Rango-FAM Emperor’s Secret-PG Mr. Popper’s Penguins-PG Snow Dogs-PG Rango-FAM

22:15 Resident Evil 4: Afterlife-18

23:00 Hunter Hunted

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:55 Food Network Challenge 01:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:10 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:35 Unwrapped 03:00 Unwrapped 03:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:15 Guy’s Big Bite 04:40 Outrageous Food 05:05 Unique Eats 05:30 Chopped 06:10 Barefoot Contessa 06:35 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Iron Chef America 07:50 Barefoot Contessa 08:15 Barefoot Contessa 08:40 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:05 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:30 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 09:55 Cooking For Real 10:20 Cooking For Real 10:45 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 11:10 Kelsey’s Essentials 11:35 Hungry Girl 12:00 Chopped 12:50 Guy’s Big Bite 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Barefoot Contessa 14:30 Kid In A Candy Store 14:55 Kid In A Candy Store 15:20 Unique Sweets 15:45 Staten Island Cakes 16:35 Barefoot Contessa 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Guy’s Big Bite 18:40 Unique Sweets 19:05 Unique Sweets 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 21:35 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco

00:30 Icarus-18 02:00 Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans-18 04:00 Anaconda-PG15 06:00 Rocky III-PG15 08:00 True Justice: Lethal JusticePG15 10:00 Dangerous Flowers-PG15 12:00 Hackers-PG15 14:00 True Justice: Lethal JusticePG15 16:00 Riddles Of The Sphinx-PG15 18:00 Hackers-PG15 20:00 Alien-18 22:00 Get Rich Or Die Tryin’-18

01:00 Rugby Union Currie Cup 03:00 Premier League Snooker 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 Super League 09:00 AFL Premiership 11:30 Trans World Sport 12:30 Rugby Union Championship 14:30 Rugby Union Championship 16:30 America’s Cup World Series Highlight 17:30 Super League 19:30 Trans World Sport 20:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 22:00 America’s Cup World Series Highlight 23:00 UFC 152 Countdown

20:00 Fighting-PG15 22:00 Homecoming-18 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 02:30 Hot In Cleveland 03:30 Last Man Standing 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 09:30 Two And A Half Men 10:00 The Office 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 14:00 Last Man Standing 14:30 The Office 15:00 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 18:30 Raising Hope 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 Veep 23:00 Hot In Cleveland

00:00 The Glades 01:00 True Blood

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 11:30 13:30 14:00 16:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 23:00

Super League Rugby Union ITM CUP NRL Premiership PGA European Tour Super League Challenge Series Top 14 Premier League Snooker Futbol Mundial PGA European Tour Highlights NRL Premiership Rugby Union

01:30 Rugby Union The Rugby Championship 03:30 Rugby Union The Rugby Championship 05:30 Squash PSA World Series 06:30 Total Rugby 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Premier League Snooker 11:30 Golfing World 12:30 IronMan 15:30 Golfing World 16:30 AFL Premiership 20:00 Futbol Mundial 20:30 Golfing World 21:30 Super League

KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (13/09/2012 TO 19/09/2012) 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

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

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

SHARQIA-2 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

AVENUES-4 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO THU (13/09/2012) Special Show“LAWLESS (2D-Digital)”for Ms. Rowan Al Ansari THU (13/09/2012) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (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

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

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

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

MUHALAB-3 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 12:30 PM FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) 2:30 PM FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) 4:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 6:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 8:30 PM TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) 10:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 12:45 AM 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

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-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

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

FANAR-4 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

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

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

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

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-5 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO THU (13/09/2012) Special Show“BRAVE (2D-Digital)” for Ms. Rowan Aeryfan THU (13/09/2012) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED 2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

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

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM

7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

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

AVENUES-8 STOLEN (2D-Digital) 1:15 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 3:30 PM GRABBERS (2D-Digital) 6:45 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 9:00 PM GRABBERS (2D-Digital) 12:15 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 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 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) AVENUES-11 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED 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

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 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

5:15 PM

AVENUES-6 TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS 1:30 PM TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS 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

1:00 AM

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

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:30 PM 1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

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) 1:30 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 4:45 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 8:00 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 11:15 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 3 TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS 12:30 PM TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS 2:45 PM TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS 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) 9:45 PM LAWLESS (2D-Digital) 12:15 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

360 º- 11 TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) 360 º- 12 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO FRI (14/09/2012) Special Show“BRAVE (2D-Digital)” for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. FRI (14/09/2012) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

360 º- 13 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 14 INTERVIEW WITH A HITMAN GRABBERS (2D-Digital) INTERVIEW WITH A HITMAN GRABBERS (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) INTERVIEW WITH A HITMAN NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 15 BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) FRI+SAT BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED AL-KOUT.1 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED AL-KOUT.2 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) SUN+TUE+WED THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED AL-KOUT.3 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (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 5:30 PM 8:30 PM 11:30 PM

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

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

1:30 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 10:45 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.4 THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 12:30 PM THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) 3:30 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 5:30 PM THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) 7:30 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 9:45 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 11:45 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

BAIRAQ-3 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) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

PLAZA STOLEN (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital)

BAIRAQ-1 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

BAIRAQ-2 THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) 2:15 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 4:45 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 8:00 PM THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) 10:15 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM

Classifieds MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines HZR QTR JZR ETH GFA UAE ETD THY FDB MSR QTR JZR KAC THY JZR DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY GFA KAC QTR FDB ETD BAB KAC GFA IRC UAE MEA JZR MSR MSC VTF JZR MSR GFA KAC FDB OMA KNE JZR QTR SVA RJA KAC JZR KAC QTR SYR KAC ETD UAE UAL SVA GFA JZR JZR ABY KAC QTR BAB KAC FDB KAC MSC MSR KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC FDB MEA QTR GFA FDB ALK TMA UAE JZR ETD ABY QTR JZR AIC GFA UAL JZR TAR JZR DLH MSR THY KLM PIA

Arrival Flights on Monday 17/9/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 768 ISTANBUL 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 1541 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 223 BAHRAIN 284 DHAKA 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 344 CHENNAI 213 BAHRAIN 6521 LAMERD 871 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 401 ALEXANDRIA 302 AL MAKTOUM 561 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 645 MUSCAT 472 JEDDAH 535 CAIRO 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 341 DAMASCUS 118 NEW YORK 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 510 RIYADH 215 BAHRAIN 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 542 CAIRO 144 DOHA 438 BAHRAIN 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 104 LONDON 405 SOHAG 620 ASSIUT 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 742 DAMMAM 572 MUMBAI 774 RIYADH 61 DUBAI 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 59 DUBAI 229 COLOMBO 213 BEIRUT 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 307 ABU DHABI 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 539 CAIRO 975 CHENNAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 529 ASSIUT 327 TUNIS 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 614 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 411 AMSTERDAM 239 SIALKOT

Time 0:15 0:20 0:50 1:45 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 3:10 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:10 4:35 4:55 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 7:15 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:20 8:25 8:30 8:40 8:45 9:00 9:20 9:30 9:35 9:45 10:00 10:15 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:25 12:00 12:00 12:25 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:00 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:05 15:15 15:55 16:00 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 19:00 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:00 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:00 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:10 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:55 22:55 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:45

Airlines AIC UAL DLH MSR JAI PIA THY ETH THY UAE FDB ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR JZR GFA THY JZR KAC BAW FDB JZR ABY KAC GFA KAC UAE QTR AZS FDB ETD BAB GFA IRC KAC KAC MEA JZR UAE MSR KAC MSC KAC JZR GFA FDB MSR OMA KAC JZR KNE SVA KAC RJA JZR VTF QTR KAC KAC SYR ETD JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY UAL SVA QTR FDB BAB MSC JZR MSR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC MEA FDB KAC GFA JZR DHX ALK JZR ABY ETD UAE QTR KAC TMA KAC JZR QTR GFA KAC TAR

Depature Flights on Monday 17/9/2012 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 573 MUMBAI 206 PESHAWAR 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 769 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 534 CAIRO 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 671 DUBAI 224 BAHRAIN 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 8011 ISTANBUL 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 437 BAHRAIN 214 BAHRAIN 6522 LAMERD 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 872 DUBAI 619 ASSIUT 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 646 MUSCAT 673 DUBAI 538 CAIRO 473 JEDDAH 501 JEDDAH 617 DOHA 641 AMMAN 528 ASSIUT 300 KANDAHAR 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 741 DAMMAM 342 DAMASCUS 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 982 BAHRAIN 511 RIYADH 145 DOHA 64 DUBAI 439 BAHRAIN 402 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 621 ALEXANDRIA 283 DHAKA 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 331 TRIVANDRUM 351 KOCHI 403 BEIRUT 60 DUBAI 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 502 LUXOR 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 1540 CAIRO 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 860 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 214 BEIRUT 205 ISLAMABAD 554 ALEXANDRIA 147 DOHA 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 328 DUBAI

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 0:50 1:10 2:15 2:45 3:40 3:45 3:50 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:55 7:05 7:10 7:30 8:10 8:25 8:25 9:00 9:05 9:20 9:25 9:35 9:40 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:45 11:15 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:30 13:00 13:10 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:00 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:45 15:45 15:50 15:55 16:00 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:55 17:20 17:30 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 19:20 19:25 19:30 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:05 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:45 23:00 23:10 23:30 23:40 23:45

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

ACCOMMODATION 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

CHANGE OF NAME I, Joao Salvador Corte, holder of Indian Passport No: G1276401 hereafter change my name to Joao Corte.

(C 4135) SITUATION VACANT

Sharing accommodation available for decent bachelor near German clinic. Call 66941892. (C 4130) 10-9-2012

Lady Chartered Accountant seeking suitable placement.

Phone: 97572174. (C 4137) 16-9-2012 Required a native French tutor to teach 2 children aged 6, 8. Please contact 99612121. (C 4133)

FOR SALE Subaru outback model 2005, metallic color, mileage 2,12,000. Passing up to May 2013, good interior & exterior for only KD 600. Tel: 22493358.

Toyota Camry model 2011 GL silver color, 8,600 km done, excellent condition, price KD 4,350. Contact: 66839506. (C 4138) 17-9-2012

Wanted full time maid/nanny in Salwa.

Offering KD 120 salar y.

Must speak English and be good with small children.

Call 9768-7172.

12-9-2012

112

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

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw Prayer timings Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

04:14 11:42 15:11 17:51 19:08

THE PUBLICAUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw

Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

34

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

s ta rs CROSSWORD 799

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) New appliances at home can make life easier and increase your output. You have more mental stimulation and now is a good time to tackle difficult problems. You tend to speak your mind frankly.

Family members that ask for your advice will more than likely get it. Changes could be scheduled on the home front today and should proceed successfully.

This could be painting, putting in new tile work, sanding, etc. You may be concerned with a renovation to improve the home. You need emotional contact with others today and others are where you need them. A conversation with older members of the family helps you to put together the family genealogy questions.

