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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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8Amir 21 40 20 proposes $2bn fund to fight poverty in Asia Kuwait pledges $300m at Asia Cooperation Dialogue summit

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from the editor’s desk

Bedouin version of economic stimulus plan

By Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan

myopinion@kuwaittimes.net

he Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) can potentially set the path to stronger economic and political relations in Asia and it is about time Asian countries thought about the fruits they can gain in the future from the seeds they plant at the ACD today. Unfortunately, instead of realizing the importance of such an event, the opposition MPs decided to hold a demonstration and hold Kuwait at ransom. The scenes that followed were shameful. This could have been a peaceful protest but I guess that was not the agenda of the opposition MPs. Just like anywhere else in the world, police set up a barrier.

Protestors threw the first punch and attacked the police in an attempt to break through the barriers. That’s when the riot police came out with their batons and clashed with protestors for no longer than 15 minutes. Several protestors were arrested and released later on. Again, some MPs decided to go out on the streets because they cannot pass their agenda constitutionally in the parliament. Hold on! I am sorry for using the word agenda as they don’t really have an agenda that sets the path for civil, political and economic stability. Of course such MPs wouldn’t understand the importance of such a summit because they champion those who are after freebees from the government and for the government to pay off their personal loans as a reward for their inability to manage their finances. Or maybe that is the Bedouin version of an economic stimulus plan!

These MPs champion those who are after wasta so they can get a job in the government and a raise every other year with benefits while they sit at home just because they are Kuwaiti. Of course these people don’t understand business.

Thank God they don’t have the prime minister of their choice otherwise this summit would be about Asian wasta and treatment abroad during holidays at the expense of the Ministry of Health.

Yes, there is room for reforms in Kuwait. We are not perfect but we have a constitution that works and we have a parliament that can vote for change and we have a judicial system that has reversed even HH the Amir’s decisions at times.

Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy not a dictatorship and its citizens are loud and extremely opinionated. We do not have an extreme regime that rapes people’s civil rights; we do not have political prisons where people are tortured just for being against the government and we do not bow down to a king, prince or emperor. So why choose to create chaos rather than using the parliament for the reforms that the majority will accept and that do not obstruct the civil rights of individuals?!

T

KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (center) poses with Asian leaders for a family photo during the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) summit yesterday. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Oppn vows more demos, MoI blames protesters 4 detained

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Barrak feels the heat

By B Izzak and A Saleh KUWAIT: The opposition decided yesterday to continue with its protests and gatherings a day after its supporters clashed with police following a massive rally against a plan to amend the electoral constituency law. The decision came at an emergency meeting attended by around 16 former opposition MPs and members of the scrapped 2012 National Assembly to study the situation following Monday’s protest.

Authorities meanwhile extended the detention of four protesters arrested at the demonstration until today when they will be sent to the public attorney for consideration. They include Abdul Aziz Al-Saadoun, the eldest son of opposition leader and former Assembly speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun.

Continued on Page 15

KUWAIT: Former MP Musallam Al-Barrak (seated, right) and opposition activists stage a sit-in outside the National Assembly in solidarity with protesters who were detained a day earlier.

—Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Sabah hospital opens in NY NEW YORK: Kuwaiti Health Minister Dr Ali Al-Obaidi on Monday inaugurated the Sheikh Sabah Arrhythmia Institute at St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, established with a donation by HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The minister toured the wards of the institute, after which he said in remarks to KUNA and Kuwait TV that this development is part of ongoing cooperation and exchange of expertise and information between Kuwaiti and US medical professionals. “Most important for us would be to have doctors from the institute visiting Kuwait to share their expertise and experiences with our doctors at our own arrhythmia center, and we are most interested in information and tips relating to the latest technology and techniques in the field.”

Obaidi noted the Kuwaiti health office in Washington DC regularly refers cases for treatment in accredited health institutes and centers, and it would NEW YORK: Kuwaiti Health Minister Dr Ali Al-Obaidi (center) and oth- be cooperating with the Sabah institute in the future er officials are seen at the opening of the Sheikh Sabah Arrhythmia for arrhythmia patients.

Institute at St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital on Monday. —KUNA Continued on Page 15

‘Saifeena’ finally tie the knot MUMBAI: Bollywood glamour couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, who have been dating for five years, finally tied the knot in Mumbai yesterday in a much-anticipated Indian celebrity wedding. Kapoor, 32, and Khan, 42 - India’s answer to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie held a quiet official ceremony at the groom’s home, followed by an evening reception at the grand Taj Mahal Palace hotel. The newly-weds married in front of close friends and family, before emerging to pose and wave to the large press pack and fans waiting outside. Kapoor was dressed in an embellished red shawl, while Khan wore a simple grey kurta.

SEE PAGE 37

MUMBAI: Newly-wedded Bollywood personalities Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor pose for the media outside Khan’s residence yesterday. —AFP

KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah yesterday proposed setting up a $2 billion fund to fight poverty in Asia and said Kuwait will donate $300 million to its corpus. “In a bid to fight poverty and improve the standard of living ... I propose an initiative to set up a $2 billion program,” Sheikh Sabah said as he opened the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) summit. “In this context, I am pleased to announce that Kuwait will contribute $300 million to the fund.” Sheikh Sabah proposed that a pan-Asian development agency, like the Asian Development Bank, manage the program that will finance development projects in the least developed Asian nations.

Welcoming the distinguished guests, Sheikh Sabah said that their participation in the event “indeed confirms your keenness on preserving this important dialogue, and the need for all of us to work on its activation, development, and promotion to meet our aspirations and expectations. It also pleases me to welcome the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as a member in our forum, which reflects the growing interest in the forum and its objective in promoting development and stability for the people of our continent.”

The Amir added, “this summit is being held after more than a decade of the establishment of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Forum, under changing political circumstances and suffocating economic crises at the global level; their consequences are still being felt and are causing serious challenges to our continued efforts and attempts at upgrading the levels of development of our continent to achieve the ambitions and aspirations of its peoples. This requires that we all intensify our efforts and utilize our meetings to discuss in depth and with objectivity these challenges, analyze their causes and contain their impact in order to avoid their recurrence.

Continued on Page 15

The couple, dubbed “Saifeena” by the media, come from famous acting families and their wedding attracting frenzied media attention. Superstar actor Shah Rukh Khan - no relation to the groom - was one of the first big names to congratulate the couple on Twitter. “Happiest marriage bond to my friend Saif & Kareena. May Allah keep (your) family healthy & happy. Just saw it is registered, sealed & delivered,” he wrote. —AFP

Blast kills Saudi cadet RIYADH: An accidental explosion during a training exercise at a military academy in Saudi Arabia killed one cadet yesterday and wounded nine others, one seriously, the official SPA news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying. It cited a ministry spokesman as saying the blast was caused by a grenade at the King Abdul-Aziz military academy, and that an inquiry into the accident had already begun.

Separately, women lawyers in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to plead cases in court for the first time from next month, according to a justice ministry directive published yesterday by Al-Watan daily. The ruling, which will take effect at the beginning of next month after the end of the Eid Al-Adha in late October, will apply to all women who have a law degree and who have spent at least three years working in a lawyer’s office. —AFP

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

LOCAL

‘Join hands to achieve comprehensive security’ Asian leaders assert importance of ACD Summit

KUWAIT: Asian leaders attend the opening ceremony of the 10-year-old Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) at Bayan palace in Kuwait City yesterday. The Gulf state is hosting the first ACD summit this week, bringing together economic powers China, Japan and leading energy producers. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi arrives to attend the opening of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue summit at Bayan Palace yesterday.

KUWAIT: Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum sits between Uzbekistan and Thailand officials during the opening ceremony.

KUWAIT: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse (right) attends the opening ceremony at Bayan palace.

KUWAIT: Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa AlThani attends the opening ceremony.

KUWAIT: Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah at the ACD opening ceremony.

KUWAIT: Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa (left) attends the opening ceremony of the 10-year-old Asia Cooperation Dialogue.

KUWAIT: Asian leaders, attending the First Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit in Kuwait, asserted yesterday the importance of the summit that it would help boost cooperation between the Asian countries. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, addressing the ACD Summit which was inaugurated by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, said the ACD Forum has many achievements over the past decade.

He called on Asian countries to join hands to achieve comprehensive security and honor aspirations of the Asian people.

The Sultan said the best way to address challenges was through education and encouragement of youth as well as the development of school curricula.

“We seek to attract opportunity for our youth and to join hands with our partners in the Asian continent for the development of education,” he said.

He praised endeavors of Kuwait and His Highness the Amir to boosting dialogue and cooperation between the Asian countries. Representative of Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed of Oman, Shehab bin Tareq Al-Saeed, said the two-day ACD Summit would discuss a number of constructive ideas all aimed at upgrading joint collaboration.

He said the Asian continent has diverse natural and human resources which emphasized importance of investment to ultimately achieve prosperity and development.

Al-Saeed wished success for the summit.

The President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse, in his speech before the summit, underscored importance of cooperation between the Asian countries.

He said the Asian countries enjoyed a diversity of civilizations, cultures and religions coupled with rich natural resources. The majority of the population of the world live in Asia, said Rajapakse, which should be properly utilized.

The President said “our countries which combine the poor and rich should develop. We should all work to solve these problems (gap between rich and poor).”

The Asian people were facing many challenges primarily food and natural disasters, terrorism and environment, he said.

Asian countries should improve living conditions of people, invest and infrastructure and energy and create jobs for the youth, in addition to addressing poverty.

The First Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit, celebrating its 10th anniversary, will be a prominent milestone for achieving the goal of having a future of common good, Bangladeshi President Zillur Rahman said.

In a speech before the Summit’s first session, Rahman stressed that the ACD gathering would contribute to promoting and consolidating common Asian identity on political, economic levels, in addition to facing climate change challenges, as Asia is the world’s largest and most populous Continent, covering 30 percent of land area and hosting 60 percent of world population.

He pointed out that ACD, with its vast natural and human resources and huge markets, diversity in culture, landscape and climate, all contribute in supporting dialogue among Members.

The President elaborated that cooperation among Asian countries should be built on contradictions, as many countries are rich in energy, when many are energy-hungry.

“Also, many Asian countries are major exporters of food, when others are totally dependent on food import.

“Many Asian countries have made impressive progress in modern technology. It would be beneficial to share the technology among Asian countries,” he said.

Thai Premier Yingluck Shinawatra said the ACD Summit was an opportunity to maintain growth and contribute to sustainable growth for the world.

Addressing the First ACD Summit, Shinawatra said the Asian countries should ensure greater distribution of wealth to help address important issues of poverty.

“To achieve this, we must continue to trade and invest with each other as well as with the developed economies. In particular, the recovery of the Eurozone is in our interests. So we need to sustain our economic links with them to ensure

growth and create jobs for all,” added Shinawatra, whose country is the ACD Coordinator.

She said the ACD summit was crucially important because it would trigger member countries to show commitment to enhanced cooperation to promote trade and investment within Asia and rest of the world.

Shinawatra said the Asian countries should work together to have better network of transport and infrastructure, supported by similar regulations on cross-border transport, all will promote better flows for trade and investment.

“Pan-Asian connectivity can create a ‘New Silk Route’ for Asia that can bring greater prosperity to all of us. To realize this, we will also need to explore how we can together mobilize the funds to finance infrastructure development,” she added. She encouraged the Asian ministers and officials to come up with what the prime miniser called a “blueprint for ACD Regional Connectivity.”

Food security is another cooperation domain, she noted through exchanging ideas on technologies and practices that improve post-harvest management and logistics in order to reduce food waste.

Shinawatra also called on Asian countries to explore energy cooperation. “Affordable and stable energy supply affects all stages of food production ..., “ she added.

Meanwhile, she said that a ministerial meeting would be held in 2013 to discuss recommendations regarding the establishment of an ACD Secretariat.

Shinawatra said Thailand was ready to host the ACD Summit in 2015.

On the other hand, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Ahmad Saleem underlined importance of economic and and trade cooperation between the Asian countries.

Addressing the ACD Summit, Saleem said one of SAARC’s priorities was cooperation with regional organizations to ultimatley improve living conditions of the Asian people.

Population of SAARC countries represent one-fifth of the world, he noted, and realized social, economic, education and energy achievements since the organization was established 27 years ago. SAARC, added Saleem, encouraged cooperation between the Asian people through mutual respect and common interest particularly in energy security and proper investment of natural resources. —- KUNA

LOCAL

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

KUWAIT: (Left) Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (centre) is enjoying a Thai folklore dance program during a forum called ‘Strengthening Kuwait-Thailand Business Partnerships’ which was held in Missoni Hotel on Monday evening. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

Kuwait-Thailand ties on a spiral of growth Forum explores bilateral opportunities KUWAIT: Thailand’s bilateral trade relations with Kuwait have improved with a 185 percent growth in trade and other domains over the last five years, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said during a reception held at Missoni Hotel yesterday evening.

“This forum will reinforce bilateral cooperation between Thailand and Kuwait,” Yingluck said during the event titled “Strengthening Kuwait-Thailand Business Partnerships.”

The representatives from the private sector, the Thai Bankers Association, the Federation of Thai Industries, the Board of Trade in Thailand, as well as representatives from the food and agriculture sector, car parts, energy, construction and tourism attended the event. The forum, which is part of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) two-day summit that started yesterday, brought together Kuwaiti and Thai business leaders from various fields.

Shinawatra said that Thailand is an attractive destination as its economy continues to grow despite the global economic crisis. She credited it to strong financial institutions that stimulated domestic consumption as the main factor for growth.

“Among Thai government’s economic policy is a plan to invest $70 billion in vital projects like infrastructure and railways, as well as developing our international airport so that Thailand can become Asia’s economic center,” she pointed out.

Yingluck stressed that potential areas of Thai interest in Kuwait include the agro-food industry, energy, jewelry, construction, tourism - with emphasis on medical tourism, as well as finance, banking and the capital fund sector.

Detailing statistics to underline tourist interest in Kuwait, Yingluck said during the first half of 2012, approximately 40,000 Kuwaiti tourists visited Thailand, an increase of 20 percent over the same period in 2011. The visits were either family-oriented, for honeymooning or for medical tourism, she observed.

The evening concluded with sampling of Thai food and entertainment in the form of traditional folk dances.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

local

KUWAIT: India’s Minister of State for External Affairs and Human Resource Development E Ahamed writes on the diary on arrival for the Indian Embassy reception at the India House on Monday. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer (right), Ambassador Satish C Mehta (second right), Minister E Ahamed (center) and President of KCCI Ali Thunayan Al-Ghanim (second left) during the reception.

Former Kuwait’s ambassador to India Issa Abdulrahman Al-Issa with the minister and the Ambassador.

Focus of global economy shifting to Asia: Ahamed Indian minister lauds Amir for summit initiative

By Sajeev K Peter KUWAIT: This century is rightly called the ‘Asian Century’ as the center of gravity of the global economy is inexorably shifting to Asia, said India’s Minister of State for External Affairs and Human Resource Development E Ahamed here on Monday. Addressing a gathering of prominent Kuwaiti nationals and Indian community members during a reception at the Indian Embassy hosted by the ambassador in honor of the visiting minister, Ahamed said that a more closer cooperation between Asian countries would not only contribute significantly to the economic and social wellbeing of the continent, but also provide stability to the global economy which is under considerable stress now. The minister arrived in Kuwait to represent India at the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Summit (ACD) being currently held in Kuwait.

He praised His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah for his vision and taking the initiative in hosting the ACD Summit.

“Under the HH the Amir’s leadership, we look forward to a successful and fruitful summit that would pave the way for expanded and multi-dimensional cooperation amongst Asian countries,” he stated.

During his address, the minister spoke about the centuries-old relations between India and Kuwait and said that the two countries share very close political, economic, trade and cultural rela-

Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan (left) and AlAnbaa Editor-in-Chief Yousuf Al-Marzouk (second right) with the minister and ambassador. tions and people-to-people contact.

“For many Indians, Kuwait is a home away from home while many Kuwaitis retain and cherish their links to India even today,” he said. The minister said there have been regular exchanges between the two countries. Both countries also have a history of high-level visits like that of HH the Amir’s visit to India in June 2006. Subsequently, India’s Vice-president visited Kuwait in April 2009 and External Affairs Minister in 2010 and 2011, he recalled. “Kuwait’s progress since its independence has

Eid holiday extended?

KUWAIT: The Cabinet has put on hold an official decision about the Eid Al-Adha holidays till next week as the issue needed further consideration, a local newspaper reported yesterday.

Earlier reports had suggested that public sector employees will be enjoying a five-day holiday, beginning Thursday Oct 25, before resuming work on Tuesday Oct 30. However, Al-Rai reported yesterday, quoting a source from the Civil

Service Commission which had made the 5-day holiday recommendation, that the Cabinet has asked to keep the decision on hold until it is officially announced during its weekly meeting on Monday.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, further indicated that the Cabinet is likely to extend the holiday for an entire week, which could keep public sector staff away from offices until Sunday, Nov 4.

been spectacular. Today, it is a modern and developed state with an enviable social security system. It is a vibrant and open society with democratic traditions,” he stated.

The minister also appreciated the faith and trust the Kuwait authorities and people reposed in Indian community which is the largest expatriate community in the country. He said that the more than 640,000-strong Indian community in Kuwait, which has a reputation for being capable, industrious and law-abiding, plays a pivotal role in

Minister E Ahamed addresses the gathering. promoting bilateral relations.

Indian schools The minister called upon the Kuwaiti veterans present at the meeting to help the community in establishing more Indian private schools in Kuwait.

“Today, I had a meeting with the principals of all the 19 Indian schools in Kuwait. There are around 46,000 students studying in these schools.

Considering the strength of the community, the number of schools is quite inadequate to accommodate the students,” the minister pointed out.

Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta

welcomed the visiting minister and guests. Kuwait’s Ambassador to India Sami Al-Sulaiman, former Kuwait’s ambassador to India Issa Abdulrahman Al-Issa, President of KCCI Ali Thunayan Al-Ghanim, Al-Sayer Group CEO (Automotive) Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer, Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd AlRahman Al-Alyan and Al-Anbaa Editorin-Chief Yousuf Al-Marzouk were among the dignitaries who attended the reception. Top embassy officials, a number of media delegates from India, businessmen and representatives of the Indian community in Kuwait were also present during the reception.

Al-Khadhr to compete at Manchester United’s World Skills Program KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, yesterday announced that Khaled Faisal Al-Khadhr, the leading attendee of the Manchester United Soccer School and highly acknowledged by the MU trainers, will be competing on Oct 19, 20, 21 in the highly anticipated Manchester United World Skills finals. The young star was chosen among 40 players to elevate his extraordinary football talent for a chance to win an unforgettable experience. Al-Khadhr’s trip is part of the five-season sponsorship agreement VIVA has with this world leading football club.

Al-Khadhr was chosen to attend the Manchester United World Skills finals to compete on level terms with a chance to win a once in a lifetime prize which includes: tour of the Trafford Training Centre in Carrington, participate in the World Skills finals, play on the famous Old Trafford pitch, attend a Premier League game and lastly, the opportunity to watch Manchester United Academy games. This opportunity will not only excel Al-Khadhr’s football skills but it will also aid him in pursing a professional soccer career after being exposed by one of the world’s top soccer clubs.

Eng. Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Badran, VIVA’s

Chief Executive Officer at VIVA said: “We are very proud of Kuwait’s future young star Khaled Faisal Al-Khadhr. He certainly reflected dedication and commitment to this program by elevating his skills and accomplishing his dreams. At VIVA, we are committed to building the skills and motivating Kuwaiti youth to pursue their dream career.

Additionally, the program helped to develop young players’ skills in different fields, such as tactical understanding, and mental, physical and social growth.”

“Our five-season sponsorship agreement with the leading Manchester United Soccer School allowed us to discover incredible talents and unleashed potential within our youth, and helping them further excel is one of the guaranteed methods to contribute to our beloved Kuwait.

We will continue to support Kuwaiti youth through various activities in efforts to reflect their amazing capabilities to the entire world and elevate Kuwait’s name.“ It is worth noting that in 2011 VIVA announced a five-year sponsorship agreement of Manchester United, starting with the 2011- 2012 Premier League season. In August 2011 VIVA started to provide football fans with the chance to win VIP tickets to watch Manchester United play at Old Trafford in

England. To support its sponsorship, VIVA has also developed a number of exciting promotional offers and distinguished gifts, entertaining programs, interactive competitions, and organized a number of activities to provide the subscribers with chances to watch the club stars playing matches at Old Trafford.

VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider in Kuwait.

Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things Possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences. The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach. VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling.

VIVA continues to take a considerable share of the market by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and world-class service. VIVA offers Internet speed up to 42.2Mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.

KUWAIT: Zain CEO Nabeel bin Salamah holding talks with Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Dr Adel Abdullah Al-Falah.

Zain sponsors Hajj campaign KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, announced they will be the main sponsor for the media coverage of Kuwait’s pilgrimage campaign during Hajj season this year.

The announcement came after a meeting between Zain CEO Nabeel bin Salamah and Dr Adel Abdullah Al-Falah Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. Zain stated in a press release that this initiative demonstrates Zain’s readiness and willingness to be close to the visitors to the Holy City of Makkah and to share with them the spiritual feelings when they perform Hajj pilgrimage. The press release stated, “We are delighted to give back to the community in any way that we can. Providing more connectivity options to pilgrims shows our dedication to fulfilling this vision.”

Furthermore, Zain announced that this initiative shows the great importance of the Hajj season every year and the ability of all pilgrims to stay in touch while performing Hajj pilgrimage to the Holy City of Makkah, allowing them to be close with their families and loved ones.

Zain announced they will offer a series of vital services on the occasion of Hajj pilgrimage this year providing 20,000 lines from Zain Saudi.

The company also announced they will provide additional materials and information during the orientation meetings with pilgrims.

In a press release Zain said, “We strongly believe in sharing many memorable moments with our clients.It also comes from our willingness to be an active member in society.”

Gulf Bank employees receiving flu shot during International Clinic’s visit to the Bank.

Free flu shots for Gulf Bank employees KUWAIT: Gulf Bank recently teamed up with the International Clinic to offer all employees the opportunity to have a free flu shot.

Gulf Bank relies on its employees to consistently deliver quality customer service and in the spirit of promoting good health and well-being, makes flu

shots available to all employees every year. This initiative is just one of the many ways the Bank continuing to enhance the work environment for its employees.

The Bank will continue to highlight its commitment towards all sectors of the Kuwaiti society,

reaffirming its position as a leading Kuwaiti financial institution that is socially dedicated to its staff and community, through its participation in activities and events that will lead to a healthy internal environment, ensuring the wellbeing not only of its staff but also its clients.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

local

Boubyan ITQAN Academy organizes training courses for bank staff KUWAIT: As part of the cooperation and strategic relationship between Boubyan Bank and Gulf University for Science & Technology (GUST ), Boubyan ITQAN Academy organized a set of training courses under the supervision of the Academy’s team in cooperation with a number of the teaching staff of GUST in a step by the Bank to develop its human resources.

In a press release, the bank said that a set of specialized training courses were implemented by a number of the teaching staff of GUST with academic and practical experience as well as the specialized trainers of the academy who are internationally accredited in training and development.

The bank added that these courses comprised many areas including accounting, finance, banking sciences, management and leadership, customer

service and sales techniques and targeted a number of the Bank’s managers and staff joining the Academy’s specialized programs. The bank emphasized the noticeable care given by the executive management to all staff as part of the set strategy that focuses on human resources by enhancing their experience and developing them in a way that serves to realize the bank’s plans and objectives to be one the leading Islamic banks on the local and regional levels within the coming years.

Boubyan ITQAN Academy forms a new, distinguished addition as it shifts training and development concepts from the traditional style to a more advanced one as represented in granting the renowned academic certificates like bachelor’s and MBA degrees in cooperation with the most prestigious American and international universities.

The establishment of the Academy and launch of its activities comes after extensive study based on the basic training needs for staff and in manifestation of the care to develop and enhance their expertise in an academic manner that is reflected on their academic qualifications so that training and development achieve more positive results.

Noteworthy is that Boubyan Bank has signed in early June 2012 an agreement for the establishment of ITQAN Academy in cooperation with GUST to act as a centre for developing the Bank’s human resources in an academic manner by providing latest specialized programs, administrative sciences, and programs accredited by international institutions, in correspondence with work environment in Boubyan Bank and in compliance with the Islamic Shari’ah.

KUWAIT: The Ambassador of Brazil Roberto Abdalla and the First Secretary Caio Noronha visited Kuwait Times and discussed matters of mutual concern with Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan.

Interior, opposition trade blame over Iradah rally Rights organizations urged to help

By A. Saleh

KUWAIT: One of the training courses in progress.

Diwaniyas disappointed at emerging situation in Kuwait

A

lmighty Allah said “And there were in the city nine family heads causing corruption in the land and not amending (its affairs).” (An-Naml48) Muslim scholars, Sunna and the majority are unanimous that it is not allowed to disobey the rulers or fight against them as it may result in great corruption, and also that advising the Muslim ruler is something that should be done in secret. Kuwaiti people have been accustomed to this and have inherited such values generation after generation.

We are disappointed at the emerging situation, particularly the shameful behavior of some people who committed acts that have nothing to do with the Muslim religion or our Kuwaiti heritage. Such behavior violates the principles of citizenry, as well as

the meaning of democracy and freedom that are guaranteed in the constitution and which our political leadership is keen to affirm.

Such a behavior compromises the country’s security and threatens the cohesive nature of our society, besides spreading chaos without regard to any note of caution and legal bans. These people are adopting a wrong behavior and are wrongly interpreting the government’s patience and the silence of the Kuwaiti people. They are doing so without fear of Allah or their own conscience.

The heinous insults being hurled at the office of the Amir in general and the person of HH the Amir in particular, are setting a new precedent. This makes it necessary to question those who did so and under what law. There is Article 54 of the constitution. All of

it raises many questions and doubts as to why all this is happening now, and who is benefiting from it?

We confirm our full support to HH the Amir in all that he sees fit to be done and any decisions he takes to safeguard the country’s security, stability and democracy.

We condemn and reject all the bad talk, actions or behavior of those who deviated from the right path, and confirm that Kuwait will surmount all these problems and not get reduced to a sect or a tribe or personal goals of an individual or a group.

We ask Almighty Allah to keep Kuwait as an oasis of security and stability, and keep it free of strife, and keep evil away from it.

(For gathering of some Kuwaiti Diwaniyas-Adel Fahad Al-Tukhaim)

Govt employees arrested in residencies’ forgery case KUWAIT: The Jahra detectives are investigating with the role of two employees working at the Government Mall’s service center as part of their probe into a case concerning registration of laborers’ residency permits, ostensibly sponsored in the name of a Kuwaiti woman who did not even know about it.

The woman’s son had filed a case, after which police arrested an Asian worker who admitted to paying KD450 to an Indian man for his help in obtaining a residency, but claimed he did not know the procedure. As part of its investigations, police summoned two female employees who had reportedly carried out the transactions for the forged residencies. The staff members denied charges of forgery or knowing the Indian suspect, and insisted that they did their job in finalizing the transactions in accordance with the law. They remain in custody pending investigations.

CONDOLENCES

RATNAKAR SAWLERAM OHOL 05/05/1938 - 15/10/2012 With profound grief OTIS Kuwait announces the sad demise of our ex-employee, Ratnakar Sawleram Ohol, who passed away on October, 15 2012 after a prolonged illness.

May His Soul Rest In Peace CHAIRMAN, MANAGEMENT & STAFF

OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY - KUWAIT

Forgery case Investigations are on to trace a woman, who had covered her face with a veil when she bought six brand new cell phones using a photocopy of another person’s identification papers. The Jahra police were approached by a Kuwaiti woman requesting to file a forgery case after a company asked her to pay installments for six iPhone devices registered in her name.

The detectives used surveillance tapes to zero-in on the veiled woman seen using a photocopy of the complainant’s ID to make the KD2000 purchase. They are now trying to identify and arrest the suspect.

Work mishap A construction worker died in a work accident reported recently in Saad Al-Abdullah. The 23-year-old Egyptian man was crushed under a wall that had fallen, and succumbed to his injuries even before paramedics could reach the scene. The body was taken to the forensic department while investigations were on to determine the circumstances behind the accident.

Driver wanted for theft A woman learnt the hard way about not trusting people blindly when her driver emptied her bank account after she asked him to withdraw some cash for shopping. The woman had handed her credit car to her Indian driver, and also gave him the pin code, asking him to withdraw KD50 from the nearest bank branch. Instead, the driver withdrew the entire amount in the account, KD1200, using the ATM and then disappeared, leaving the family car at the parking lot. The woman got suspicious after receiving a text message about the large cash withdrawal, and then headed directly to the bank where she found the family car parked outside. She took out a withdrawal transaction report, and approached the Al-Waha police station to report the case. An arrest warrant was issued against the man whose name was also put on the travel ban list to preempt any escape bid.

Theft gang in custody Police arrested a gang of three people responsible for 30 theft cases reported within the Hawally governorate following investigations carried out by Mubarak Al-Kabeer detectives. The three Asian suspects, including two teenagers, were caught from Sabah Al-Salem where they lived. They confessed that they committed all the thefts outside the Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate as part of a strategy to mislead the investigators. They were referred to the appropriate authorities to face charges that include stealing items from cars and apartments they broke into.

Escape gone wrong A domestic worker was hospitalized with a broken spine and right leg after she fell from a high-rise building in a failed escape attempt. The Filipina victim was rushed to the Adan Hospital by paramedics who had rushed to a Mangaf building where the incident was reported. Preliminary investigations indicated that the woman fell while attempting to escape her Arab employer’s apartment through a window.

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior has set in motion a process to prosecute those who addressed the opposition’s rally at the Iradah Square last Monday. The speakers at the rally will be facing state security charges that include infringement of HH the Amir’s authority and instigating violence against police. The ministry had issued warrants to summon former MPs who participated in two gatherings held recently at the dewaniyas of former MPs Mohammad Al-Khalifa and Salem Al-Namlan as part of the probe that the authority of His Highness the Amir was infringed.

On the other hand, members from the oppositionist Majority Bloc have reportedly contacted international organizations to complain about “police’s violence against demonstrators that left many people injured as a result of inhuman violence.” They also called upon these organizations to take “strict positions towards the government of Kuwait in order to prevent what happened from taking place again,” sources with knowledge of the issue said.

A brief clash erupted Monday night

when police attempted to prevent a march by thousands of demonstrators following a fiery speech by oppositionist Musallam Al-Barrak against an alleged plot by the government to change the electoral law before the upcoming elections.

“Kuwait Human Rights Society members witnessed special task forces’ beat up young men,” Al-Barrak said following the events, and vowed to “go to international human rights organizations.” The hard-line oppositionist was reportedly heard vowing that he will force First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud AlSabah out of their offices following Monday’s developments.

The latest escalations were prompted by the opposition’s belief that the Cabinet seeks to change the electoral law and come up with a system that favors pro-government candidates in order to prevent the oppositionists from taking control of majority of the seats in the parliament.

Article 71 of the Kuwaiti Constitution gives HH the Amir the authority to release emergency decrees while the parliament is inactive, addressing sub-

jects considered of high importance.

Such laws are viewed by the elected parliament during its first session, and MPs have the authority to overrule them. Pro-government MPs, who felt marginalized in the parliament annulled last June four months after elections by a court order that reinstated the 2009 parliament, are pushing for an amended electoral law in which the number of votes per voter is reduced. In their opinion, a system in which a voter is entitled to one or two votes reflects the citizens’ orientations more accurately.

The electoral law divides Kuwait into five constituencies and entitles each citizen to a maximum of four votes. It was upheld last month by the Constitutional Court which rejected the Cabinet’s challenge to its constitutionality on the basis that it breached equality with regards to demographic distribution within constituencies. While the government never expressed publicly any intention to amend the law before the elections expected next December, the opposition continues to drum up public support to stop what it believes is a plan to reduce the number of votes per voter to two, or just one.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

LOCAL

kuwait digest

kuwait digest

Too far away from our Constitution

The Brotherhood, Gulf countries

By Dr Sulaiman Al-Khadhari

By Dr Shamlan Al-Essa

I

T

he West wants quick political reforms to avoid trouble in these countries. UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan presented on idea that Arab Gulf countries must cooperate to keep the Muslim Brotherhood Group from conspiring to marginalize the governments in the region. The question is, is it possible to fulfill the UAE’s wish? What is the nature of the cooperation expected? How can the spread of Muslim Brotherhood be avoided in the region? The Arab Spring revolution gave Muslim Brotherhood power and status to demand change in more than one Arab country including Jordan, Morocco and Kuwait. What is the problem in responding to Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed’s call?

We are certain that Arab Gulf countries will not hesitate in supporting the UAE in case of any foreign conspiracy, irrespective of the nature of the threat, thanks to the joint security principle. Yet, the question remains as to how to extend cooperation in case of an internal threat?

Security and intelligence cooperation is already there, but no one knows the source of the threat from Muslim Brotherhood. This global organization has an experience in carrying out secret political action that goes back 80 years. With all its strength, even the Egyptian intelligence over a period of 50 years could neither keep the Muslim Brotherhood from reaching the ruling authority in Egypt nor could it contain their attempts to expand to several Arab countries.

The Gulf countries did not hesitate in supporting Bahrain when it became vulnerable to serious attempts by the Bahraini opposition to hinder security and stability in this peaceful small island. However, the Gulf countries had interfered because there were foreign powers, Iran in particular, that had supported and backed Bahraini opposition.

The Gulf countries’ problem with the Muslim Brotherhood has a history that goes back many years.

The Gulf countries cradled the Muslim Brotherhood and its members when Gamal Abdul Nasser chased them after the attempt on his life in 1954. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, in particular, hosted the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Muslim Brotherhood Organization became active since 1948. The Brotherhood cooperated with the Kuwaiti Government to hit the nationalist factions, and they today control most of the country’s ministries despite the fact that they are against the government.

Instead, the government still supports them through their various Islamic organizations, centrist committees and others.

Saudi Arabia has a declared stand against the Brotherhood and will not hesitate in supporting the UAE in its attempt to fight them. But what about Kuwait? The Brotherhood Organization (Islamic Constitutional Movement) is still the strongest partisan organization, both organizationally and financially, as well as in the matter of number of members, influence and strength.

The Kuwaiti government entered a battle against the opposition including the Muslim Brotherhood, but this struggle will not result in diminishing the strength of the Muslim Brotherhood. The leaders of this organization are very keen on receiving Kuwaiti government’s support despite their declared opposition, as they said they will boycott the upcoming elections and their intention to take to the street.

Kuwaiti government finds it difficult to fight the Brotherhood within the country.

So how is it possible to help the UAE? What about the rest of the Gulf? Bahrain and Oman will side with the UAE because the Brotherhood organization there is weak, but Qatar, which supported the Arab Spring revolutions in Libya, Syria and Egypt, will remain silent because its relation with the Muslim Brotherhood is very strong at the official level though there is no strong Brotherhood Organization in Qatar. Arab Spring revolutions made the Gulf countries feel that the next danger will be internal, and will come from extremist Muslim organizations. The Muslim Brotherhood, despite its moderation, will not hesitate in seeking to rule. Gulf countries must carry out political reforms because the West, headed by the USA, wants these countries to carry out the required reforms to avoid trouble in their countries. —Al-Watan

kuwait digest

Not an absolutely fair case

By Dr Mohammad Al-Moqatei

M

any people are indulging in a bit of an exag- the victim, while actually being the victim of their geration in describing the stateless residents’ own practice.

The worst part is when parliament members problem as an absolutely fair case when it comes to bedoons’ right to citizenship. A lot of histori- defend their illegitimate demands merely to benefit cal and geographical facts are being ignored apart from this issue as it could help them in securing the from Kuwait’s regional and financial status that led to votes of those Kuwaitis who happen to be relatives of bedoons. By doing so, the lawmakers violate the oath this problem in the first place.

Among the stateless community in Kuwait, few as per which they were sworn to protect the general hundreds can be, or are, truly eligible for naturaliza- interest of the people and their rights.

Yes, human rights need to be protected, but it only tion. Using the term “Kuwaiti bedoons” to describe the applies to those stateless resientire stateless population is dents who abstain from manipuinaccurate, because while many The worst part is when lating the truth and do not make bedoon can claim to be stateillegitimate demands. Yes, the less, the reality is somewhat difparliament members bedoons’ problem is very much ferent.

There are bedoon residents defend their illegitimate there and requires radical solubut these can be achieved who deliberately concealed demands merely to bene- tions, only by shunning an emotional their original citizenship status approach and avoiding any kind and claim to be stateless. Yet, fit from this issue as it some of them do have the right could help them in secur- of pressure.

It is a fact that the problem to citizenship due to other qualihas lingered on and has been fications such as having taken ing the votes of those to snowball for long, but part in wars in defense of Kuwaitis who happen to allowed decision makers who failed to Kuwait, or being spouses of Kuwaiti women who have chilbe relatives of bedoons. resolve it when they had the ability to do so share the responsibildren who lived and studied in ity for contributing to damaging Kuwait, and people who were born and raised in Kuwait and have second degree the security, reputation and interests of the state.

The repeated calls for demonstrations by bedouins, relatives who are Kuwaitis. There are hardly a thoudemanding what is not rightfully theirs, is nothing but sand bedoons who fit this category.

On the other hand, the majority of stateless resi- a form of illegal riot. From that standpoint, the govdents fail to produce their original citizenships, and ernment is doing the right thing when it bans such claim without any right that they are eligible for activities. It is no different from banning a demonstraKuwaiti nationality. To support their claim, they take tion carried out by expatriates, for example, to seek part in illegal demonstrations in which they try to play Kuwaiti citizenship.— Al-Qabas

D

uring a recent business trip to an Arab state, I was having a little rest at my hotel room after a long day of work when a hotel worker came to clean the room. After she had finished, I took out some money from my wallet and offered it to her as a tip. She strongly refused to accept it. The more I insisted, the more she remained steadfast in her decision. She left wishing that I get well quickly, and offered me some suggestion to help overcome fatigue. I felt quite poor in front of this woman who I perceived now as being very rich, though she may be financially poor.

Our society today suffers spiritual poverty despite having wealth. We suffer poverty of wisdom while having an abundance of prudent speech. We suffer boredom despite having a wealth of sources of entertainment. We suffer cultural poverty despite so many books and means of learning at our disposal.

We suffer religious poverty though we practice all our religious duties.

There is an old Arab saying which goes something like this: “True richness is that of the spirit.” When the spirit is poor, the rich can steal, the esteemed man lies, the religious person cheats, and the wealthy person who has everything lives miserably. Moreover, spiritual poverty creates people who pay so much attention to what they wear, how they look, what kind of car they drive and the designer stuff they have in their houses, but they neglect their souls, minds and intelligence. This is true poverty, not lack of money. — Al-Rai

Administrative Weakness

By Waleed Abdullah Al Ghanim

kuwait digest

By Mohammad Al-Sabti

kuwait digest

kuwait digest

True media protects itself Rich hotel employee

n order to better understand the opposition’s approach and claims of defending the Kuwaiti Constitution, let us first take a look at these constitutional articles: Article 7: Justice, Liberty, and Equality are the pillars of society; co-operation and mutual help are the firmest bonds between citizens.

Article 29: All people are equal in human dignity and in public rights and duties before the law, without distinction to race, origin, language or religion.

Article 30: Personal liberty is guaranteed.

Article 35: Freedom of belief is absolute. The State protects the freedom of practicing religion in accordance with established customs, provided that it does not conflict with public policy or morals.

Article 36: Freedom of opinion and of scientific research is guaranteed. Every person has the right to express and propagate his opinion verbally, in writing, or otherwise, in accordance with the conditions and procedures specified by law.

Article 49: Observance of public order and respect for public morals are a duty incumbent upon all inhabitants of Kuwait.

Article 50: The system of Government is based on the principle of separation of powers functioning in co-operation with each other in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. None of these powers may relinquish all or part of its competence specified in this Constitution.

Article 54: The Amir is the Head of the State. His person is immune and inviolable.

Article 108: A member of the Assembly represents the whole nation. He safeguards the public interest and is not subject to any authority in the discharge of his duties in the Assembly or in its committees.

Article 157: Peace is the aim of the State, and the safeguard of the integrity of the Country, which is part of the integrity of the Greater Arab World, is a trust devolving upon every citizen.

Article 162: The honor of the Judiciary and the integrity and impartiality of judges are the bases of rule and a guarantee of rights and liberties.

Article 163: In administering justice, judges are not subject to any authority. No interference whatsoever is allowed with the conduct of justice. Law guarantees the independence of the Judiciary and states the guarantees and provisions relating to judges and the conditions of their irremovability.

After viewing these carefully selected articles, I wonder if the approach adopted today by the opposition including chaotic actions that threaten national security, is in line with these articles.

Instead, we have an opposition that does not believe in citizens’ equality, freedom and dignity, and has leaders who continue to attack and question the loyalty of some parts of the society. Many oppositionists brag about their social belongings and blood ties with their voters, while some of them use a rather extreme form of speech towards public freedom which, according to them, is limited to criticizing the government or different social categories. Top oppositionists are seen mediating in favor of people close to them, pushing their case for being hired for key posts, or to get them released from jail.

In short, we have an opposition for which opposing the government is the only thing that keeps it together. In essence, they do not seek true political reform, and I would not rule out the probability that top on their agenda is taking over the country’s wealth. — Al-Rai

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

R

emoving the microphones of certain TV stations the news as they wanted to.

But at the root of it all lie the main problem of during a recent opposition rally is a rather immature step that reflects an authoritarian and social underdevelopment and lack of civil and politiexclusionary approach. It also says something about cal awareness that our society suffers from. There is a all those who applauded such a move that limited the certain kind of awareness that drives workers in freedom of expression and put restrictions on journal- advanced societies to unite in defense of a coworker who is subjected to mistreatment. ism.

Most workers in such sociIt is hardly surprising to see eties believe that any attack such actions happening in a society used to having its freedom of At the root of it all lie against a worker is like an attack against them collectively and expression restricted. A large the main problem of requires immediate solidarity number of people agree about limiting the freedom of expres- social underdevelopment action to thwart it. That is why media outlets remain strong sion. Many have expressed their and lack of civil and and are respected by everyone rage about alleged theft or wastage of public funds, but none political awareness that in advanced societies.

In Kuwait, the media houses of these people do anything to our society suffers from. and news channels covering stop such violation of the freeactivities require prodom of expression, or to remove There is a certain kind of political tection from the Ministry of the restrictions that prevent our awareness that drives Information, which, in any case, people from expressing their true is expected to provide such profeelings. workers in advanced tection in the first place.

However, I cannot blame the societies to unite in Mistreatment of media housopposition alone because the cules and journalists must not be ture of oppressing thought and defense of a coworker something that happens casualopinion is deep-rooted in our who is subjected to mis- ly or routinely in a society. society. The activists who Those working in the field of snatched and threw away the treatment. media need special protection, microphones of channels that especially given the unfortuhad a stance different from that of the opposition, also took recourse to the same nate recurrence of attacks against them.

The labor law is supposed to contain a clause that undemocratic approach that is prevalent among a large majority in our society. I blame the Ministry of provides special protection to journalists and people Information and the TV channels themselves for fail- active in covering events, especially those where vioing to take legal action to protect their right to cover lence happens. — Al-Qabas

F

oreign sources have revealed that the international forum dealing with the Dow Chemical (DOW ) arbitration case has thrown out Kuwait’s challenge to an earlier decision and has ruled that the country will have to pay $2.1 billion to DOW awarded earlier as also the accumulated interests and fees. Thus, Kuwait will now end up paying more than $2.5 billion to Dow Chemical.

Kuwait has gone through hard times, witnessed internal seditions, political corruption, and many wars on the sidelines. In fact, the state witnessed an overall downward slide through this phase of Kuwaiti history.

It is strange that despite all that, Kuwait continued to stick to the four slogans of reforms, transparency, protection of public property and national unity, all of which prevailed.

It was because Kuwait was in the hands of those who were politically savvy and wise, and who believed that Kuwait has been historically ahead of its neighbors.

The country that surmounted such tough challenges and then surpassed its record in building, construction and human development is unfortunately passing through an unprecedented phase of administrative weakness marked by a hesitation in taking decisions. Negotiations about execution of works go a step forward and then a step backward when faced with pressures. With rampant discrimination among citizens, ignorance about law and even its wrong implementation all around, one needs to ask whatever happened to the famed civilized face of the state? There is not even a pretense of a respectable society.

Where is the sovereign decision making power?

Everyone is busy fighting their personal little battles. The decisions in government and in the councils are at the expense of what the country could have achieved. It seems that we are harvesting the results of the government’s failure to take good care of the state. Instead, it is fighting with the National Assembly on every issue, big or small, right or wrong. — Al-Qabas

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

From books to bullets: Syria students on front lines Page 8

Former Bosnian Serb leader denies war crimes charges Page 10

IDLIB: Photo shows rubble of a damaged house from the shelling of forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar Assad, in Maarat Al-Numan town. —AP

Iraqi Shiite militants fight for Assad Syria crisis a difficult balance for Iraq BAGHDAD: Scores of Iraqi Shiite militants are fighting in Syria, often alongside President Bashar Al-Assad’s troops, and pledging loyalty to Iran’s supreme Shiite religious leader, according to militia fighters and politicians in Iraq. Iraqi Shiite militia involvement in Syria’s conflict exposes how rapidly the crisis has spiraled into a proxy war between Assad’s main ally Shiite Iran and the Sunni Arab Gulf states supporting mostly Sunni rebels fighting the president. The conflict has already drawn in a stream of Sunni Islamist fighters from across the region attracted to the rebel cause, while on the other side Syrian rebels accuse Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah of supporting Assad’s troops on the ground.

For Iraqi Shiites who follow Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the uprising in Syria threatens Shiite influence and Iraqis fighting there say they see a duty to help Assad because of their loyalty to the Islamic Republic’s highest authority. Among

them are defectors and former fighters from antiU.S Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army, the Iran-backed Badr group and Asaib Al-Haq and Kata’ib Hezbollah, militias who once waged a bloody war on American troops, Shiite militants and Iraqi politicians say.

Shiite politicians say militants fighting in Syria have no official sanction from their militia leadership or from Iraq’s Shiite-led government which is caught in a delicate balancing act between its ally Tehran, and Western and Arab powers calling for Assad to go. Some of the Iraqi militants are former Mehdi Army fighters who took refugee in Syria after 2007 when their group was crushed

by Iraqi forces. Others, loyal to Khamenei as a religious authority, crossed over recently, fighters and Iraqi politicians say.

“We formed the Abu al-Fadhal Al-Abbas brigade which includes 500 Iraqi, Syrian and some other nationalities,” an Iraqi defector from

Europeans hoping to fight in Syria raise new fears PARIS: European governments have been among the most vocal supporters of Syria’s rebels - to a point: Last week, Muslims in Britain and France accused of trying to join the fight against the regime were detained. For security officials, the fear is that extremists with European passports who are alienated and newly trained to wage war will ultimately take skills learned in Syria and use them back home. In France, where an Islamic extremist trained in Pakistan attacked a Jewish school and a group of soldiers earlier this year, the fear is particularly acute.

French officials have jailed eight people, including one over the weekend, describing the group as a network of French-born radical Islamists bent on targeting Jewish groups at home and fighting holy war abroad. They said the cell attacked a kosher grocery with a grenade and had a structure in place to send Muslims to fight in Syria alongside the rebels.

“The enemies within will require vigilance and great determination,” France’s top security official, Interior Minister Manuel Valls, said Friday. “We know that there could be some who were not apprehended, who perhaps went abroad to fight.”

Security officials worldwide have watched the aftermath of the Arab Spring with caution, particularly concerned that citizens who join the fight could return home more radicalized and with a new ability to carry out guerilla warfare.

European officials have a particular concern: It’s a short flight from the Mideast and the borders within the European Union are open for anyone with an EU passport or national ID, making undetected travel a simple matter. “We have been keeping a close eye on who is going to Syria, but unlike Libya, there are multiple ways into the country and it’s not as easy to track,” said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the media.

“Still, we’re particularly concerned that people returning will come back with new skills that could present a threat to our security.” It’s a sensitive and complex issue, say European intelligence officials. There’s evidence that foreigners are joining the fight against Syrian President Bashar Assad, but their numbers - especially those from Europe - are believed to be small. But what is a minor issue in Syria could become a big issue in Europe, where many Muslims, even the native born, feel increasingly marginalized.—AP

the Mehdi Army who goes by the name of Abu Hajar told Reuters by satellite telephone from Syria. “When the fighting erupted in our areas, we carried out some joint military operations side by side with the Syrian army to clean up areas seized by rebels,” said Abu Hajar, who like others was a refugee in Syria before the conflict.

The brigade is named after Abu Al-Fadhl AlAbbas, a brother of Imam Hussain Bin Ali, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. Al-Abbas was killed with his brother more than 1,300 years ago, and since then has become a symbol of sacrifice for Shiite Islam.

Another Mehdi Army defector, Abu Mujahid, who recently returned from Syria to visit his family in the Iraqi city of Najaf said his group’s mission in Syria was restricted to securing the famed Sayyida Zeinab Shiite shrine and its nearby Shiite neighborhoods. But sometimes, he said, they carry out pre-emptive raids on Free Syrian Army

rebel fighters, whenever they get information rebels will attack the shrine, offices of Shiite religious leaders, known as Marjaiya, and Shiite neighborhoods. “Our mission is securing the shrine, the Shiite areas and the Marjaiya offices,” Abu Mujahid said. “We have no clear battlefield, but, from time to time, we carry out raids with the army on the sites of the Free Syrian Army.”

Syrian rebels consider the Shiite militants a pro-Assad militia. Some have been captured and killed in combat, militants and local families in Iraq said. In Baghdad’s Ameen Shiite neighborhood, a large recently erected billboard shows the photograph of a bearded Mehdi Army militant who the poster proclaims became a “matyr” in February. Neighborhood families say he was killed in fighting in Syria.

A video posted on YouTube last month by Syrian rebels showed a young man named as Ahmed Al-Maksosi whose face appeared to be

swollen with signs of beating and torture as he confessed that he was a Mehdi Army fighter. Iraqi Shiite militants said Maksosi was one of their comrades fighting with them in one of the Sayyida Zeinab neighborhoods. They said he was kidnapped and tortured by the FSA before he was killed. Abu Mujahid, Abu Hajar and Iraqi Shiite politicians with knowledge of the militias said those who went to Syria were individual volunteers traveling with their own passports through regular routes.

They said there were contacts responsible for receiving and organizing volunteers, arming them and directing them to tasks, but all were facing the problem of funding, much of which they said came from some Iraqi merchants in Syria. The Badr organization, Asaib Al-Haq and Mehdi Army leaders told Reuters they had not sent fighters to Syria because they believe the upheaval was an internal affair. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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

From books to bullets: Syria students on front lines ALEPPO: Syrian students who faced beatings and worse for opposing President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime have traded textbooks for guns, taking to the front lines in Aleppo with almost no military training. Ahmed Al-Shawaf was studying Turkish literature at Latakia University until he was kicked off the campus over a demonstration against Assad. “They saw us before we went to the demonstration,” says 21year-old Shawaf.

“The air force intelligence took us.”

He has no military training except that which he received from the rebels, but now totes a Kalashnikov assault rifle on the front line in the northern city of Aleppo, large areas of which are scarred by daily bombing and shelling amid piles of uncollected refuse. “I

oppose Assad, I oppose the Assad regime and I oppose him staying in Syria,” says Shawaf, sitting with his rifle in front of a mosque damaged by the fighting in Aleppo’s Saif Al-Dawla neighborhood. His goals, he adds, are the fall of the regime, and going back to his studies. Abu Abdu Sahari, 20, studying electrical engineering at Aleppo University, at first only engaged in non-violent protests against Assad’s regime. But after he was arrested and detained for a month he joined the armed rebellion. “I did not leave the university, I remain a student, but now I have left (my) studies... to join the revolution,” he insists, as shells fired by Assad’s forces slam into the front line in the Al-Amriyah neighborhood.

Abu Abdu Sahari says he joined the

rebels because “we began to take many beatings and (regime) armor entered Salaheddin (neighborhood), and my friend was killed and I was wounded.”

He had no military experience before the revolution, but also received training from the rebels. He hopes to return to his studies some time in the future, but for now he is a fighter in Aleppo, a key battleground between the rebels and Assad’s forces. Omar Shibli, 21, another fighter in Al-Amriyah, was also in the electrical engineering department of Aleppo University.

‘I was a hizbi,’ a party supporter-But his studies were secondary to his involvement in the uprising that began with protests in March of last year and turned into a civil war when security forces carried out brutal crackdowns

on demonstrators and the opposition took up arms. Shibli says he was once an Assad supporter but turned against the regime because of the injustices he experienced. “At first, I was a supporter, really. I was a hizbi (Baath party supporter), you know, ‘Forever, forever Bashar Al-Assad’,” he says.

But then he saw “the injustice that happened to us at the university especially, and the injustice that happened to Syria in the revolution,” and joined the rebels. He also had no military experience before the revolution, receiving training only after joining the rebellion. Now he is in a “special group” that operates on various fronts, and has been involved in heavy fighting. “I took part in the battle of the airport, the battle of Jandul roundabout, the battle of

Al-Miyasar, the battle of Sakhur, the battle of Arqub,” he says, referring to fierce skirmishes which have shaken Aleppo and its surroundings.

While some Syrian students opposed to Assad have taken up arms, others still put their faith in non-violent demonstrations. Mohammed al-Hassan, 19, studying chemistry, says he protested at Aleppo University, where he faced heavy-handed responses by the security forces in which some of his friends were killed. “Really, the regime will not fall except by protests, it will not be toppled by weapons. It will fall by protests and by the power of the voice and the power of the people,” Hassan says, during a demonstration in Aleppo’s Fardoss neighborhood. “God willing, the regime will fall soon.” — AFP

I take responsibility for Benghazi 9/11: Clinton Clinton steps in ahead of US presidential debate

MISRATA: File photo shows the body of ousted Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi as it lies on a mattress in the cold storage room of a vegetable market on the outskirts of Misrata. — AFP

Libyans long for security year after Gaddafi death TRIPOLI: Libya took a major step towards democracy this year by holding its first free elections but success has been marred by rising extremism, failure to disband militias and delays in forming state institutions. And facing tribal conflicts, threats from former regime backers and high social demands, the new authorities seem not sure where to turn next, one year after deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed in his home town.

“Libya passed the first test of democracy by electing a national assembly after more than 42 years of totalitarianism,” said Libyan analyst Nasser Al-Daessy, referring to the General National Congress elected in July. “But the political situation is still shaky in Libya and we must urgently reach a political consensus to rebuild the institutions of the state.” Overwhelmed by sporadic outbreaks of clashes and militant attacks, which last month claimed the life of a US ambassador, the interim authorities have been hard pressed to rebuild the country after it was ravaged by eight months of conflict.

And they are not lacking in means. The oil sector wasted no time in getting back on its feet with production almost reaching pre-conflict levels of 1.6 million bpd.

The North African nation boasted a 2012 budget of $56 billion, the highest in its history. But Gaddafi has left behind a grim legacy: a country without institutions as

well as a weak army and police force, which have been eclipsed by militias that looted weapons depots during the war.

Gaddafi’s diehard supporters remain a threat, with Tripoli periodically accusing remnants of the former regime of trying to spread chaos and derail the democratic process. A security source said that “precautions” were being taken to prevent any attack by pro-Gaddafi elements hoping to mark the one-year anniversary of his death, which falls on Saturday. No ceremonies are planned that day in Libya, which will celebrate instead the first anniversary since the declaration of “liberation” that was announced on October 23, 2011 — three days after Kadhafi was killed in Sirte. Former rebels, who were once hailed as heroes and in some cases joined nascent law enforcement organs in the aftermath of the 2011 conflict, are now facing a backlash from a population angry over the unchecked power of armed groups.

Citizens want to see security in the hands of a professional army and police. Spurred by massive anti-militia protests in Benghazi last month, in which some hardline Islamist groups were forcibly evicted from their bases by angry residents, Tripoli has cracked down on armed groups holed up in strategic facilities. Mohammed Megaryef, president of the assembly, stressed the need for greater security in an address on Monday to military officers. — AFP

Israel sets vote date; Parliament dissolved JERUSALEM: Israel’s Parliament yesterday set a January 22 date for a national election and opinion polls predict an easy win for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in balloting expected to focus on his tough policies on Iran’s nuclear program and economics.

Lawmakers approved the measure by a vote of 100 to nil after a more than eight-hour debate, dissolving parliament, or ending its term of office, effective immediately and months ahead of schedule.

Israeli elections had been expected in October 2013, but it is common for governments to break up before their terms expire over disagreements about budgets, policy on religion or the nation’s conflicts with Arab and other neighbors.

Opinion polls have indicated an easy election victory for the right-wing Likud party’s leader Netanyahu, who is likely to head a coalition that includes nationalist and religious parties.

In a combative speech to parliament ahead of three requisite votes held to disband the body, Netanyahu urged lawmakers to back the Jan. 22 date approved by his cabinet after he said difficulties agreeing a 2013 budget with coalition partners had meant such a vote was necessary. Kicking off his reelection campaign, Netanyahu focused in his speech on tough measures he had taken to improve security for Israelis, such as building a fence along the border with Egypt’s Sinai, and deploying a missile shield against rockets fired from

Gaza. Alluding to past threats to attack Iran to stop it from building a nuclear bomb, something Tehran denies, Netanyahu said Israel now had new unspecified “capabilities to act against Iran and its satellites (allied militants in Gaza and Lebanon), capabilities we didn’t have in the past”. He did not elaborate but said he had “put the danger of Iran’s nuclear program at the centre of the global agenda”. “Whoever makes light of the threat of Iran’s nuclear program doesn’t deserve to govern Israel for even a single day,” he added, taking aim at rivals who accuse him of using the Iran issue as a scare tactic to remain popular.

Netanyahu also said he had managed to avoid going to war during his two terms in office - three years in the late 1990s and his current term since March 2009. “We didn’t wage any unnecessary wars, or any wars at all,” he said, saying fewer Israelis had been killed in conflicts with the nation’s Arab neighbors. The comment was widely seen as a swipe at Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister who is seen as Netanyahu’s potentially toughest rival if he decides to make a comeback after a recent acquittal on corruption charges.

Olmert and his centrist Kadima deputies presided over two wars during the two years they were in office, including a month-long campaign against Lebanon’s Hezbollah in 2006 and a threeweek offensive against Gaza Hamas militants in 2008-2009. — Reuters

LIMA: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton assumed responsibility on Monday for last month’s deadly attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, which has become an issue in the hard-fought US presidential campaign. “I take responsibility” for what happened on September 11, Clinton said in an interview with CNN during a visit to Peru, adding that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden would not be responsible for specific security instructions for US diplomatic facilities.

“I’m in charge of the State Department’s 60,000-plus people all over the world,” Clinton said. “The president and the vice president wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision.” Clinton’s comments followed stepped-up criticism of the Obama administration over the Benghazi attack, which Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney has sought to use to dent Obama’s foreign policy credibility before the Nov. 6 election.

Republicans in particular have focused on the Obama administration’s shifting explanations for the attack, which Clinton said in two separate television interviews on Monday were the result of “the fog of war.” “Remember, this was an attack that went on for hours,” Clinton told Fox News. “There had to be a lot of sorting out. ... Everyone said, here’s what we know, subject to change.” The administration initially attributed the violence to protests over an anti-Islam film and said it was not premeditated. Obama and other officials have since said the incident was a terrorist attack.

POLITICAL GOTCHA The Benghazi assault, and the Obama administration’s response, has become a contentious election issue and Clinton’s comments came a day before the second presidential debate. “What I want to avoid is some

kind of political ‘gotcha’ or blame game going on,” Clinton told CNN. “I know that we’re very close to an election.

I want to just take a step back here and say from my own experience, we are at our best as Americans when we pull together. I’ve done that with Democratic presidents and Republican presidents.” Romney has accused the administration of not providing adequate security to American diplomats and misrepresenting the nature of the attack, which resulted in the death of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Romney’s criticisms have sought to undercut the foreign policy record of Obama, who has been praised for the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the withdrawal of troops from unpopular wars in Iraq and

Afghanistan. Those attacks sharpened after last week’s vice presidential debate, when Vice President Joe Biden said “we did not know” of requests by US diplomats on the ground in Libya for more security - a statement that contradicted testimony given two days earlier by State Department officials at a congressional hearing.

Clinton told the networks that Obama and Biden had not been involved in security decisions related to the consulate. “The decisions about security are made by security professionals. But we’re going to review everything to be sure we’re doing what needs to be done in an increasingly risky environment,” Clinton said. Congress has increased pressure on the State Department to release information about the attack. Obama and Clinton have both vowed a full investigation. — Reuters

LIMA: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks after a meeting with Peru’s President Ollanta Humala in Lima, Peru. — AP

Long-delayed 9/11 case begins at Guantanamo GUANTANAMO BAY: Long-delayed efforts to try self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four Al-Qaeda codefendants finally got under way Monday with a pre-trial hearing at Guantanamo. Eleven years after the attacks and nine-and-a-half years after his capture in Pakistan, KSM sat on a court bench wearing a white turban, his beard dyed with henna, as victims’ family members looked on from behind a glass screen.

KSM is accused of orchestrating the hijacked airliner plot that left 2,976 people dead, while his alleged Al-Qaeda accomplices are charged with providing funding and other support for those who crashed the planes. All five defendants face the death penalty if convicted, but their trial by military tribunal at the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba is not expected to start for at least another year. “I don’t think there’s any justice in this court,” the 47-yearold Sheikh Mohammed said in Arabic when asked by Judge James Pohl if he understood his rights.

During the five-day pre-trial hearing, the defense is seeking to prevent President Barack Obama’s administration from arguing that the treatment and alleged torture of the defendants during interrogations in secret CIA prisons before being sent to Guantanamo in 2006 is classified for national security.

Media organizations and rights groups are demanding that the judge guarantee the transparency of proceedings amid fears that some sessions will be conducted in secret. “The public has the right to see the proceedings,” said James Connell, representing KSM’s Pakistani nephew, Ali Abd Al-Aziz Ali, who is believed to have helped with logistics and funding for the

September 11, 2001 attacks.

The American Civil Liberties Union and media groups petitioning the court are also protesting a 40-second audio delay for journalists and others following the proceedings from behind the soundproof glass. They say the delay, which allows a military censor to blur statements whose content is deemed a threat to national security, violates speech and press freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Initially set for June, the pre-trial hearing has been delayed on several occasions for reasons including Ramadan, scheduling conflicts, a train derailment that sparked an Internet outage at the base and a tropical storm.

Pohl turned down a request for a further delay due to rat excrement and mold being discovered in the offices of defense lawyers. Wearing a hijab out of respect for her Yemeni

client Walid bin Attash, defense attorney Cheryl Bormann brought up the issue again Monday, saying the condition of the workspace “makes the staff sick.” Pohl did rule that effective yesterday, the defendants can leave the courtroom during the hearings or opt not to attend at all. Michael Schwartz, the military defense attorney for Bin Attash, tried to argue that a discussion of torture was necessary to decide that issue, saying hauling them into court would subject them to emotional strain.

But Pohl shut down his line of reasoning as “irrelevant.” When Pohl tried to make the defendants understand the proceedings would go on without them, even if somehow they managed to escape from the US detention facility, Aziz Ali retorted: “I’ll make sure to leave some notes.” KSM, a Kuwaiti-born Pakistani who attended university in the United States, was regarded

GUANTANAMO BAY: This courtroom sketch shows 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as he holds up a piece of paper during a court recess at his Military Commissions hearing at the US Navy base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. — AFP

as one of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s most trusted and intelligent lieutenants. In addition to felling the Twin Towers, the trained engineer claims to have personally beheaded US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 with his “blessed right hand” and to have helped in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people.

Bin Attash is accused of masterminding the attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, which killed 17 US soldiers. The other codefendants are Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni who rented a flat in Germany with chief 9/11 attacker Mohammed Atta, and Mustapha Al-Hawsawi, a Saudi associate of Bin Laden who is accused of arranging funding for the plot. Hawsawi’s attorney said his client would not attend the proceedings. On Monday, the defendants whispered amongst themselves. At times, KSM read a newspaper, stroking his dyed beard. Hawsawi briefly invoked Allah before giving the name of his new civilian attorney.

The long legal bid to get justice for the 9/11 victims began back in February 2008 when the five men were charged by a military commission set up by former president George W Bush’s administration. The trial got under way in June 2008 but was scrapped by Obama’s administration in 2009 in favor of civilian proceedings in New York in the shadow of where the World Trade Center once stood. Opposition from Republicans and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg forced a U-turn in April 2011 as Attorney General Eric Holder announced the five would be tried in Guantanamo by a reformed military tribunal. They were arraigned on revised charges during a 13-hour hearing in May in which the defendants prayed and refused to speak. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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

Daughter of Mexican drug lord held in US SAN DIEGO: The daughter of one of the world’s most sought-after drug lords has been charged with trying to enter the United States on someone else’s passport, US officials said, becoming the latest family member to become ensnared in US courts.

Alejandrina Gisselle Guzman Salazar, 31, was arrested Friday at San Diego’s San Ysidro port of entry. Two US officials said Monday that she told authorities her father was Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the elusive leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the arrest publicly.

The significance of the arrest will depend on what Guzman Salazar can tell authorities about her father, like

whether she can provide phone numbers, said David Shirk, director of the University of San Diego’s Trans-Border Institute. “We don’t know exactly what she knows,” said Shirk. “It may just be an interesting factoid in the war on drugs or it could be a vital clue for law enforcement.” Shirk noted that Benjamin Arellano Felix , who led what was then Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel, was captured in Mexico in 2002 after authorities tracked his daughter to find him.

Guzman Salazar was charged with fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents. The complaint said she attempted to enter the country on foot, presenting a non-immigrant visa contained in a Mexican passport. She told authorities she was pregnant and

intended to go to Los Angeles to give birth to her child. The Los Angeles Times reported last year that Guzman’s wife - former beauty queen Emma Coronel - traveled to Southern California and gave birth to twin girls at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, north of Los Angeles. The newspaper said Coronel, then 22, holds US citizenship, which entitles her to travel freely to the US and to use its hospitals.

“You kind of surmise that there’s some family connection back to Southern California,” Eric Olson, associate director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute said of the daughter’s arrest. The Sinaloa cartel, named after the Pacific coast state of the same name, controls trafficking along much of the US border with Mexico, particu-

larly in Western states. Authorities in the US and Mexico have said they believe Guzman has children with several partners, though it’s not clear how many. The US Treasury Department has put sanctions on sons Ivan Archivaldo “El Chapito” Guzman Salazar, 31, and Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 22.

Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 26, was indicted with his father on multiple drug trafficking charges in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in August 2009. Last month, the US Treasury Department said it was placing financial sanctions on Guzman’s wife, Griselda Lopez Perez.

The department said at the time that she “plays a key role” in the Sinaloa cartel. Lopez Perez was the second wife of Guzman designated under the US

Kingpin Act, which bars US citizens from making business transactions with that person and allows authorities to freeze their assets in the United States.

In June, the department imposed sanctions on Maria Alejandrina Hernandez Salazar, who it also described as a wife of Guzman. The arrest and investigation of Guzman Salazar was handled by US Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the nation’s largest border crossing in San Diego. A bail hearing was scheduled Oct 25. Guzman Salazar has hired Jan Ronis, whose roster of clients with links to organized crime has included Arellano Felix. Ronis said he was just learning about the case and declined to comment on the charges. — AP

Could the Obama ‘ground game’ clinch the election?

Lackluster debate performance adds urgency

OHIO: First Lady Michelle Obama speaks as she campaigns for her husband, President Barack Obama, at a rally at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. —

Romney raised $170 million in September, trails Obama WASHINGTON: Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney and his allies raised $170.5 million in September, the campaign said on Monday, falling just short of the 2012 fundraising record set last month by Democratic rival President Barack Obama. Republicans began October with $191.2 million in cash on hand - money ready to be spent on advertising, get-out-the-vote efforts, staff, offices, rallies and other campaigning in the weeks before the Nov 6 election.

Much of the haul, however, was not likely to directly benefit Romney’s election bid.

Obama and the Democratic National Committee already have reported raising $181 million in September, the best mark so far in the most expensive presidential election campaign in US history. They did not disclose how much they had left in cash on hand.

September was the second consecutive month in which the Democrats outraised Romney’s team after three months of the Republicans leading the way in fundraising.

It was also one of the toughest months for Romney: his position weakened in the polls first as a result of the new focus shift-

ing to the Democratic Party Convention and then to a secretly filmed video that showed him calling 47 percent of Americans who receive government funds “victims.” Romney regained footing earlier this month when he delivered a strong performance against Obama in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3.

Campaign officials said the debate kicked up donations and helped the Republican candidate gain on the incumbent in the polls just weeks ahead of Election Day. “With less than one month left, we will continue the hard work of raising the resources to ensure that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan can win in November and bring real change to the American people,” said Spencer Zwick, Romney’s finance chairman. Obama has since regained a slim lead in the tight race.

The Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll on Monday showed him at 47 percent compared with Romney’s 45 percent. “This race is tied,” Obama said in an email to supporters asking for last-minute donations on Monday. “What we do over the next 22 days will determine not just the next four years, but what this country looks like for decades to come.” — Reuters

CLEVELAND: From the outside, it looked like an abandoned storefront in a run-down part of Cleveland. But inside, dozens of supporters of President Barack Obama gathered on a recent Sunday for an event that was part political rally, part religious revival. “Gotta vote” signs hung from the ceiling and smoke from an outside grill wafted through the room. Hot dogs, buns, chips and sugar cookies were laid out on a table for the volunteers, most of whom were African-American.

“God is not going to allow this man to fail, because of people like you,” radio host Yolanda Adams told the volunteers who had gathered to make calls and knock on doors, encouraging neighbors to register and then vote for Obama.

“You’re making the world a better place by saying, ‘Hey, have you registered?’ “Adams said to shouts of, “That’s right!” and, earlier in her remarks, “Amen!” If Obama holds off his Republican rival Mitt Romney in the crucial state of Ohio and goes on to win a tight race, it could be thanks to roughly 120 such field offices across the state - and hundreds more nationwide.

They are home to an Obama “ground game” operation that is sophisticated in identifying potential supporters yet basic in relying on personal contact from neighbors to register potential voters and help get them to the polls.

Democrats say the breadth of Obama’s organization is unprecedented in national politics - a claim that draws skepticism from Republicans, who have built a large get-out-the-vote operation of their own. One thing is clear, however: Obama’s organization - which his campaign says involves hundreds of thousands of people nationwide - reflects the power of incumbency.

Some of Obama’s local offices never closed after the historic 2008 election that made him the nation’s first black president. As a result, Obama is viewed even by some Republicans as having an advantage in on-the-ground organization, the trench-warfare part of a national campaign. That is especially crucial now, with early voting under way and the campaigns blanketing key states such as Ohio, Florida and

In debates, listening is as important as talking NEW YORK: Pay attention. Stay focused. Be respectful. Be polite.

Don’t act bored. Or angry. Or distracted. Or sarcastic. These might sound like simple principles, but it seems that candidates sometimes forget that during debates, they’re being watched not just when they’re speaking, but when they’re listening. And that’s never been truer than this election season. Joe Biden’s skeptical chuckles, President Barack Obama’s copious note-taking, even Paul Ryan’s thirsty gulps of water have become fodder for endless chatter, with a cultural shelf life possibly far longer than what these candidates were actually saying. It’s all been magnified by those constant split screens on TV. If it seems like they were used more than usual during the first two debates, it’s because the candidates were so expressive - for better or worse - when they weren’t speaking, says Marc Burstein, senior executive producer of political and live events coverage at ABC News. “It was part of the story,” Burstein says.

“I shouldn’t be in my job if I wasn’t giving my viewers the opportunity to see that.” With the next debate upon us, here are a few tips from the experts on what to do when you’re not the one talking.

Candidates! Are you listening?

THIS ISN’T A WRITTEN EXAM Everyone jots down a note here and there. But it was duly noted that Obama looked like he was drafting a full speech during his first debate with Mitt Romney. Perhaps he felt it was a way to put the time to use. In any case, it hurt him. “It can be perceived as being rude, inattentive, not really listening to what the other person is saying and being preoc-

cupied with your own thoughts,” says Lillian Glass, a body-language coach in Los Angeles. Of course, it’s fine to jot down an occasional note, she says. “But when they consistently write while the other is speaking, it is disconcerting.”

IT ISN’T A COMEDY SHOW Many viewers of the vice presidential debate enjoyed the Biden laughs, chuckles, smiles, grins especially Democrats. But it’s a tough balance. Biden may have gotten away with it because of his stature, age and experience, says Jonathan Paul, director of debate at Georgetown University. “Imagine if it wasn’t the vice president but Paul Ryan who had been making those faces,” says Paul. “I don’t think the reaction would have been the same.” Glass, an author on body language, says that as a general rule, candidates “should never mug or make faces or have a condescending smile or laugh inappropriately.

People are judging them by what they see, just as they’re judging them by what they hear.”

PAY ATTENTION This sounds like a no-brainer, but there are nonverbal cues that can be interpreted as distracted, bored or impatient, which can seem perilously close to disrespectful.

Remember George H W Bush’s unfortunate glance at his watch in 1992? Remember Al Gore’s sighs and eye-rolls in 2000? Did either of them win those elections? “I tell my students all the time - the most important thing is to pay attention,” says Paul, the Georgetown debate coach. “You have to appear as if you are listening and on top at every moment.”

AND BE POLITE Paul says he’s had students who were excellent debaters but who would gasp or roll their eyes when hearing opponents’ arguments.

“People think nobody is paying attention to that - but they are,” he says. There is a way to demonstrate you are listening carefully, says Jerry Shuster, who teaches political communication at the University of Pittsburgh. “Have direct eye contact, body leaning toward the speaker, head raised - maybe nod the head,” he says.

WAIT, NOT THAT POLITE About that head-nodding: Be careful not to do too much of it, or you’ll be seen as agreeing with your opponent’s positions. That’s a trap Obama seemed to fall into in the first debate, nodding in assent too many times for his supporters’ liking. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a professor of political communication at the University of Pennsylvania, has a concise formula for such head-nodding. “Candidates should avoid nodding in agreement to anything but statements praising our soldiers, complimenting their spouses and thanking the host school,” she says.

HOW DO YOU INTERRUPT? When and how to interrupt can be a minefield. You don’t want to miss opportunities to rebut, but you can’t be overly aggressive, either. “If you want to interrupt or even disrupt the speaker, do so with authority but not a tone which denigrates the speaker,” says Shuster. “Use a hand gesture while verbally signaling with a stock statement, like, ‘I believe I need to stop you right there to respond or to react.’ Above all, stay professional.” — AP

Virginia with television ads. Obama needs such edge at a time when the economy, although showing signs of life, continues to struggle. His lackluster performance in his first debate with Romney on Oct 3, which gave the Republican a lift in the polls, has increased the urgency for results from the operation built by Obama campaign manager Jim Messina.

REPUBLICANS BUILD OWN MODEL Messina told the Democratic National Convention five weeks ago that the campaign and its supporters had made 43 million calls and registered more than 1 million voters, more than Democrats registered in 2008.

Republican officials, alarmed by Obama’s operation, have made a point of building the party’s most extensive ground organization to date.

Since Romney clinched the Republican nomination in the spring, nearly 108,000 volunteers nationwide have made close to 40 million “voter contacts” and knocked on about 7.5 million doors, a party official said.

“Our ground game is better than their ground game,” said Rick Wiley, political director for the Republican National Committee, who questioned why Romney folks were not crossing paths with Obama’s volunteer army. “When you knock on 4 million doors in battleground states, you would think that our ... volunteers would run into the Obama folks,” Wiley said.