You can be concerned with marriage or partnership issues this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You may need to communicate more frequently with your marriage partner. There is an opportunity for you and your partner to develop close associations with intellectual or scholarly individuals and tend to be more interested in psychology, human relationships and the process of negotiation.

You may enjoy social activity related to cultural, religious or educational institutions. There is also a possibility that travel to another state to see a certain star or bird migration will be coming up soon and plans will need arranging. If you have prepared material for publication or have a lawsuit pending, judgment can come now. Students have a passion to study. Do not waste your drive on subjects that are not within your curriculum.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Large swift fly the female of which sucks blood of various animals.

5. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

10. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

13. Type genus of the Hylidae.

14. Red Bordeaux wine from the Medoc district of southwestern France.

15. A large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments).

16. Using speech rather than writing.

17. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

19. An ancient country is southwestern Asia on the east coast of the Mediterranean.

21. Situated in front of the anus.

23. A member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Alaska.

25. A condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people.

26. An annual award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievements in motion picture production and performance.

29. Ground snakes.

36. Type genus of the family Myacidae.

37. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

38. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.

39. Not only so, but.

43. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

45. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

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

49. Fear resulting from the awareness of danger.

51. A hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers.

54. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

58. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

60. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

62. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

64. Being one more than two.

65. The compass point that is one point east of northeast.

66. A city in central New York.

67. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

DOWN 1. Colloquial British abbreviation.

2. A small constellation in the northern hemisphere near Cygnus and Draco.

3. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).

4. (Arthurian legend) The most virtuous knight of the Round Table.

5. Of or relating to Oman or its people.

6. A master's degree in education.

7. (Babylonian) A demigod or first man.

8. A blind god.

9. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

10. (Hindu) A manner of sitting (as in the practice of Yoga).

11. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

12. A poplar that is widely cultivated in the United States.

18. A genus of Ploceidae.

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

22. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

24. A Mid-Atlantic state.

27. The chance to speak.

28. Soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired.

30. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

31. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

32. A unit of information equal to 1024 bytes.

33. God of death.

34. A drug combination found in some over-the-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

35. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

40. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

41. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

42. A former copper coin of Pakistan.

44. Having winglike extensions.

45. An associate degree in nursing.

47. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).

48. An associate degree in nursing.

50. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

52. Harsh or corrosive in tone.

53. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

55. A Kwa language spoken by the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria.

56. The money risked on a gamble.

57. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

59. Being two more than fifty.

61. A rare heavy polyvalent metallic element that resembles manganese chemically and is used in some alloys.

63. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) This is a very good day for all types of mental work and communications. Your mind is sharp and you are able to state your case clearly and forcefully. You probably won’t find a better day to work out any kind of business negotiations, begin a course of study or do some organizing.

Since this may not be a workday for you, this could mean that you will find a good deal on a new or used car or you agree to buy a house under certain conditions.

This is also a good day to get rid of any backlog of paperwork, or to make those phone calls that have been previously set aside. New discoveries will provide excitement for you. This will all be very stimulating, but do not count on the day working out as you had planned—there are a few good surprises.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You may desire revolutionary changes in society based upon technological advances, social ideals or political objectives.

You may decide to study trends and job opportunities that will be opening up in the future. A visit to the library for whatever reason could find you searching the job market arena. If you are not looking to evolve, you may be helping someone else. You may discontinue old friendships and begin new ones with individuals who share your ideals and whom you trust. Your group may be involved in advocating collective rights such as gender or racial equality. You may lean toward extremes of advocating either more or fewer social freedoms. Chores come to your attention later this afternoon.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Relationships are the order of today. You should enjoy being around people in general, but the rapport between you and your significant other should be especially strong just now. With new or renewed understanding, you can be nurturing without being pushy. Unfortunately, your rapport with food and drink could be strong as well. Work is definitely on the back burner of your mind, although you could be inspired to do something to beautify your surroundings. You tend to take a greater interest in beautiful clothing and may choose to do a bit of shopping this afternoon. Healthy habits will easily have your attention this afternoon—this could mean scheduling in a little time for family contacts, daily walks, a little reading and some hobby time.

Yesterday’s Solution Virgo (August 23-September 22) Today you will likely meet many pleasant people through some group function. If you have recently been involved in a dispute with someone, you will be inclined to look for ways to create an amiable end to the situation. Emotionally, you have grown rapidly and you tend to take on a most positive attitude about yourself and your surroundings. Conversations now will present many constructive and useful ideas for you to investigate when you have a little free time. You will become more serious about your personal environment, making sure that you and others are not exposed to harmful conditions.

You and your family may decide that before the next vacation, you install some sort of alarm system for your home.

Libra (September 23-October 22) You will most likely feel that circumstances are preventing you from doing something that you really want to do today— you will probably resent such restrictions. Working out a trade will help you to get what you want. Information received from a sibling or neighbor helps broaden your understanding of some difficult situation. This is the time every year when you tend to be more involved with groups of friends for entertainment reasons.

Activities within a familiar social organization this Sunday tend to be oriented to humanitarian, technological or scientific pursuits. This evening you will enjoy unconventional ideas and a friendly exchange of advice and understanding. This is the time that you will see a long-awaited romantic dream unfold.

Yesterday’s Solution

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You will work very hard on your own personal projects now.