“But we’re just not seeing them.” Wiley’s comment could be political gamesmanship, but the

voter-targeting tactics used by each side could help explain why many Obama and Romney volunteers do not cross paths.

The campaigns often focus on areas that are solidly Democratic or Republican to try to make sure reliable party supporters go to the polls. At a phone bank in the Toledo area a day after the Cleveland canvassing event, Obama volunteers worked through long lists of people in surrounding neighborhoods. Signs on the walls encouraged them not to leave messages, not to read scripts mechanically and not to stay on the phone too long. Volunteer numbers are rising, and a bell rings in the office when a call recipient agrees to become an Obama volunteer. Not all of the calls end well for the campaign, though. “You’re undecided, huh?” Maggie Whitman, 80, said to one person on her call list.

She encouraged the voter to tune in to the first presidential debate - the one in which a subdued Obama did not fare so well. Republicans say their ground game has improved after Romney’s debate performance, with new volunteers showing up at campaign offices and more people seeking yard signs and bumper stickers to support the former Massachusetts governor.

No Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio, which has 18 of the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch victory in the state-by-state race for the White House. The RealClearPolitics average of recent polls has Obama leading in Ohio by less than 2 percentage points. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: This combination of file pictures shows US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (left) and US President Barack Obama. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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

Canadians flock to Rome for canonization of Mohawk MONTREAL: A Mohawk woman will on Sunday become the first Native American to be canonized a Catholic saint, in a ceremony in the Vatican 300 years after her death, and 1,500 fellow Canadians will be there. Kateri Tekakwitha, known as “Lily of the Mohawks,” was born in 1656 in what is now Auriesville in the US state of New York, but died while serving the church in Kahnawake in what is now Canada’s Quebec province.

For centuries she has been a symbol of hope for Native Americans, despite the grim details of her short and painful life. Converted by Jesuits, the young woman who was left scarred and partially blind from smallpox devoted her life to God to an extent that stunned even European missionaries. She died aged 24, after years of self-flagellation and deteriorating health, but according to tradition among some believers her scars disappeared, leaving her skin smooth and her face beautiful.

Tekakwitha was declared “venerable” by the church in 1943 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980. Her qualifying miracle for sainthood, according to the Vatican, was curing a boy of a flesh-eating disease. For many Native Americans, especially among the Mohawk and

other Iroquois tribes straddling the US-Canadian border, Kateri’s sainthood was already overdue decades ago. The Vatican needed a certified miracle from the tribeswoman, so followers submitted reports of dozens: everything from healing the sick to levitating a man off the ground and appearing herself, hovering in deerskin clothes.

None of these passed muster. But then in 2006 doctors in Seattle confirmed an astonishing event.

Against all medical expectations, an 11-yearold Native American boy fatally ill with a flesheating bacteria made a full recovery. His parents had been praying for Kateri’s grace. After five years’ deliberation, this report convinced the Vatican, and Pope Benedict XVI cleared Kateri for canonization.

A dozen Canadian bishops including Richard Smith, archbishop of Edmonton, Alberta, and head of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Lionel Gendron, bishop of SaintJean-Longueuil diocese in Quebec where Tekakwitha’s tomb and a shrine are located, will be on hand for her canonization by Pope Benedict XVI, said church spokesman Rene Laprise.

At her final resting place a massive screen will

be erected so locals can watch the ceremony broadcast back from Saint Peter’s Basilica. In Canada, many Native Americans see Tekakwitha’s canonization as a step toward healing old divisions between North America’s original inhabitants and European settlers. It may also take some of the sting out of anger over the Catholic Church’s role in attempts to assimilate natives at residential schools. A group of former residential school students will be among the delegation attending her canonization.

But south of the border in the United States, Native Americans are split. Alicia Cook from upstate New York told Syracuse’s The PostStandard newspaper: “The church has been telling us for years we’re heathens. The white man has hurt us enough.”

But former altar boy Doug George-Kanentiio said: “I had a lot of anger at the church at the things they had done to the native people and the world and the moral compromises they made. “It took me a while to begin to adopt a different approach to this, not one based on history, but compassion for a young woman who was determined she was going to emulate the suffering of Jesus Christ. That passion is remarkable.” — AFP

MONTREAL: Photo shows the front of the St Francis Xavier Mission, holding a shrine dedicated to Kateri Tekakwitha, in Kahnawake. — AFP

Former Bosnian Serb leader denies war crimes charges Karadzic accuses Muslims of faking atrocities

BATUMI: A man and a woman take a stroll with their child along the embankment in Georgia’s Black Sea resort city of Batumi. — AP

In Georgia, where guest is like god, tourism flourishes BATUMI: Georgia’s Black Sea resort of Batumi was once a bleak site: Roads were dotted with potholes, the city was pitch dark at night, running water was scarce and the city’s best hotel was infested with rats.

Today Batumi glitters with neon lights and luxury high-rise hotels dot its skyline; soon the city will even boast a fountain flowing with Georgian drinks.

The transformation of the ancient city of 180,000 near the border with Turkey is a vivid example of Georgia’s drive to capitalize on its tourism potential, boosting the economy of an ex-Soviet nation where roughly one person in five lives in poverty.

The government has attracted top foreign investors, such as US real estate magnate Donald Trump, to build hotels and develop and renovate tourist sites. And it has aggressively marketed Georgia as a tourism hot spot.

The project capitalizes not only on Georgia’s geographical riches - the Black Sea, the soaring Caucasus mountains and its ancient cities - but also on the very essence of the Georgian culture: hospitality itself. Here, refusing to come into one’s home and sitting down at a food-laden table can result in deep personal insult, while declining to toast with traditional Georgian wine can prompt reprimands like, “Don’t you respect me?” “Unfortunately, Georgia is not a country that has a lot of natural resources, there is no oil, no gas and so what helps the country grow economically is intellect and tourism,” Batumi mayor Robert Chkhaidze said in an interview. “For us, a guest is something precious. For a Georgian, each guest is like God.” Since coming to power in the peaceful 2003 Rose Revolution, the pro-Western President Mikhail Saakashvili has turned the tourism industry into a key sector of the Georgian economy, now comprising 7.1 percent of the Georgian GDP, compared to 3.4 percent in 2004. In 2001, Georgia’s Black Sea towns, the ski resorts of Gudauri and Bakuriani, the winemaking region of Kakheti and other tourist attractions have drawn 2.8 million or nearly 8 times more

than in 2004 and tourism revenues have jumped from $176 million to $938 million, according to tourism officials.

It remains to be seen whether Saakashvili’s rival, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who appears poised to become the next prime minister, will continue developing the tourism sector or focus on something else. But the effects of the tourism campaign are plain to see in the transformation of this resort, dubbed the “Batumi Miracle.” Today, the center of Batumi could easily be mistaken for a western European seaside town with neat cobblestone streets, graced by vine grapes descending onto the pavement, bustling cafes and noisy fountains.

The city skyline is dotted by internationally renowned hotels like the Sheraton and the Hilton; scores of others including a 47story Trump Tower are being built. At night, Batumi is bright with lights and even the pineapple-shaped palm trees, which line the embankment, are illuminated. Batumi now boasts its own piazza, dominated by a soaring clock-tower, which is modeled after central city squares in Italian cities. Work is also under way to erect a fountain flowing with chacha, Georgian grape drinks, available for free, though in small amounts.

There are scores of fashion boutiques and even a plastic surgery clinic.

The new hotels have created several thousand jobs for the graduates of a recently opened tourism college, a heartening change in a country where the unemployment rate is 16 percent. Restaurants and cafes have sprung up like mushrooms, offering the traditional Georgian dish called of Khachapuri, crusty boat-shaped bread in which an egg yolk floats in melted cheese and butter. And while some skeptics say that the official tourism figures may be inflated, there is no doubt that tourism is booming, with beaches and restaurants busy with visitors. Most tourists come from other ex-Soviet nations like Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan, but English, French and other languages are also heard on the streets. — AP

Spain raids Chinese mobsters, arrests 60 MADRID: Spanish police arrested 60 people in raids on Chinese mobsters and accomplices, including a Spanish porn star, suspected of laundering money from prostitution and extortion, authorities said yesterday. Hundreds of officers were carrying out raids in Madrid and Barcelona with warrants to arrest 108 people and search 120 properties on money-laundering and tax-dodging charges, an official in the National Court told reporters.

“The national police are carrying out a major operation against money-laundering and other crimes linked to criminal networks of Chinese origin in various provinces of Spain,” the government said in a separate statement.

“About 60 people have already been detained and the arrests and searches are continuing,” involving some 300

police officers, the interior ministry statement said yesterday morning, promising more details later.

The National Court, which ran a twoyear investigation leading to yesterday’s raids, said the gang channeled money from rackets involving prostitution and extortion to tax havens with the help of Spanish and Israeli intermediaries. The network also smuggled cash to China by train and car and used front companies such as karaoke bars and restaurants, the court official said. The authorities did not say how much money was involved.

Among those arrested was Nacho Vidal, an international porn star credited in titles such as “Sexcapades” and “ The Sexual Messiah 2”. He ran a company that was suspected of taking part in the money-laundering, said the court official, who asked not to be named. — AFP

THE HAGUE: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, on trial over his alleged role in some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War Two, said he should be praised for promoting peace in the Balkans rather than charged with war crimes. Karadzic is one of a trio of Serb leaders brought to trial in The Hague for war crimes during the violent break-up of multi-ethnic Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1999, in which well over 100,000 people were killed and millions were displaced.

Now 67 and still instantly recognizable by his shock of white hair, he began his own defense yesterday against charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and will cross-examine witnesses himself.

Looking resigned but relaxed and reading from a pre-written speech, he said Muslims had faked the circumstances of two shellings of a marketplace in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo during a siege by Serb forces. More than 100 people were killed.

“Sarajevo is my city, and any story that we would shell Sarajevo without any reason is untrue,” he said, reiterating long-standing allegations by the Serb side which have already been refuted by the Hague tribunal in an earlier case. Prosecutors at the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia say Karadzic was jointly responsible for the shelling of Sarajevo when Bosnian Serb forces besieged it from 1992-6. He is also charged with being behind the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995.

“Instead of being accused, I should have been rewarded for all the good things I have done. I did everything in human power to avoid the war. I succeeded in reducing the suffering of all civilians,” he told the court at the start of his defense. “I proclaimed numerous unilateral ceasefires and military containment.

And I stopped our army many times when they were close to victory.” Leaning forward in his chair, he emphasized points with jabs of his right hand and paused occasionally to adjust his rimless glasses. He said the first marketplace shelling, in February 1994, in which 68 people were killed and 144 were injured, had been orchestrated, as was a second a few days later. During the trial of Bosnian Serb General

Stanislav Galic, the tribunal established that Bosnian Serb forces were responsible for shelling the market place.

HARD TO HIDE For years, it seemed the main war crimes suspects in former Yugoslavia would stay out of the tribunal’s reach, until political changes in the countries of southeastern Europe made it ever more difficult for them to hide.

Karadzic was eventually arrested in 2008 in Belgrade, where he had been living in disguise as a new age health guru. The trained psychiatrist worked for a private clinic, posing as a specialist in alternative medicine under the assumed name of Dragan Dabic.

Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic eventually went on trial in The Hague this year, after 16 years on the run until his capture in a cousin’s farmhouse in Serbia in May 2011.

But former Yugoslav and Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic died in 2006 before the end of his trial. As Karadzic opened his defense yesterday, the tribunal also began the separate trial of its last suspect, the final chapter for an institution that has broken new ground in the investigation of conflicts and paved the way for a permanent global war crimes court.

Goran Hadzic, the last of 161 suspects still

alive and at large after the wars that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia, was arrested last year and is accused of murder, torture and forcible deportation at the very outset of those wars. Prosecutors say Hadzic, president of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina from 1992-94, was responsible for killings and forced deportations of minority ethnic Croats from the region after the Croatian government in Zagreb broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991. Already sentenced in his absence to a total of 40 years in prison by Croatian courts in the mid-1990s, Hadzic w as finally detained by Serbian authorities in 2011.

Separately yesterday, Bosnia’s war crimes court opened a trial of former Bosnian Serb soldiers Ostoja Stanisic and Marko Milosevic, charged with genocide for taking part in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Stanisic was the commander of the sixth battalion with the Zvornik Brigade of the Bosnian Serb army and Milosevic was his deputy. The two are suspected of committing crimes in the area near the Petkovci dam in eastern Bosnia, where around 1,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, previously captured at Srebrenica, were executed in July 1995. The Petkovci dam was among several sites where Muslim men from Srebrenica were slaughtered. — Reuters

THE HAGUE: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (center) talks to Marko Sladojevic (left) a member of his legal team while Peter Robinson (right) his legal advisor prepares in the courtroom on the first day of his defense against war crime charges. — AFP

Gunmen attack Ivory Coast power station ABIDJAN: Gunmen attacked a power station and security facilities in and around Ivory Coast’s commercial capital Abidjan in coordinated overnight raids that ended early on Monday, the defense minister said. The attacks, the first targeting high-profile infrastructure, came a week after a United Nations report claimed that supporters of former President Laurent Gbagbo had established a base of operations in neighboring Ghana. The government of President Alassane Ouattara last month closed the eastern border with Ghana for more than two weeks, claiming raids had been launched from Ghanaian soil.

Defence Minister Paul Koffi Koffi said a group of armed men disarmed guards protecting the Azito thermal power station in Abidjan’s Yopougon neighborhood late on Sunday night and briefly occupied the site. “Around 30 elements tried to take Azito. They were pushed out and 10 were taken prisoner with their arms. They are now being interrogated,” he said.

Koffi Koffi later told state television RTI that two of the gunmen, who included soldiers, were killed and nine were arrested. “Nine of the people who were arrested at the scene included two policemen, two gendarmes, two marines and two civilian,” Koffi Koffi said.

One of the station’s turbines, responsible for around 15 percent of Ivory Coast’s total electricity production, was damaged in the raid and had been shut down, the mines and energy minister said.

“There won’t be any blackouts resulting from the damage, which seem to be serious, because the Azito team knows what they are doing,” Adama Toungara said. Gunmen launched another raid in the town of Bonoua, around 60 km east of Abidjan, where they attempted to break into a police station and gendarmerie to steal weapons. — Reuters

Scotland secures terms for 2014 independence vote EDINBURGH: Britain’s prime minister and Scotland’s first minister have fired the starting gun on a two-year campaign for the hearts and minds of Scottish voters ahead of an independence referendum to be held in 2014. Prime Minister David Cameron and pro-independence First Minister Alex Salmond inked the deal and shook hands in cold autumn sunlight on Monday after a meeting at the Scottish government building, St Andrews House, in Edinburgh.

Cameron strongly opposes a Scottish breakaway which would end 300 years of union, while Salmond’s Scottish National Party (SNP) espouses an independent Scotland. After months of negotiations, the Edinburgh deal clears the way for Scotland’s administration to hold the vote in the last quarter of 2014, offering Scots a straight yes-no question on leaving the United Kingdom. Securing the vote was a victory for veteran politician Salmond, who has spent his political career backing the idea of an independent Scotland, but he faces an uphill battle to bring a majority of Scots around to his view.

He told reporters after the signing: “I’m delighted to say that the Edinburgh agreement... paves the way for the most important decision Scotland has made in several hundred years. “I believe that independence will win this campaign. I believe we’ll win it by setting out a better future for our country,” he said. His SNP, the majority party in Edinburgh’s devolved parliament, must fight against a “No” campaign from all three big parties in the British parliament:

Cameron’s Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Labor. Cameron said: “This is an important day for our United Kingdom, but you can’t hold a country in the United Kingdom against the will of its people. “Scotland voted for a party that wanted to hold a referendum. I believe in showing respect. This is the right outcome for Scotland and for the United Kingdom to give the people the choice. “But I passionately hope and believe that they will vote to keep the United Kingdom together. We are better off together, we are stronger together, we are safer together.”

SUPPORT FOR INDEPENDENCE A survey by ComRes for IT V News released on Monday showed only 34 percent of Scots and 29 percent of all Britons in favor while other polls have shown similar results. But Salmond urged pundits not to write him off too soon, citing his party’s surprise election victory in May 2011, which gave it a parliamentary majority and opened the door for the referendum. “We turned a substantial opinion poll deficit into a substantial election victory. We did that by winning the arguments,” he said.

“We intend to win the argument for independence.” The Guardian newspaper praised the British government for granting the vote, but acknowledged it was a risky move. “ The UK government deserves credit for this approach. It is the democratic path,” said Tuesday’s editorial.

“But it may look like reckless overconfidence if Scotland votes yes. Don’t underestimate this moment.” — AFP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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

Refugees in limbo after years of Pakistan fighting JALOZAI CAMP: This sprawling complex of tents housing tens of thousands of Pakistanis is home for Miza Khan and his family. The tents provide little relief from the scorching summers and the frigid winters. It’s been that way for three years now. Like the other refugees, the Khans fled fighting between Pakistani troops and militant groups including the Taleban and Al-Qaeda in the mountainous areas near the border with Afghanistan.

“I came here thinking it would be a few months, but three years have gone by,” Khan said while sitting by the side of a dirt road running through the Jalozai refugee camp. “If there were peace today, I would go back.” But there is no peace.

Although Pakistan has been reluctant to root out militants who carry out attacks against US forces in neighboring Afghanistan, it has shown much less hesitation in going after insurgents who aim instead to topple the government in Islamabad.

It is a battle that has come at great cost to Pakistan, something not always recognized by critics who say the country is not doing enough in the war on terror. Some 30,000 people have been killed by the bloody insurgency in the country’s northwest, which includes the seven tribal regions and the nearby Swat Valley.

Roughly 5 million people have had to flee their homes because of Taleban mili-

tants and Pakistani operations against them in both the tribal regions and the Swat Valley.

Those who have returned often find destroyed homes, a lack of jobs and a militarized landscape marked by checkpoints, cur fews and the threat of renewed Taleban attacks. About 1 million still cannot go back, and still more are fleeing as operations against the militants continue. About 90 percent of the displaced people rent houses or live with relatives, making it challenging for the government or aid agencies to get them often urgently needed supplies. It’s unknown how many have found jobs.

Roughly 65,000 refugees from the tribal regions are currently living at Jalozai, a Pakistani government camp about 30 kilometers southwest of Peshawar and run with the help of international aid agencies. It’s one of three camps in the country for Pakistanis displaced by the fighting. Many residents complain that the food rations are not enough, especially when they have large families. Taj Ghul, from the Khyber tribal region, said he and his extended family have been supplementing their rations with food he’s able to purchase only by selling the family’s vehicles. “ That’s all gone in the stomach.

There’s nothing left,” he said. Still, hardly anyone regrets leaving their home.

Azrath Khan, 60, said he fled the embat-

tled Khyber town of Bara about a year ago. “Even before the government started its operation (in Khyber) the main problem with the Taleban was that they were kidnapping whoever was a little wealthy - and for the poor, the Taleban were pushing them to get along with them,” Khan said.

Others spoke of how the Taleban tried to enforce their own brand of religious justice, often forcing men to grow beards and beheading or hanging opponents.

But refugees also were critical of the Pakistani military, saying soldiers had little regard for civilians caught in the crossfire. If the militants fire one mortar shell, the army fires 50 shells in response, said Miza Khan. A Pakistani military official who has served in the tribal areas said this was an exaggeration and that the military is disciplined in its use of firepower. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters on the issue.

Returning home can also be fraught with difficulty. People usually get six months of food from the World Food Program and compensation from the government if their houses or property were destroyed in the fighting. But many complain that the compensation is delayed. Many report that schools and hospitals have been destroyed or that the doctors or teachers have not returned. The civilian government’s pres-

PESHAWAR: A Pakistani child who was displaced from Pakistan’s tribal areas due to fighting sits on his family’s belongings transported on a horse-cart, in Jalozai refugee camp. —AP ence has never been especially strong in the tribal regions, one of the country’s least developed areas.

Zahid Mahsud said when he returned about a year ago to his home in South Waziristan he saw that the military had built markets and was renovating damaged schools. But he’s still waiting for compensation for his destroyed house.

Others complained about the military’s

presence. Abdul Sattar, who returned with his five children to his South Waziristan home last month after three years as a refugee, said soldiers remain everywhere. “We are facing great difficulties because of army checkpoints and their checking procedures. Sometimes we cover a distance of an hour in almost four hours,” he said. “Peace is in the area, but this peace is like you are in jail.”— AP

Pakistan border shelling kills 3 in Indian Kashmir Gunmen kill four Shiites in Pakistan

BARAKI BARAK: A US Army soldier attached to 2nd platoon receives medical assistance after he was injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast during a patrol near Baraki Barak base in Logar Province. — AFP

US pushes Afghans as security deteriorates BARAKI RAJAN: As the smoke drifted across the field after the explosion, Private Ryan Thomas lay on his back, blood spattered over his face and teeth and his right sock soaked red. This is Baraki Rajan in Logar south of Kabul, a province which US commanders describe as a key battleground in the fight against the Taleban insurgency. Ears still ringing, Sergeant Anthony Pascarella radioed in the attack. “I think we’ve just hit an IED (improvised explosive device). We have a casualty.”

Firefights in the Baraki Rajan district are already frequent. The pockmarked walls of the gym on the US outpost bear witness to mortar, grenade and artillery attacks. But Thomas was the first American hurt by a roadside bomb since the current crop of troops arrived at their outpost in July.

Despite another sign of worsening security in the area, US officers here-as elsewhere in Afghanistan-are pushing Afghan forces into a more independent role. They are spurred by the unprecedented insider threat that has seen 51 Western soldiers killed by their Afghan colleagues this year and the 2014 deadline for foreign troops to withdraw.

The question is: do Afghans have the capacity and willingness to go it alone in the face of such a resilient enemy? US commanders say a record number of foreign fighters flooded in over the summer, many from Pakistan. They were capitalizing on the assassination of a popular police chief as well as public fury at a NATO air strike that killed up to 18 civilians in June.

Officers now fear that bombs like the one last Saturday could become a growing threat, with Taleban fighters bedding down for the winter and less inclined to fight toe-to-toe.

Colonel Andrew Rohling, commander

of 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team with soldiers spread across Logar and neighboring Wardak, said these were “key” provinces as forces try to maintain a security ring around the capital. He said militants including those loyal to the Al-Qaedalinked Haqqani network whose leaders are based in Pakistan, are jockeying for influence ahead of 2014. “If you’re Haqqani and you want to have a say in what happens after 2014 but don’t posture yourself geographically or politically you’re not going to have a say. So you’re seeing a lot of this posturing, especially as you get closer to Kabul.” US officers say the insider attacks have had the positive effect of forcing Afghan police, soldiers and intelligence to work more closely together, and become more proactive and independent. Afghans based in Baraki Barak, near Baraki Rajan, have patrolled without the Americans since NATO cut back joint operations last month due to the insider attacks. In Logar, the United States has already reduced the number of its bases from 16 to nine. Six weeks ago US troops handed control to Afghans in violence-plagued Kherwar in the south of the province.

Since then, US Lieutenant Colonel James Wright, commander of 1st Squadron (Airborne), 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd, says there have been only two attacks on the local base. “In the case of Kherwar you can make a very strong argument that we were the source of instability as opposed to the solution for instability,” he said. But Afghan commanders complain of a lack of support and fear the Taleban will gain ground. Captain Abdullah Ardil said attacks had dwindled because the army refused to patrol far out of their base, while the Taleban presence in the area had increased. —AFP

Australia PM Gillard in India for uranium talks NEW DELHI: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in New Delhi on a three-day state visit, has said she will open talks with energy-hungry India over selling uranium for civil nuclear use. Australia had previously ruled out exporting uranium to India as it has not signed the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty, but Gillard reversed the policy late last year in an effort to improve ties with one of Asia’s biggest emerging economies.

“I anticipate that I will have some discussions on uranium,” she said after landing in New Delhi on Monday. “I formed the view as prime minister that it was appropriate for us to sell uranium to India, and that it had become an obstacle in our relationship that we were not.” Gillard added any agreement with India would guarantee that the uranium would only be used for peaceful processes and in safe condi-

tions, and that a deal would be overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “India has a national interest in making sure its nuclear program is safe, and seen to be safe by the world,” she said. Gillard will have meetings with business leaders and visit an education project in New Delhi yesterday before holding talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today. Fast-growing India is a key trade partner for Australia and the two countries agreed in 2009 to upgrade their relationship to a “strategic partnership” involving greater security cooperation.

Australia already ships nuclear fuel to China, Japan, Taiwan and the United States but had refused to sell it to India. India ended its status as a nuclear pariah when it entered into a civil nuclear agreement with the United States in 2005 that was approved by the IAEA.— AFP

SRINAGAR: Pakistani soldiers fired heavy weapons into Indian Kashmir and killed three civilians yesterday, the Indian defense ministry said, in the latest reported skirmish between the rival nations. They opened fire near the village of Churunda, near the Line of Control that acts as the de facto border in the Kashmir region, according to the Indian statement. Government officials in Islamabad were not immediately available for comment.

“Pakistani troops... started firing heavy-caliber weapons on the houses of civilians of Churunda village resulting in the death of three civilians,” the statement said. Local residents have reported sporadic small-arms exchanges between Indian and Pakistani troops in the same sector for the past fortnight.

Tensions between the countries last flared in the wake of the Mumbai attacks in 2008, which India blamed on Pakistan-based militants and “official agencies” of Pakistan, a charge Islamabad has denied. Two of the three wars between India and Pakistan have been fought over divided Kashmir, which both countries claim in full.

In another development, gunmen shot dead four Shiite Muslims yesterday, in a fresh sectarian attack in Pakistan’s troubled southwestern province of

SRINAGAR: Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers take part in a passing out parade in Humhama on the outskirts of Srinagar. Some 244 trained constable recruits were formally inducted into the BSF after completing 22 weeks of training. — AFP Baluchistan, police said. All those killed ran junk and scrap shops in Kabari Market in Quetta, the provincial capital where sectarian and separatist violence is common. “It was a sectarian attack.

Gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on them and drove away,” Asif Ghafoor, a senior police official said. The province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is plagued by sectarian violence between

the minority Shiite and majority Sunni community, as well as by Taliban attacks and a separatist insurgency.

Riasat Ali, another police official confirmed the incident and told AFP that the victims were critically injured and died on their way to hospital. Sectarian violence involving Sunni and Shiites, who account for around 20 percent of the population, has killed

thousands of people since the late 1990s. Despite having large reserves of oil and gas, Baluchistan remains one of Pakistan’s most impoverished provinces, and bomb blasts and attacks on police and security forces are common. In 2004 Baluch rebels rose up, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region’s mineral resources.—Agencies

Bogus family turned away from Malala’s UK hospital LONDON: Several people claiming to be relatives of the 14-yearold Pak istani girl shot in the head by the Taleban tried to enter the British hospital where she is being treated, an official said yesterday. The medical director of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where Malala Yousafzai is in intensive care stressed that the incidents did not create any security concerns and police said nobody was arrested. “ We have had some, I guess I would say, irritating incidents overnight and I understand that a number of people have been arrested but there are no security concerns,” hospital medical director David Rosser told journalists.

“I understand that a number of people turned up claiming to be members of Malala’s familywhich we don’t believe to be true-and have been arrested.”

However a police spokeswoman denied that any arrests were made. “ We are investigating what happened but I can confirm that there were no arrests,” the spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said. The teenager spent a comfortable first night in the hospital, Rosser said, after she arrived in Birmingham in central England on a flight from Pak istan on Monday.

Meanwhile, the 14-year-old

girl could make a “good recovery”, doctors treating her in a British hospital said yesterday.

Malala Yousafzai was spending her first full day in Britain after she was flown into Birmingham Airport on Monday on board an air ambulance before being taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the city. Hospital medical director David Rosser said British colleagues who were in Pakistan when Malala was shot believed she had “a chance of mak ing a good recover y ”.

“Clearly it would be inappropriate on every level, not least for her, to put her through all of this if there was no hope of decent recovery,” he told reporters.

Malala was shot on a school bus in the former Taleban stronghold of the Swat valley last Tuesday as a punishment for campaigning for the right to an education, in an attack which outraged the world. The teenager, who had a bullet removed from her skull last week, is in intensive care in the highly specialized hospital in central England, where British servicemen who are seriously wounded in Afghanistan are treated.

Doctors in Pakistan have said Malala needs treatment for a damaged skull and “intensive neuro-rehabilitation”.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said yesterday that the

shooting was an attack on all girls in the country-and on civilization itself. “The Taleban attack on the 14-year-old girl, who from the age of 11 was involved in the struggle for education for girls, is an attack on all girls in Pakistan, an attack on education, and on all civilized people,” Zardari said at an economic summit in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

Asked if Malala will be guarded at the Birmingham hospital, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokeswoman said: “You wouldn’t expect me to talk about security matters in detail but certainly security has been taken into account.” Rosser warned that Malala faces a long road to recovery.

“We do unfortunately have ver y extensive experience of dealing with this sort of traumatic bullet related injury,” he said.

“Our experience with battle casualties, and you can deal with her as a battle casualty from a physiological point of view, is that patients need lots of different specialities.” The shooting has been denounced worldwide, including Pak istan, which is meeting the costs of her treatment. Malala came to prominence with a blog for the BBC highlighting atrocities under the hardline Islamist Taleban, who terrorized the Swat valley from 2007 until an army offensive in

2009. Sayeeda Warsi, Britain’s Foreign O ffice minister for Pakistan, wrote in The Sun newspaper: “The Koran encourages women’s education. What’s truly obscene is trying to kill a teenager for speaking this truth. “The Taleban have failed. Malala’s message of freedom and equality has now gone global. “Our duty isn’t just to help this little girl. It is to carry on spreading her message.” On Sunday, around 10,000 people gathered in Karachi for a rally in support of Malala, organized by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement political party.

But right-wing and conservative religious leaders have refrained from publicly denouncing the Taleban. They have warned the government against using the attack on Malala as a pretext for an offensive in the militant bastion of Nor th Waziristan. Malala was first airlifted from Swat to a military hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar, then to the country’s top militar y hospital in Rawalpindi outside Islamabad, where doctors on Sunday took her off a ventilator for a “successful” shor t trial. Pak istan has offered more than $100,000 for the capture of her attackers.

Nearly 200 people have been detained but most have been released.— Agencies

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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

From guns to laptops, Philippine faces arduous road SULTAN KUDARAT: At a nondescript two-storey building in the town of Sultan Kudarat, the future of the Philippines’ strife-torn southern region of Mindanao is taking shape, one accountancy class at a time. Dozens of former fighters in Mindanao’s decadesold Islamic insurgency are learning new skills - from book-keeping, to computer literacy and law - that are crucial to the long-term success of a landmark peace deal signed in Manila on Monday.

“Every student comes out of this institute as a new person,” said Zamin Unti, a 55-year-old former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel who teaches three -day crash courses at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute. Turning fighters into laptop-wielding administrators of the new autonomous Bangsamoro region is one of the challenges facing Mindanao as it moves beyond euphoria over the deal, which ends a four-decade Muslim insurgency that killed 120,000 people in Asia’s biggest Catholic nation.

Investors will also need to be convinced that governance will improve in an area scarred by corruption and poverty. Ravaged by conflict, the southernmost of the main Philippine islands has never been able to capitalize on an estimated $312 billion in mineral wealth or develop abundant agricultural land that

already supplies two-fifths of the countr y ’s food. It lies near Malaysia and Indonesia and is flanked by the rich fishing grounds of the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea, with the Pacific Ocean to its east.

Businesses are eager to enter Mindanao as the Philippines savors its biggest investment boom since the 1997 Asian financial crisis with President Benigno Aquino riding a strong economy and lofty popularity ratings. But many are holding back until prospects for a sustainable peace become clearer.

What also makes investors cautious is a series of past agreements between the government in Manila and rebels from the Moro tribes that rapidly fell apart, including a 2008 deal struck down by the Supreme Court and which led to a surge in violence. A peace deal in 1996 looked good on paper but failed due to weak implementation.

“I don’t think they are going to rush in,” said Gregory Edwards, managing director of Australia’s RED 5 Limited , which operates the Siana gold mine in Mindanao’s Surigao del Norte province.

“The security angle alone is not going to do it, there’s going to be other elements, but it certainly helps,” he said, adding investors would look at issues such as regulation and corruption before committing to projects in Mindanao.

Aside from a lack of competent administrators, the transition to a new autonomous government is likely to be threatened by “spoilers” ranging from reluctant politicians in Manila to breakaway groups of radical Islamic fighters.

Both sides must also overcome decades of mistrust that have built up in the region between Muslims and minority Christians and the likely unwillingness of rebels to give up their weapons while peace remains fragile.

“Until all interested parties have time to digest the Mindanao settlement issue, it is hard to assess its long term consequences,” said Scott Harrison, managing director of Pacific Strategies and Assessments. Government negotiators say the peace process in Northern Ireland was a model for ending the Mindanao conflict. If so, they will know that persuading the Irish Republican Army to lay down its guns was one of the thorniest barriers to peace. It could be an even harder proposition in Mindanao, which is saturated with guns held by breakaway Islamic factions, feuding clans and Communist rebels waging their own insurgency.

“We are not ready yet to surrender our guns because there are too many weapons out there in the hands of even ordinary farmers,” Commander Abdul, a 50-year-old guerrilla, told Reuters while

SULTAN KUDARAT: Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels raise their rifles during a ceremony at Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao province. — AFP manning a checkpoint leading to a rebel base. While a “transition commission” has until 2015 to present a final law to Congress, the two sides only have until December to iron out details such as the new administration’s fiscal and legal powers, and the decommissioning of the MILF’s weapons. Much rests on Aquino’s ability to control Congress, where his

allies now dominate both houses, but mid-term elections next May could upset the favorable political balance.

Posters and placards supporting the peace deal have sprouted all over Cotabato City, the region’s economic hub where nearly half of the residents are non-Muslims, including ethnic Chinese Filipinos.— Reuters

Chinese warships sail near Japanese Island US acts as trouble-shooter in territorial row

HAVANA: Cubans read Communist Party’s Granma newspaper which informs about a new immigration law in Havana yesterday. — AFP

Cuba to lift broad travel restrictions Havana to scrap exit visa requirement HAVANA: Cuba will scrap much reviled travel restrictions starting in January, easing most Cubans’ exit and return, state media said yesterday in the communist island’s first major immigration reform in half a century. The Cuban government imposed broad restrictions on travel starting in 1961 to try to stop a mass migration of people fleeing after the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.

The government will lift requirements to obtain an exit visa permitting departure from Cuba and a letter of invitation from someone in the destination country.

Instead, starting on Jan 14, Cubans will simply have to show a passport and, if needed, a visa from the country they are traveling to, Communist Party newspaper Granma said. The changes are the latest reform under President Raul Castro, who has modestly liberalized Cuba’s Soviet-style economy. They are sure to please Cubans who have chafed at the country’s travel restrictions. The process of obtaining the needed documents is time consuming and expensive, with no guarantee at the end that the government would grant permission to leave. The difficulty in travel has helped fuel

charges for years that freedoms are limited in Cuba. “There have been many expectations for many years about a new travel law. It’s a big step forward that will save us money and simplify the process,” said office worker Rafael Pena as he headed to work in Havana. The changes are part of work “to update the current migratory policy adjusting it to prevailing conditions in the present and foreseeable future,” Granma said.

The measure extends to 24 months, from the current 11, the amount of time Cubans can be out of the country without losing rights and property, and they can seek an extension, Granma said. In theory, the changes should make it easier for Cubans to not only travel, but to work abroad and return home when they are ready. But they will still have to obtain visas from most countries. Granma said restrictions would still be in place for some people, likely to include doctors and other professionals who Cuba does not want to leave.

“Those measures aimed at preserving the human capital created by the Revolution from the theft of talents practiced by the powerful nations shall remain in force,” it said.—Reuters

South Dakota man executed SIOUX FALLS: A South Dakota man who beat a prison guard with a pipe and covered his head in plastic wrap to kill him during a failed escape attempt was put to death Monday, in the state’s first execution since 2007. Eric Robert, 50, received lethal injection and was pronounced dead at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls at 10:24 pm. He is the first South Dakota inmate to die under the state’s new single-drug lethal injection method, and only the 17th person to be executed in the state or Dakota Territory since 1877.

Robert had no expression on his face.

Asked if he had a last statement, Robert said: “In the name of justice and liberty and mercy, I authorize and forgive Warden Douglas Weber to execute me for the crimes. It is done.” As the drug was administered, the clean-shaven Robert, wearing orange inmate pants with a white blanket wrapped around his upper body, appeared to be clearing his throat and then began gasping heavily. He then snored for about 30 seconds. His eyes remained opened throughout and his skin turned pale, eventually gaining a purplish hue.

Robert was put to death in the same prison where he killed guard Ronald “RJ” Johnson during an escape attempt on April 12, 2011. Robert was serving an 80-year sentence on a kidnapping conviction when he tried to break out with fellow inmate

Rodney Berget, 50. Johnson’s widow, Lynette, said after the execution that she knows Robert’s death will not bring back her husband, her children’s father or her grandchildren’s grandfather. “But we do know that the employees of the Department of Corrections and the public in general will be just a little bit safer now,” Lynette Johnson said.

“We need to have more attention and focus on the safety of all of the correctional officers in the state of South Dakota. Ron, none of you will ever know how great he is and is missed. We stand proud for Ron.” Lynette Johnson, her two children and their spouses all witnessed the execution.

No one from Robert’s family was in attendance. Robert ate his last meal of ice cream with his lawyer, Mark Kadi, on Saturday night before fasting for 40 hours for religious reasons. After the execution, Kadi said the execution was very “orderly and polished.” “The problem was it was too orderly. It was so antiseptic and peaceful that it masked what was being done to the person,” Kadi said. “If more people were able to see the events, there would be fewer of them.” Johnson was working alone the morning of his death - also his 63rd birthday - in a part of the prison known as Pheasantland Industries, where inmates work on upholstery, signs, custom furniture and other projects. —AP

TOKYO: A Chinese naval flotilla including two destroyers sailed through waters near Japanese islands yesterday, further fuelling tensions, in what one commentator said was a sign of things to come. The seven warships - at least one of which was capable of firing missiles passed close to territory internationally recognized as Japanese. The two nations are already embroiled in a bitter wrangle over a separate island chain. A defense ministry spokesman said it was the first time the Chinese navy had used the passage, but Ryo Sahashi, a specialist in international politics at Kanagawa University said it would not be the last.

“Generally speaking, China acts in accordance with its government’s claims,” he said. “It is likely that we will see similar acts repeated in the future,” he said, while cautioning it was too early to assess the full meaning of the move.

China’s increasingly well-funded navy is somewhat hemmed in by the long chain of Japan’s Okinawan islands and must pass relatively near them to get into the Pacific from the East China Sea. However, there are gaps between the islands that allow vessels to stay well away from Japan’s contiguous zones, an area that extends a further 12 nautical miles beyond the 12 nautical miles of territorial waters.

A defense ministry spokesman said the seven Chinese naval ships had been involved in exercises in the Pacific Ocean, and “they passed through a wider space between Okinawa Island and Miyako island on their way out” on October 4.

“They passed through the narrow strait on the way back, and this is the first time we have confirmed that they passed through this gap,” the spokesman said. He said a Japanese spotter aircraft had logged the vessels 49 kilometers south-southeast of Yonaguni Island at 7:00 am. The flotilla comprised

OKINAWA PREFECTURE: This handout picture shows a Chinese warship cruising in waters between two Japanese islands in Okinawa prefecture, in the East China Sea. — AFP two destroyers, at least one of which had missile capacity, two frigates, two submarine rescue ships and one supply ship. “They were moving nor th, from the Pacific Ocean to the East China Sea,” the spokesman said.

At one point the vessels entered contiguous waters, a ministr y spokeswoman said. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both Japan and China are signatories, foreign vessels including military ships have the right to use the contiguous zone. But a state is allowed to exercise control to “prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea”, UNCLOS says. “At this time, we are not seeing such acts as helicopters flying from these naval ships and approaching toward our nation or (the ships) sailing within our territorial waters,” Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto told a press briefing.

“We are continuing to be on alert and maintaining surveillance of the area waters with aircraft and ships. We will continue to carefully collect information about the movement of the Chinese naval vessels.” He said these Chinese exercises had been going on since 2008. “ They have gradually

expanded the area of activity but we cannot tell what intentions lie behind that,” Morimoto told reporters. The move comes after days of relative calm in a long-running dispute over the sovereignty of a small group of islands in the East China Sea. Tokyo and Beijing are at loggerheads over the Senkaku islands, which are administered by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu islands.

Meanwhile, a senior US official acted as a trouble-shooter yesterday in a bitter row between Washington’s allies South Korea and Japan, urging them to solve an islands dispute through dialogue, Seoul officials said. Deputy Secretary of State William J Burns expressed concern at territorial disputes in Northeast Asia as he held strategic consultations with South Korean officials, a Seoul foreign ministry official said. Burns called for talks between Seoul and Tokyo to settle their row over an island chain known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The deputy secretary said cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington is crucial to deter any provocations by Nor th Korea, according to the official. The meeting in Seoul is part of Burns’ five-

nation tour which also includes stops in Japan, China, Myanmar and India. Japan was infuriated by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak’s visit in August to the islands. Tokyo said the visit-the first ever by a South Korean presidentwas deliberately provocative. The islands, which lie between the two countries, are controlled by South Korea but claimed by both countries.

Seoul insists Tokyo’s claim is erroneously founded in its 1910-45 colonial rule over all South Korea.

Lee said in August his visit was designed to press Japan to settle lingering colonial-era grievances, including the issue of Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II. He also said Japanese Emperor Akihito would have personally to apologize for the excesses if he ever wanted to visit South Korea.

The visit and Lee’s comments sent bilateral relations-which have often been tense despite close economic ties-into freefall, and triggered a fierce propaganda war over the territorial issue. Japan is also embroiled in a festering row with China over islands in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku by Tokyo and the Diaoyus by Beijing.— Agencies

Vietnam’s party chides leaders, signals reform PM Dung, seen under threat, remains in office HANOI: Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party has promised economic reforms and a restructuring of state firms and the banking system after a top-level meeting that criticized senior members, thought to include the prime minister, but left them in their posts. The banks are swimming in bad debt, much of it owed by the huge state enterprises at the heart of the economy.

Moody’s downgraded Vietnam last month and said bank reforms should be implemented quickly.

The central committee, the powerful body of more than 170 senior members of the Communist Party of Vietnam, “came to the decision not to discipline the collective of the Political Bureau and a comrade member of the Political Bureau”, the party said in a statement on its website late on Monday. Some analysts had forecast that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, in power since 2006, might be ousted. He has faced questions in parliament over a scandal involving Vinashin, a huge state shipbuilder he had championed but which almost collapsed in 2010 under $4.5 billion in debt.

Bloggers have accused him of greed, cronyism and economic mismanagement. The

authorities have responded with a crackdown on dissent and three high-profile bloggers were recently jailed for up to 12 years for anti-state propaganda. The plenum urged that the business climate be improved and foreign investment encouraged, according to a report by the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA). While it advocated the restructuring and renovation of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs), “the committee continued to affirm their core role”, according to the report.

“Resolute adjustments must be made so that the SOEs can have appropriate structures and take the lead in scientific and technological renovation ... and maintaining the socialist orientation of the economy,” it said. However, it added that non-core investments should be ended and the state should withdraw from firms in which it holds less than 50 percent of the capital. In addition, the SOEs “must be reorganized in the model of joint stock and limited liability companies”.

The central committee also ordered amendments to the 2003 Land Law to tackle corruption, speculation and lawsuits in the interests of socio-political stability, the VNA report said.

Jonathan Pincus, dean of the Fulbright

Economics Teaching Program in Ho Chi Minh City, said the plenum had opted for continuity in policy-restructuring the financial system and SOEs were longstanding aims, even if progress had been slow. “No more details were provided, but perhaps we can expect more bank mergers and continued pressure on public investment financing,” he said. Soaring inflation and the collapse of the property market have contributed to the bad-debt problem at banks, and the central bank last year launched a plan to restructure the sector through mergers and acquisitions of the weakest lenders.

In August, it gave approval for Sahabank to take over weaker lender Hanoi Building Bank (Habubank), the second such deal this year. The central bank said in July that bad debt in the banking system had risen to 8.6 percent of loans as of the end of March, almost double the previously published figure. Banks have slowed lending to tackle the problem. The authorities have also tried to tighten lending conditions in order to keep a lid on inflation. As a result, the economy has slowed and the government has forecast growth of 5.2 percent in 2012 after 5.89 percent in 2011.— Reuters

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

international

Squirrel population boom frustrates US fruit growers MONTPELIER, Vermont: Don’t let the bright eyes and bushy tails fool you. These squirrels are up to no good. Last year’s mild winter and a bumper crop of nuts have caused an apparent explosion in the squirrel population in patches of the country, bewildering fruit growers with their ravenous appetites, littering highway shoulders as roadkill, and keeping homeowners and pest control experts busy. In southern Vermont, Clarence Boston said he hasn’t seen such an infestation of pests in the 33 years he has been an orchardist on 60 farms in five states.

The squirrels wait until his apple crop is nearly ripe to swarm into the trees from nearby forests, sometimes eating half a tree’s fruit in two or three hours. Sometimes, the squirrels will take only one bite, but the teeth marks make the apples worthless for retail sale. “It’s leaving me reeling. I’m sort of used to getting kicked around; I’m a farmer,” said Boston, who estimates squirrels destroyed about half of his most profitable variety of apples following a season already made tough by the weather. “I was not expecting the next plague to be red squirrels.”

Biologists know squirrel populations have rare but periodic “eruptions”, when conditions coincide to produce abundant foods that fuel the fast-reproducing animals. This year’s squirrel boom in parts of Vermont followed two seasons of bountiful acorn and beechnut crops and last year’s mild winter. In addition to eating up cash crops, squirrels can also prevent future harvests by “girdling” trees eating away a band of bark around the trunk, causing it to die.

At South Carolina’s Clemson University, gray squirrels have been so abundant in the past several years that they have killed more than 100 mature trees, said Greg Yarrow, chairman of the school’s division of natural resources. The school has experimented with non-lethal squirrel-control methods, including capturing and then injecting them with birth control chemicals. Another, less labor-intensive method has involves leaving chemical-laced bait that inhibits reproduction. “In this state we are getting increased calls of problems,” Yarrow said. “I know it’s similar in other states. ... It’s all food-related.”

The same conditions are contributing to increases in other rodents, such as red squirrels and certain species of mice, experts say. Experts noting an increase in squirrel populations include Paul Curtis, an associate professor at Cornell University’s Department of Natural Resources and a pest management expert. Such eruptions are rare but noted in historical literature, he said. “This is the first one I’ve heard of,” Curtis said. “I’ve been here in New York state for 20 years.”

Trying to get a precise measurement of the scope of the infestation is difficult. The population booms appear to be happening in some places, but not others. Curtis said he has heard of problems in New York’s Hudson Valley, north of New York City, but not in western New York. Similar booms have been reported in New Mexico, and squirrel hunters in Indiana and Ohio are expecting banner seasons.

But hunters in Pennsylvania are being told it could be a tough season. In Vermont, at least, the plague is expected to end this winter. After two good nut seasons, this year saw poor acorn and beechnut crops.

That could be contributing to high activity as many squirrels look for food elsewhere, Hammond said.

For farmers, the beginning of the end is of little consolation in the here and now. Before this year, John Barber never had a problem with squirrels at his 25-acre Apple Hill Orchard in Whitehall, New York. Now the animals are building nests in his trees and sampling different varieties of apples as the fruit matures, staying one step ahead of his pickers.

He estimates, conservatively, that he is going to lose 15 to 20 percent of his crop. “Usually your best fruit is the fruit that’s fully exposed to the sun; it gets the best color to it,” Barber said. “Your size is usually out on the upper canopy of the tree. That’s what they’re doing; they’re climbing up into the upper canopy.”

Farmers aren’t the only ones reporting problems. Drivers are dodging squirrels that dart across roads or skirting ones that are killed while crossing.

Hammond said he has seen carcasses on roadsides from Vermont to Connecticut. Squirrels can also move into attics and build nests, creating a mess with droppings and urine. People commonly com-

plain they can hear the pests scurrying through their attics at 4 am. They’ll chew through wires, which can cause fires, said Dan Schwarzbeck, owner of the pest control company Got Wildlife? in Newburgh, New York.

His business, which does both commercial and residential pest control, has been getting about 60 to 120 calls a week about squirrel problems ranging from New York’s Dutchess County to central New Jersey, by far the most in the 10 years he has been in business. He sees all kinds of squirrels gray, red and even flying squirrels, which don’t really fly but have a flap of skin that helps them glide from tree to tree. “The gray is the most destructive and the widely spread. We get the flyers, but it’s in select areas,” he said. “The gray, you can get them in urban, you can get them in cities, rural it doesn’t matter.” Boston, the Vermont orchardist, is also a pest control consultant for orchards. “I am somewhat stunned. You get used to looking at disasters,” he said. “It just happens, but this one is new. It’s different.” —AP

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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Issues

The hard truth about fact-checking

By Jaspon Lange act- check ing presidential campaigns has become a kind of sport in recent years, complete with scorecards tallying the competition between ratings of true, false or somewhere in between. What has been missing - and is likely to stay missing in yesterday’s presidential debate - is suspense. The winner in the ratings game is generally the same: somewhere in between. The terminology differs from fact-checker to fact-checker. But the reality is that the vast majority of claims fact-checkers put under scrutiny are deemed to be partly true or partly false but rarely completely one or the other.

The triumph of the neither wholly true nor wholly false partly reflects the complexity of the issues. But credit mostly goes to obfuscation by the campaigns.

Theirs is a world of apples-to-oranges comparisons and cherry-picked time frames, enveloped by a fog of competing studies. As PolitiFact.com and other factcheckers have noted, for example, the increase in the federal budget deficit cited by the campaigns depends entirely on the starting point for the calculation.

It’s bad for President Barack Obama if the starting point for the calculation is fiscal 2008, which ended before Obama took office and is the reference point for the campaign of Republican candidate Mitt Romney. But it’s not quite as bad if the starting point is January 2009, when he actually assumed office.

“There is most often some grain of truth - sometimes very difficult to discern - but the candidates will twist it and distort it,” said Brooks Jackson, a veteran journalist who runs FactCheck.org.

When all is said and done, the Romney claim that Obama has “doubled the deficit” may be all the voter can absorb. The same is true for claim by Obama’s campaign that a Medicare reform plan by Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan would cost the elderly more than $6,000 per year. True or false?

PolitiFact.com could only muster a 50-50 judgment.

The problem is this: There are at least four iterations of a “Medicare plan” associated with Ryan. The Obama campaign had the opportunity to cherry-pick one and took it, choosing the version that could be portrayed as the most threatening thanks in part to a study by the Congressional Budget Office.

There was no simple answer, so fact-checkers resorted to long analyses on whether the claim was plausible. “There is a number (behind the claim) and it’s not made out of whole cloth, but it’s used in a misleading manner,” said Glenn Kessler, a fact-checker at The Washington Post.

The final judgment at PolitiFact.com required 1,200 words including footnotes. At FactCheck.org it was 1,000 words. That makes them treatises by journalistic standards, unlikely reading for all but the most determined voters.

True or false is reserved for the laughable claim or something empirically disprovable. Romney told crowds in December and February that Americans were the only people in the world to hold their hands over their hearts while their national anthems were played. Kessler and other fact-checkers found numerous examples to the contrary. And it was easy to establish that Obama was not in New York City the same day as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a claim that Ryan made in an effort to show that Obama snubbed the Israeli leader by not meeting him there.

To make things easier for readers, Kessler grades claims on a scale of one-to-four Pinocchios. He said that both Obama and Romney were averaging just above two Pinocchios, the rating for claims marked by “significant omissions and/or exaggerations” but not necessarily factually erroneous. Neither can capture the complexity of such questions as whether Romney’s tax plan is “mathematically impossible,” as the Obama campaign says, citing a study.

While fact-checking is undoubtedly good for democracy, arguments in the press over unsupported or outlandish claims tend to spread them, not debunk them, as research by Dartmouth College scholar Brendan Nyhan, among others, has demonstrated. “People get hung up on the true/false thing,” said Nyhan, a former fact-checker himself. “It gets away from the core issue, which is whether something is a responsible claim to make in public life or not.” — Reuters

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Wal-Mart faces India sourcing challenge

By Nandita Bose s Wal-Mart Stores Inc ramps up its operations in India, it needs to find more farmers like Yogesh Todkari. His acre of cauliflowers is big, leafy, and a deep shade of green, thanks to modern irrigation and quality nutrients and seeds - all provided by the world’s largest retailer. Most farmers in India, though, don’t meet Wal-Mart’s standards. “They train us and assist us right from when the crop is sown to when it’s harvested. They give us a higher price than the market for better quality,” said Todkari, 29, who works the field in western India with his elderly father.

Investing in farmers to help them improve quality and efficiency, and getting around the army of costly middlemen, will be key to whether global chains like WalMart and Tesco Plc succeed where local operators have failed to make a profit. It will also be a test of whether India’s politically fraught decision to allow in global supermarkets in order to modernise its food supply chain proves to be the right one.

“We plan to procure as much as we can via direct farming so the procurement from traders in local markets is as little as possible,” said Krishnakant Reddy, who is in charge of direct farming in south and west India for Wal-Mart, which already operates in India through 17 wholesale stores. Under the reforms, foreign retailers must source at least 30 percent of their goods from local, small industries.

India recently let in global supermarkets, despite heavy political opposition, in the hope of improving the supply chain and bringing down wastage and costs in a country where one-third of fresh produce rots and food inflation is persistent. WalMart, by far the most aggressive foreign

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supermarket operator in India, expects to open its first store selling directly to the public in 12-18 months, and aims to turn a profit in 10 years, something it hasn’t managed in China after 12 years.

To get there, Wal-Mart plans to sign up 35,000 farmers over the next three years, up from the 6,700 it has now. Fresh produce accounts for about 30 percent of Wal-Mart’s sales in its wholesale outlets in India. WalMart must buy in small batches from small plot-holders in a country where more than 80 percent of farms are under 2 hectares.

That means contracting with thousands of farmers will still yield only a few thousand tonnes. In North America, retailers like WalMart can buy from a few hundred farmers who provide hundreds of thousands of tonnes of produce between them. “It’s going to be a huge challenge and requires a lot of work on the ground,” Reddy said during a recent visit to Narayangaon, a few hours from the city of Pune where Wal-Mart runs one of its seven Indian farm procurement centres.

Wal-Mart is trying to learn from the difficulties of Indian chain operators such as Reliance Industries and Shoppers Stop, most of which rely on middlemen after struggling to establish a strong direct farm supplier base. Skirting the entrenched network of middlemen, who opposed the government’s decision to allow in supermarkets and includes both traders and local markets run by state Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs), isn’t easy.

States require all farm produce to be sold through government regulated markets, and impose registration and transaction taxes on buyers, in addition to fees charged by middlemen operating in the markets. In some states, including Karnataka, buyers can purchase directly

from farmers, but still have to pay taxes and fees both to the APMC and middlemen. In Maharashtra, where Narayangaon is located, Wal-Mart must truck the produce it buys from Todkari about 20 minutes away to an APMC market and pay fees before delivering it to stores. “The APMC fee is actually a tax for doing nothing and that is detrimental to direct farming,” said Raj Jain, who heads Wal-Mart in India and like the Confederation of Indian Industry, a large trade group, wants to get rid of the APMC system. Traders were among the most vocal opponents of letting in foreign retailers, a move whose impact will be dulled by allowing states to opt in or out. Under populist pressure, most states plan to keep global operators out, at least for now. “The government is thinking of cutting us out without even thinking about the families who depend on this. We facilitate trade in these markets. Thousands of jobs across India depend on this,” said Rajesh More, a trader at the APMC market in the neighbouring village of Manchar.

There are an estimated 50 million small traders involved in the farm-to-store agriculture business across India, according to the Confederation of All India Traders. The Congress party-led coalition government in New Delhi defended its decision to allow in foreign retailers as benefiting farmers and reducing dependence on the middlemen network. Congress is also the ruling party in Maharashtra. “The government has anyway let the foreigners in, which will hurt small store owners, and now they’re targeting us,” More said.

The region near Pune is one of India’s most productive for horticulture, and Todkari is among only 600 farmers to have met Wal-Mart’s standards. The retailer targets a small number of farmers who are

respected locally and can convince others to work for the grocery giant.

“This is mainly done to build trust as most Indian farmers haven’t heard of WalMart and are apprehensive about working with us,” Reddy said. The farmers Wal-Mart selects are suited to modern irrigation, have higher yields and are capable of crop rotation. Wal-Mart’s investment in farmers is part of the $100 million initial spending India requires foreign chains to make under the retail reforms.

“Quality suppliers who these foreign chains can do business with are still small in number and so are the supply bases where they can procure from,” said Debashish Mukherjee, partner at consultancy AT Kearney. Wal-Mart buys more than a dozen fresh produce items from the Narayangaon area, including cabbages, tomatoes, onions, grapes, cauliflowers and pomegranates. The US-based retailer has tie-ups in north India with logistics companies to send fresh produce to store by refrigerated truck - a facility it will extend to other farm bases as procurement volumes increase. “The produce has to be sent to the store even if cost-wise it’s a struggle. It’s a business that needs scale and, now with permission to open stores, we’ll have that,” said Reddy.

Wal-Mart says it pays farmers a premium of at least 3 percent above the market price for better quality produce. What Wal-Mart doesn’t buy, the farmer can sell at the local market. Siddhesh Jagtap, who grows pomegranates in Narayangaon, was not among Wal-Mart’s chosen few. “They approached us, but never came back. It doesn’t hurt us as they don’t procure a lot,” he said. “If their requirements go up and they want to work with us, we will be open. They give a good price and make timely payments ... which is all a farmer wants.” — Reuters

Romney wants a repeat, Obama a reversal

By Jim Kuhnhenn itt Romney would love another debate like the last one. President Barack Obama most certainly would not. Twenty-one days before Election Day, Debate Two comes as both candidates seek to break out of a neck-and-neck national race with the type of debate performance and vision that could help sway a narrow band of undecided voters in a handful of crucial states. Romney needs to reinforce his case that he’s an agent of change and raise further doubts about Obama’s economic tenure in the face of some positive signs of recovery.

Obama must reverse the corrosive story line ignited by his lame performance in the first debate and make a convincing case for four more years of his presidency.

The president has promised not to be the disengaged Obama of Debate One. Yet he won’t be the caffeinated, grinning, eyes-to-the-sky Joe Biden of last Thursday’s vice presidential faceoff, either. Obama’s approach is more likely to resemble the methodical, persistent and affable debating style of Paul Ryan, Romney’s running mate.

Still, Obama says he was too polite in the first debate.

His aides promise a more aggressive president this time.

And Romney needs to sustain the apparent connection he made with many voters in his last encounter with the president, without becoming defensive in the face of Obama’s more assertive stance. It won’t be easy for either. The debate will be conducted as a town hall meeting, with the candidates fielding questions from audience members selected by the Gallup polling

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group for their undecided views. An aggressive approach usually doesn’t work in such a format, where candidates need to connect with the questioners first before turning on their opponents. Four years ago, Obama rival John McCain entered that election’s town hall debate looking to upend a race going in Obama’s direction. McCain needed to raise doubts about Obama, but his hard-hitting tone seemed off-key in the midst of earnest audience questions. Romney has been testing the town hall format in recent campaign appearances, opening his rallies to questions from the audience. Obama has done little of that in this campaign - a stark contrast from the 2008 primaries, when the give-and-take with audiences was an essential part of his introduction to voters.

Romney aides concede that taking questions from friendly supporters is not akin to a town hall debate. Moreover, they acknowledge that the format helps Obama, who is perceived as more personable by the public, and they are aware of how he got the best of McCain four years ago. The challenges for Obama: This debate comes with Obama’s approval ratings hovering around 50 percent. The economic and fiscal picture is mixed. Since the last debate, the government announced that the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent after 43 months of being above 8 percent. Still, the Treasury Department on Friday

reported that the federal deficit for the 2012 budget year that just ended was $1.1 trillion.

Romney, as he did in the first debate, will focus on the downside of the ledger - 23 million people struggling for work or better jobs, 15 percent poverty, a rising national debt.

Obama will have to draw attention to the improvements under his administration, echoing the points made in a television ad released Monday that emphasizes hiring by the private sector, including more than 5 million jobs in the last 30 months.

On another front, Obama and his administration have struggled to explain the circumstances that led to an attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens. A congressional hearing last week revealed past decisions by the State Department not to increase diplomatic security in Libya.

In his debate last week, Biden declared that “we weren’t told” about the Benghazi consulate’s requests for additional security, prompting Romney to accuse the vice president of “doubling down on denial” and forcing the White House to explain that Biden was referring just to the White House, not the entire Obama administration.

The challenges for Romney: He has to live up to the high expectations he set in the first debate. His presentation then was an effective introduction to undecid-

ed or persuadable voters. Strategists from both parties said Romney particularly helped himself with Republican-leaning independent voters. He must now complete the sale with undecideds who may be leaning Obama’s way.

Illustrating Romney’s expectations burden, a Pew Research Center poll found that 51 percent of voters expected Obama to win the first debate compared with 29 percent who thought Romney would win. This time, a new Pew poll shows expectations for both candidates are nearly evenly divided, with 41 percent expecting Obama to prevail compared with 37 percent saying Romney will likely win. Romney can expect to be challenged more forcefully on his economic plan than he was two weeks ago. Both Romney and Ryan have declined to specify how they would be able to cut tax rates by 20 percent across the board without raising the deficit. Obama will argue that cutting taxes for wealthier taxpayers can only result in higher taxes on the middle class, a notion Romney disputes.

Romney must also be ready to defend the more moderate political image he demonstrated in the first debate. Obama is eager to portray Romney as an out-of-the-mainstream conservative and will force Romney to explain himself on healthcare and changes in the government’s regulatory regime, positions Romney recently softened after taking hard lines during the Republican primaries. In the end, while the debates are attracting millions of viewers, the target audience for each campaign is becoming an increasingly small number of fencesitting voters in a handful of battleground states. It’s a loud megaphone for a small crowd. — AP

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

Amir proposes $2bn fund to fight ...

Continued from Page 1

TOPSHOTS Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik gives final touches on a sand sculpture in honour of Pakistani girl Malala Yousufzai at Puri beach, some 65 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, on October 16, 2012.

In an attack which outraged the world, Malala was shot on a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of the Swat valley October 9 as a punishment for campaigning for the right to an education. —AFP

Iran claims ‘dozens’ of its drones reached Israel TEHRAN: A senior Iranian military official claimed yesterday that Iranian-made surveillance drones have made dozens of apparently undetected flights into Israeli airspace from Lebanon in recent years to probe air defenses and collect reconnaissance data. An Israeli official rejected the account. The Iranian official declined to give further details on the purported missions or the capabilities of the drones, including whether they were similar to the unmanned aircraft launched last week by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and downed by Israeli warplanes. It also was impossible to independently verify the claims from the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The Iranian assertions appear to be part of the Islamic Republic’s widening strategy to boast about military advances - including warships and longer-range drones that Tehran says could reorder the balance of power in the region as the West and its allies boost pressure over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran’s leaders also seek to portray Israel as vulnerable to Tehran and its proxies.

But an Israeli security official rejected the Iranian claims, saying last week’s interception of a drone was the first time such an infiltration had occurred. He said Israel spotted the unmanned aircraft well before it entered Israeli airspace, determined it was not “dangerous” and then shot it down over uninhabited desert according

to plan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because an Israeli military investigation is still under way.

The Iranian official claimed drones made by the Islamic Republic have made “dozens of flights over Israel” since the summer 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. He said Israeli defenses had been unable to detect the surveillance craft.

“The one that was shot down last week was not the first and will not be the last to fly into Israeli airspace,” the official said.

Iran has often used its military moves to send messages to Israel and the US, which has key bases in Gulf Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Tehran last year sent warships into the Mediterranean Sea for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Last month, Iranian military leaders gave details of a new long-range drone and tested fired four anti-ship missiles just before US-led naval drills in the Gulf. At the time, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander, Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh, also warned that US bases in the Gulf could face retaliatory strikes if Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear sites.

Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Rahmin Mehmanparast described Iran’s military developments, including drones and missiles capable of reaching Israel, as a safeguard against a possible Israeli attack on nuclear sites.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu last month urged the international community to set a “red line” on Iran’s uranium

enrichment, which the West and its allies fear could lead to the development of atomic weapons. Iran says its nuclear efforts are only for energy and research.

“Basically, the possibility of a war breaking out increases when countries don’t have the might to defend themselves. But when countries are powerful ... the possibility of aggression decreases,” Mehmanparast told reporters. A member of the Iranian parliament, Abbas Ali Mansouri, said the drone’s flight also showed Hezbollah’s growing battlefield capabilities as Tehran’s main client militia. Hezbollah could take an even higher profile for Iran if Syrian rebels oust Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus, another critical ally for the Islamic Republic. “It’s crucial that Hezbollah is able to gather remarkable intelligence from inside Israel,” he said. At the United Nations, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosnor called Assad, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a “trio of terror”.

The Hezbollah drone flight took place a month after Iran unveiled a new longrange unmanned aircraft, which has been described by military officials as a key strategic addition to Iran’s military capabilities with the ability to carry out reconnaissance missions or be armed with “bombs and missiles”. The Shahed129, or Witness-129, has a range of 2,000 km that can stay aloft for 24 hours, Iranian officials say. —AP

Oppn vows more demos, MoI blames ...

Continued from Page 1 Three of the men were referred to hospital to receive medical treatment for wounds they sustained from beatings by police. Initially, it was reported that six men had been arrested and that police officials agreed to release them after a brief interrogation. But the officials changed their mind after midnight amid hectic negotiations with former MPs. The interior ministry charged in a statement yesterday that it was protesters who started the clashes with police and said that a number of policemen as well as protesters were wounded. The ministry said it had arrested some of the troublemakers and agitators who provoked the clashes and who pelted stones and bottles at security men who exercised extreme patience and restraint. Riot police late Monday used batons to beat up opposition protesters as they marched in a procession following a rally outside the National Assembly against an attempt to change the electoral constituency law. Opposition activists have claimed that it was the riot police who sparked the confrontation as they tried to stop the peaceful march.

Around 200 protesters gathered at the “Square of Will” opposite the Assembly late yesterday as a show of solidarity with those arrested and to protest the use of force by the riot police. The protest was called by the National Front for Safeguarding the Constitution, an umbrella for all opposition groups. Around 11 former MPs, including Musallam Al-Barrak and Waleed AlTabtabaei, will today morning file a complaint against the commander of the elite special forces Ali Madi, accusing him of illegally beating the protesters and kid-

napping some of them. Barrak said the opposition has evidence to prove its claims in the form of a video tape, claiming that it was Madi who provoked the young protesters.

The new developments came amid reports that authorities have issued an order to interrogate Barrak by the public prosecution over remarks he made during Monday’s rally that were deemed offensive to the status of HH the Amir. During the rally, Barrak warned against attempts by the government to amend the electoral constituency law to manipulate the polls results in order to elect a rubber-stamp Assembly. The opposition is demanding that the government should issue a decree inviting voters to elect a new Assembly on the basis of the existing electoral constituency law. Barrak also claimed that the government was planning to reduce the number of votes that can be cast by each voter from four to either one or two.

But in their meeting yesterday, the majority ex-MPs strongly condemned Barrak. They also condemned the persistence to carry on with the rally despite the Amir’s request to postpone any activity till the ACD summit currently being held in Kuwait was over. Informed sources said that many members, including former MPs Khaled Al-Sultan, Hamad Al-Mutair and others, criticized Barrak and strongly blamed him, describing what he said as “exceeding all limits’ and stressed that his actions had negatively provoked the public opinion and led to clashes with the police. The sources said that in the meeting, MPs stressed that the opposition’s grouse was with the government and not with the Amir and that, accordingly, all criticism should be directed to the government.

Sabah hospital opens in NY Continued from Page 1 The institute, constructed over a period of five years, has operating rooms with the latest equipment and wards and labs with all imaging technologies needed. It also includes a center for administration, research, and development in the field.

Addressing those present for the opening ceremony, the minister expressed his gratitude to President of St Luke’s - Roosevelt Hospital Frank Cracolici and the hospital’s administration for their follow-up throughout these five years, and expressed particular thanks to Dr Sami Hashim, one of the senior doctors at the hospitals.

Stretching across 15,000 sq ft, the institute also includes an education and training center which has the latest xray and other imaging equipment. “Today is a historical day for us and for the beneficence of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait. I am delighted that this Institute has been possible because of his generosity,” Dr Hashim told KUNA. Frank Cracolici, hospital president, expressed his thanks and gratitude to the Kuwaiti government, especially HH Sheikh Sabah after whom the arrhythmia institute is named, for this “extraordinarily generous and won-

derful gift and for the faith in our hospitals and doctors”.

He also thanked Dr Hashim “without whose commitment and tireless efforts this institute would not have been created”. Cracolici later told KUNA and Kuwait TV: “I see a very exciting future for us going forward and principally focused on clinical, academic, and research. We want complete transparency about what we know, how we do it and share that with our friends, the Kuwaitis.”

Dr Alan Rozanski, Interim Chief of Cardiology, also told those present that “thanks to this wonderful gift from His Highness Sheikh Sabah and the government of Kuwait, we are certainly looking forward to a time very soon when this institute will be a leading arrhythmia centre in New York and neighbouring states and beyond for treatment, research, and education.” Dr Gary Roubin, Director, Cardiovascular Service Line, said the gift is a “cornerstone of our plans. I am confident it will attract patients and referrals from doctors throughout our region.” Dr Bruce Polsky told the gathering that the new Al-Sabah Arrhythmia Institute “significantly advances St Luke’s and Roosevelt’s leadership role in cardiac care and treatment ... and, now, the opportunity to develop new relationships with colleagues in Kuwait.” —KUNA

This will preserve the stability of our countries and permit them to achieve ambitious and effective levels of growth.”

“Today, we find that we are called upon to develop the mechanism of our cooperation, taking into consideration the visions and the common determination commensurate with our deeply rooted relations that characterized the ministerial meetings, and enabling us to advance our joint work to a wider horizon,” Sheikh Sabah said.

In this regard, he called for submitting scenarios and concepts consistent with the size of responsibilities in order to pave the way for their implementation.

“In this concern, Kuwait has the pleasure to host any mechanism which would be agreed upon by experts of our countries in their coming meeting. Achieving the economic cooperation we desire requires the creation of an investment-friendly environment and the necessary enactment of legislations to promote such environments, to stimulate intra-regional trade between our countries, as well as attention to infrastructure common to our countries, particularly in the fields of transportation and communication that will increase the exchange of goods and services,” Sheikh Sabah underlined in his speech.

The Amir said that optimal realization of the potential of Asian countries and their cooperation is in the realization of economic integration, which will enable the establishment of strong and robust economies, able to meet challenges and overcome obstacles. “In addition, it will accomplish a qualitative move in raising the standards of living of the peoples of the continent. “It should be noted, that the greatest challenge we face is the accelerating population growth in our continent, that has exceeded 60 percent of the total population of the world. This places a burden on our efforts and development plans to achieve the development and progress of our continent. Consequently, this makes it incumbent upon us to work without delay in devising the necessary plans for the optimum utilization of human and natural resources in our Asian continent.”

Sheikh Sabah said that the modern world in general, and the Asian continent in particular, face serious problems, such as poverty, inadequate healthcare, illiteracy, wars and environmental problems. “They are obstacles that hampered development in our continent and delayed the fulfillment of what we desire for our countries and peoples. We are still suffering the consequences of an economic crisis that did not spare any of our countries, increasing the numbers of unemployed persons, thus increasing the level of poverty among the peoples of our continent. This increases the responsibilities we bear, and prompt us to act without delay to achieve economic integration between our countries by providing work opportunities and job security.”

In order to face repercussions of this crisis, the Amir noted that what is required is to participate in drawing up a new map for a new financial order that accomplishes progress and modernity, by keeping pace with the most sophisticated international standards and the best banking and fiscal practices. “We are also called upon to work collectively to combat diseases and epidemics, help the states that need vaccines and medicines in order to prepare a healthy Asia capable of contributing to the achievement of sustainable social and economic development of our countries.

HH the Amir also called upon to devise comprehensive strategies that will raise the level of education and correlate the needs of Asian societies in terms of manpower and educational output. “We must exert every effort to reform our environment, and to use modern technology to meet the challenges of the successive climate changes for the achievement of the security of our environment. Aware as we are of the importance of cooperation in the field of development, and the goals that the Asia Cooperation Dialogue seek to achieve, including combating poverty and improving the level of living for the people of Asia, I seize the opportunity of this meeting today.”

Sheikh Sabah suggested assigning one of the development institutions in Asia, such as the Asian Development Bank, to manage the proposed financial resources, as well as supervise their utilization in implementing projects in the interest of the Least Developed Countries that benefit exclusively from the resources of the Bank and are the most in need of these resources. “In this context, I am pleased to announce the contribution of Kuwait to this program in the amount of 300 million dollars. It is my hope that we can provide the proposed amount through contributions from member states of the ACD Forum.

Furthermore, Kuwait; keen on furthering its cooperation with the Asian countries, is willing to join the Asian Development Bank Group.”

“Our continent has suffered from devastating wars that have exhausted our economies, claimed the lives of many of our citizens, and led to the hampering of development in our countries. In those wars that accomplished nothing but death, destruction and degradation - we were all the biggest losers.

From this podium, we call for the language of reason and dialogue to prevail, as well as to distance our countries from ruin and destruction by respecting our charters, agreements and conventions and by resolving our differences by peaceful means without interfering in the internal affairs of one another, to present to the world an upgraded model for dealing with crises and the ability to overcome them in a manner that preserves the integrity of our countries, the sophistication of our societies, and the prosperity of our economies.”

Sheikh Sabah underlined that the demonstration of the deep-rootedness and integration of Asia is the distinguished feature of incorporating a diversity of cultures, civilizations and religions, despite their different ethnicities and religions, as the people of Asia are accustomed to coexist among each other, thereby reinforcing the principle that “knowing each other is better than ignoring each other, and coexistence is better than fighting, and standing by each other is better than being rivals of each other”.

“Such principles must be emphasized, and their implementation encouraged. No life can be just if one of us attempts to deny or abolish the other.

Moreover, adhering to the principles of human rights, as the fundamental pillar of a free and digni-

fied life, considering the rights and freedom they contain, shall provide stability to our countries and peace of mind to our people,” he added.

Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai hoped Asian countries will contribute for the good of the entire continent, and look into ACD potentials to explore further cooperation. He noted cultural and civilization diversity in the Asian continent, hoping dialogue within ACD strengthened regional cooperation “for our continent and beyond”. The President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon said he was confident the ACD - which consists of 32 countries - can have inter-governmental dialogue at the highest level.

Tajikistan, he said, believed cooperation within ACD will contribute to economic integration between Asian countries. “It is necessary to have new initiatives to expand our economies,” he said.

Rahmon said opportunity in transport, communication and infrastructure could contribute to further develop Asian countries. Asia, he said, could enhance global economic growth, and capable of resolving challenges facing the Asian people. Other domains of cooperation between the Asian countries include security, technology, information technology, agriculture, environment and tourism, said the president.

Addressing the ACD summit’s evening session, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expressed full support for the ACD. He said the unprecedented political and economic challenges needed to be addressed through outlining a mechanism to “strengthen our capabilities”. Yassin said one of the major challenges facing Asia was food security.

He called for boosting food chains and supplies coupled with investment in infrastructure projects.

The other challenge, he noted, was the global economic crisis which was negatively affecting countries around the globe. “We should exert efforts to address other economic problems and reform the global financial system.” Yassin said ACD countries should boost competitiveness by using all resources and safeguarding their values. He said Malaysia seeks to transform the Asian community into an active player around the globe.