You can accomplish a lot of chores around the house and property today; paint, repair, build. If you have been planning to move, this is a good time for it. The people that help you might enjoy some of your homemade cooking, perhaps a bag of your cookies. Work hard and then take a fun break . . . the gang will soon have the work completed in no time. You have an opportunity to increase your circle of close friends in the next few days—perhaps at your new address. You make a good impression on others through your kindness and generosity. Tonight you will be checking the kids’ homework or finishing up some crossword puzzle begun earlier today.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Your ability to socialize and work closely with others is highlighted now. You are particularly aware of how your social persona defines you in the eyes of others—allowing you to affirm your own identity.

Use this opportunity of insight into how others view you as a tool for self-examination. The key phrase here is clarity of perception for your reflected personality.

Expect your emotions to be deep and powerfully felt today. This is not a time during which you will be able to accept superficiality. You will be digging for truth and seeking root causes, especially in your love relationships. You can reconcile differences with family members. A specific woman can be a powerful influence today. This is a positive, upbeat time.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Opportunities for regeneration through personal power are available. There are plenty of opportunities to make the world around you a better place—you are the driving force. It will be quite easy to bring about the changes you want and you should use this ability more often; this could be in teaching or entertaining or listening. You have plenty of initiative to achieve a great deal. You can achieve success in whatever project you decide to approach. Sometimes you give up, thinking you see a plan too tough to accomplish, but give yourself credit . . . you know how to use your talents. You can win!

You can come in first in sports, a contest or even an election. Become a leader or a pioneer. Keep learning new skills.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You may desire greater freedom and excitement in your cultural, religious and philosophical associations. You are apt to seek unorthodox and unusual viewpoints. These tend to incorporate scientific or humanitarian fields. You may form associations with people having different religious beliefs and customs than you, from a foreign country. To you, this is just an opportunity to learn more about different foods and dress and languages. If you are into music, connections can be made to help friendships grow. At times, you may have sudden urges to travel and you may have direct intuitive religious or philosophical revelations. World news grabs your attention this evening and creates more curiosities to investigate.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Family and friends encourage you in any endeavor you would like to enjoy. This is a time of peace and harmony in all aspects of your life—there is not a negative influence operating now. You will have the tendency to let the day go by and just enjoy the good feelings. However, you may think and review a few things in your mind for future consideration and start now to make plans for new projects. This may even mean you would be interested in starting a band or dance class or having a children’s art show for a charity to benefit children. Be prepared to meet exciting people, try out new ideas and make interesting discoveries. You will be seeing old problems in a new light and just may shelve those ordinary routines for a new you instead.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

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

Kaizen center

25716707

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

ST TAT TE OF KUW K WA AIT

Te el.: 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GENE GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIA V ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours BY Y DA AY:

Hot with moderate to fresh north westerly wind, with speed of 20 - 45 km/h causing raising dust over open areas

BY Y NIGHT:

Relatively hot with moderate freshening at times north westerly wind, with speed of 20 - 40 km/h

No Current Warnings arnin a

WA ARNING MIN. REC.

KUW WAIT A CITY

41 °C

30 °C

22451082

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

42 °C

28 °C

Al-Mirqab

22456536

NUW WAISEEB A

41 °C

27 °C

Sharq

22465401

WAFRA A

42 °C

28 °C

SALMI

Salmiya

25746401

41 °C

24 °C

ABDAL LY

43 °C

24 °C

Jabriya

25316254

JAL ALIY YA AH

42 °C

23 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FAILAKA A

43 °C

27 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

39 °C

31 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

36 °C

33 °C

W.Hawally

22630786

WARBA A A - BUBY YAN A

43 °C

24 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

West Jahra

ST TATION T

24575755

Monday

17/09

24772608

Tuesday

18/09

Wednesday e

19/09

Thursday

20/09

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

WEA AT THER

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

hot

43 °C

28 °C

NW

20 - 40 km/h

hot

42 °C

27 °C

NW

12 - 35 km/h

hot + Chance fore dust

42 °C

28 °C

NW

20 - 40 km/h

hot + Chance fore dust

41 °C

28 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

RA AYER Y TIMES PRA

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

16/09/2012 0000 UTC

Temperatures DA AT TE

24775066

SFC. CHART

4 DA AY YS FORECAST DA AY

South Jahra

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

MAX. EXP P.

New Jahra

2627 - 2630 Ext.: 262

Fax: 24348714

AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPORT RECORDED YESTERDA

Fajr

04:13

MAX. Temp.

42 °C

Sunrise

05:33

MIN. Temp.

31 °C

Zuhr

11:43

MAX. RH

15 %

Asr

15:13

MIN. RH

06 %

Sunset

17:53

MAX. Wind i

N 57 km/h

Isha

19:10

TOT TA AL L RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

.06 mm

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

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

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

LIFESTYLE

Models wear designs from the Jasper Conran Spring/Summer 2013 collection during London Fashion Week, Saturday.

—AP/AFP photos

JOHN ROCHA

F a s h i o n

Flights of fancy at London Fashion Week A

JASPER CONRAN Conran’s signature look is pared-down British elegance, but for next spring he offered up a playful selection on a retro Americana theme: Psychedelic flowers, blue jeans, stars and stripes, Woodstock and multi-colored patchwork. Models walked on a catwalk made of a bed of faux grass to the tunes of Carole King, and the look was part cool cowgirl, part folksy flower children. There were denim vests, shorts and straight cut jeans, some embroidered with flowers and doves, others adorned by a silver sequined hem. Later models wore

crochet, patchwork or kaleidoscope print dresses. Prints were childlike and irreverent (think huge print of a cherry on a white shirt) and the palette was as cheerful as it gets: Bubblegum pink, coral, mustard, lime, and a tangerine that Conran called “Fanta orange.”

JOHN ROCHA Voluminous hooped skirts, ruffles and layers of sheer organza dominated the catwalk at Ireland-based John Rocha’s show, which resembled a beautiful English garden of sculpted flowers. A red strapless dress with an exaggerated tulip shape opened the show, its large organza ruffles imitating the frail petals of a flower. The hooped, textured skirt then appeared layered over trousers and under sheer organza jackets. It was also repeated to great effect in a host of pastel colors: Pale lavender, mint, lemon, before appearing in gun metal, champagne, black and white. Models all wore large matching hats made of folds of organza that sat like tinted clouds on their heads.

MOSCHINO CHEAP & CHIC Conran wasn’t the only one who got the fun retro vibe: At Moschino Cheap and Chic there were low-slung flare trousers, flirty party dresses and a riot of bold colors. Saturday night’s show, which came complete with a live band and disco lights, featured party pieces like a candy-colored bomber jacket, an orange pant suit with jeweled lapels, and a mint pleated skirt with oversized flower sequins. Lime, which is emerging as a popular spring color, was paired with magenta, burgundy, and orange. A standout print of blue and lime pineapples was seen on hot shorts, crop tops and capri pants, and many in the fashion

crowd were left lusting after the playful pineapple handbags. Cheap and Chic is the Italian label’s diffusion line. Moschino’s main line shows at Milan Fashion Week.

KINDER AGGUGINI Former Versace designer Kinder Aggugini began the day with a show inspired by fishermen and the freedom of being at sea. His spring collection was themed around the traditional naval palette - blue, red and white - but he washed out the colors for a faded, carefree look to fit his “gone fishing” theme. Gingham and prints of island life added girlish charm to the relaxed shapes, which included pieces like pinafores, low-slung shorts and men’s style shirts. Hand-painted clogs pulled the looks together. Aggugini cleverly sneaked in the ocean theme in several standout pieces: A navy blazer had a white-dyed hem to imitate the sea’s waves, and a black velvet gown had a design of octopus tentacles that reached to the floor. “It was all very fresh and sweet, very well made, very cute. It all worked,” said Hilary Alexander, a veteran British fashion editor who attended the show at London Fashion Week.

HUISHAN ZHANG Newcomer Huishan Zhang delivered a sophisticated debut collection Saturday that impressed the crowd with his fresh take on traditional Chinese motifs. The tailored Chinese silk dress, the cheongsam, was updated with detachable, crystal-embellished collars, subtle prints and a refreshing palette of mint, sage, sea green and violets. Dresses had high necklines and modest hemlines, but the way the silk hugged the body oozed sensual femininity. Prints of sparrows, pagodas and

mahjong tiles lent playfulness to the elegant clothes. Silhouettes were clean and unfussy, adorned sometimes with sheer, wispy capes.

Zhang, who recently graduated from London’s Central St. Martins college, spent a year working at Christian Dior before setting up his own label. His first season collection has been picked up by two retailers. “He’s delivered clothes that are appropriate for all age groups, and that’s something that’s quite difficult to do for a young designer,” said Anne Tyrrell, a London-based design consultant.

“He’s one to watch, definitely.” —AP

HUISHAN ZHANG

catwalk of faux grass and barefoot, denim-clad models took audiences to 1960s America. Sweet dungarees and clogs conjured up a fisherman’s tale at one show, while at another the fashion crowd feasted their eyes on a concoction of pastel ruffles as delectable as roses in full bloom. Newcomers and established designers alike took audiences on flights of fancy on Day 2 of London Fashion Week Saturday, which showcased an eclectic range of women’s wear creations from the elegant to the whimsical, from the eminently wearable to structured works of art.

Britons Jasper Conran and John Rocha, two of the fashion week’s most established names, both showed Saturday, with the former delivering a surprisingly fun and youthful collection and the latter wowing the crowd with the sheer technique that went into his sculptural creations. Also featured Saturday was Kinder Aggugini, former designer at Versace; Huishan Zhang, a Chinese-born talent who delivered a refined debut show of reworked Chinese motifs; and Moschino Cheap and Chic, the Italian brand’s diffusion line.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

bit frustrating to designer Nanette Lepore.

“Actually, sometimes it annoys me that everyone wants a theme!” she says. “I mean, it really does help when I have a strong one to work with. But often, what

The Bibhu Mohapatra Spring 2013 collection is modeled during Fashion Week in New York, last Tuesday. — AP photos

Marchesa

the popcorn grow,” says Jeremy Scott, whose typically outrageous designs attempted to channel the Arab Spring this year, with some Harlem added in (more on that later).

But there’s also the pesky issue of having a good answer ready backstage, when you get that inevitable question as the cameras flash and the tape rolls: “What inspired you?” And you can’t just say, “I wanted to make pretty clothes.” Which is a

you have is just a few notions.”

At the shows that ended Thursday in New York, a number of over-arching minithemes emerged. For example: Insects. As in, the luna moth, which lives for only about a week. Indian-born designer Bibhu Mohapatra saw one, and it inspired his spring collection. “The luna moth is like a woman - she is constantly evolving,” he said backstage. For Sophie Theallet, another rising designer who has dressed

Michelle Obama, it was another insect who stirred her creative juices: the dragonfly. “It’s viewed differently by different cultures, sometimes as evil, sometimes spiritual,” she said. “I wanted to show how the woman I am dressing can be anything at any time.”