Saudi deputy foreign minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah, who heads his country’s delegation to the ACD summit, said the financial crisis and rising food prices were the main issue dominating the international arena, noting that the international community has issued many decisions to overcome this crisis.

As for food security, he said, Saudi Arabia donated $500 million in aid of 62 countries to overcome this problem. Prince Abdulaziz praised the Asian economic development and called for need to cooperate in smart energy. Saudi Arabia, he added, was keen on oil prices stability as energy security equalled stability of supply and demand.

In his speech, the Special Representative of the Chinese President called for cooperation among Asian countries to make Asia stronger and boost knowledge and cultural dialogue among Asian nations. “We have more capabilities to grow, and that illustrated during the past decade of cooperation and dialogue. Therefore, we should try to resolve social and economic disagreements and work with more transparency,” he said. He stressed the need to face any crisis, as witnessed in northern Asia, Africa and Europe, “which threatened our stability and development”.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf referred to Asia’s huge potential. “It’s time to exploit it and develop its nations in all fields,” he said. Ashraf said that the time had come to the put the spotlight on Asian resources and protect them through setting policies and strategies and to address the financial crisis, adding that his country would host the Second World Summit on energy this year. He called for optimal use of water resources to maintain them in the future and the preservation of the environment and sustainable development.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Asian countries should be capable of running the world because they were the victims of two world wars and discrimination exercised by the world on the political, economic and social domains. Asia is still suffering from crises like in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to challenges at social level like terrorism, drugs, natural disasters and family troubles, he said. The Asian continent has large assets of energy, transport networks and agriculture, said Ahmadinejad. The people of Asia, added the Iranian leader, should rely on their giant cultural, human and production capabilities to overcome all challenges. He added that ACD countries should boost trade and economic exchange, as well as overcome all obstacles facing this exchange, like reducing custom tariffs. Ahmadinejad urged ACD members to explore means of tackling financial and economic problems, as well as contribute to sustainable economic development.

Senior parliamentary secretary at Singapore’s ministry of foreign affairs Sam Tan Chin Siong said his country was seeking to develop the Asian community and the development of member states, thus improving level of interdependence among Asian countries.

He added that the time has come to exploit Asian resources, and called for taking necessary steps to address the economic crisis.

Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed expressed his belief that the new century was “the century of Asia”, which would play a key role in world economies. “We must design our ideas in the form of effective collaborative programs,” he said, expressing India’s readiness to turn this challenge into reality. “We need to achieve security, peace and cooperation through programs and ideas of this summit, which offers opportunities for Asian dialogue to play an active role in global economies.

Development issues are mainly concentrated on new technologies that have a significant impact on development of industries.”

He stressed that his country attached great importance to transport among Asian countries and has begun a new project to transport connectivity among member states through a network of roads and railways and a strong infrastructure. Ahamed stressed the keenness of India to support a shared vision for the development of Asian dialogue in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture, education, financial and economic cooperation, the environment and other “and we have to adopt the perspective of immediate coordination between member states”.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

sp orts Barca against playing Super Cup in China

Rumors of Drogba swoop BEIJING: Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is not a transfer target for Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande, coach Marcello Lippi has said. The Italian told local media there was no substance behind rumors he was planning a raid for Ivory Coast talisman Drogba, who plays for Guangzhou’s rivals Shanghai Shenhua.

“I know nothing about Didier Drogba’s move,” Lippi told Xinhua news agency. “I have never contacted him myself or via anybody since I took charge of Guangzhou.”

According to Chinese media speculation, Lippi has been monitoring Drogba, whose future at Shanghai was thrown into doubt recently due an equity stake row among shareholders.

The China Daily claimed Shenhua chairman Zhu Jun had blogged: “Somebody finally came to make a bid (for Drogba).”

Drogba has scored eight goals in 10 appearances since his shock move to China, while Guangzhou’s summer signing Lucas Barrios has disappointed. —Reuters

MADRID: Barcelona are not prepared to play the Spanish Super Cup in Beijing next year despite a preliminary agreement between the soccer federation (RFEF) and a Chinese promoter, a club spokesman said yesterday.

The federation announced in June it had sealed a preliminary accord with Chinese promoter United Vansen International Sport for the two-legged, season-opening tie, which pits the La Liga champions against the King’s Cup holders, to be played in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium. They did not publish financial details but Spanish media reported that the deal, which has a seven-year duration, would net the RFEF around 40 million euros ($51.74 million).

“We are not talking about the way the money is shared out, but everything seems to suggest that if we go to China we will lose money, but that’s not the reason,” Barca spokesman Toni Freixa told a news conference.

“We don’t want the Super Cup to be played far away from the club members, but we understand that the federation wants to do business in an attractive market,” he added.

“Barca does not want to play the Super Cup in China for social and sporting reasons, because the technical staff don’t want it.” —Reuters

Player gets worldwide ban ZURICH: Nicaragua defender Armando Collado’s life ban for match-fixing, initially imposed at national level by his own federation, has been extended worldwide by FIFA, soccer’s governing body said yesterday.

Collado, 26, had been banned by the Nicaragua Football Federation (Fenifut) “in relation to the friendly match... between Nicaragua and Guatemala on 4 September 2010”, FIFA said in a statement. Guatemala won the game in Florida 5-0.

Fenifut originally banned Collado in January last year. It said only that he had been banned for “acts against sport and honor of the country” but did not specifically mention match-fixing. Collado, born in El Salvador, complained to Nicaraguan media that he had been given no explanation as to the reasons for his ban.

However, further details emerged over the course of the next 18 months in media reports.

In July last year, Salvadoran newspaper El Grafico named Collado as one of four members of a Singapore-based gang who tried to bribe players to manipulate matches in the CONCACAF Champions League. —Reuters

Slide sparks Giants past Cardinals to even NLCS

Thrilling win for TOYOTA HYBRID in Fuji FIJI: TOYOTA Racing won a thrilling Six Hours of Fuji from pole position to delight its home fans in Japan and secure a third victory in its debut FIA World Endurance Championship season.

The No. 7 TS030 HYBRID had been quickest in all but one of the official sessions prior to the race and drivers Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima set the standard again in the race, setting the fastest lap in the process.

A victory by 11.223 secs gave Kazuki the honor of becoming the first Japanese winner of an FIA world championship race since 1992, when Hitoshi Ogawa won a World Sportscar Championship race in the TOYOTA TS010 at Monza.

It is TOYOTA’s third win in world championship endurance racing, following that Monza win and victory in Sao Paulo earlier this season.

An exciting race ended in TOYOTA Racing’s favor, giving an emotional win just a few kilometres from Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre, where the TOYOTA HYBRID System - Racing is developed.

According to Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Team President: “Since the beginning of this programme, I have looked forward to the Six Hours of Fuji and always I targeted victory. To have such an exciting race and win in front of our home fans is a very special feeling. The whole team performed really well and stayed focused

despite the extra pressures of our home race. Alex, Nico and Kazuki fought for the whole race and I very proud of them, particularly Kazuki because he was not in Sao Paulo to enjoy our first win.”

TOYOTA led from the start with Alex, on the team’s second pole position of the season, holding the advantage through turn one. Using the 300hp boost from the TOYOTA HYBRID System - Racing, he set about pulling away from the pack.

A close fight with the No.1 Audi ensued through the first pit stops and driver changes. Taking a second stint on the same tyres, Nicolas handed lead over to Kazuki through to the half-distance point.

Kazuki took advantage in style by clocking a series of fastest laps. He kept up a blistering pace to stay in the fight for victory and completed a mammoth triple stint of almost three hours, maintaining his impressive speed to take the chequered flag in first place.

The drivers were joined on the winners’ podium by Takeshi Uchiyamada, Vice Chairman of TOYOTA Motor Corporation, hybrid pioneer and the man responsible for the TOYOTA Prius. The eighth and final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship takes place at the Shanghai International Circuit in China on 28 October. Alex and Nicolas will drive the No.7 TS030 HYBRID, with Kazuki competing in a Super GT race at Motegi.

Batsmen face ‘baptism of fire’ in Australia — coach SYDNEY: Top order batsmen will face a “baptism of fire” in South Africa’s upcoming tour Down Under as the world’s two best pace line-ups face off, Australian coach Mickey Arthur said yesterday.

Australia are hoping to reclaim cricket’s world number one ranking over a packed Test schedule in the year ahead, starting with the first of three against top-ranked South Africa in Brisbane on November 9. “It’s going to be about the batters,” Arthur said of the series.

“It is going to be about which top six can adapt better, which top six is going to be more consistent over the three Test series. I think both top sixes are in for a real baptism of fire.”

Arthur said the ability of the Australian batsmen to hold off South Africa’s bowling line up, which includes pacemen Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, was an opportunity to prove themselves.

On Australia’s side, selector John Inverarity said there could be as many as five pace bowlers in the squad for the first Test at the Gabba, with James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Starc all in the mix. “We’re just delighted that we’ve got the pace bowling on tap that we have,” Inverarity said.

The toughest choice for Australian selectors will be that of wicket-keeper and whether to name the more experienced Brad Haddin over Matthew Wade.

“We are aware of all the factors; I mean the fact that Matthew is 24 and rising and Brad turns 35 about now,” Inverarity said. “Obviously Matthew is more for the future, but we’re very focused on who deserves and who will be best against

South Africa.” Cricket Australia also defended its decision to withdraw Shane Watson midway through the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa to have the all-rounder fresh and rested for the upcoming Test campaign at home. “We need Shane to be best prepared for that first Test match,” Arthur said of Watson, 31, who has proven himself with bat and ball in all forms of cricket and is a star of the Indian Premier League.

“For us right now his best preparation is coming back and playing some redball cricket.” South-African born Arthur admitted there was an extra incentive for him to “get one over” the Proteas in the upcoming series.

“On a personal level for me, I guess it has a little bit of extra spice to play against the country of your birth, the country that I coached for five years,” he told journalists in Sydney.

But he said “first and foremost” the series was about Australia getting back to the top position in international cricket. Australia dominated world cricket from 1995 but its fortunes dived after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden retired, culminating in a 3-1 Ashes defeat at home in the 2010/11 season.

There have been recent signs of a revival with a 4-0 whitewash of India last summer at home and the emergence of a new generation of rising stars such as Pattinson, David Warner and Pat Cummins.

“We have a massive opportunity here to get back to number one in the world and that’s what this series is going to be about,” Arthur said. —AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: Marco Scutaro stayed steady behind second base, absorbing Matt Holliday’s hard takeout slide and tossing the ball to first for a possible double play.

As Scutaro squirmed in the infield, twisting in pain, fans at AT&T Park showered Holliday with boos. Giants players watched and worried, fearing the worst for a fallen teammate.

Manager Bruce Bochy and trainer Dave Groeschner ran out of the dugout to attend to Scutaro, who finally dusted off the dirt and stood up strongly. And just like that, so did San Francisco’s offense.

Scutaro singled in two runs during a fourrun fourth inning before leaving with a hip injury, sparking San Francisco’s first home win this postseason, 7-1 over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night to tie the NL championship series at one game apiece.

“We felt for him,” center fielder Angel Pagan said. “We felt a little bit of anger.” All those feelings came crashing down on the Cardinals in a hurry.

Scutaro left after the fifth because of a left hip he injured on a play Giants manager Bruce Bochy felt was illegal. X-rays were negative, and Scutaro likely will get an MRI exam on Tuesday.

There was no word on his status, but closer Sergio Romo said when Scutaro left, the second baseman “had a little smile on his face that he’d be back. Definitely not really worried right now.” “In my opinion,” right fielder Hunter Pence said, “it pumped us up a little bit.”

The series now shifts to St. Louis for three games, starting Wednesday when San Francisco ace Matt Cain takes on Kyle Lohse of the Cardinals, and the Giants are already rallying behind the slide against Scutaro. Things got testy when Holliday barreled into Scutaro at second base to break up the potential double play in the first inning. The play riled up fans that had seen three straight losses by the Giants so far this postseason and still hold fresh - and sensitive - memories of the home-plate collision that sidelined All-Star catcher Buster Posey most of last season.

“In hindsight, I wish I would have started the slide a little earlier, but it happened so fast,” Holliday said. “I hope he’s OK, he’s a good guy. I was more interested in breaking up the double play.” There was plenty to cheer all night for Giants supporters. Ryan Vogelsong pitched seven strong innings, Pagan hit a leadoff homer to give San Francisco its first home lead this postseason and Scutaro stayed in until breaking the game open with his single off Chris Carpenter.

“That shows you how tough he is,” Bochy said. “I really think they got away with an illegal slide there. That rule was changed a while back.

And he really didn’t hit dirt until he was past the bag. Marco was behind the bag and got smoked. It’s a shame somebody got hurt because of this. That’s more of a roadblock.”

Making Scutaro’s hit even sweeter for the Giants was the fact that Holliday misplayed the ball in left field, allowing a third run to score on the error and Scutaro to advance to second.

“There’s baseball gods. There’s definitely

baseball gods,” said former Giants first baseman and current special assistant Will Clark, whose takeout slide in July 2008 of St. Louis second baseman Jose Oquendo, now the Cardinals third base coach, set off a brawl.

“There’s a reason why he hits a (single) and Holliday boots the ball he hit. Baseball gods shine in weird ways.”

The Giants also benefited from a missed call by an umpire in the eighth inning after St. Louis center fielder Jon Jay made a spectacular, diving catch to rob Brandon Crawford of a hit.

Jay threw toward first and the Cardinals should have gotten a double play, but first base umpire Bill Miller did not see Allen Craig tag Gregor Blanco’s jersey as he raced back to first on the play.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny argued the call and the umpires huddled to discuss it, but they kept the safe call even though replays showed Craig made the tag. The Giants capitalized when Ryan Theriot hit a two-run single to make it 7-1. “I’m not going to take a hard stance one way or another on the replay,” Matheny said.

“That really wasn’t the game today,” he said.

“But every once in a while there’s a big play that does change the course of the game and I’m not against having something else to help get it right.” Back at Busch Stadium, Holliday

slowly hit balls you’re going to get hit. You don’t want anyone to get hurt, but I’m all for playing the game hard.”

Vogelsong got out of the jam by retiring Yadier Molina on a groundout to short. “I just really was trying to make the next pitch to get the guy out so we could get him in the dugout,” Vogelsong said.

Scutaro stayed in the game with a limp until being replaced in the sixth by Theriot. By then, he had done his damage with the bat in the big fourth inning.

The rally started innocently enough with a bloop, opposite field double by Brandon Belt and a chopper over third baseman David Freese by Blanco. Crawford then hit a bouncer between the mound and first base that Carpenter fielded and threw short and left of first base, allowing Belt to score. It appeared Crawford may have impeded Carpenter by running slightly inside the baseline, but the Cardinals did not argue the play.

After Vogelsong’s sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third, Pagan walked to load the bases with two outs and Scutaro lined his single to left-center that Holliday misplayed to the delight of Giants fans, putting Carpenter and the Cardinals into a 5-1 hole.

“He’s a clutch hitter, he always has been, I know that since he’s been over here,” Carpenter

SAN FRANCISCO: Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro (19) throws to first as he is taken out by St. Louis Cardinals’ Matt Holliday (7) during Game 2 of baseball’s National League championship series. —AP will be cheered after being the target of boos all night following his aggressive play on the basepaths.

With runners on first and second and one out in the first, Craig hit a bouncer to Crawford, and the shortstop quickly flipped to Scutaro for the forceout. Holliday, a former high school football star in Oklahoma, came tumbling in and slid late into Scutaro, buckling his left leg to prevent the double play.

“A lot of guys take pride in breaking up double plays. Holliday is one of them,” Cardinals second baseman Daniel Descalso said. “On

said. “He’s not going to miss those opportunities.” Vogelsong made the lead hold up by becoming the first Giants starter to make it through six innings this postseason. He allowed four hits and one run for his first career postseason win.

These teams have a history of contentious meetings in the NLCS, from Jeffrey Leonard’s one-flap down home run trot in 1987 that riled up the Cardinals to a benches-clearing dustup 10 years ago when St. Louis reliever Mike Crudale buzzed Kenny Lofton after he showboated on a home run. — AP

Tendulkar to be given Australia honor Yuvraj smashed 208

Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar

NEW DELHI: India’s record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar is to be conferred with membership of the Order of Australia, visiting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in New Delhi yesterday. Gillard, currently on a three-day state visit to India, told reporters that Tendulkar deserved the “special honor” because he was a “very special cricketer”. “Cricket is of course a great bond between Australia and India. We are both cricket-mad nations,” she said.

“I am very pleased that we are going to confer on Sachin Tendulkar the membership of the Order of Australia. “This is a very special honor very rarely awarded to someone who is not an Australian citizen or an Australian national.” The award will be conferred on the 39-year-old Tendulkar during Australian minister Simon Crean’s upcoming visit to India, Gillard said. There was no immediate comment from Tendulkar, who is in South Africa representing the Mumbai Indians team in the Twenty20 Champions League.

Tendulkar has scored a world record Test (15,553) and one-day (18,426) runs and has also compiled an unprecedented 100 international centuries. West Indies batting great Brian Lara was honoured with the membership of the Order of Australia in 2009. Former

attorney-general Soli Sorabjee is the only other Indian to have received the award.

Tendulkar’s popularity in Australia was cemented when legendary cricketer Don Bradman said he was reminded of his own batting after watching the Indian play.

Meanwhile, cancer survivor Yuvraj Singh smashed 208 on his return to first-class cricket to stake a claim on Monday in India’s team for next month’s Test series against England.

The left-hander hit 33 boundaries and three sixes for North Zone before being dismissed on the second day of the four-day Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone in Hyderabad. Yuvraj, 30, who was judged man of the tournament in India’s 50-over World Cup triumph last year, was treated for a rare germcell cancer between his lungs in the United States earlier this year.

He returned after energy-sapping chemotherapy treatment in April and by August had been fast-tracked into the Indian team for the recent World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Yuvraj ended the tournament with 66 runs in four innings and claimed eight wickets in five matches, the second highest among I ndian bowlers after seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji’s nine wickets. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

S P ORT S

Springsteen’s daughter gets on her high horse PARIS: “There’s nothing I am as passionate about as equestrianism,” says Jessica Springsteen, whose talent for showjumping is marking her out as more than “just” the daughter of rock legend Bruce Springsteen.

The younger Springsteen took part in a weekend international showjumping competition (CSI) at Saint-Lo in western France, giving her new purchase, Vindicat W, its competition debut two months after the 10-year-old gelding, then ridden by Peter Charles, helped Britain to a first Olympic team showjumping gold medal since 1952.

Springsteen, whose father shot to fame with working class anthems such as “Born to Run” and “Born in the USA”, inherited her love of horses from her mother, singer-songwriter Patti Scialfa, who was at Saint-Lo to watch.

“We moved to a farm in New Jersey and it’s there that I first started to ride horses, first for pleasure

then competitively,” explained the 20-year-old, who was a reserve for the US team at the London Games.

“I had a few problems with my first pony. He often made me fall and preferred to graze,” she added. “I had my first jumper aged 13. I went jumping as soon as I could after class and participated in competitions at the weekend.

“I took three months out to go to Wellington (in Florida) to take part in the winter circuit. For me, at that stage it wasn’t a passion, just natural.”

Three years ago, psychology student Jessica began collaborating with Laura Kraut, a 2008 Beijing Games team gold medallist and made her bow for the US national squad.

The price of her purchase of Vindicat W in September was not revealed, although top class showjumpers have of late been changing hands for as much as six million euros ($7.8 million).

“Laura thought Vindicat W was a horse just made for me. She has an unbelievable eye. She knows

how I jump so well that she knew he would be just right for me,” she said.

Springsteen’s rise to prominence has not gone unnoticed, with upmarket British magazine Town and Country calling her part of “the new horsey set” in a feature on what they called “Risky Rich Girls” taking part in “the most dangerous Olympic game”.

Also mentioned were Zara Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, Jennifer Gates, whose father is the Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s daughter Georgina and Princess Caroline of Monaco’s daughter Charlotte Casiraghi.

Phillips won equestrian team gold with the British team in London. Springsteen has come through the ranks in recent months and only just missed out on a place on the Olympic roster, spending much of the second half of this year in the saddle, with her studies for the moment playing second fiddle. “Of course it’s a sport which demands a

lot of work, especially when you are trying to combine riding and studies. But I always loved competition,” she explained.

“I wanted to get to know my horses better and see them in competition. I’ve two years of studies remaining so I am going to continue to merge these two lives a little longer,” she said.

“Really, there’s nothing I am as passionate about as equestrianism.” Springsteen admitted that she was surprised at the fuss made in Europe over the daughter of a major star riding compared to the low-key treatment her events receive Stateside.

At Saint-Lo-designed as a warm-up before the indoor season in North America-horse and rider completed a perfect run a day after dropping five penalty points.

“Vindicat W will stay in North America while Wish and my Grand Prix mount Vornado van de Hoendrink will compete at the CSI meetings at Stuttgart and Paris,” said Springsteen.— AFP

Broncos shock Chargers in NFL’s biggest comeback

NEWMARKET: Richard Hughes in this file photo dated October 6, 2012. Irish jockey Richard Hughes won seven of the eight races at Windsor Racecourse on Monday. — AP

Jockey Hughes wins seven races in one day WINDSOR: Irish jockey Richard Hughes won seven of the eight races at Windsor Racecourse on Monday, a feat that commanded odds of 10,168-1.

Bookmaker Paddy Power says Hughes cost the firm about 750,000 pounds ($1.2 million), with one person winning 85,000 pounds ($136,400).

“It’s great to do it - I always said I might do it one day at Windsor, my lucky track,” Hughes told the At The Races television channel. “Without Richard Hannon I wouldn’t be doing any of it. Every day my kid, Harvey, says, ‘How many winners today? Six or seven?’ I tell him I won’t ride that many, but I have today... what a thrill.”

Hughes won the first race on 13-8 joint-favorite Pivotal Movement and the second with 5-2 favorite East Texas Red, with both horses trained by father-in-law Richard Hannon.

Further victories came on Embankment (7-1), Magic Street (4-1 favorite) and Links Drive Lady (5-2 favorite). After finishing third on Ever Fortune, Hughes was back in winning form half an hour later on Duke Of Clarence (7-4 favorite) before rounding off an unforgettable day on Mama Quilla (15-8).

Jockey Frankie Dettori won seven out of seven races in one day at Ascot in 1996. “That was probably the cheapest seventimer ever for the bookies,” said Kate Miller, a spokeswoman for bookmaker William Hill. “The last time a high-profile jockey rode a big seven-timer it cost us 7 million pounds ($11.2 million), so we’re very grateful that Richard timed his on a quiet Monday.

“We’ll pay out around 100,000 pounds ($160,500) but the figure could easily have been 10 times that if he’d chosen this Saturday instead.”— AP

SAN DIEGO: Down 24-0 at halftime, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos reveled after one of the biggest comebacks in NFL regular-season history. On the flip side, the San Diego Chargers were saddled with an enormous collapse.

Manning threw three touchdown passes in the second half and Tony Carter and Chris Harris scored off turnovers

by Philip Rivers as the Broncos overcame a 24-0 halftime deficit to shock the Chargers 35-24 on Monday night.

Asked if he’d ever been a part of such a big comeback, Carter replied: “Only in Pop Warner football.” It took a quarterback of Manning’s caliber to pull this one out.

“It sure was special considering what was on the line,” said Manning, a Super Bowl winner and four-time NFL MVP who’s in his first season with the Broncos.

Manning was 13 of 14 for 167 yards in the second half for the Broncos (3-3) who tied the Chargers (3-3) atop the AFC West. It tied for the fourth-biggest regular-season comeback in NFL history. Manning had been 1-5 in his last six games against San Diego, all with Indianapolis.

Rivers was intercepted four times ‚ three in the fourth quarter‚ and lost two fumbles. The four pickoffs and six turnovers were both career highs.

A week earlier, the Chargers blew a 10-point lead in the third quarter in a 31-24 loss at New Orleans. “When you lose it’s rough, especially in a game where you had a big lead and so much at stake,” Rivers said. “It’s bad,” San Diego linebacker Takeo Spikes said. “Every adjective you can come up with as far as disappointment, it covers it.”

The Broncos seemed finished after an awful first half in which Manning served up an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown by Quentin Jammer and two special teams fumbles led to 10 points for the Chargers.

“I thought we had a good plan. It was so disappointing to have these special team mistakes,” Manning said.

Manning began the comeback when he hit Demaryius Thomas on a 29-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the second half.

On the ensuing San Diego possession, Elvis Dumervil stripped the ball from Rivers and Carter ran 65 yards for a touchdown, holding up the ball in celebration as he approached the end zone.

Denver then sacked Rivers to force a punt and Manning capped the next drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker to pull to 24-21.

Manning’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley gave Denver its first lead of the game, 28-24 with 9:03 left.

Stokley outleaped defensive back Marcus Gilchrist to catch the ball, and then got both feet down before tumbling out of the end zone. That score was set up by Carter’s interception.

Harris sealed the victory with a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:05 left. It was his second pick of the game. “This was as good a second half of football as I’ve been involved in,” Broncos coach John Fox said.

As for Manning, “He’s real high on my list,” the coach said. “He performed very well and has performed well in the last four games. He’s going to keep getting better and better.”

Manning finished 24 of 30 for 309 yards with one interception. “Regular-season game, I think this is the best,” said Stokley, who was a teammate of Manning’s with the Colts.

“The second half was unbelievable. We needed to win bigtime and to perform like he did, it was awesome.”

Fox said there “were no mystery words of wisdom at halftime. “Given how poorly we played in the first half, we just said we could play better in the second half and we broke out of it.” Manning agreed.

“We came out in the second half, everybody was accountable and professional,” he said. “We had 30 minutes and I thought it was important to get off to a good start with that first drive. Hitting DT for the touchdown really set the tempo for the second half.” Both teams head into their bye week.

“We feel fortunate to be tied for first place in our division at 3-3,” Manning said. “It’s going to be a competitive division down the stretch. There are some things we can improve on and we’ll use the bye week to do that.”

Jammer intercepted Manning and returned it 80 yards for his first career touchdown, and Antonio Gates caught his second TD pass of the game in the second quarter, extending the Chargers’ lead to 24-0. Before Jammer’s TD, the Broncos appeared on their way to their first score of the game with Manning’s 55-yard pass to a wide-open Decker. But Decker tripped himself at the Chargers’ 40, got up and was tackled at the 30-yard line.

Manning clapped both hands to his helmet in disbelief, one of several times the star quarterback expressed frustration. “A piece of grass made a nice tackle,” Manning joked.

“Those kind of plays happen. You do kind of wonder, is this not meant to happen? Obviously Decker was sick about it.

“It’s about playing 60 minutes. There’s no quit in this team,” Manning said.

Three plays later, Manning threw a pass straight to Jammer. Manning made a weak effort at a tackle as Jammer went speeding by. Rivers was 25 of 41 for 242 yards. “Right now we’re not able to put together a complete game,” San Diego coach Norv Turner said.— AP

SAN DIEGO: Denver Broncos strong safety Chris Harris (25) reacts after making an interception as free safety Rahim Moore (26) and strong safety Mike Adams (left) watch during the second half of an NFL football game against the San Diego Chargers. — A

NFL standings American Football Conference AFC East W L T OTL PF New England 3 3 0 0 188 NY Jets 3 3 0 0 133 Buffalo 3 3 0 0 137 Miami 3 3 0 2 120 AFC North Baltimore 5 1 0 0 161 Cincinnati 3 3 0 0 149 Pittsburgh 2 3 0 0 116 Cleveland 1 5 0 0 134 AFC South Houston 5 1 0 0 173 Indianapolis 2 3 0 0 100 Tennessee 2 4 0 0 114 Jacksonville 1 4 0 1 65 AFC West Denver 3 3 0 0 170 San Diego 3 3 0 0 148 Oakland 1 4 0 0 87 Kansas City 1 5 0 0 104

PA 137 141 192 117

PCT .500 .500 .500 .500

118 163 115 163

.833 .500 .400 .167

115 145 204 138

.833 .400 .333 .200

138 137 148 183

.500 .500 .200 .167

National Football Conference NFC East NY Giants 4 2 0 0 178 Philadelphia 3 3 0 1 103 Washington 3 3 0 0 178 Dallas 2 3 0 0 94 NFC North Chicago 4 1 0 0 149 Minnesota 4 2 0 0 146 Green Bay 3 3 0 0 154 Detroit 2 3 0 1 126 NFC South Atlanta 6 0 0 0 171 Tampa Bay 2 3 0 0 120 Carolina 1 4 0 0 92 New Orleans 1 4 0 1 141 NFC West Arizona 4 2 0 1 110 Seattle 4 2 0 0 110 San Francisco 4 2 0 0 152 St. Louis 3 3 0 0 110

114 125 173 119

.667 .500 .500 .400

71 117 135 137

.800 .667 .500 .400

113 101 125 154

1.000 .400 .200 .200

97 93 94 111

.667 .667 .667 .500

3rd Red Bull Flugtag, a chance for youth to showcase talent KUWAIT: Major-General Faisal Al Jazzaf, General Director of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports in Kuwait expressed that the 3rd Red Bull Flugtag, held under his patronage, will provide the youth in Kuwait an opportunity to express themselves and to translate their creativity.

Red Bull Flugtag in Kuwait

Major-General Al Jazzaf stressed that the Public Authority for Youth and Sports in Kuwait is always eager to support unique events as they are confident that the youth in Kuwait plays a major role in the society and deserves the opportunity to showcase their talents.

“Red Bull deserves to be praised since they are involving the youth and giving them a platform to participate in unique activities and events in which reflect a civilized side of the state of Kuwait. We are always ready to fully support organizers that are willing to conduct

events for the youth and follow the footsteps of Red Bull,” said Major-General Al Jazzaf.

The event sponsored by Wataniya Telecom, Mini and Braun Cruzer will be hosted by Media Anchor Raya Abi Rached presenter of Arabs Got Talent and Scoop along with T V presenter Abdullah Malallah.

All selected teams will fly their planes from a 25 meter long and 6 meters high constructed runway using only human power. Each team, consists of one pilot and 3 assistants, so that he can lead the aircraft while the assistants help to hover as far as possible before landing in the water.

While the sky may be the limit on creativity, there are still a few flight regulations. First off, all flying machines must be entirely humanpowered (no external energy sources or stored power). Second, no matter what they say, size does matter - all crafts must be less than 8 meters wide and must weigh no more than 180 KGs including the pilot. Safety is paramount; therefore all competitors must wear a life jacket and helmet.

Since the first Red Bull Flugtag took place in Vienna, Austria, in 1991, more than 100 Flugtags have been held around the globe, attracting up to 300,000 spectators for a single event.

Major-General Faisal Al Jazzaf

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

S P ORT S

NHL lockout the black cloud on Blixt’s horizon NEW YORK: Having grown up as a ‘wannabe’ ice hockey player, Swedish golfer Jonas Blixt has been totally frustrated by the cancellation of the first two weeks of the 2012-13 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.

While Blixt is riding a wave of exhilaration after winning his first PGA Tour title at the Frys.com Open in San Martin, California on Sunday, the NHL lockout has become an ugly black cloud on his personal horizon.

“I love ice hockey, it’s the greatest sport ever,” PGA Tour rookie Blixt told

reporters after clinching victory by one shot after closing with a three-under-par 68 at CordeValle Golf Club.

“The lockout just kills me right now. I hope they make a deal soon.” Last week, the NHL canceled the first two weeks of the regular season with no end in sight to the labor dispute with locked-out players. The decision impacts 82 games that were scheduled from Oct. 11-24 and marked the first time regular season action has been canceled since a lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season.

Blixt, who became the eighth

Swedish player to win on the PGA Tour, had to give up on his own ice hockey future at the age of 18.

“I was a defender but I never really got big enough or good enough to play ice hockey,” the 28-year-old smiled. “Golf kind of suited me pretty well. I just kept on playing golf and try to make a career out of it.” Blixt, who earned his PGA Tour card for this year by finishing fifth in the 2011 Web.com Tour money list, said his father, Hans Ove, had inspired his golf career. “It’s all my dad,” the Swede added.

“My dad loves the game. He’s the

biggest grinder I know. He always wants to compete. The more pressure you put on him the better he plays.”

Blixt’s first memory of being on a golf course dates back to when he was aged just eight. “My dad took me out and we played 27 holes,” he recalled. “My mom was furious afterwards. She was really nice to me that night, pampering me, but not very nice with my dad.

“Often we just kept on playing until we couldn’t see the ball. It was crazy.

Dad didn’t want to go home; I didn’t want to go home.” Asked how big golf’s

profile was in his native Sweden, Blixt replied: “Soccer is the most popular sport, and then ice hockey. Golf is like the third-most popular sport over there.

“If you’re a guy, you want to play hockey. It’s like baseball over here. The tough guys play hockey, you know, the guys with no teeth. All the girls, they play hockey,” he added with a broad grin. Blixt’s victory on Sunday earned him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a place in next year’s PGA Championship, the fourth and final major of the season.—Reuters

Brazil thump Japan

NEW YORK: Washington Wizards’ forward Earl Barron (30) knocks the ball from Brooklyn Nets’ Brook Lopez (11) during the first half of their NBA preseason basketball game.—AP

Nets snare Wizards in first game in Brooklyn NEW YORK: The Nets brought professional sports back to Brooklyn with a victory Monday night, beating the Washington Wizards 98-88 in the first basketball game at the Barclays Center.

Brook Lopez had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, who left New Jersey after last season for a new $1 billion home in Brooklyn. They were greeted by 14,219 fans on the night they became Brooklyn’s first major pro sports team since the Dodgers left for Los Angeles in 1957.

Clearly trying for a triumphant opener even in a meaningless preseason game, the Nets brought All-Star point guard Deron Williams back on the floor to help protect a six-point lead with about 3 1/2 minutes left.

He fed Gerald Wallace for a basket about 30 seconds later, and exchanged words and technical fouls with Wizards reserve A.J. Price after Price fouled him with 56.5 seconds remaining.

Andray Blatche scored 16 points, Joe Johnson had 14 and Williams finished with 11 points and nine assists for the Nets, 2-0 in the preseason. Martell Webster scored 18 points and rookie Bradley Beal added 13 for the Wizards.

The Nets wore their road black uniforms with the word “Brooklyn” across the chest, designed and unveiled by rap mogul and team part-owner Jay-Z in one of his concerts here last month.

His influence, the new home and a flurry of offseason moves have brought the Nets nearly unprecedented attention for a team that was often ignored in its multiple New Jersey homes, no matter how good or bad the Knicks were during that time.

Shortly after the public address

announcer greeted fans with a “Hello Brooklyn!” before introducing the Nets’ lineup, Emeka Okafor made the first basket at the Barclays Center. The Wizards led by one after one, and the Nets took a 50-48 lead into halftime.

The Nets assembled a team they think will be a solid competitor during their first season here, re-signing Williams, Lopez, Wallace and Kris Humphries while acquiring players such as Johnson, C.J. Watson, Blatche, Reggie Evans, a quick rebuild for a team that lost 70 games just three seasons ago.

The move to Brooklyn took much longer. Owner and developer Bruce Ratner had to fight off dozens of lawsuits before the project could go forward, eventually selling a majority stake in the team to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov for enough funding to move ahead.

Minor work is still being completed, but the Nets will deal with any inconveniences after two years at the Prudential Center in Newark while waiting for the Barclays Center to be ready. “It feels great on all levels to finally be here,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said before the game. “You know, I left the building for two hours today, two or three hours, and just was kind of anxious to get back.” Seating 17,732 for basketball, the arena sits above the exit to an expanded subway station that is directly accessible by nine lines. Team officials believe the ease of traveling to the arena will help provide them with a home-court advantage that they never found in New Jersey. Fans were into the game, with a chant of “Brooklyn!” breaking out late in the fourth quarter.—AP

WROCLAW: Next World Cup hosts Brazil breezed past reigning Asian champions Japan 4-0 in a friendly here yesterday with two goals from Neymar and one each from Paulinho and Kaka.

Corinthians midfielder Paulinho beat Japan’s keeper Eiji Kawashima 12 minutes into the game with a low shot from 20 metres. Santos striker Neymar then struck in the 26th minute, blasting home a penalty awarded after Yasuyuki Konno took down Kaka in the box.

He added another goal just after the break with a weak shot deflected into the net by the Japanese defence. And Kaka made it 4-0 in the 76th minute, bearing down on Kawashima before unleashing a left-footed shot.

Kaka, Real Madrid’s star midfielder, was playing only his second international since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa - having netted last week on his comeback against Iraq.

Brazil’s coach Mano Menezes said: “We played well tactically, the team was good and I’m very happy with the performance. “Japan... are a very strong team, they kept the ball a long time, but we managed to take it away from them.”

Menezes dismissed allegations Brazil were playing defensive football with him at the helm-a claim his team refuted by scoring ten goals in their last two games.

“We know it’s not true,” Menezes said, adding that quality mattered more than goals. “And I’m happy the team plays well no matter who’s against us,” he added.

Japan’s Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni, who like his Menezes was appointed after the last World Cup, said he could only be happy with the experience of playing against such a great team.

“We didn’t want to let them get close to the box, but our plan didn’t work,” said Zaccheroni, who has coached AC Milan and several other SerieA sides.

“Their first two goals came quickly and that probably did some mental damage to the team,” he said, raising doubts about the foul that preceded the penalty kick.

“Today’s game was a very valuable experience for Japan. But I thought we would do better than we did, and we have to think about what we can improve now,” he Zaccheroni.

“I can say positive things about the approach,

(the players) fought for 90 minutes and tried to move the ball,” added the coach. Brazil created more chances in the first half but Paulinho narrowly missed the goal and Kaka sent his shot against the post.

The Auriverde were missing injured defenders Dani Alves and Marcelo, but defence was rarely an issue for them. Japan, four-time Asian champions, had the first shot on goal, but a low effort from CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda was stopped by Brazil keeper Diego Alves. Early in the second half, Honda saw his shot deflected by the defence while Manchester United striker Shinji Kagawa blasted his shot over the crossbar.