Speaking of time, some designers dig way back into it for their themes. MaryKate and Ashley Olsen, for example,

designers of The Row, were inspired “by the 18th century scrolls of Ito Jakuchu, depicting the Japanese traditions of birdand-flower paintings.” Not bad. But Thom Browne will take your old scrolls, Olsen twins, and raise them one German artist from the Bauhaus school. Browne’s show an elaborate performance, really - was an homage to the 1920s artist and choreographer Oskar Schlemmer. From Bauhaus to Dadaism: Designer Phillip Lim said he was exploring a literary technique - via clothing - used by Dadaists in the 1920s and William S. Burroughs in the 1950s. Not to ignore the ‘60s, Marchesa designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig channeled the Beatles’ experience with the Maharishi in India.

And Reem Acra, who designs glamorous evening gowns, said she was inspired by contemporary sculptor and artist Aaron Young and his motorcyclethemed work: “The abstract and destructive energy of his pieces are taken to create a defined, sophisticated and compelling statement on femininity.” Some designers choose current events. Scott, an acknowledged bad boy of the fashion world, said he was inspired by the Arab Spring - with Harlem added in. He had long veils to go with see-through dresses, some Arab headdresses - paired, of course, with thigh-high alligator boots - and, to dress up that tired tank top, a slew of metallic mini-M16 automatic rifles.

Sometimes a show’s theme is less inyour-face, er, clear. Watching last year’s Rodarte spring show was like slowly solving a puzzle. A sunflower print here, a painter’s smock there, some “midnight blue” - only afterwards did the Mulleavy sisters, the much-admired designing duo, reveal that their theme was, of course, Vincent van Gogh. This year the Mulleavys, asked their inspiration, said it was “medieval and role playing games.”

Like them, Wes Gordon was partial to corsets this season. But the young designer wasn’t thinking medieval. “A high priestess,” he pronounced, when asked his theme. “A woman who’s powerful, alluring and feminine, but at the same time dark and sinister.” Are you an old-movie buff?

Mark Badgley and James Mischka had a show for you: Their spring inspiration was the 1935 film version of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” starring James Cagney. (Their fall collection had channeled the 1920s German film “Metropolis.”) And they weren’t the only designers thinking about that Shakespearean play. “The Dream,” a ballet inspired by the play and danced by American Ballet Theatre, was the theme of Christian Siriano’s spring collection. The fourth-season winner of “Project Runway”

said he had tried to recreate the ballet’s tulle-filled, pastel-colored world.

Straightforward enough.

Sometimes, though, it’s a little hard to get the connection, not just between a designer’s inspiration or theme and their clothes, but even between the different elements of the theme. To wit, designer Naeem Khan’s theme: “The Duchess of Windsor: Exotic Gardens, Fiery Skies, and the Arabian Sea.”So what’s the link between Wallis Simpson and those other things? Maybe not much.

“When you’re designing a collection, you can be super-focused on one thing or you can go a little wider,” Khan, who famously designed a shimmering statedinner gown for Mrs Obama, told an audience later. “This collection went a little wider.”

Lepore can relate to that. The ebullient designer literally danced offstage following her runway show. Backstage, her many themes were dancing through her head.

“Well, I was still looking at Oscar Wilde, from last season,” she said. “And we were recently in Ireland, and I was looking at all the greens, so clover was a theme. And of course, there’s the porcelain, those beautiful pieces from the porcelain room at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin.” But wouldn’t it be enough, as she herself mused, just to have some pretty fashion ideas? Like her own lovely mixes of bright green prints with black-and-white checks and stripes? Reed Krakoff seems to think so. After finding several ways, following his well-received runway show, to say that he was adding sensuality to sporty looks, the designer concluded: “I don’t really ever have a theme. “It’s just something that evolves over time,” he said. “It’s about creating something that makes sense.

Something that feels right.” — AP

Reed Krakoff

T

he luna moth. Oscar Wilde.

Eighteenth-century Japanese scrolls.

An obscure Bauhaus artist. Antique porcelain. Quick, what do these things have in common? Don’t know? Try this: The Duchess of Windsor. The Arab Spring.

The Beatles’ 1960s encounter with the Maharishi. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” not the play, silly, the 1935 movie. The dragonfly. Give up? OK, we’ll tell you each of these things was a declared “inspiration,” or theme, for fashion designers this year as they plied their wares at New York Fashion Week. Why do designers even need such a thing, the uninitiated may ask? Well, many say it helps them organize their thoughts as they travel through the creative process. “It’s the kernel that makes

Jeremy Scott

If you’re a top designer, you gotta have a theme

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

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‘Games of Thrones’

top creative arts Emmy winner T

Gemma Jackson poses backstage with her award for outstanding art direction for a singlecamera series for ‘Game of Thrones’ at the 2012 Creative Arts Emmys at the Nokia Theatre on Saturday. — AP/AFP photos

he fantasy series “Game of Thrones” was the big winner Saturday at the creative arts Emmy Awards. The HBO saga received a leading six trophies at the ceremony that recognizes technical and other achievements. Best special visual effects and best costumes for a series were among the trophies claimed by “Game of Thrones.” Others honored at the ceremony were four TV series guest stars, including Kathy Bates for CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” and Jimmy Fallon as host of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Bates has a shot at another trophy, best drama actress for “Harry’s Law,” her canceled NBC series, at the primetime Emmy ceremony to air Sept 23.

Earlier last week, she said she was recovering from a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer two months ago. She did not accept Saturday’s award in person. On the drama side, Emmys went to Jeremy Davies for his guest appearance on FX’s “Justified” and Martha Plimpton for her turn on CBS’ “The Good Wife.”

Programs with multiple-award bragging rights included Discovery Channel’s “Frozen

Planet,” “Great Expectations” on PBS’ “Masterpiece” showcase and “Saturday Night Live,” each of which earned four Emmys.

History ’s “Hatfields & McCoys,” HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and the 65th annual Tony Awards on CBS each nabbed three awards.

Among networks, HBO earned a leading 17 creative arts Emmys, followed by CBS with 13 and PBS with 11.

Discovery received six awards, NBC got five and ABC and the Cartoon Network won four each. Fox won two trophies. Emmys in 26 categories including acting, writing and directing will be presented at the upcoming ceremony, which will air live on ABC at 8 pm EDT next Sunday. Other winners at the creative arts Emmys included: Voice-over performance: Maurice LaMarche, “Futurama: The Silence of the Clamps,” Comedy Central.

Reality program: “Undercover Boss,” CBS. Commercial: “Best Job,” Procter & Gamble corporate brand.

Animated Program: “ The Penguins of

Madasgacar: The Returns of the Revenge of Dr Blowhole,” Nickelodeon.

Nonfiction series: “Frozen Planet,” Discovery Channel.

Writing for a variety series: “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central.

Music composition for a series (original dramatic score): “Downton Abbey: Episode 6,” PBS. Music composition for a miniseries, movie or special: “Hemingway & Gellhorn,” HBO. Choreography: “Smash,” NBC. Casting for a drama series: “Homeland,” Showtime.

Casting for a miniseries, movie or a special: “Game Change,” HBO. Casting for a comedy series: “Girls,” HBO. Costumes for a miniseries, movie or a special: “Great Expectations (Masterpiece), Part 2,” PBS. Costumes for a variety-music program or a special (more than one award possible): “Opening Ceremony of the XVI Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011,” ESPN; “The X Factor: Top 9 Elimination,” Fox. Costumes for a series: “Game of Thrones: The Prince of Winterfell,” HBO. —AP

The cast of ‘Children’s Hospital’ pose backstage with the award for outstanding special class: short-format live-action entertainment programs.

Martha Plimpton, right, and Garret Dillahunt pose backstage with her award for outstanding guest actress in a drama series for playing Patti Nyholm on ‘The Good Wife’.

Neil Patrick Harris, left, and Glenn Weiss pose backstage with their awards for outstanding special class programs.

Dan Savage, right, and Terry Miller pose backstage with the Governors Award for the ‘It Gets Better Project’.

The cast of ‘Childrenís Hospital’, from left, Erinn Hayes, Lake Bell, Megan Mullaly and Malin Akerman, pose backstage with the award for outstanding special class: short-format live-action entertainment programs. (Right) Ben Feldman and a guest.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

lifestyle A W A R D S

Actress Padma Lakshmi

Actress Lisa Kudrow attends The Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences 2012 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Kathy Griffin and Matthew Weiner

Producer Nigel Lythgoe

Dick Askin poses backstage with the Syd Cassyd Award.

Actress Brenda Strong

Actress Lake Bell

Actor Johnny Galecki Don Cassidy poses backstage with his award for outstanding single-camera picture editing for a miniseries or a movie for ‘Hatfields & McCoys - Part 2’.

John Lunn poses backstage with his award for outstanding music composition for a series (original dramatic score) for ‘Downton Abbey - Episode 6’.

Olivia Harrison poses backstage with the award for outstanding nonfiction special for ‘George Harrison: Living in the Material World’.

Maria Canals-Barrera poses backstage with the award for outstanding children’s program for ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’.

Ken Erlich and LL Cool J pose backstage.

Actress Jennifer Morrison

Choreographer Stacey Tookey

Rob Corddry and his wife Sandra Corddry pose backstage with the award for outstanding special class: short-format live-action entertainment programs for ‘Children’s Hospital’.

‘Games of Thrones’ top creative arts Emmy winner

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

38

Green Day celebrates the launch of Nokia Music with AT&T at Irving Plaza on Saturday, in New York. — AP

Bathia, the ‘Great Number Cruncher’ is here

By Sajeev K Peter

A

fter a gap of six years, Dhaval Bathia, the ‘Great Number Cruncher’ is back in Kuwait.

An internationally renowned trainer and bestselling author of four books, Bathia arrived in Kuwait on a special invitation by the India Community School. He will conduct a series of workshops for students on how to enjoy learning mathematics and enhance memory skills by simple methods.

“I strongly believe that education is a process to be enjoyed and cherished,” Bathia told the Kuwait Times in a brief interview. “Traditionally, Indian education system focuses on memory learning. In today’s competitive world, students go by the trend to score good marks. But, the practical world requires students with more creative and analytical thinking. You must enjoy your learning. Unless there is fun and excitement in your studies, you can’t score well and for long.

So, the entire emphasis will be on a training process that will help children enjoy mathematics,” he elaborated.

A B Com, ACS and LLB by qualification, Dhaval Bathia, 29, wrote his first book at the young age of 17 while still a college student in Mumbai.

Within a few months, his book ‘How To Top Exams and Enjoy Studies’ became a sensation. It hit the bestselling charts not only in India, but also in far off countries like Spain, Portugal and

Mexico. “In fact, using some small tricks and magic, we can make mathematics learning very enjoyable. Using some simple mathematical steps, I used to demonstrate how one can find out a person’s birthday or how much money a person in the audience has in his pocket without anyone telling him,” he explained.

Bathia will teach the students from Grades 7 to 12 some revolutionary techniques by which

Dhaval Bathia they can develop a love for mathematics and also enhance their memory. Since math is generally perceived to be cumbersome, Bathia will show the children how numbers can be made

Dhaval Bathia’s profile presentation shows the trainer being cheered by ICSK students after a workshop and the clip of the Kuwait Times interview in 2006. fun and calculations can actually be done in an book, Dhaval wrote three more books - ‘Vedic exciting manner. He will also show some amaz- Mathematics Made Easy’, ‘The Best of Sudoku’ ing demonstrations by which theory subjects like and ‘He Swam with Sharks for an Ice-Cream’-all of history and geography can be memorized by which have become popular bestsellers having sold over 200,000 copies in 14 languages. students in a jiffy!