Neymar’s acrobatic effort then missed the target and St Petersburg’s Brazilian striker Hulk hit the wall with a left-foot free kick, the ball deflecting onto the post. Lucas, who is due to join big

WROCLAW: Brazil’s Kaka (left) and Japan’s Yasuyuki Konno challenge for the ball during a friendly soccer match.—AP

Senegal kicked out of Africa Cup of Nations PARIS: Senegal have been disqualifed from the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations after crowd trouble forced their qualifier with Ivory Coast to be abandoned, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) governing body said yesterday.

The decision was taken at a CAF disciplinary meeting in Cairo after violence flared in Dakar on Saturday, with Ivory Coast players and fans pelted with stones, bottles and chairs, fires lit in the stands and firecrackers thrown.

“As a result, CAF decided to officially confirm the result of the match as 20 in favour of Ivory Coast... and to consider Senegal the loser of the match and eliminated from the competition,”

the CAF said in a statement on its website. Further sanctions may be taken against the east African side, it added. The violence erupted after Ivory Coast took a 2-0 lead for a 6-2 aggregate advantage in a qualifier for the finals in South Africa. The match was suspended for 40 minutes while police tried to restore order but the referee abandoned the game.

Senegal football chiefs said on Sunday that they would accept any punishment and apologised to Ivory Coast and their fans. The CAF said the decision was in accordance with article 16 paragraph 20 of its rules.

They state: “If the referee is forced

to stop the match before the end of the regular time because of invasion of the field or aggression against the visiting team, the host team shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated from the competition, without prejudice to the sanctions existing in the regulations.”

Ivory Coast will once again be the team to beat when the competition finals begin early next year but it is not a tag the “Elephants” are comfortable wearing, after failing to justfy being favourites in the last four editions of the tournament.

Didier Drogba, who scored against Senegal on Saturday, and his co-stars

Nuggets get past Warriors DENVER: Danilo Gallinari scored 18 points, Corey Brewer had 15 and the Denver Nuggets pulled away late to beat the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.

Stephen Curry had 25 points and Klay Thompson had 21 for the Warriors, shooting a combined 8 for 10 from 3-

spenders Paris St Germain in January, missed the target narrowly after a superb run in stoppage time.

Both teams came to Wroclaw-a city that hosted group-stage games at Euro 2012 in June-following wins in friendlies last week.

Brazil crushed Iraq 6-0 in Malmo, Sweden, last Thursday, while Japan stunned France 1-0 in Paris on Friday. Brazil have already qualified for the 2014 World Cup as hosts, while Japan are aiming for a fifth straight World Cup since their debut at France 1998.

The Blue Samurai, who are leading Asian Group B with 10 points from three wins and one draw, will play their next qualifier away to Oman on November 14. This defeat leaves Japan dreaming of their first-ever victory over Brazil at full international level.—AFP

point range. David Lee had 15 points as Golden State lost for the first time in four preseason games. The Nuggets led 94-92 when Brewer six straight points. He was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer and hit all three free throws and then made a 3 to give Denver a 100-92 lead. Golden State

DENVER: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) spins away from Denver Nuggets’ Ben Uzoh in the second quarter of their preseason NBA basketball game.—AP

responded with six in a row and had two chances to tie but Jeremy Tyler was called for a charge and then Kosta Koufas blocked his layup attempt with 49 seconds remaining.

Koufas, who had 13 rebounds, sealed the win with two putbacks that gave Denver a 104-98 lead. Denver led by nine early in the third quarter when the Warriors made a push. Curry hit two 3s and rookie Harrison Barnes had one to cut the deficit to 65-64.

Curry gave the Warriors an 86-84 lead - their first lead of the game - with his fourth 3 with 1:02 left in the third quarter. Denver scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take the lead for good.

The Nuggets never trailed in the first half and were tied only once, at 19-all midway through the first quarter. They scored the next eight points and led by as many as 12.

The Warriors rallied late in the second quarter to cut the lead to 56-53 at halftime. Thompson had 13 points and Curry scored 12 at the break. Gallinari led the Nuggets with 12 points at intermission.

Nuggets guard Andre Iguodala, acquired from Philadelphia in a four-team trade in August that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers and Andrew Bynum to the 76ers, had 10 points and a game-high seven assists in his first game in Denver.

In Dallas, OJ Mayo scored 10 of his 20 points during a third-quarter run and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 123-104 Monday night without Dirk Nowitzki.

Nowitzki, who has been bothered by a troublesome right knee, missed his second straight preseason game.

The 11-time All-Star has had that knee drained twice over the past month. The Mavericks scored 20 straight points in the third quarter to turn a halftime deficit into a 77-62 lead.

Dallas rookie Jae Crowder, a second-rounder from Marquette, scored 18 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Shawn Marion and Vince Carter each chipped in with 15 points.

Kevin Martin scored 23 points for the Rockets, who were without point guard Jeremy Lin. Coach Kevin McHale said this was a scheduled day off for Lin.—AP

finished runners-up to 2006 hosts Egypt, came fourth in Ghana two years later, made a 2010 quarter-finals exit and were runners-up again this year.

Both final defeats came in penalty shoot-outs. South Africa could mark the last appearance in a major international competition for former Chelsea star Drogba, now plying his trade in Shanghai, as well as ageing stars Kolo Toure and Didier Zokora.

Ivory Coast are among the top seeds for the tournament, which starts in Johannesburg on January 19, with South Africa, Zambia and Ghana.—AFP

2012 Desert Challenge underway KUWAIT: The first round of the 2012 Kuwait Desert Challenge kicked off yesterday under the patronage of Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Dr. Ibrahim Al-Duaij Al-Ibrahim Al-Sabah. The tournament is organized by the Kuwait Quarter Miles Motorsports Club and features participation of more than 30 Kuwaiti racers.

“The tournament is a manifestation to the board’s plans for hosting competitions to motor racing enthusiasts in Kuwait”, said head of committees at the club Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah in a statement. He credited Kuwait’s geography “and wide open areas” for helping the club carry out tournaments suitable in this kind of environment. Racers are set to compete in a 600 meters racetrack which include sand dunes and curves that adds to the excitement of the challenge, Al-Sabah added.

19

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

SPORTS Asian Zone qualifying

Aussies use their heads to overcome Iraq 2-1 Uzbekistan defeat Qatar

OSIJEK: Wales’ Joseph Allen (left) is challenged by Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic during their World Cup 2014 Group A qualifying soccer match.—AP

Classy Croatia ease past Wales OSIJEK: Croatia extended their unbeaten start to 2014 World Cup qualifying with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Wales here yesterday, as they temporarily moved top of Group A. Igor Stimac’s side were utterly dominant at the Gradski vrt stadium as goals from Mario Mandzukic and Eduardo moved Croatia onto 10 points from four matches, with Belgium and Scotland kicking off later.

Boasting an impressive record of just one home defeat in 46 competitive fixtures since claiming independence, the hosts immediately had Wales on the back foot.

Lewis Price, deputising once again for the injured Wayne Hennessey, was forced into a sprawling save on 10 minutes to deny veteran Darijo Srna, the start of what would prove to be a busy evening for the Crystal Palace goalkeeper.

Wales secured their first victory under Chris Coleman’s reign against Scotland (2-1) on Friday but struggled to even escape their own half in the opening exchanges as Price was twice called upon to deny Ivan Rakitic.

The saturated surface in Osijek hindered both sides ability to knock the ball around freely, and indeed proved a factor in Croatia’s opening goal. A weak backpass from Ashley Williams forced Price into a rushed clearance that ricocheted off the charging Mandzukic, leaving the Bayern Munich striker with the simplest of finishes on 27 minutes.

Netherlands 4 Romania 1 In Bucharest, Netherlands scored three first-half goals to crush Romania 4-1 and move three points clear in Group D in an incident-packed World Cup qualifier yesterday.

The Dutch, who inflicted a first defeat on Romania, went ahead after eight minutes when home keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu punched the ball after an inswinging corner, only for Jeremain Lens to send a looping header beyond defenders from outside the penalty area.

Unmarked Bruno Martens made it 20 from close range after Rafael van der Vart delivered a precise free kick but when the visitors slightly reduced the tempo Romania hit back with a superb solo effort by sole striker Ciprian Marica.

The Dutch, who stretched their run to 12 World Cup qualifying wins in a row, restored their two-goal advantage in the dying seconds of the first half when Van der Vart converted a harshlyawarded penalty. Robin van Persie completed the rout with an easy finish five minutes from time.

Czechs 0 Bulgaria 0 In Prauue,the Czech Republic and Bulgaria drew 0-0 in a World Cup Group B qualifier on Tuesday, a match in which the home side appeared to lack any attacking urgency until the final minutes.

The hosts, who beat Malta 3-1 on Friday, controlled much of the early

possession and went close to taking the lead in the 40th minute when Petr Jiracek directed a header wide with only the keeper to beat. Bulgaria started the second half brightly but the Czechs regrouped and had a glorious chance when Bulgarian keeper Nikolay Mihaylov bungled Jaroslav Plasil’s long cross, only for a defender to clear away Tomas Sivok’s header on goal.

Czech coach Michal Bilek threw on attacking players Vladimir Darida, David Lafata and Marek Vydra in the second half but the home side could not penetrate the Bulgarian back line.

The Czechs have five points from three games and Bulgaria six from four matches.

Ireland 4 Faroes Island 1 In Torshavn, Ireland, battered 6-1 by Germany last week, got their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a 4-1 victory at Faroe Islands yesterday.

The first half was a cagey affair with the home side comfortably dealing with the long-ball tactics of Giovanni Trapattoni’s Irish side. Left back Marc Wilson put the visitors in front in the 47th minute after cutting in and unleashing a fierce right-foot shot that flew in after taking a touch off a defender.

Jon Walters made it 2-0 a few minutes later with a looping header before Arnbiorn Hansen rose highest to nod a goal back for the Faroes.

Ireland restored their two-goal lead when Pol Johannus Justinussen hooked a Walters cross into his own net after 73 minutes. Centre half Darren O’Dea then headed in a corner from Aiden McGeady in the 89th minute. Ireland now have six points from three games while the Faroes remain bottom of Group C with zero points.

Ukraine 0 Montenegro 1 In Kiev, Montenegro joined England on top of the World Cup Group H qualifying table with a surprise 1-0 victory in Ukraine as the home team’s hopes received a serious jolt yesterday.

Dejan Damjanovic scored the only goal in the 45th minute after good work down the right by Stevan Jovetic.

Jovetic then missed a golden chance to make it 2-0 when his scuffed penalty was saved by keeper Andriy Pyatov after Evhen Selin brought down Miodrag Dzudovic 10 minutes from time. Ukraine defender Oleksander Kucher and Montenegro keeper Mladen Bozovic were booked for brawling during a break in play. The hosts were without coach Oleg Blokhin after he had an operation last week to treat thrombosis.

It was due to be Blokhin’s last game in charge before he takes over as coach of Dynamo Kiev on a full-time basis.

Montenegro have seven points from three games, level with group leaders England who had their match with Poland in Warsaw on Tuesday put back 24 hours because of a waterlogged pitch. Ukraine have two points and are third from bottom.—Reuters

DOHA: A Doha double bill yesterday produced defeat for Qatar and a crucial win for Australia in the fight to seal tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Asian Zone qualifying.

At the Grand Hamad stadium, Australia moved to second in Group B of the final round of Asian qualifying with a 2-1 win over Iraq.

The Socceroos, who were stunned 2-1 by Jordan recently, desperately needed a win to move up the table to increase their chances of appearing at their third successive World Cup. Tied at two points each with Iraq coming into yesterday’s tie they now have five points to go level with Oman, who defeated Jordan 2-1 earlier in Muscat.

Iraq are now at the bottom of the table with two losses and two draws. Japan, beaten 4-0 in a friendly against Brazil in Poland, lead the group with 10 points from their four matches.

Australia and Iraq shared possession in the goalless first half, but Australia had more chances of scoring. One of their best chances came in the 27th minute when Tim Cahill unleashed a superb left-footer but Iraqi keeper Noor Sabri Abbas brought about an acrobatic save to deny Australia.

And they completely dominated the second half, but it was Iraq who scored first against the run of play. After another unsuccessful Aussie raid terminated, Younis Khalef made a perfect long cross to winger Mustafa Karim on the left, who headed it down perfectly for the onrushing Alaa Abdul-Zehra to slip it past Mark Schwarzer in the 72nd minute.

Abdul-Zehra had made his appearance just eight minutes earlier, substituting Muthana Khalid. But that just galvanized Australia as they increased their attacks and Cahill, their talismanic forward, scored the equaliser eight minutes later when he headed home from a corner kick.

And the comeback was com-

DOHA: Iraq’s national team player Younus Mahmood (left) challenges Lucas Neili of Australia during the 2014 World Cup Asian qualifying football match.—AP plete for Holger Osieck’s men in the 84th minute when substitute Archie Thompson leapt over the Iraqi defence and headed home a Tommy Oar cross.

“I’m really happy with the result as we managed to make a good comeback and got three points which will put us back into contention,” said Osieck.

“The result proved that we can make it as the win against Iraq was important. “We were lucky even though it only came in the closing minutes. We managed to score from the chances that we had unlike the last match against Jordan where we failed to score from the chances that we created and we lost the match.”

Earlier, Qatar lost a golden opportunity to move closer to the finals in Brazil after a 1-0 Group A defeat to Uzbekistan at Doha’s Jassim bin Hamad stadium. Sanjar Tursunov producing the match winner in the 13th minute, the 25-year-old turned well and smashed a volley into the net from an Akmal

Shorakhmedov cross.

“I’m proud of the players and the spirit that they have shown, but I’m very disappointed with the defeat,” said Qatar coach Paulo Autuori. “Now we must forget this defeat and carry on with our campaign as we still have a chance.

Iran moved into second in

Group A, level with South Korea on seven points, after Javed Nekonam’s 76th minute goal earned the hosts a 1-0 win over the Koreans in Tehran.

Uzbekistan climbed into third on five points with Qatar slipping to fourth on four points, above Lebanon on goal difference.—AFP

Asian World Cup qualifying tables SINGAPORE: Asian zone 2014 World Cup qualifying tables after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Group A South Korea 4 2 1 1 9 4 7 Iran 4 2 1 1 2 1 7 Uzbekistan 4 1 2 1 4 4 5 Qatar 4 1 1 2 2 5 4 Lebanon 4 1 1 2 2 5 4 Group B Japan Australia Oman Jordan Iraq

4 4 4 4 4

3 1 1 1 0

1 2 2 1 2

0 1 1 2 2

11 4 3 4 3

1 4 5 10 5

10 5 5 4 2

Oceania WCup qualifiers

New Zealand blank Tahiti

MOSCOW: Russia’s Vladimir Bystrov (right) battles for the ball with Azerbaijan’s Maksim Medvedev during their World Cup Group F qualifying soccer match.—AP

Russia beat Azerbaijan to keep perfect record MOSCOW: Russia continued their perfect start to qualification for the 2014 World Cup, extending their winning streak to four matches with a hard-fought 1-0 win over visiting Azerbaijan here yesterday.

A late goal by Zenit midfielder Roman Shirokov allowed Fabio Capello’s Russia to maintain their 100 percent record in Group F, as they moved onto 12 points to stay top of the table, six points ahead of secondplaced Portugal, who play Northern Ireland later on Tuesday.

“I warned my players that it would be a very uneasy clash as Azerbaijan are a very well-organised team since (Berti) Vogts took them over,” Russia manager Fabio Capello said. The Italian added: “And it was a hard match as the Azeri squad performed very solid play in defence. We missed a hatful of chances but managed to achieve the desired result and it’s the main thing about this match.” Azerbaijan started in lively fashion and created the game’s first scoring chance in the fourth minute, when full back Sergei Ignashevich’s last-ditch block denied Ali Gokdemir’s close-range attempt.

Russia, following up Friday’s 1-0 win over Portugal, replied positively, pinning Azerbaijan back and threatening on a series of occasions only to be undone by their innaccuracy in front of Kamran Agayev’s goal. Alexander Kokorin came close to putting the hosts in front on 25 minutes but his uncontested shot from the edge of the box went just inches wide of Agayev’s right-

hand post. Kokorin’s strike partner Alexander Kerzhakov was then denied by the frame of the goal on the half-hour mark as his strike from just inside the area rebounded off the woodwork. Midfielder Dmitry Kombarov and skipper Igor Denisov also squandered opportunities for the home side prior to the break. Russia continued to dominate play after the interval on the synthetic surface at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, keeping Azerbaijan under constant pressure but the visitors defended confidently, restricting Capello’s side to speculative long-range efforts. Russia appeared bereft of ideas as they looked to be running out of gas around the hour mark with passes going astray and their play growing increasingly erratic.

Shirokov then had a point-blank effort kept out by the legs of Agayev on 73 minutes, but the Zenit player made amends six minutes from time as he slotted home the winner from the penalty spot after defender Gokdemir had brought down substitute midfielder Vladimir Bystrov to spare Russia’s blushes. “I’d like to congratulate Russia with a deserved win,” said Vogts, Azerbaijan’s German manager.

“They looked more fresh and powerful than our team and they performed a classy attacking-style football.” “I’m pleased with my team’s performance today even though we failed both to keep the scores level and to fulfil our main goal and score here in Moscow.”—AFP

CHRISTCHURCH: Michael McGlinchey scored two goals 90 minutes apart to help New Zealand seal a 3-0 victory over Tahiti in the third round of Oceania qualifying for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil yesterday. The midfielder smashed home from outside the box in the third minute after some poor defending from the Oceania champions.

The All Whites then had numerous chances to kill off the match but were unable to make the game safe until Chris Killen stabbed home a rebound in the 90th minute.

McGlinchey then sealed the 3-0 win with a powerful drive over Mikael Roche in the third minute of added time in Christchurch.

“It was a pity we couldn’t put the game away earlier because we created enough chances,” said New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen. “But the crowd stuck with us and that third goal was worth the price of admission.

“Tahiti were always in the game until the 85th minute and that’s what makes it such a great game, you can control it and do everything but just not put them away.”

The victory moved Ricki Herbert’s undefeated side to 12 points and within sight of the final hurdle for qualification to their second successive World Cup finals, though they could face a challenge in their next match against New Caledonia. Les Cagous, who thrashed the Solomon Islands 6-2 last Friday, hammered the Bonitos for a second successive game with Georges Gope-Fenepej, Roy Kayara, Iamel Kabeu and Cesar Lolohea all scoring in the first half of their clash in Noumea.

Lolohea added his second in the 89th minute to complete the 5-0 victory and ensure the gap to the All Whites remains just three points before their clash next March which could decide the outcome of the group.

The winner of the final Oceania round advances to face the fourth-placed team from the Central and North American and Caribbean Confederation (CONCACAF) in a two-legged playoff for a spot in Brazil.—Reuters

Belgium dents Scotland’s hopes BRUSSELS: Two goals in two second half minutes fired Belgium to the top of Group A with a 2-0 defeat of Scotland yesterday in a defeat that heaps pressure on manager Craig Levein and all but ends his side’s qualification hopes. The Belgians laid siege to the Scottish goal in the first half with keeper Allan McGregor pulling off a series of fabulous saves to deny the home side.

Shaun Maloney came closest for the Scots with a curling free-kick that Thibaut Courtois did well to tip over the bar but the Belgian keeper was rarely called into action as Belgium dominated. The onslaught continued after the break and Scotland’s hopes were killed off when Christian Bentke headed home a 69th opener before Vincent Kompany added a superb second in the 71st minute. The result leaves the Scots still looking for their first win and bottom of Group A on two points.—AFP

Aussies use their heads to overcome Iraq 2-1

Jockey Hughes wins seven races in one day

19

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

Tendulkar to be given Australia honor

Page 16

BERLIN: Sweden’s midfielder Rasmus Elm scores the 4-4 goal as Germany’s midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger (right) and Germany’s midfielder Lukas Podolski (left) and Germany’s defender Per Mertesacker look on during the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifying football match.—AFP

Sweden, Germany in eight goal thriller BERLIN: Sweden staged an amazing comeback to earn a 4-4 draw with Germany, scoring four goals in the final half-hour in their World Cup qualifying match yesterday. Miroslav Klose scored two early goals and Germany dominated for an hour before Sweden came back from a four-goal deficit. The draw left Germany with three wins and a draw in Group C. Sweden has two wins and one draw, with a game in hand.

Klose scored in the eighth and in the 15th minute, Mesut Oezil added another in the 38th and Per Mertesacker made it 4-0 in the 39th.

But Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mikael Lustig, and Johan Elmander scored in the second half, before Rasmus Elm snatched the point with a goal two minutes into injury time.

Norway 3 Cyprus 1 In Nicosia, goals from Brede Hangeland, Tarik

El Younoussi and Joshua King gave Norway a 31 away win over Cyprus in a World Cup qualifying match yesterday. Cyprus opened the score in the 42nd minute when midfielder Stathis Aloneftis’ looping cross eluded Norway’s diving goalkeeper Rune Jarstein. But Norway equalized two minutes later when an unmarked Hangeland picked up a loose ball in front of goal after a failed Cypriot clearance and easily scored.

The Norwegians went ahead in the 81st when El Younoussi converted from the penalty spot after King was judged to have been brought down in the box. King scored a couple of minutes later with a low, close-range shot after evading several Cypriot defenders with a fine individual run. Norway has seven points after four games in Group E, while Cyprus has three points.

Latvia 2 Liechtenstein 0 In Riga, Latvia collected their first points of the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign at the fourth attempt with a 2-0 win over 10-man Liechtenstein in Group G yesterday.

Latvia went ahead when Vladimir Kamess scored his first international goal from a cross

by Olegs Laizans in the 29th minute.

Liechtenstein, who also lost their first three matches, had Daniel Kaufmann sent off for a second booking on the hour as Latvia took complete control in front of just over 4,000 fans.

Edgars Gauracs made the game safe in the 77th minute with a clinical finish after latching onto Aleksandrs Cauna’s incisive pass.

Bulgaria 0 Czech Republic 0 In Prague, the Czech Republic was held to a 0-0 draw by visiting Bulgaria in a World Cup

qualifier yesterday. It was for the first time Bulgaria had gained a point against the Czechs in four matches.

Bulgaria has six points from four matches in Group B, while the Czechs have five points after three games. The hosts were badly missing the creativity of injured captain Tomas Rosicky and were regularly unable to pierce Bulgaria’s tight defense. Tomas Sivok and Petr Jiracek wasted scoring opportunities for the Czechs, both missing the goal with headers from close range.

At the other end, Nikolay Bodurov headed just wide just before the break and Georgi Milanov missed a second-half chance. The Czechs next host Denmark and Bulgaria plays Malta on March 22.

Sovakia 0 Greece 1 In Bratislava, Dimitrios Salpingidis struck in

Giroud earns France a late draw in Spain MADRID: Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud grabbed a last minute header to earn France a 1-1 draw with Spain in Madrid in yesterday’s Group I World Cup qualifier.

Sergio Ramos gave Spain a first half lead that the world and European champions never looked like defending in an uncustomary nervy second-half performance.

In a game of few chances Hugo Lloris saved a first-half penalty from Cesc Fabregas to keep the French in the game. The draw brings to an end Spain’s incredible run of 24 consecutive wins in qualifying matches that stretches back to 2007, and puts both sides level at the top of the group on seven points, three ahead of Georgia. Spain had never lost in nine previous international matches in Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon stadium, but they were made to fight until the very last minute and it was almost inevitable when Franck Ribery found space on the left to cross for Giroud to level.

Coach Vicente del Bosque started without a recognised forward, with Fabregas playing in the ‘false nine’ role, a tactic employed since Spain successfully defended their European title in June. The game started at a slow pace with the visitors content to concede the ball to the Spanish who in turn favoured their possession game to any incisive attacking play.

For France, Karim Benzema and Jeremy Menez were full of early running and the home side suffered an early setback when David Silva limped off after what looked to be an innocuous challenge to be replaced on 12 minutes by Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla.

The substitute made an immediate impression with the first shot of the evening two minutes later that was comfortably saved by the French captain Lloris.

Spain continued to dominate the opening period and won a succession of corners without punishing their opponents until the 25th minute when Ramos was given time and space to head against the right-hand post. The Real Madrid defender appeared to despair at his near miss before composing himself to finish coolly a moment later when Pedro Rodriguez delivered a pass directly back into the goalmouth that Lloris failed to clear.

In the 35th minute Benzema raced onto a Franck Ribery cross and forced Iker Casillas in Spain’s goal into his first action of the evening. Pedro then swept a ball out wide to Arbeloa who crossed from the right and when it fell back to Pedro in a more advanced position he was felled by Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny and the German referee Felix Brych had no hesitation to point to the spot.—AFP

the second half to lead Greece to a 1-0 victory over Slovakia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier yesterday. Salpingidis capitalized on a defensive blunder by the hosts to score the winner from close range in the 63rd minute at a time when Slovakia was putting the visitors under pressure. Greece has 10 points from four matches and leads Group G together with BosniaHerzegovina, which beat Lithuania 3-0 in another qualifier on Tuesday. Slovakia is three points behind.

Slovakia captain Marek Hamsik came close several times but wasted his chances and Michal Braznanik hit the post of OrestisSpyridon Karnezis’ goal two minutes from time when the hosts were desperately seeking an equalizer. Greece travels next to BosniaHerzegovina while Slovakia hosts Lithuania on March 22.—Agencies

Ten-man Italy beat Denmark

WARSAW: England’s team manager Roy Hodgson tests the field during heavy rain prior to the World Cup 2014 Group H qualifying soccer match against Poland.—AP

Poland, England qualifier postponed WARSAW: Heavy rain in Warsaw yesterday forced the postponement of Poland’s 2014 World Cup qualifier against England.

With the pre-match deluge leaving the pitch waterlogged officials had no option but to call it off after a number of inspections.

The game will now be played back at the Kazimierz Gorski Stadium at 1500GMT today. England manager Roy Hodgson said it was disappointing.”It’s disappointing because we had prepared well for this evening not to say the Poles hadn’t either,” he told ITV.

“I had no idea the conditions were as bad as this as I had been in my hotel room. “I guess it is up to the people who run the stadium as to whether to close the roof before the game. They will be feeling pretty sore, and also they will pay a price as I don’t know how many fans will come back on a Wednesday afternoon to watch the game.”

Hodgson, who will have been relieved that one of their main rivals in the group Ukraine lost 1-0 at home to Montenegro yesterday, said that even closing the roof when the game came under threat would

not have been enough to save the match.

“Well with all the rigmarole you have to go through to get the roof closed I don’t think it would have been done in time.

“However, I hope they close it now as the pitch needs a lot of time to recover as it is unplayable at the moment.” It wasn’t the first time the veteran coach had been frustrated by the weather.

“When I was at Malmo we had a game with Ajax postponed at the last minute becuase of a snow storm and we had to play it a few days later.”—AFP

MILAN: Mario Balotelli capped his return to the international fray with a superb second-half goal as 10-man Italy boosted their 2014 World Cup qualifying bid with a 3-1 win over Denmark here yesterday. Balotelli has missed all three of Italy’s Group B qualifiers having undergone eye surgery in September and been sidelined with flu on Friday when Cesare Prandelli’s side beat Armenia by the same scoreline in Yerevan.

But the former Inter Milan striker, back on familiar ground, gave the Azzurri fans reason to cheer during an otherwise bland encounter between the beaten Euro 2012 finalists and Morten Olsen’s World Cup hopefuls.

Italy started with a potential psychological handicap after ‘keeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon was replaced by Napoli’s Morgan De Sanctis after failing a fitness test on a strained adductor muscle. And until a wonder strike from AC Milan midfielder Riccardo Montolivo gave Italy a first-half lead, which was doubled

by Roma striker Daniele De Rossi two minutes later, the pressure was on De Sanctis. The Napoli ‘keeper was only too happy to see a header from Juventus forward Nicklas Bendtner go wide after just three minutes and then had to look sharp to save Christian Eriksen’s powerful shot from the area as the Danes made Italy’s defence panic.

Balotelli was given few scoring opportunities in the opening half but his cutback for Claudio Marchisio on 19 minutes saw the Juventus midfielder’s powerful shot headed expertly off the line

by Simon Kjaer.

Italy were beginning to find their rhythm and Montolivo finally broke the deadlock with a powerful strike from the edge of the area on 33 minutes after helping initiate the move from midfield.

Three minutes later Denmark ‘keeper Stephan Andersen was beaten again when De Rossi’s glancing header from Pirlo’s superb curling cross doubled Italy’s lead.

Azzurri joy was tempered, however, when Denmark reduced the arrears in first half injury time after Lars Jacobsen’s cross from the right deflected off the head of Italy defender Federico Balzaretti. It dropped fortuitously in the path of Stuttgart midfielder William Kvist, who beat De Sanctis low to his right with a powerful volley from the edge of the area. Italy were given another fright only a minute after the restart when Balotelli’s strike partner Pablo Osvaldo was sent off for using his hand to fend off the attention of defender Nicolai Stokholm.—AFP

Iran’s tumbling rial to squeeze MTN’s profit Page 22

New EU sanctions target Iran oil, gas, tanker firms Page 24

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Germany, France differ on pooled borrowing Page 25

Goldman’s investment gains lead to profit beat Page 23

JOHANNESBURG: Striking gold miners at the Gold Fields Driefontein mine in Carletonville, some 50 km southwest of Johannesburg. Gold Fields, the world’s number four gold producer, yesterday threatened to fire 23,500 wildcat strikers or around two-thirds of its total workforce in strike-battered South Africa. — AFP

World faces ‘dangerous’ economic cocktail Gloomier prospects for major economies: OECD NEW DELHI: The world faces a “dangerous” cocktail of low growth and high unemployment, OECD chief Angel Gurria said yesterday, after the global body warned of gloomier prospects for major economies.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in its latest global overview, said this month leading indicators for the 34-nation body point to “weakening growth in coming quarters” for most major economies. “You have a problem of high unemployment especially among the youth-growing inequalities and low growth-and in some cases contracting growth,” Gurria said at an OECD conference in New Delhi on measuring global wellbeing.

“Like the James Bond cocktail-when you

shake together and do not stir-you have a very, very dangerous combination,” he told a news conference.

Some 50 million people are unemployed in OECD countries — 15 million more than in 2008 at the onset of the global financial crisis, he said. “Five years on, it is still ongoing,” added Gurria, secretary-general of the Paris-based organisation that groups the world’s leading industrialised democracies.

Unemployment in Greece is at a record 25.1 percent as its economy contracts, while in Spain the jobless rate is 24.6 percent as the government implements austerity measures to fend off a sovereign bailout. The gap between rich and poor is now at its widest in 30 years with govern-

ments facing a loss of confidence in their ability to deal with boosting growth, tackling debt and making the financial sector more stable, Gurria said.

But he also said there also were signs of progress in tackling Europe’s debt crisis.

He praised the European Central Bank’s (ECB) plan to launch a bond purchase scheme for debt-wracked countries to safeguard the euro that has spurred hopes the financial crisis can be beaten.

“It showed they (the ECB) had the muscle power, the bazookas” to help turn around market sentiment towards the euro and stabilise markets, the OECD chief said, and he added that a eurozone “banking union is now on the table”. Eurozone leaders earlier this year agreed to common

supervision of lenders by January 2013 — a step toward joint bailouts of troubled banks and safeguarding depositors’ money.

But there is still discord over the scope of the banking supervisor’s powers as well as the timeframe. “It (banking union) is going to happen-not now-but maybe in January 2014,” Gurria said later.

At the same time, to avert another blow to the global economy, he said it was vital the US Congress clinches a deal on the “fiscal cliff” facing the United States-automatic budget cuts and higher taxes due to take effect in January. Lack of agreement on averting or at least postponing the measures would “put the US economy into recession” and the global economy would also suffer, he warned. —AFP

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit resigns NEW YORK: Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit resigned abruptly yesterday, effective immediately, a shock change at the top of the bank just one day after a surprisingly strong quarterly earnings report.

A statement from Chairman Michael O’Neill said Michael Corbat, previously chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa, would succeed Pandit as CEO and as a board member.

Within minutes of the bank’s announcement, Pandit’s name was gone from Citigroup’s website.

Chief Operating Officer John Havens, a long-time associate of Pandit, also resigned. Citigroup’s stock tumbled 2.5 percent in premarket trading following news of Pandit’s departure, but later the shares were up 20 cents to $36.86 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Investors questioned why Pandit would leave now after keeping the bank afloat during the financial crisis and getting it back on a firmer footing. “I would have expected he wanted to stay around and see some of the fruits of his labors there,”

said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer of Oakbrook Investments LLC in

Vikram Pandit Lisle, Illinois.

Pandit’s resignation comes after a series of high-profile defeats this year. In March the Federal Reserve rejected the bank’s capital plans after a stress test; Pandit had

led analysts and investors to believe the dividend-raising plans would be approved.

Last month, Pandit agreed to a low sale price for his bank’s stake in the brokerage operated by Morgan Stanley. Citigroup had to take a $4.7 billion charge in the third quarter to write down the value of that stake.

Citigroup shares rose sharply on Monday after the bank reported thirdquarter results that were much better than analysts expected. The one-two punch of the results and then Pandit’s exit point to what analysts say has been a years-long unsettled atmosphere around the bank. “ What Pandit and Havens did was increase the uncertainty around Citi,” said Matt McCormick, banking analyst and portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor in Cincinnati, Ohio. “There’s a perpetual cloud of uncertainty surrounding Citigroup.

There’s always turmoil ... that’s had to affect the stock price.”

Pandit’s resignation revived questions that were asked from the day he took the job: whether he had the right experience to

lead Citigroup in the first place. Born in Nagpur, India, the 55-year-old Pandit obtained two electrical engineering degrees and a doctorate in finance from Columbia University. He joined Citigroup in July 2007 when the bank acquired his hedge fund and private equity firm, Old Lane Partners LP, for $800 million. Citigroup had to shut down Old Lane the next summer, an early black mark for the executive.

Critics later charged that Pandit was too timid, perhaps even too academic, to run a big consumer bank. “He was not beloved

by Wall Street. He was thrust into that position - he’s a hedge fund guy,” McCormick said. His successor, Corbat, has held a number of senior roles at Citigroup, including running Citi Holdings, the unit established to house businesses and assets the company wants to shed.

A fixed income salesman by training, Corbat started out at Solomon Brothers in 1983. More recently, he has been credited with successfully restructuring some of Citigroup’s consumer and credit card units. —Reuters

Iraq suspends central bank gov in forex probe BAGHDAD: Iraq’s cabinet named an interim central bank chief yesterday after the bank’s well-respected governor, who was on an overseas trip, was suspended amid a currency manipulation probe. The move followed the announcement of an inquiry into allegations that officials at the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) had intentionally weakened the value of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar. “The cabinet decided to authorise Abdelbassit Turki, the head of the Board of Supreme Audit, to run the central bank indefinitely,” Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s spokesman Ali Mussawi said, adding that Sinan Al-Shabibi had been suspended from his post by the anti-corruption watchdog.

Mussawi said the investigation had been launched because of “what happened with the dinar exchange rate with the dollar” and

that a parliamentary report had blamed “the chief of the bank and several other people.”

“The Integrity Commission (anti-corruption watchdog), based on this report, decided to suspend Sinan Al-Shabibi... The government, faced with this fact, decided to appoint someone who everyone agreed on, Abdelbassit Turki.” Mussawi declined to comment on whether arrest warrants would be issued for any CBI officials, but Baha al-Araji, chairman of the parliamentary anti-corruption committee, said 30 warrants had been issued, including for Shabibi and his deputy, Mudher Saleh.

Araji said the investigation was “not about money, but about procedures that led to the weakening of the dinar against the dollar”.

The Integrity Commission confirmed earlier yesterday that it had recently opened an inquiry into the bank, after receiving the par-

liamentary report. “I can confirm that we received the Central Bank dossier from the integrity committee in parliament,” said commission spokesman Hassan Aati. “It is currently under investigation. The investigation has just started.”

Shabibi, who had been in Tokyo for a meeting of the International Monetary Fund, was now in Europe, Deputy Governor Mudher Saleh told AFP. He did not say in which country or when Shabibi was due to return. Iraq’s currency has been largely stable against the dollar for the past few years at around 1,200 dinars to the greenback. Concerns have been raised, however, that currency auctions organised by the central bank were being used by neighbouring Iran and Syria to shore up foreign currency reserves, allegations the central bank has denied.—AFP

Sinan Al-Shabibi

Kuwait drops to 3-week low after protests MIDEAST STOCK MARKET DUBAI: Kuwait’s bourse dropped to a three-week low yesterday after a protest rally against possible changes to the country’s election law that prompted an investor sell-off, while most other Gulf markets closed higher.

Kuwait’s index fell 0.9 percent to its lowest level since Sept 25. At least five people were arrested and several were hurt in skirmishes at the rally late on Monday, attended by at least 5,000 people, calling on the emir to set a date for upcoming parliamentary elections. Protesters also voiced concern that Kuwait may change its electoral law in a way that would favor progovernment candidates. “All this negative sentiment is spilling over to the market there is a lot of retail selling and high net worth individuals are sitting out,” said a Kuwait-based trader who asked not to be identified.

“The market just started to gain some momentum and something like this (protests) is, turns it all around.

We’re likely to see a couple more days of this selling.”

Stocks were lower across sectors. Large-caps, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 1 percent and telecom Zain declined 1.4 percent. In Saudi Arabia, Zain Saudi fell 4.4 percent to 8.7 riyals, nearing Saturday’s record low of 8.3 riyals after the firm posted a widening thirdquarter net loss.

The firm also said it was in advanced talks with banks to refinance a 9-billion-riyals sharia-compliant loan and expects to sign the new deal in the fourth quarter. “Although we believe that the financial outlook for Zain KSA has improved after its balance sheet restructuring (mainly through lower financing charges), its operational outlook has deteriorated,” NCB Capital said in a research note. “Zain faces a difficult road towards recording net profits,” it added.

Shares in dairy and food producer Almarai Co rose 2.2 percent at 69.75 riyals, having surged to 71.50 riyals intra-day in heavy trading.