In 2006, Bathia conducted a series of workFollowing the phenomenal success of the first

shops for the students of the Indian community in Kuwait. The response was mind-boggling.

Over 2,200 students attended Dhaval Bathia’s workshops in Amman, Khaitan and Salmiya branches of ICSK. Seeing the manner in which the student community appreciated his workshop, other CBSE schools in UAE, Oman, Nepal and Singapore invited him to deliver lectures to students.

International NGO Rotary has awarded his workshop as the ‘Most Unique Training Program for Students’. Over 100 newspapers and 70 TV channels across the world have covered this amazing math and memory show. Some uniquely designed techniques like ‘How to get the answer without looking at the question’ will leave the audience spell-bound.

In Kuwait, the first workshop in the series was held yesterday at the ICSK senior branch in which hundreds of students and teachers attended. He will hold the second workshop at the Amman branch today, at Khaitan branch tomorrow and at the Junior branch on Wednesday (Sept 19).

On a special request from the parents, the ICSK board has also decided to hold an open workshop for all parents and young children tomorrow evening (Sept 18) from 6:30 pm onwards at the Senior branch auditorium. The workshop is open for parents, elders and students of age 10 and above, according to the school board.

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O Singer and songwriter Paul Simon performs during a concert at the Arena Civica in Milan, Italy. —AP

McFerrin, Simon sing improv at NY Lincoln Center

A

re you ready for Simon and McFerrin? Paul Simon probably never had a vocal partner quite like Bobby McFerrin, who coaxed him onstage for an impromptu performance of a Simon and Garfunkel hit - the highlight of opening night of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 25th anniversary season. In his unique style, McFerrin had just started singing “Scarborough Fair” at Thursday night’s concert - singing the lyrics while using his voice as a musical accompaniment - when he suddenly stopped to say that someone had spotted Simon in the audience. “I don’t know really how you feel about improv, but there’s an extra microphone over there,” he said to Simon.

Simon initially demurred. But with the audience cheering, McFerrin said in a high-pitched falsetto: “I just think you can sing this one better than I can.” “How could you do that to me,” Simon said good-naturedly as he joined McFerrin onstage at the Rose Theater for an unexpected guest turn.

McFerrin quickly proved that he’s no Art Garfunkel, whose tight vocal harmonies with Simon turned “Scarborough Fair” and other songs into ‘60s hits.

Simon quickly adjusted to McFerrin’s loose, irreverent style as they echoed each other’s lines, broke up the Bobby McFerrin performs at the lyrics and adapted their singing to saxophonist Ted Nash’s arrangement of the Simon song for the Jazz at jazz festival in Kiev, Ukraine.

Lincoln Center Orchestra. —AP

SN, the leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa, has launched OSN Plus HD, the regions first Internet enabled satellite receiver and recorder with full 3D and HD capabilities. OSN Plus HD is the first of its kind featuring an impressive online ‘Video on Demand’ library providing viewers with instant access to the newest releases plus 1000’s of hours of premium movies, TV series, sports and kids entertainment all available at the touch of a button.

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HD,OSN’s flagship premium Arabic content channel.

At launch, over 500 programs will be available to download including family and kids genres, top series, catch up TV as well as sports including 40 hours per month of the very popular WWE and UFC. That’s not all, the new OSN Plus HD will also feature packaged content from premium channels such as Food Network, Jim Jam, Disney and the History channel.

David Butorac, CEO of OSN said: “We’re redefining the TV viewing experience bringing even more innovation and technological advancements to provide more flexibility and choice to customers. The new OSN Plus HD is a one stop shop for a viewing experience where the viewer is in complete control and can continuously watch what they want when they want over a secure online platform. At OSN, we understand the importance of being able to watch premium content at a time of your choosing and services such as OSN Play, the OSN Showbox and the all new OSN Plus HD are part of our strategy

to bring more value and convenience to subscribers.” The launch of OSN Plus HD makes OSN the first in the world to introduce a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) based on Broadcom’s next generation chipset technology. The set top box is manufactured by Humax, one of the world’s leading digital set-top box manufacturers.

The online Video On Demand library branded

region. The new service allows viewers the convenience of choosing from over a 1000 hours of OSN’s premium content and watching the latest of what they want, when they want in the format of their choice whether its high definition or SD via the internet and satellite.”

The OSN Plus HD remote control helps users to easily navigate and record favorite shows or entire

‘OSN on Demand’ is a key feature of the new DVR and the advanced technology used enables viewers to start watching programmes in less than a minute. Viewers can also queue multiple downloads and store them on the massive one terabyte internal hard drive.

Mark Billinge, Vice President of Broadcast Operations and Technology at OSN, added: “The launch of OSN Plus HD builds on the success of our existing DVR platform and demonstrates our technology capabilities, innovation and ability to provide the ultimate TV viewing experience in the

series, watch the best HD content on demand with options of pause, rewind and fast forward.

OSN Plus HD also features a Common Interface (CI) slot that can be used for other services providers. Viewers have complete control of their viewing with the Parental Control functionality providing added security and enabling families to easily restrict or completely block channels or programs. The new service is available in UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Bahrain and requires a minimum internet download speed of 1MB. For more information visit www.osn.com/plusHD