The firm posted a 4.7 percent rise in quarterly net profit on Monday but fell short of analysts’ forecasts.

“Surprisingly, Almarai’s share price has been resilient part of this is because no matter what happens to the economy, people will still consume food products,” said Asim Bukhtiar, head of research at Riyad Capital.

The food and agriculture sector’s index gained 1.4 percent and insurance stocks climbed 1.6 percent.

Investors largely shun large-cap stocks of banks and petrochemicals after disappointing earnings. Samba Financial Group declined 0.9 percent, Saudi Arabian Fertilizers slipped 0.8 percent while Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) added 0.6 percent.

The kingdom’s index rose 0.4 percent, up for a second session since Sunday’s 11-week low.

“You’re seeing a bit of recovery in the market now that most of the bad news is out. People are still waiting for SABIC’s numbers and digesting what the numbers mean for Q4,” Bukhtiar said. In the UAE, Dubai’s index rallied to a 24-week closing high and the bourse’s own stock also gained, supported by upbeat sentiment in anticipation of quarterly earnings. The emirate’s index climbed 0.6 percent to its highest close since April 26.

Shares in Dubai Financial Market , the Gulf’s only listedexchange, rose 0.9 percent. —Reuters

22

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

BUSINESS

Iran’s tumbling rial to squeeze MTN’s profit Latest setback for S African operator JOHANNESBURG: A plunge in Iran’s currency could slice 5 percent or more off MTN Group’s full-year earnings, the latest setback for the South African mobile operator over its moneyspinning business in the Middle Eastern country. MTN, Africa’s largest wireless operator, made a big - and so far profitable - bet on Iran in 2005, taking a 49 percent stake in Irancell which now contributes about 9 percent to its earnings.

However, the tumbling rial, along with an ongoing $4.2 billion lawsuit over MTN’s Iran licence, highlight the political risks of doing business with a country increasingly under pressure from Western sanctions over its nuclear program. Sanctions have slashed Iran’s oil export earnings and triggered a rush by its citizens to exchange their savings for foreign currency, dragging the rial down. While the official rate is 12,600 rials per US dollar, the price on the open market hit a record 37,500 rials earlier this month.

“As I understand it, the authorities are trying to stabilize the rial at around 25,000 to the dollar. Let us assume it went to the 25,000 point as a first step. That would cut MTN’s Iranian earnings stream roughly in half,” said Richard Barker, a Credit Suisse analyst in Johannesburg. “That is going to knock roughly 5 percent off their earnings.” MTN finance director Nazir Patel said in August the rial’s slide could have a big

impact on second-half earnings, expected in March. Spokesman Paul Norman said yesterday the company was not in a position to comment further.

MTN has been unable to move money out of Iran for months due to the widening US sanctions, and has said it was in talks with the Unites States about repatriating funds.

Because the currency cannot be brought home, the impact of the rial’s slide is likely to be an accounting writedown. “Some people might view that as a matter of concern, but until you actually have to sell assets at that lower rate, it is not really impacting on the cash flow. So in the short term, I do not see it as a problem,” said Thato Mashigo, an equity analyst with Cadiz Asset Management.

Irancell was MTN’s third-biggest profit source in 2011, generating 4.7 billion rand ($545 million) in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

Revenue from Iran was also around 9 percent of the group total, or 11 billion rand.

Those numbers were based on an average exchange rate of 10,614 rials to the dollar.

The company’s hefty dividend is unlikely to suffer, however, as MTN generates enough cash from its other businesses to ride out its inability to bring home money from Iran.

It is more likely to spend its cash in Iran on capital expenditure there, and pay dividends

JALALABAD: Afghan women and children work in an outdoor traditional factory extracting and preparing peanuts for sale on the outskirts of Jalalabad yesterday. One of the main Afghanistan products is the export of dried fruit and nuts with the country being an important source of peanuts. — AFP

Schaeuble seeks leap in euro integration ABU DHABI: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has called ahead of an EU summit for a great leap forward in European integration, urging the creation of a new commissioner with power over budgets and reform of European Parliament decision-making.

Such a reform would accelerate the trend towards a two-speed Europe whose inner core would be the euro zone, spurred towards closer union by its threeyear-old sovereign debt crisis.

Schaeuble, a long-time advocate of closer EU integration who is not shy about voicing his personal views, said he had spoken with Chancellor Angela Merkel about his proposals and that she was “somewhat more cautious”. “We must now make bigger steps in the direction of a fiscal union,” Schaeuble told reporters on his way back from a trip to Asia. “We must use this chance.”

Some of Schaeuble’s ideas are likely to stir unease even within the currency bloc.

He said a new “currency commissioner” should have the power to reject national budgets that were not in line with the euro-zone’s strict fiscal criteria, without specifying whether such a figure should have the power to impose penalties. The model for the position would be the bloc’s competition commissioner, who Schaeuble said was “feared in the whole world”. He also called for more flexible voting arrangements in the European Parliament to accommodate closer integration between euro-zone states.

European officials are looking for ways to boost the democratic legitimacy of a closer union, but have run up against the dilemma that the European Parliament includes countries from outside the eurozone.

“In the European Parliament lawmakers only from countries directly affected by a given issue should vote on it,” Schaeuble said. Such proposals could struggle to win acceptance in countries such as France, reluctant to surrender more sovereignty to

Saudis to award Jubail-Dammam rail contracts soon

ADIB posts slight Q3 profit rise, warns on year outlook ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank beat analyst expectations yesterday with a 3 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, but again warned earnings in the latter part of the year would be hit by global economic uncertainty and slow loan growth.

The bank, the largest sharia-compliant lender by market value in Abu Dhabi, said it made a profit of 328.5 million dirhams ($89.4 million) compared to 319.1 million dirhams in the same period last year, according to a statement.

Two analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an average profit of 304 million dirhams. However, ADIB repeated concerns raised in its second-quarter earnings that growth for the rest of the year would be impacted by the negative global economic environment, adding slow loan growth was also hampering its profitability.

“Of equal concern is the continued compression of credit spreads triggered by higher competition among banks who are trying to grow their loans and advances while the market aggregate shows a low growth rate for the market as a whole,” said Tirad Al Mahmoud, chief executive of ADIB. Total loans and advances at ADIB grew 1.2 percent during the third quarter

out of earnings from its other 20 operations in Africa and the Middle East, said Byron Lotter, a portfolio manager at Vestact Asset Management.

“We are still buying. We think the Iran situation is factored into the share price and operations elsewhere are looking good,” he said, adding that Vestact has allocated 10 percent of its portfolio to MTN. MTN has bigger operations in South Africa and Nigeria, but Iran has seen the fastest growth in subscribers and revenue.

The company’s dividend yield of 4.75 percent is one of the highest on Johannesburg’s benchmark Top-40 index. MTN’s troubles in Iran are not limited to the local currency. It is facing a $4.2 billion U.S. lawsuit filed by Turkish rival Turkcell for alleged bribery when acquiring the Irancell licence in 2005.

It has denied any wrongdoing and said the case lacks legal merit. An elite South African police unit is also investigating the allegations.

MTN shares fell earlier this month on concerns about the rial, although they have since recovered. Shares of the company are up about 10 percent this year, slightly underperforming a 14 percent rise in the Top-40 index. With MTN’s exposure to markets such as Iran and Syria, it is not for investors without a decent amount of risk appetite, said one analyst, who declined to be identified. — Reuters

to 50.9 billion dirhams from 50.3 billion dirhams at the end of June. Lending growth in the UAE was flat at the end of August, compared to the end of the second quarter, according to the latest central bank figures.

It has grown 1.8 percent in total since the beginning of the year.

Impairments in the third quarter jumped 34 percent, to 202.1 million dirhams, compared to the same period a year ago, of which around a quarter was related to further writedowns at a real estate subsidiary.

Total impairments for the year-toSeptember stood at 958.5 million dirhams, up from the 938.9 million dirhams recorded at the same point last year.

Net revenue rose 12.1 percent to 924.1 million dirhams, from 824.6 million dirhams in the same quarter last year.

ADIB sold its entire 32.37 per cent stake in Bosnia Bank International Real Estate in the quarter as part of its strategy of exiting non-core businesses, the statement added. Shares in ADIB ended yesterday 0.6 percent - prior to the publication of the results. The stock has risen 3.5 percent year-to-date, compared to a 10.2 percent rise on the main Abu Dhabi exchange. — Reuters

ABU DHABI: Saudi Arabia is expected to award contracts for construction of the planned 115-km (72mile) rail link between its industrial city of Jubail and Dammam before the end of 2012, a senior Saudi Railway Company (SAR) official said yesterday. “Bids were received and they are under evaluation. The project will be awarded before the end of the year,” Bashar Almalik, SAR’s director of civil and track works, told a rail conference in the United Arab Emirates capital. He did not give the financial value of the contracts.

The world’s top oil exporter, which is spending billions of dollars to boost its infrastructure, is building several rail systems. The longest one will be 2,750 km, running from the capital Riyadh to near the northern border with Jordan. “Most of the network has been completed in terms of construction.

Passengers and freight will hopefully start in 2014,” Almalik said.

In May, Saudi Arabia started initial operations on a 1,400 km mineral line, linking phosphate mines at Al-Jalamaid and a bauxite mine at Az-Zabirah to processing facilities at the industrial hub of Ras Azzour on the Gulf coast. Almalik said design and construction contracts for a 220 km Jubail network inside Jubail were expected to be tendered early in 2013.

Bids from qualified consortia for another project, the 42 km Riyadh metro, are expected next month, he added.

In July, the kingdom gave preliminary approval to four consortia, including ones led by Canada’s Bombardier Inc and French firm Vinci, to build a new metro system in Riyadh to ease congestion on its gridlocked streets. — Reuters

EU institutions, while economies such as Greece, reeling from German-backed austerity programs, will be wary of entrenching the power of outsiders to run their financial affairs. A previous proposal from Schaeuble for a “Sparkommissar”, or savings commissioner, was quietly dropped after it stirred fury in recession-mired Greece and got a cool reception from Germany’s other European partners.

Addressing German employers in Berlin on Tuesday, Merkel said Germany did not aim to create new divisions in Europe in pressing for greater fiscal and political integration.

“We do not want to split Europe.

Everything is being done so that any country which wants to take part in additional measures of integration can join us,” she said, adding that the euro zone itself was by no means limited to its current members. Schaeuble said he wanted EU leaders to discuss his ideas at this week’s Brussels summit, adding that they could launch a ‘convention’ by December tasked with drafting a new treaty.

Merkel has previously said she would like the EU’s December summit to agree a concrete date for the start of a convention.

The idea recalls the 100-plus strong gathering of EU lawmakers set up in 2001 inspired by the Philadelphia Convention that led to the adoption of the US federal constitution - charged with preparing a European charter. The document that emerged was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 and a watered down version ended up forming the basis of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which is in force today.

Many member states, recalling the lengthy disputes and setbacks that preceded the Lisbon treaty’s entry into force, are reluctant to embark on another process of institutional reform.

But Germany believes a much closer fiscal and political union is needed to ensure the success of painful economic reforms and the long-term survival of the euro currency. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds

.2740000 .4470000 .3610000 .2970000 .2830000 .2850000 .0040000 .0021750 .0761220 .7416310 .3870000 .0720000 .7270370 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2804000 GB Pound/KD .4506170 Euro .3634690 Swiss francs .3006330 Canadian dollars .2858740 Danish Kroner .0487300 Swedish Kroner .0422060 Australian dlr .2878310 Hong Kong dlr .0361760 Singapore dlr .2294410 Japanese yen .0035540 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0763720 Bahraini dinars .7440630 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0747930 Omani riyals .7285960 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

3.605 5.321 2.950 2.194 3.341 229.950 36.397 3.439 6.784 9.181 91.682

.2860000 .4610000 .3700000 .3070000 .2940000 .2980000 .0058500 .0022170 .0768870 .7490850 .4100000 .0780000 .7343440 .0510000 .2825000 .4539920 .3661910 .3028840 .2880150 .0490950 .0425220 .2899860 .0364460 .2311590 .0035810 .0053750 .0022040 .0029740 .0034900 .0769440 .7496350 .3995760 .0753530 .7340520 .0068770

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 75.270 77.556 733.140 749.700 76.859

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.900 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.284 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.317 Tunisian Dinar 179.940 Jordanian Dinar 398.150 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.894 Syrian Lier 4.924 Morocco Dirham 33.391 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 282.150 Euro 364.540 Sterling Pound 452.570 Canadian dollar 289.210 Turkish lire 154.720 Swiss Franc 300.580 US Dollar Buying 280.950 GOLD 332.000 168.000 86.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria

SELL CASH

292.500 749.020 3.690 290.300 553.100 45.900 49.900 167.800 48.260 369.300 37.020 5.480 0.032 0.161 0.246 3.670 399.130 0.191 95.230 45.300 4.330 233.400 1.824

50.100 731.590 3.070 6.980 77.910 75.200 232.290 36.370 2.663 456.400 43.300 305.600 4.100 9.530 198.263 75.790 282.200 1.350

10 Tola

GOLD 1,842.090

Sterling Pound US Dollar

731.410 2.963 6.790 77.480 75.200 232.290 36.370 2.188 454.400 304.100 4.100 9.390 76.690 281.600

COUNTRY

Currency

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 454.400 281.600

SELL DRAFT

291.000 749.020 3.441 288.800

232.300 46.159 367.800 36.670 5.330 0.031

SELL DRAFT

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL CASH

292.61 292.31 306.67 368.30 281.35 455.51 3.66 3.463 5.320 2.193 3.323 2.955 76.67 749.14 46.19 400.83 732.24 77.69 75.24

294.500 292.000 307.000 366.000 282.450 455.000 3.690 3.600 5.500 2.320 3.600 3.150 77.350 749.500 47.800 399.000 735.000 78.000 75.750

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 399.100 0.190 95.230 3.350 231.900

Rate for Transfer

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro

Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

301.270 745.795 76.675 77.325 75.085 397.095 46.178 2.189 5.304 2.946 3.443 6.785 691.011 4.580 9.282 4.368 3.415 91.950

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Selling Rate

281.700 287.795 452.830 364.030

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

281.600 2.951 5.343 2.200 3.449 6.845 76.775 75.250 748.600 46.169 458.100 2.990 1.550 370.800 292.900 3.395

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

281.250 367.200 454.050 289.200 3.625 5.339 46.124 2.191 3.447 6.783 2.955 749.200 76.650 75.150

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

BUSINESS

Gasoline fuels US inflation, Fed policy steady WASHINGTON: US consumer prices rose in September as the cost of gasoline surged, posing a threat to consumers’ spending power although inflation pressures look unlikely to derail the Federal Reserve’s ultra-easy policy path.

A separate report yesterday showed US factory output rose only modestly in September, a sign the cooling global economy is weighing on American manufacturers. The Consumer Price Index increased 0.6 percent last month, in line with analysts’ expectations and matching August’s reading, data from the Labor Department showed.

Most of the increase in consumer prices was due to a sharp rise in gasoline prices, which jumped 7 percent in September after climbing 9 percent the prior month. Higher costs at the pump force many American consumers to cut back on other spending. A measure of underlying inflation, however,

was relatively muted. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased just 0.1 percent for a third month in a row.

“This confirms that inflation remains in check,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York. In the 12 months to September overall consumer prices increased 2 percent, the fastest pace since April and up from 1.7 percent in August.

Core prices also rose 2 percent in the year through September, up a tenth of a point from August’s reading.

US stocks were trading higher after the data as strong earnings from key companies soothed fears about the global economy, while yields on Treasury debt rose. Crude oil and gasoline prices rose over the summer as the United States and its allies raised pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. They have increased sanctions aimed at Tehran’s oil

industry, helping to keep world oil prices high.

Yesterday, European Union governments imposed sanctions against major Iranian state companies in the oil and gas industry, and strengthened restrictions on the central bank. While most economists don’t see inflation threatening the US economy, some believe the Fed would tolerate prices rising faster than the central bank’s 2 percent target over the shorter term to allow faster economic growth as the country recovers from the 2007-09 recession.

Allowing this view to blossom, the Fed said in September it would keep interest rates low for a long time even after the economy strengthens.

“Core inflation was low and unthreatening (in September), but in truth neither matters to a Fed monetary policy committed to lowering unemployment,” said Joseph Trevisani, a market strategist at

Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

The Fed targets a separate measure of inflation calculated by the Commerce Department which tends to run cooler than the consumer price index.

That measure, called the personal consumption expenditures index, rose 1.5 percent in the 12 months through August, according to a Sept. 28 report.

In a separate report, the Fed said US industrial production rose 0.4 percent in September, beating expectations. Manufacturing output rose by a more modest 0.2 percent, which was not enough to make up for the 0.9 percent fall a month earlier.

The European debt crisis has been weighing on the global economy, denting demand for goods produced by manufacturers from China to the United States. “There are still a lot of global headwinds,” said Jonathan Basile, an economist at Credit Suisse in New York. — Reuters

Goldman’s investment gains lead to profit beat Earnings of $2.85 a share beat Wall St estimate

ATHENS: A woman walks by posters by ‘plan B-Front of Solidarity and Reversal’ reading “yes to employmentno to euro” and “no to closures-no to euro” in Athens yesterday. — AFP

Xstrata investors get pay vote LONDON: Careful what you wish for. That could be advice for corporate governance advocates who sought a separate vote on the lavish executive pay deal that was bundled in as part of the terms of the $33 billion merger between Glencore and Xstrata.

Thanks to a voting structure shake-up, shareholders will now be able to vote for the deal without the pay, and have an option to reject the proposed retention packages, achieving what looks like a victory against excessive boardroom remuneration.

But as unpopular as the retention packages are, fund managers may prove too worried about threatening the commercial promise of the union - and going against the advice of Xstrata’s board - to risk making a stand. That means at the end of the day, Glencore and Xstrata executives are likely to get both their merger and their pay, while silencing critics who had initially accused them of ramming the deal through without a separate pay vote.

One former Xstrata shareholder, who sold out of his position soon after the Glencore merger talks began, described the awkward dilemma facing shareholders as “appalling”.

“There’s nothing wrong with paying executives well if the shareholders are doing well too. But the whole obfuscation that is going on here and across the industry on pay, we are very much against,” the fund manager said, asking not to be identified while discussing an investment decision on a deal that is still up in the air.

“The idea that you can be paid a lot before investors have made any money is ridiculous. Retention packages? Why have any of that? Why shouldn’t we just pay people well after they have performed?”

Instead of a single up-or-down vote on a merger including the pay deal, shareholders will now have three votes: to allow the merger if the pay deal is approved, to allow the merger to go ahead without the pay deal, and finally an upor-down vote on the pay deal itself.

That means that when the vote on the pay deal finally takes place, shareholders will know whether their decision would scupper the merger or not.

The voting shake-up plays on a division of responsibility at fund houses, whereby separate teams shape views on the logic of the merger and on resolutions linked to governance issues like incentives and bonuses.

“This separation of investment and corporate governance decision-making is a problem that requires addressing,” said Simon Wong, a partner at Governance for Owners, a fund manager that invests on the premise that guarantees of shareholder rights improve long-term returns.

“Under the bundled scenario, the corporate governance and investment teams have to work together to reconcile views. Now they can just vote separately, and the likely objections to the retention package and corporate governance will be much less consequential.”

Bundled resolutions are broadly unpopular as they force investors into a binary choice on a complex deal and all its accompanying terms, preventing managers from fully expressing a view on remuneration or corporate governance issues without jeopardising a deal that on balance makes investment sense. In this case, some investors may accept management’s argument that the future success of the merged group relies on how many of Xstrata’s operational staff remain in their roles.

Unlike in other mergers, there is little overlap in revenuegenerating staff between Glencore and Xstrata. Were many Xstrata staff to leave and take their revenue streams with them, that could cost investors more than they gain from curbing pay.

Miner Xstrata will be tying its future to trader Glencore at a turning point as it moves from an acquisition-fuelled first decade to a period of organic growth, intended to boost volumes by 50 percent and cut costs.

Among the projects set to come on stream are Koniambo, a challenging greenfield ferronickel mine in New Caledonia, and the Las Bambas copper project in Peru. Investors may conclude that now is no time to risk losing staff.

“Investors should make a joined up decision, to say - we may not like the retention packages but on balance, do we need them because these executives are so essential to the merged entity? The way the deal is now structured, means that you can almost divorce the two,” Wong added. With its opaque image and corporate governance record, Glencore’s bid to merge with Xstrata has provoked opposition from institutional owners of the miner at every turn.—Reuters

NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings yesterday as revenue more than doubled on big gains in stocks and bonds that the Wall Street bank holds as investments. However, return on equity - a measure of how the company wrings profit from its balance sheet remained in a single-digit percentage range, and investment banking and trading results showed signs of weak client activity.

The investment bank lifted its dividend for the second time in a year, which is unusual because Goldman has said it would prefer to use capital to invest in businesses.

“I don’t know that a lot of people own Goldman for a dividend play, but it certainly doesn’t hurt,” said Regency Wealth Management portfolio manager Andrew Aran, who owns Goldman shares for some clients. “It’s a sign that management probably feels a little conservative in this environment.”

Goldman also spent $1.25 billion buying back stock during the quarter. Goldman reported a thirdquarter profit of $1.5 billion, or $2.85 per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $428 million, or 84 cents per share.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of $2.12 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. After Goldman’s report, some analysts and investors said they had been expecting an even bigger earnings beat, given strong results at investment banking divisions of JPMorgan Chase & Co and

Citigroup Inc in recent days.

“The bar had been raised,” said Ratel Capital Management analyst Mitchell Protass.

Goldman’s net revenue rose to $8.35 billion from $3.6 billion. Return on equity was 8.6 percent for the quarter, exceeding the 5.4 percent that Goldman reported for the previous period, but still well below the typical 15 percent that investors look for at investment banks in better market environments. In a statement, Goldman Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein described the bank’s third-quarter performance as “generally solid in the context of a still challenging economic environment.”

Most of the revenue gains came from the investing and lending division, which consists of stocks and bonds that Goldman holds as investments. The value of those assets rose after the U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled a new program to boost liquidity, but trading volumes and deal activity were still muted.

That business generated $1.8 billion in revenue; a year earlier, it reduced overall revenue by $2.5 billion.

Goldman shares were up 0.5 percent at $124.15 in morning trading. The bank raised its quarterly dividend to 50 cents per share from 46 cents. The value of Goldman’s debt rose during the latest quarter, requiring the company to take a charge that reduced earnings by $370 million. For the year-earlier period, it took a similar accounting charge as well as a charge for buying back preferred stock from billionaire investor Warren Buffett. — Reuters

US economy hopes buoy markets LONDON: Mounting hopes over the US economic recovery bolstered markets for a second day yesterday and helped push the euro back above $1.30.

A run of upbeat figures about the US economy, including the labor market, have cheered investors this week. Yesterday’s indicators sustained the positive tone.

Manufacturing figures for September came in stronger than anticipated while soft inflation data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue with its easy and cheap monetary policy.

The combination of better growth and low inflation is good for stocks.

Strong earnings figures from the likes of toy maker Mattel, Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs, further buoyed sentiment. “Global markets roared with optimism today as investors adopted a risk-on attitude thanks to strong US corporate results ,” said Shavaz Dhalla, a financial trader at Spreadex.

Citigroup was also in focus, trading 2 percent higher following the sudden departure of its CEO, Vikram Pandit, the man who steered the bank through the tumultuous years after the 2008 financial crisis. In Europe, an unexpectedly large improvement in German investor confidence, as surveyed by the ZEW institute, also helped shore up sentiment.

“Markets are far from flying, but it does now seem as if the outlook is a little brighter than it was a week ago,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 1.1 percent at 5,869 while Germany’s DAX rose 1.4 percent to 7,366. The CAC-40 in France was 1.8 percent higher at 3,480.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.8 percent at 13,527 while the broader S&P 500 index rose 0.7 percent to 1,450. The improvement in investors’ confidence also helped boost the euro, which often rises along with market sentiment.

It was trading 0.6 percent higher at $1.3026.

The euro has also garnered support from expectations that Spain will soon make a request to tap a European Central Bank bond-buying facility and that Greece will get its next batch of bailout funds.

The problems of both debt-ridden countries are likely to feature at a meeting of EU leaders later this week. “The EU summit on Thursday and Friday remains the main focus this week with leaders expected to mull over Greece’s proposed cuts and potentially a Spanish bailout request,” said James Hughes, chief market analyst at Alpari.

Earlier, Asian stocks closed higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.4 percent to end at 8,701.31 and South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.8 percent to 1,941.54.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3 percent to 21,207.07 but mainland China’s Shanghai Composite Index ended the day almost unchanged at 2,098.81.

The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index closed 0.3 percent higher at 862.14.

Oil prices were flat, with benchmark crude for November delivery up 9 cents to $91.94 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. — AP

Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, attends the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. — AP

24

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

business

New EU sanctions target Iran oil, gas, tanker firms EU identifies new sanctions targets in Iran

Islamic finance inches toward mainstream in Azerbaijan BAKU/TBILISI: When a businessman in Muslimmajority Azerbaijan wanted a bank loan that complied with Islamic principles, until a few years ago he had to negotiate it under the table.

The government’s fear of political Islam forced banks to conduct “guerrilla Islamic finance” in which sharia-compliant deals were hidden under the appearance of conventional banking, says Fuad Aliyev, a scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute in Washington DC. Now several banks in Azerbaijan openly offer a limited range of services based on Islamic principles including bans on interest and pure monetary speculation. The country’s largest bank, majority-owned by the state, has opened an “Islamic window” providing finance to small companies. Yet the government of the former Soviet state has remained reluctant to take a key step: creating a law to regulate the industry, which could allow commercial banks to expand their operations and issue sukuk or Islamic bonds.

Islamic finance was born in its modern form in the 1970s, catering mainly to Muslims in the Gulf and southeast Asia. Over the past decade its growth has accelerated as economies in those regions have boomed. Its slow, incomplete growth in

Azerbaijan, where an estimated 93 percent of the 9 million people are Muslim, reflects fear that Islamic finance could encourage Islamist politics, bankers and analysts say. But the government of President Ilham Aliyev cannot ignore the opportunity to cater for Gulf investors to the south. “If a regulatory framework is developed and if Islamic finance is included into curricula (of local universities), there will be huge development of the industry in Azerbaijan,” said Mahir Humbatov, an expert in Islamic banking at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Baku.

Azerbaijan emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union two decades ago, it quickly joined the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), a Jeddahbased institution with a membership of Muslim nations, and has received over $1.2 billion in funding from the bank, spending most of it on infrastructure projects.

But until the last couple of years, the government did not want a domestic Islamic banking industry, bankers say. Only one small Azeri bank, Kovsarbank, attempted to provide a full line of sharia-compliant services; the central bank of Azerbaijan revoked its license in January 2010, saying banking laws had been violated, and the bank was closed. By contrast, ex-Soviet

Kazakhstan is bidding to become a centre for Islamic finance in the region. In July, the government-run Development Bank of Kazakhstan issued a $75 million sukuk, the region’s first Islamic bond, and more sukuk from the country are in the works. With only about 10 percent of Azeris praying regularly, according to polls, and women in mini-skirts strolling the downtown area of the capital Baku, Azerbaijan will not become a conservative Islamic state any time soon.

Even so, “Islamic finance is viewed not as a commercial activity, but as Islamic activism by most of the Central Asian and Azeri regimes, and therefore considered as part of the ‘Islamic threat’,” said Aliyev at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.

Azerbaijan’s Islamist Party, banned in the mid1990s on suspicion of spying for neighboring Iran, operates underground; last year seven members were sentenced to long jail terms for setting up military units and preparing terrorist attacks. The government, funded by rich reserves of oil and gas in the Caspian Sea, appears able to handle the security threat. But it also faces social pressure to permit more Islamic influence in daily life; last year hundreds of people protested to demand the right for girls to wear Muslim headscarves in schools.—Reuters

BRUSSELS: European Union governments imposed sanctions yesterday against major Iranian state companies in the oil and gas industr y, and strengthened restrictions on the central bank, cranking up financial pressure over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Among the more than 30 firms and institutions listed in the EU’s Official Journal as targets for asset freezes in Europe was the National Iranian Oil Company, one of the world’s largest crude exporters, and the National Iranian Tanker Company. Both are vital elements of the Iranian oil industry, the main source of revenue for the government which is being targeted by Western sanctions.

Their importance has risen in recent months as governments in Europe and United States seek to curb Tehran’s access to cash, forcing Western companies to halt trade with Iran and, in turn, driving Tehran to rely more on domestic firms. Justifying the decision, EU governments said both NIOC and NITC provide financial support to the government.

Iran said the sanctions would not work.

“We recommend that, instead of taking the wrong approach and being stubborn and using pressure, ... with a logical approach they can return to discussions,” foreign ministr y spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference.

The United States has already imposed restrictions on NIOC last month and has blacklisted the tanker company.

Washington has argued the NIOC is linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s elite force which according to the US Treasury Department has recently been coordinating a campaign to sell Iranian oil in an effort to evade Western sanctions.

The new listings flesh out a decision by the EU’s 27 governments on Monday to introduce sweeping new sanctions against the Iranian industry, banking and energy sectors in the hope of drawing Tehran into serious negotiations about its atom project.

Iran denies its work has any military intentions and says it will not abandon it unless major international sanctions are lifted. But Europe and the United States are refusing to do so, amid growing concerns over Iran’s nuclear project and fears of an Israeli attack on Tehran’s nuclear installations which could flare up into a new war in the Middle East.

In yesterday’s list, the European Union also targeted NIOC subsidiaries, as well as the National Iranian Gas Company and National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution. Several banks were also listed. Neither the United States nor Europe import Iranian oil and both are trying to curb Iran’s sales elsewhere.

In Monday’s decision, the European Union also banned imports of natural gas to Europe and imposed broad measures against EU companies cooperating with Iran’s ship-building industry. — Reuters

ATHENS: European Central Bank’s (ECB) Klaus Masuch arrives for a meeting with the labor minister in Athens yesterday. The latest austerity sacrifices are required by Greece’s international creditors — the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank — to unlock loans worth 31.5 billion euros ($41 billion), part of an ongoing bailout plan. — AFP

LUKOIL denies approach from Iraq on West Qurna LONDON: LUKOIL said yesterday that Iraq has not asked the Russian company to replace Exxon Mobil at its supergiant West Qurna-1 oilfield after the US major angered Baghdad by entering into autonomous Kurdistan.

Nefte Compass, a weekly energy newsletter about former Soviet states and Eastern Europe, said last week that Iraq was weighing whether to replace Exxon with Russia’s LUKOIL and Gazprom Neft - both already involved in the country. “No one has offered us West Qurna-1,” LUKOIL Vice President Leonid Fedun told Reuters.

“We respect Exxon and the Iraqi government a lot. But we are sim-

ply lacking the financial resources to take on such large projects at the moment.”

The northern Kurdish region has riled Baghdad by signing deals with foreign oil companies such as Exxon, Gazprom Neft, Total and Chevron - contracts the central government rejects as illegal.

LUKOIL, Russia’s second-largest crude producer, is already running a mega-project to develop Iraq’s supergiant West Qurna-2, which adjoins West Qurna-1 in the south.

It holds a 75 percent stake in the project after buying out junior partner Statoil in June.

Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov said LUKOIL was in no rush to find a new partner.

“We have interested parties from the Gulf and from China,” he told investors. “But we don’t feel pressed to sell a share in the project.” Alekperov said 23 wells would be drilled at the oilfield by the end of 2013. LUKOIL is targeting an internal rate of return of 15 percent versus earlier expectations of 13 to 15 percent.

While LUKOIL may be too stretched to tap West Qurna-1, where Royal Dutch Shell has a minority stake, sources told Reuters Russia’s top oil company Rosneft may team up with Exxon in Iraq after the two struck a pact to tap oil and gas in the Arctic and North America. Rosneft has declined to comment. — Reuters

Oil eases towards $115, ample supply weighs LONDON: Oil eased towards $115 yesterday as investors cashed in and ample supplies and hefty stockpiles in top consumer the United States weighed. Worries of a worsening economic outlook in the world’s secondbiggest oil consumer, China, on top of a prolonged crisis in Europe, are also pressuring oil prices. Front-month Brent crude, due to expire later yesterdayTuesday, slipped 37 cents $115.43 by 1215 GMT. US oil was up 29 cents to $92.14 “Once again, it is apparent that the oil market is currently being driven by speculation and too much ‘hot money’,” said a Commerzbank research note. Brent was also supported by a possible delay in the restart of Britain’s largest oilfield, Buzzard, after maintenance, further hurting shipments of oil that sets the benchmark.

That helped the contract’s premium to US oil rise in earlier trade to

$24, the widest spread in a year. Prices are meanwhile under pressure from expectations that US crude stocks rose last week due to an anticipated increase in imports, while weak demand may lift gasoline stockpiles, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Adding to overall supplies, Saudi Arabia pumped around 9.8 million barrels a day (bpd) of crude oil in September, an industry source said.

According to official Saudi government figures supplied to OPEC, the world’s biggest oil exporter produced 9.75 million bpd in August and 9.8 million bpd of crude in July.

“Fundamentally there is no shortage of oil, with Saudi Arabia and others maintaining high output while inventory levels are also good,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity sales manager with Newedge in Tokyo. “On the other hand, there is tension in the

market with what is happening in Iran and the Turkey-Syria issue. That has put a floor on prices.”

The European Union cranked up pressure to force Tehran to halt its disputed nuclear program with further sanctions on Iran’s oil, gas and banking sectors. The measures came days after the Islamic Republic said it would negotiate on halting highergrade uranium enrichment if given fuel for a research reactor.

The new sanctions, one of the EU’s toughest moves against Iran to date, reflect mounting concern over the nuclear program and Israeli threats to attack Iranian atomic installations if a mix of sanctions and diplomacy fails.

Iran maintains that its nuclear project has only peaceful energy purposes and has refused in three rounds of talks since April to scale back uranium enrichment unless major economic sanctions are rescinded. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

BUSINESS

UK pushing for curbs on ECB in banking union LONDON: Britain and other European countries have deep concerns about a banking union in the eurozone, although there are signs of a compromise to limit the powers of the European Central Bank (ECB) in countries outside the euro, a UK minister told Reuters. Britain’s financial services minister Greg Clark said in an interview yesterday that efforts to help the 17-nation euro-zone and its banks recover from economic crisis must not come at the expense of the wider European Union market, which includes countries like Britain and Sweden that do not use the euro.

The blunt warning from Britain’s EU negotiator comes ahead of Thursday’s summit of the 27-nation EU’s leaders, when they will seek to make progress on the disputed plan which would make the ECB supervisor for all euro-zone lenders.

Asked what Britain saw as the main stumbling block, Clark said: “In terms of the current proposals the possibility of the euro-zone, through the ECB, to

in effect dominate the arrangements is something that gives us very deep concern, and not just us but other countries as well.”

Britain has already had talks with other non euro zone EU member countries about introducing safeguards to stop the single currency area imposing rules on all of Europe.

“The indications are that these concerns are listened to and are being taken seriously,” Clark said.

The clash comes at a time when Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who will attend Thursday’s summit, is under pressure from an influential anti-EU wing of his own party to dilute the influence of Brussels. Cameron has promised to negotiate a new settlement with the EU and put it to British voters in a referendum.

Clark, a Cambridge-educated economist with a doctorate from the London School of Economics, denied Britain was becoming isolated by adopting a

more confrontational stance in the EU after the government said on Monday it would opt out of the bloc’s justice rules. “There is no difficulty there. It does not constitute a battle,” the 45-year-old minister said.

“I don’t see it in head to head terms.”

But any compromise on the banking union will have to respect the 20-year old single market which allows firms from any member country to do business across Europe unhindered, he said.

Clark told a Thomson Reuters newsmaker event that Britain’s new Financial Conduct Authority watchdog, which will be formally in place early in 2013, should urgently encourage more banks to enter Britain’s market where just four lenders have 80 percent of consumer accounts.

Last week, hopes for more competition were dashed when Spain’s Santander abruptly ended a deal to buy over 300 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland, which was bailed out by taxpayers at the

height of the financial crisis. As part of its bailout terms, RBS is required by the European Commission to sell the branches by the end of 2013.

Clark told Reuters it was too early to say whether Britain would have to ask Brussels for more time.

“Certainly they (RBS) have not approached us yet, to my knowledge, for us to approach the Commission for any extension,” he said. RBS is also expected to be fined for its part in market manipulation of an interest rate benchmark known as Libor, a scandal which has already led to a record fine for rival Barclays. Clark said the decision on when to settle had to be left to individual banks but the government would say later this week how the law will be changed to reform how Libor is governed and set. “There is an urgent imperative and we will do everything that we can to change what needs to be changed as quickly as can possibly be done,” he said. — Reuters

Germany, France differ on pooled borrowing Merkel sees ‘change of thinking’ in Greece

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian man cooks food at a market in Phnom Penh yesterday.

Cambodian Finance Minister Keat Chhon said in July that the country’s economy was forecast to grow by 6.9 percent in 2012, slightly down from an earlier outlook of 7 percent following a drop in exports in the key garment sector. — AFP

Turkey CB may cut lending rate, curb loan growth ISTANBUL: Turkey’s central bank is expected to cut its overnight lending rate again yesterday to support a slowing economy but may take steps to control loan growth as inflation concerns resurface.

The Turkish economy was the fastestgrowing in Europe last year, expanding 8.5 percent, but weaker domestic demand this year has taken its toll. The government last week trimmed its forecasts for growth in 2012 to 3.2 percent and forecast only a mild pick-up next year. Tighter monetary policy in late 2011 and early 2012 helped bring down Turkey’s high current account deficit and inflation without driving it into a deeper economic downturn. But since July, the central bank has been cautiously easing policy to try to stimulate demand.

At its last monetary policy meeting in September, it cut its overnight lending rate for the first time in seven months by 150 basis points to 10 percent and hinted it could do more to support economic growth. Eight of nine brokerages and banks in a Reuters poll expected the central bank to cut its lending rate, the upper end of its interest rate corridor, again on Thursday by 50 to 150 basis points.

The bank was also expected to tighten liquidity by marginally increasing its reserve option coefficients, a new policy tool that helps it keep loan growth in check. Increasing the coefficients means lenders will have to provide proportionally more foreign exchange to the central bank for the lira reserves they elect to hold in foreign currency, draining some of the forex liquidity they could otherwise have used to generate new loans.

“While the narrowing of the corridor would be tantamount to loosening for loans and monetary stance, the increase in reserve option coefficients would signify a limited tightening,” wrote Haluk Burumcekci, chief economist at EFG Istanbul. “In September, the bank cut its overnight lending rate and increased the reserve option coefficients as it expects strong capital

inflows towards Turkey. This shows its willingness to control the pace of growth of banking loans while supporting economic growth,” Burumcekci said. Six of the analysts polled expected the bank to raise its forex reserve option coefficients by 0.1 points.

The bank has kept its main policy rate, the one-week repo rate, at an all-time low of 5.75 percent for more than a year and has used the rate corridor - the gap between its overnight lending and borrowing rates - to adjust monetary conditions.

None of the analysts polled expected the main rate to be cut on Thursday. Three out of six expected the bank to leave its lending rate on hold for the rest of the year after cutting it for a final time.

“The bank needs to cut the bottom end of the interest rate corridor if it wants to be more dovish. It would do so only if economic activity slows significantly,” said Erkin Isik, a strategist at TEB, saying such a move was unlikely. “After recent tax increases, we expect the bank to remain cautious on the inflation front,” he said.

Annual consumer inflation was above 9 percent in September, down from 11 percent in April but still well higher than the bank’s year-end target of 5 percent.

Monthly inflation expectations for October rose around 50 basis points, after Turkey raised energy and electricity prices and lifted the special tax on most cars, petrol and diesel fuel.

Governor Erdem Basci said last Friday the bank will maintain its cautious stance regarding pricing behavior. The central bank will issue its latest quarterly inflation report on Oct. 24. It is expected to raise its year-end forecast again after cutting it in July to 6.2 percent from 6.5 percent.

A Reuters poll of 38 economists earlier in October showed that analysts expected the central bank to cut its overnight lending rate to 9 percent by the end of this year.

They also expected annual inflation to be 7.6 percent at the end of 2012 and 6.6 percent in December 2013. — Reuters

LUXEMBOURG: France and Germany traded barbs yesterday over a controversial proposal for eurozone members, weak and strong alike, to pool their debt risk by issuing common bonds to raise funds.

Two days ahead of an EU summit to discuss ways of boosting the bloc’s economic and monetary union, German Europe Minister Michael Link said any plans for common borrowing were unacceptable. “You can phrase it any way you like’Treasury bills, debt redemption funds or eurobonds,’ this type of debt issuance will not fly with our government,” Link said.

“We have always said this very clearly to our European partners.” His French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve was equally blunt. “Well for us, it is ‘yes,’ just as clearly,” Cazeneuve said.

“There is no room for ambiguity in FrancoGerman relations,” he said, adding: “The compromises agreed between France and Germany are never as strong as when France and Germany speak to each other frankly.” Link, speaking earlier, slammed a proposal from EU president Herman Van Rompuy for a central euro-zone budget which could potentially be funded by the issue of common ‘eurobonds.’ “When you make proposals, whatever the policy area, that are simply unacceptable for certain members, this will only lead to a new summit and give the impression of division,” Link said.

The possible use of such ‘eurobonds’ is fraught, with Germany, Europe’s powerhouse and paymaster, reluctant to allow a pooling of debt which it believes would only allow weaker euro-zone states to get a free ride in the markets at its expense.

Others see eurobonds as a necessary tool as the euro-zone and European Union tighten up economic and fiscal policymaking in a bid to get all member states to stick to the same rules and so avoid the pitfalls of building up massive debt.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said she saw a “change” in Greece’s attitude towards reform as she praised painful efforts made in Athens and Spain to overcome the euro-zone debt crisis.

Addressing business executives in a speech in Berlin, Merkel said the euro-zone had “come a long way along this sometimes exhausting path” in overcoming the three-year crisis but warned “we are not yet at the end.” “We have seen in Spain the drive and commitment with which the Spanish government is working on improving its competitiveness,” she said.

And she added: “You can say a lot about Greece, but an awful lot has been done there-slower than we might have liked, maybe not as efficiently as we might have liked-but something has changed in their way of thinking.”

Merkel embarked on a day-long trip to Greece last Tuesday marked by violent protests against harsh austerity measures imposed on the debtwracked country in return for billions of euros (dollars) in aid.

She has often stressed that she wants the country to remain in the euro-zone but insists that Athens must carry out the reforms it has signed up to if it wants to continue receiving bailout cash.

Spain has introduced a raft of economic reforms, including a shake-up of labor laws and

BAE chief blames Merkel for collapse of EADS tie ABU DHABI: The head of British defense manufacturer BAE has blamed Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel for last week’s collapse of a merger with European aerospace group EADS, in an interview published yesterday.

“Merkel surprised Tom Enders (the EADS chief executive). He didn’t expect her to be so negative towards the deal. It was she who made the deal not go ahead,” Dick Olver told The National English-language daily.

A $45-billion (34.7 billion euro) merger to create the biggest aerospace group in the world between EADS and BAE Systems collapsed on Wednesday.

“It would have created the most competent, competitive and technologically capable defense company in the world. It was the merger of two very good companies,” said Olver. “ The French wanted it, but the

Germans didn’t. The British government was hugely helpful. We talked to the Americans right up front of the whole process, and the defense department was intrigued. But we never got to the point of explaining it fully to them,” he said.

France and Germany have equal voting rights in EADS, each accounting for 22.35 percent.

Spain owns 5.45 percent stake and the rest is held privately through the stock market.

Analysts said Germany feared being sidelined after such a tieup and was worried that jobs and factories could go with only one year until an election in Europe’s top economy.

Germany’s defense minister denied that the fault lay with Berlin, and Merkel’s spokesman said the “priority now is that EADS continues to develop positively in all its business activities.” — AFP

ORLANDO: Johnson & Johnson products are displayed in Orlando, Florida. Johnson & Johnson’s third-quarter profit fell 7 percent as increased research and production costs offset higher sales for its medicines and medical devices and new revenue from its biggest acquisition ever. — AP

making banks bolster their balance sheets, amid speculation that Madrid will soon be forced into a full sovereign bailout. While expressing optimism over the path ahead, Merkel also warned that there was no quick solution to the problems that have pitched many euro-zone nations into recession.

“The euro-zone crisis came about over several years and so it will not be solved with one measure, with one wave of the magic wand, but it will take years of long-term, systematic work,” she said. She urged other countries to bolster their

competitiveness levels, saying Germany could not lower its own competitiveness to accommodate others. “With different competitiveness levels, we cannot as a common currency resist external shocks,” she cautioned.

Merkel said the topic of competitiveness would be a “core issue” at a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday in Brussels. She also called for a “single European labor market,” suggesting it should be made easier for jobless in southern Europe to fill employment gaps in Germany. — Agencies

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at a meeting of the BDA (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbaende, The Confederation of German Employers’ Associations) at a hotel in Berlin yesterday. — AFP

Geography shouldn’t matter in choice of WTO chief: Lamy TOKYO: World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy said yesterday that there was no system of rotating his job between countries and regions and his successor should be picked on the basis of competence alone.

Lamy, who will leave the WTO after two terms in August 2013, said it was up to the organization’s member countries to decide on the criteria for selecting the new WTO chief who will oversee unfinished negotiations over trade liberalization. Emerging market countries will want to see one of their own in charge of the Geneva-based trading club after the top jobs at the IMF and the World Bank went to a European and an American following a decades old tradition criticized as being out of line with the new world order.

Lamy said the selection procedure at the WTO is different. “I don’t think this is a geographic rotation system,” Lamy told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the semi-annual International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Tokyo.

“There is nothing in the rules of the WTO that say that if somebody came from this country, then the next one should come from this country. I think what really matters is that it’s not a diplomatic game. It’s a headhunting game.” Formal nominations are not due until December, but trade diplomats are already assessing chances and gathering names.

Two candidates have formally declared their interest: Ghana’s former trade minister Alan Kyerematen and New Zealand’s current trade minister Tim Groser. Trade diplomats expect more candidates to emerge.

Asked about Ukraine’s decision to tell its trading partners it wanted to raise maximum tariffs on hundreds of imported goods, a move criticized as a threat to open trade, Lamy said the WTO verdict would depend on what concessions Ukraine was ready to offer in return.

He said WTO rules allowed a member to take such steps if it offered to reduce protection on other products and ultimately it was a matter of negotiations between Ukraine and its trading partners.

“The spirit is that if you make your economy less open on one item, you have to compensate by opening (the) economy on another item. So

it is the process of negotiation,” he said.

“I wouldn’t pre-qualify this. If Ukraine wants to increase its protection on some items and decreases its protection on other items, we have to look at the balance before making a judgement.”

Ukraine has expressed its intention to raise tariff ceilings without any precise number.

The move drew criticism from at least 19 nations arguing it could undermine the very basis of the $18 trillion global trade system.

On Lamy’s watch as head of the WTO, he has witnessed the stalling of decade-long talks on trade liberalisation known as the Doha Round.

But he said he saw promising signs that some progress was possible and that he was “cautiously optimistic” now as opposed to “cautiously pessimistic” a year ago.

“I think there is a bit more momentum. And it took a bit of time for the members to realise that the big deal was not available in a short time and to realize that, if that was the situation, they nevertheless had to try and move trade opening forward,” he said.

“Especially in a situation where we know that opening more trade is a low-cost solution to stimulating growth. So there is also a sort of crisis exit component in this, let’s say, new attitude.” — Reuters

Pascal Lamy

26

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

BUSINESS

How will global economy look in the years to come

By Hayder Tawfik he world economy will look much different from what it looked like in the past decades with one exception the US economy. The dynamism and structure of the US econ-

T

omy will stay the same with some small shift in exports. At present about 70% of the US gross domestic product (GDP) is lead by consumption. However, in recent years the manufacturing sector and technology are have been contributing more to the total of the gross domestic product.

In the past decades, the world’s biggest exporters such as Japan, Germany and recently China have relied heavily on selling their manufactured products to US consumers and by doing so they have created employments at home and generated huge income.

Actually, the only way out of the present world economic stagnation is an actual economic revolution to give the hopeless millions who’s numbers can only grow with a dire social economic implications. Some governments are doing their best to keep their domestic economies growing, but as the world has become a global village when it comes to economies, then their efforts will gradually be wasted.

Powerful world leaders should take some comfort from the slow global economic recovery. However, they should not close their eyes from what is happening around them. Their ultimate aim should be more sustainable economic growth, balancing their budgets and of course effective measures to create permanent employments for the vast majority of the youth. The international bodies have been warning of the risk exposed to the world economy and just

few days ago the International Monetary Fund has raised the warning flag again Going through an economic revolution can be hard and indeed painful but if this is the price to pay then they are indeed worthwhile as long as the result and the new economic structure are what needed. In my opinion China, Japan and Germany should lead the way in first changing their economic structure to be tilted towards more home consumption instead of relying heavily on exports. For this to happen first it requires aggressive government measures on the fiscal side and then it should be followed with a fundamental change in people’s attitude towards work, savings and obviously consumption. Few economic sectors will benefit most if this revolution does take place. The huge credit expansion around the world would help shares of companies which have global exposure to consumers mainly in emerging markets and in particular China. Also, US manufacturing sector would benefit too and those companies that are in the business of commodities, mining and infrastructure would suffer the most.

Economics is all about balancing over different cycles. However, in recent years these cycles have been much shorter and in some cases quite shocking, such as the Latin American debt crisis, Russian crisis, the technology and telecom bubble and recently the sub-prime crisis. I think these short economic shock cycles at present are giving us the opportunity to adjust the world economy for a more sustainable growth with longer economic cycles.

World leaders, who are interested in seeing the rebalancing of the global economy go through a smooth transition, should take note of the revival of the US manufacturing and technology sectors. The noticeable factors behind this revival are the flexibility of the labor market and the restrained wages combined with lower energy prices relative to their counter parts in Europe and Japan. At present, it seems that the US is one of the lowest cost producers in the developed world.

A global slow economic growth would last for the next few years unless those export lead economies take drastic measures to stimulate domestic demand on a sustainable case. China,

Japan and Germany could play a very big part in shaping the world economy by shifting away from exports and to spending at home. German consumers could play a big part in helping to shape the structure of the euro-zone economies. Retail spending in Germany has been literally flat for the last decade.

This is quite astonishing knowing that Germany has benefited tremendously from the introduction of the euro.

What about Chinese consumers?

Consumer spending in China is not encouraging for the global economic revival at all. The Chinese government could do more to rebalance its domestic economy as a slow world economy increases competitiveness abroad, which not only will hit their costs advantages but also will slow their economic growth.

I think international investors should monitor this slow shift in global economic rebalancing so they can invest in those companies that will benefit most. I think investors should focus on the technology and consumer spending related sectors for the next few years. — Hayder Tawfik - Executive Vice President of Asset Management, at Dimah Capital

GIC’s Gulf Bond Fund posts 5.83% net return Result surpasses the whole of last year’s net return KUWAIT: Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC), Gulf Bond Fund outperformed its own benchmark and similar rated financial products with a 5.83% net return for the first 9 months of 2012, surpassing the whole of 2011 net return, despite global economic instability.

With a market value exceeding $ 166 million and being the first and largest GCC bonds and Sukuk Fund, GIC Gulf Bond Fund managed to maintain its solid and consistent performance for the 8th year in a row.

The fund was able to achieve positive performance for the past 3 consecutive quarters with a net return of 5.83% and an annualized net return of 4.21% since inception in March 2005. Acting Head of Sales, Products and Marketing Division, Talal Zaid Al-Tawari ties this per formance to the high quality of the Gulf Bond Fund holdings. He Said”: “the underlying bonds are rated A- and above along with a broad regional and sector diversification. This attracts the attention of many investors

looking for consistently competitive per formance in the GCC region.”

Vice President- GCC Bonds and Fund Manager, Khalifa Al-Rashid said: “the High GDP growth com-

world of negative real interest rates in almost every developed economy along with relatively tight spreads in most of Emerging Markets, regional paper remain among the most attractive invest-

Khalifa Al-Rashid

Talal Al-Tawary

bined with relatively low debt ratios places the region in a very competitive position amid a global economy overshadowed by European Union debt crisis and growth concerns in US, and China.” He also added that: “in a

ment propositions from a risk/return perspective.”

Equipped with an industry expertise built up over the last 29 years and a unique Pan-GCC ownership structure in addition to having one of the largest regional

buy-side research teams, GIC is ideally positioned to take advantage of booming regional fixed income markets.

GIC Gulf Bond Fund long track record in regional credit markets and its focus on both portfolio and risk management represents an excellent investment opportunity in a market still dominated by low yields and high price volatility. Established in 1983, GIC is a regional financial institution owned entirely and equally by the six GCC states. GIC strives to provide a comprehensive range of financial services that support the development of private enterprise and economic growth in the Gulf region. GIC managed to achieve a number of major projects throughout GCC Countries all with diversified activities covering different sectors via, financial, petrochemical, steel, power, communications and others. GIC successfully maintained its distinguished presence as a financially powerful establishment with rewarding returns and enhanced capital base.

Ford goes further with technology Official automotive partner of GITEX KUWAIT: Ford is once again the official automotive partner for GITEX Technology Week, with a strong focus on the company’s Driver Assist Technologies this year as it showcases its latest innovations that promise to take the driving experience further according to the manufacturer.

2012 marks the fifth consecutive year for Ford as the Official Car of the region’s premier technology show, further underlining the company’s continued commitment to developing and integrating industry-leading innovations in its vehicles to enhance driver experience.

Ford was also the Official GITEX Shopper Car for the first time earlier last week.

“GITEX is the perfect platform for Ford to demonstrate its commitment to developing innovative solutions that take the driving experience to an entirely new level,” said Larry Prein, managing director, Ford Middle East. “GITEX is

also ideal for us to highlight the results of our development initiatives in this area, and this year’s show will highlight some new exciting areas Ford Motor Company is researching into as

als — to convey what lies behind the innovations of the latest Ford Driver Assist Technologies, with Ford’s Technology Trailer showcasing Arabic navigation for MyFord Touch on-site, in addition to several

part of its drive to address future mobility issues.”

Visitors to Ford’s GITEX stand in Hall 7 will be immersed in spectacular interactive technology-featuring augmented reality and 3D visu-

interactive information displays.

Consumers will be able to try a unique Biometric Seat that Ford’s research team is using to test a number of different sensors and gather data on how drivers

respond to a variety of inputs for a driver behavior model. The experimental system consists of early stage development technology as part of Ford’s ongoing research into driver wellness and stress levels, and monitors driver wellbeing by monitoring temperature levels, heart rate, respiration and other key indicators of stress which could hamper a driver’s ability to control their vehicle.

Show visitors have also the chance to experience the latest Ford models up close on the outdoor Plaza test drive arena to try features such as the Blind Spot Information System (BLIS), Cross traffic Alert, Active Park Assist and Sync with MyFord Touch in a lineup including Ford’s smartest sedan, the new 2013 Taurus SHO, as well as the Edge, Explorer and Focus.

Ford is giving GITEX visitors the chance to get to grips with a brand new 2013 Ford Taurus Limited as part of the GITEX Passport Trail.

Sharjah’s economy set to grow significantly SHARJAH: The emirate of Sharjah has chosen four key sectors to fuel its economic growth over the next four years, according to a recent study released by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq).

The key sectors are travel and tourism, transport and logistics, healthcare, and environment, in addition to other sectors which are projected to offer the most significant investment potential based on Sharjah’s competitive advantages and unique characteristics. Speaking about Sharjah’s business potential and future prospects, Marwan Bin Jassim Al-Sarkal, CEO of Shurooq, said, “Sharjah is capitalizing now on four key sectors to drive its economy towards a brighter and more prosperous future, especially after it managed to weather the global financial crisis relatively successfully due to its welldiversified economy, which is ranked as one of the most diversified economies in the region.”

He said that Sharjah has many unique characteristics and competitive advantages that make it an ideal business destination for investors from the

UAE and abroad. Al Sarkal noted: “The Emirate is already achieving strong growth, powered by a host of giant projects related to tourism, logistics and transport, healthcare and environment, and other sectors offering significant investment potential to both local and foreign investors.”

Among the projects that are currently underway are the Chedi Khorfakkan Resort, Kalba Ecotourism project, the Heart of Sharjah, and the AlJazeera Park makeover, among other landmark initiatives undertaken and supervised by Shurooq in its capacity as the investment regulatory body of the Emirate. “This is apart from many other projects in the pipeline,” he added.

Referring to a new landmark project, Al-Sarkal said, “Sharjah will soon see the setting up of an integrated healthcare city, the largest healthcare facility in the UAE, which was recently announced

by His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. A move that will give a strong boost to the Emirate’s growing healthcare sector.”

With the health market size reaching AED2.3bn, the healthcare industry is expected to grow at 9.3 percent up to 2016, offering many opportunities to investors who are interested in investing this booming industry, he clarified.

Al-Sarkal expressed his profound gratitude and thanks to the ruler of Sharjah for his sincere support and generous initiatives that will help transform Sharjah into a sustainable business hub that will be able to lure investors from all over the world, in addition to being a pleasant place to live, and visit. Sharjah is an easy place to start and run a business and its regulatory environment offers many advantages for investors who can make the best use of the Emirate’s flexible legislation and incentives to run their businesses.

Capitalizing on its strategic location between Europe and Far East, the transport industry is expected to grow considerably as many transport related projects have been or are currently being implemented, while many more are still in the pipeline, Shurooq’s CEO said.

Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons extends Cadillac’s premium trade-in offer to October Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive prides in continuously offering the very best deals to its customers. Due to its success, the company has extended its September special trade-in offer into the month of October, so that more and more people can benefit during this month and the Eid holiday season.

Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons, the exclusive dealer for Cadillac and Chevrolet strives to always offer the best for its clientele. During this month and the Eid holiday season, customers will relish the opportunity to trade-in their old vehicles when purchasing any of Cadillac’s new luxury models.

All customers can take advantage of this exclusive offer by visiting the company’s showroom in Al-Rai to receive a quotation on their older vehicle which will be discounted from the new model the client wishes to purchase.

In addition to the special trade in offer, all customers benefit from Cadillac’s premium care program, which includes service and maintenance for a

period of four years or 100,000 kilometers; the vehicle comes under warranty for four years or 100,000 kilometers. Also included is a roadside assistance service covering the entire Middle East, irrespective of the distance travelled. Vehicle pick-up and delivery can be arranged during routine scheduled maintenance and a replacement vehicle can be provided when repair work takes place under warranty.

The company oversees the largest service center of its kind in the world equipped with state-of-the-art tools and manned by some of the most skilled technicians. Operations in the service center are carried out with total precision and care required to ensure that clients have the utmost peace of mind at all times. With such special and exclusive deals being offered during the month of October, it is the best time to walk in to the Cadillac showroom and drive out with a brand new vehicle embodying the meanings of luxury, comfort and excellence.

S African miners vow months of strikes after talks collapse CARLETONVILLE, South Africa: Defiant South African gold miners yesterday vowed to extend their strike for months to come unless pay demands are met, after talks aimed at ending a wave of crippling work stoppages broke down.

More than 2,500 Harmony Gold Mining Company workers were among those rallying Tuesday, unfazed by the prospect of losing their jobs after mine owners and union officials said that last-gasp talks to end weeks of rolling wildcat strikes had collapsed.

Workers spurned a wage deal reached last week by negotiators of the employer body Chamber of Mines of South Africa and union leaders. The employers have ruled out a further proposal and no new talks are planned.

“We want money! The strike continues!” Moses Ngwekazi told thousands of workers gathered at a stadium near the Carletonville mine southwest of Johannesburg.

“No one is going to fire us, the strike continues. The employer can’t just decide to suspend talks without offering an alternative,” Ngwekazi said.

Tens of thousands of gold mine workers have been on strike for weeks, halting production in Africa’s top goldproducing country.

After Monday’s deadlock the Chamber of Mines left the decision to individual companies to fire the workers or radically restructure operations.

“If a solution is not found, the strike can continue for up to three months.

We don’t care,” said mineworker Makhalemele Motaung.

Harmony Mine workers are demanding pay hikes to 18,500 rand ($2,115, 1,625 euros) per month.

Meanwhile in a pre-dawn raid, police arrested 40 striking workers who had seized equipment worth millions of dollars at Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore mine west of the country.

They were part of nearly 300 workers that Kumba sacked on Monday following an illegal strike they launched nearly two weeks ago at its Sishen mine in Northern Cape province.

“At about three o’clock (0100 GMT) this morning, we entered the mine premises where the illegal strikers were keeping the mine equipment in their possession. We managed to arrest about 40 of them,” Lieutenant Colonel Hendrik Swart, police spokesman for Northern Cape, told AFP. Sishen in a statement confirmed the “illegal occupation of the company’s Sishen mine has been brought to an end by the police who removed the strikers in the early hours of the morning.”

Police regained possession of and handed over heavy mining equipment-including 88 haul trucks-that the striking workers had seized since the strike started on October 3.

The miners had threatened to destroy the equipment if a pay increase of 15,000 rand ($1,715, 1,319 euros) for all workers, above what they already earn, had not been met. Those arrested will face contempt of court charges after they ignored a Labour Court order to vacate the mine and release equipment worth 3.3 billion rand ($375 million, 290 million euros), police said.

South Africa has been in the grips of a wave of wildcat mining strikes that have spiralled out of the platinum sector into other industries including gold. —AFP

27

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Facebook opens first international engineering centre LONDON: Facebook’s first engineering centre outside the United States opened in London yesterday, boosting the British government’s ambition to make the digital economy a central plank of its growth strategy.

The company’s vice-president of engineering, Mike Schroepfer, said that London is “rapidly emerging as a global

technology hub”, providing access to the best engineers and a place where other talented engineers would be willing to relocate.

The London team will develop products to improve the Facebook experience on mobile devices and perform work on the social network’s platform, Schroepfer said. Developing mobile

products is a priority for Facebook. The social network crossed the billion threshold this month, but it has struggled to make money from the growing numbers of people accessing its services on smartphones.

British finance minister George Osborne, who attended the opening in Covent Garden, central London, said that

Facebook’s move highlighted the attractiveness of the city for technology businesses. “I hope it also reflects something of the work we have done as a government over the last couple of years to make this a go-to place for technology businesses,” he added. Osborne said the government had taken a range of measures including better computer science

teaching, the expansion of superfast broadband and the improved availability of government data to apps developers.

Facebook’s initial 12-strong team is headed by engineer Philip Su, who relocated from Seattle, site of the company’s first engineering centre outside California. Su said that he has already recruited a handful of people locally. — Reuters

Microsoft supports third Kuwait Edutech conference Edutech is the largest event of its kind

FRANKFURT: A file picture taken on October 8, 2006 shows fair-goers using laptops at the US search engine giant Google’s stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Google’s new confidentiality rules, established on March the 1st, 2012, are not in accordance with the Europen legislation protecting personal data and will have to be modified, the 27 European data protection authorities said, yesterday. — AFP

EU give Google ‘months’ to fix privacy policy PARIS: European data protection agencies yesterday said Google’s new privacy policy does not comply with EU laws and told the US Internet giant to fix it within months or face legal action. “Google has a few months, three or four months, to comply. If it takes no action, we will enter a phase of litigation,” said the head of France’s CNIL data agency, which took a lead role in a European probe into the company.

Google rolled out the new privacy policy in March, allowing the firm to track users across various services to develop targeted advertising, despite sharp criticism from US and European consumer advocacy groups.

It contends the move simplifies and unifies its policies across its various services such as Gmail, YouTube, Android mobile systems, social networks and Internet search. The CNIL led an investigation into the policy by data agencies from all 27 European Union member states and yesterday presented its conclusions at a press conference in Paris.

In a joint letter to Google made public ahead of the conference, the agencies

wrote that the US firm “provides insufficient information to its users, especially on the purposes and the categories of data being processed.

“As a result, a Google user is unable to determine which categories of data are processed in the service he uses, and for which purpose these data are processed,” it said.

CNIL president Isabelle FalquePierrotin told reporters that “we now demand adjustments” to the policy, failing which “authorities in several countries can take action against Google”.

She added however that such action would be taken on a national and not an EU level. Critics have argued that Google’s new policy, which offers no ability to opt out aside from refraining from signing into Google services, gives the Internet giant unprecedented ability to monitor its users.

The California-based firm said the changes are designed to improve the user experience across the various Google products, and give the firm a more integrated view of its users, an advantage enjoyed by Apple and Facebook. — AFP

KUWAIT: Microsoft participated in Kuwait Edutech 2012 Conference & Exhibition as Diamond sponsor and “Education Partner” along with its partner K12NET. The event, held under the patronage of Dr Nayef Al Hajraf Kuwait Minister of Education and Higher Education and Chairman of the conference, highlighted the latest education technology and innovations that aim to transform the education sector and enhance learning experiences in Kuwait.

Dr Khaleed Al Rasheed, Assistant Undersecretary for Planning and Information, Ministry of Education inaugurated the event.

Microsoft, as a Diamond sponsor, showcased its latest education solutions innovations where Mohamed Al Tura, Microsoft Kuwait Business Development Manager highlighted in one of the key sessions covering the Partners In Learning program agreement in cooperation with the Ministry of Education that was signed back in 2010, in terms of its achievements in these 2 years journey.

This is Microsoft Kuwait third year consecutive participation, in-line with Microsoft Kuwait’s commitment to long-term commitment to education, and its approach to helping achieve the goal of providing every child in the State of Kuwait with an excellent education utilizing technology as the main enabler to achieve this excellence.

Addressing key executives, assistant under secretaries and under secretaries from various education institutions in the Kuwaiti education sector during his key session, Mohammed Al-Tura said: “Microsoft Kuwait is dedicated to supporting the vision of the Kuwaiti government and Ministry of Education through its strategic partnership, and strives to help realize the government’s aims in developing the education sector in the country.”

Al-Tura also highlighted the impact of the Partners In Learning program with the Ministry of Education where more than 500 teachers are master trainers, reaching out to train more than 5000 teachers, and impacting more than 12000 students to date. The Partners in learning program provides the

Hacker faces up to 60 years in US jail LONDON: A British computer hacker accused by the United States of causing more than $700,000 damage to US military systems will not be extradited because of the high risk he could kill himself, Britain’s Home Secretary Theresa May said yesterday.

Gary McKinnon, who has been fighting extradition for seven years, faced up to 60 years in a US jail if found guilty of what one US prosecutor called the “biggest military computer hack of all time”. McKinnon, 46, admits hacking into Pentagon and NASA computers under the pseudonym “Solo” but said he was looking for evidence of UFOs. The former computer systems administrator has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, and is suffering from depressive illness. He has been fighting extradition since British police arrested him in 2005.

“I have concluded that Mr McKinnon’s extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon’s human rights,” May told parliament.

“I have therefore withdrawn the extradition order against Mr McKinnon.” His case was one of the most high-profile extradition decisions ever faced by the British government.

Campaigners had said it highlighted the unbalanced nature of Britain’s extradition treaty with the United States, arguing it was easier to send a British suspect to the United States than the other way round.

Prime Minister David Cameron expressed sympathy for McKinnon before coming to power in 2011 and raised concerns over the extradition agreement with US President Barack Obama earlier this year.

British legislators had demanded an overhaul of the treaty, signed in 2003 to speed up transfer of suspects between the two allies, saying it was biased in favour of the United States and failed to protect the rights of British citizens.

May said she would introduce legislation to allow British judges to block the transfer of suspects to a foreign court in extradition cases.

“I have decided to introduce a forum bar. This will mean that where prosecution is possible in both the UK and in another state, the British courts will be able to bar prosecution overseas, if they believe it is in the interests of justice to do so,” May said.

US officials say McKinnon accessed 97 military and NASA computers in 2001 and 2002, disabling naval systems and causing more

than $700,000 of damage. May said she had taken her decision not to extradite him after studying medical reports and taking extensive legal advice.

“Mr McKinnon is accused of serious crimes, but there is also no doubt that he is seriously ill,” she said. It would now be up to British prosecutors to decide whether McKinnon had any case to answer in a British court, May said.

There was no immediate reaction from the U.S. government or its London embassy. The decision was praised by campaigners, legislators and McKinnon’s family.

“Thank you Theresa May from the bottom of my heart. I always knew you had the strength and courage to do the right thing,” the BBC reported his mother Janis Sharp as saying. — Reuters

platform for teachers to utilize free tools from Microsoft to enhance the learning and education environment, share knowledge and best practices with teachers and educators worldwide, to help students achieve their full

management system that aims to connect all stakeholders of an educational organization.

This includes connecting administrators of educational agencies, school staff members, teachers, students and parents. This digital

KUWAIT: (From left to right) Mohammed Zayed, Microsoft Kuwait Solutions Specialist, Maryam Al-Wataid, Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Eng Mohammed Al Sayegh, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Facilities, Ministry of Education and Karim Abdel Aziz, Microsoft Kuwait Education Account Manager. potential, and create a collaborative commu- platform provides real time data transaction, nity of like-minded school leaders. The goal effective interaction between stakeholders, of the Partners in Learning Network is to business intelligence reports and statistics for enable three areas of focus: strategic decision making. K12NET is a multil Connecting teachers and school leaders lingual web-based solution that is currently used by around 1400 schools by the Ministry from around the world. l Creating communities dedicated to teachof Education in United Arab Emirates as well as private educational organizations in Turkey. ing and learning. l And offer content and curriculum that Microsoft takes a holistic and long-term enables sharing new ideas to help transform approach to supporting education and is working closely with governments, educators, education.

Continually supporting the government’s parents, students and NGOs in Kuwait to open development of educational systems and cur- up access to technology that can improve the riculums, Microsoft this year partnered with quality of teaching as well as the learning K12NET, an enterprise student information experience for students of all ages.

Tawasul Telecom sponsors first Arab Internet Governance forum KUWAIT: Gulf Electronic Tawasul Company (Tawasul Telecom), the GCC leader in the provisioning of IP based services, sponsored the First Arab Internet Governance Forum, which aims to create meaningful discussions regarding public policy as it relates to internet governance, and to highlight the Arab perspective on internet governance to the global community.

The First Arab Internet Governance Forum was organized by the Kuwait Society for Information Technology under the umbrella of the Arab League Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the three-day event took place October 9th to the 11th at the Regency Hotel

Kuwait, with the participation of more than 350 academics, and governmental and private sector specialists in internet governance from across the Arab world.

Mr. Hani Al-Shakhs, a member of the Board of Directors for Tawasul Telecom said of the Forum: Tawasul Telecom is very proud to sponsor the First Arab Internet Governance Forum, as it offers an invaluable opportunity for the exchange of views and experiences, and to discuss the future of the Internet in the Arab world in terms of its technological, political, and social impact.

Al-Shakhs went on to praise the initiative of the Kuwait Society for Information Technology for its organization of the Forum, which highlighted the issues that concern the evolution and governance of the Internet in the Arab world.

The forum also offered an opportunity for the Tawasul Telecom team to provide the attendees an in-depth description of the specialized telecommunications solutions the company offers for various sectors, especially gas & oil, aviation, and financial among others.

As for its role in developing the telecommunications and Internet infrastructure in the Middle East and the Arab world, Tawasul Telecom, the industry leader in the provisioning of MPLS (MultiProtocol Label Switching) based services in the Middle East, owns and operates the only truly redundant IP network in the region.

The network is an original design, offering cross-border connectivity, and meets international standards for performance, privacy, and security.

Mayer raids Google to hire top lieutenant

HATFIELD: Janis Sharp, the mother of computer hacker Gary McKinnon leaves her home near Hatfield, England, yesterday.

Britain’s government says Gary McKinnon won’t be extradited to the United States, ending his decade-long campaign to avoid trial there over allegations he broke into sensitive military and NASA computer networks. — AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is mining her old advertising connections at Google to help her tackle the challenges facing her in her new job.

Henrique de Castro, one of Google’s top advertising executives for the past two years, is leaving the Internet search leader to be Mayer’s top lieutenant. Beginning early next year, de Castro will be Yahoo’s chief operating officer.

The defection announced yesterday is Mayer’s highest-profile hiring since she left Google to run Yahoo three months ago.

Since then, Mayer has brought in a new chief financial officer and chief marketing officer without raiding the ranks of her former employer.

Yahoo Inc. has been struggling to attract more advertising for several years, a problem that Mayer evidently thinks she can fix with the expertise of an executive who helped build Google Inc. into the Internet’s most lucrative marketing network.

Through the first half of this year, Google’s ad revenue totaled nearly $21 billion, a 22 percent increase from 2011, while Yahoo generated about $2 billion, unchanged from 2011. De Castro, 47, has played a key role in Google’s success since leaving Dell Inc. in 2006. He is currently a vice president who runs a division that manages Google’s relationships with

advertisers. Before that, he managed Google’s advertising expansion on smartphones and other mobile devices, another area believed to be high on Mayer’s agenda. De Castro will remain in his current job for a few more months. Yahoo, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has given de Castro until Jan. 22 to wrap up his duties at Google, which is based just a few miles away in Mountain View.

In an indication of how much Mayer prizes de Castro’s skills, Yahoo is giving him a compensation package valued at about $58 million, according to a regulatory filing Monday. Most of the pay consists of restricted stock and stock options that will vest over the next four years. De Castro is getting restricted grant valued at $20 million and a $1 million cash bonus to make up for benefits he is relinquishing at Google. Yahoo also is doling out stock options and additional restricted stock valued at $36 million as an incentive for de Castro to remain at the company for the next four years while he works with Mayer to turn the company around. That’s all on top of de Castro’s $600,000 annual salary and a potential annual bonus of up to $540,000. In a statement, Mayer hailed de Castro “as incredibly accomplished and rigorous business leader” with the Internet advertising insights that “make him the perfect fit for Yahoo as we propel the busi-

ness to its next phase of growth.”

Mayer also left little doubt that she hopes to infuse Yahoo with much of the same philosophy that worked well for Google during her 13-year stint there.

Although she hasn’t yet shared her vision publicly, all indications point to Mayer deemphasizing the company’s recent focus on cost-cutting in favor of pouring more resources into developing services that please Web surfers and advertisers alike.

More details about Mayer’s strategy are expected to emerge Oct. 22 when she is scheduled to discuss Yahoo’s third-quarter earnings.

Some analysts have speculated that Mayer might try to forge some sort of advertising partnership with Google. So far, Yahoo’s 3-year-old alliance with Microsoft Corp. in Internet search hasn’t paid off as well as Yahoo had hoped. By raiding Google’s ranks for talent, however, Mayer runs the risk of alienating her former employer. Google, though, made it sound as if things remain amicable. “We’re grateful to Henrique for all of his contributions at Google and wish him all the best in his new role at Yahoo,” Google said in a statement.

Yahoo shares added 8 cents to $15.76 in extended trading after de Castro’s hiring was announced. The stock price has barely budged since Mayer became CEO, while Google’s has surged by 29 percent. — AP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Weight loss surgery tied to increase in drinking: Study NEW YORK: People who had weight loss surgery reported greater alcohol use two years after their procedures, according to a US study. The researchers, whose findings appeared in the Archives of Surgery, said it’s possible that some patients may turn to drinking if the surgery successfully stops their ability to overeat without addressing underlying issues. In addition, the effect of certain stomach-shrinking procedures on alcohol tolerance may play a part.

“This is perhaps a risk,” said Alexis Conason, who worked on the study at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. “I don’t think it should

deter people from having surgery, but you should be cautious to monitor (alcohol use) after surgery,” Conason told Reuters Health.

The study didn’t show whether people were drinking in a dangerous way, and there was no clear increase in drug use or smoking after surgery. Her team’s study involved 155 people getting gastric bypass or gastric banding surgery, mostly women. Participants started the study with an average body mass index, or BMI, of 46 - equivalent of a 168 cm (five foot six inch) person weighing 129 kilograms (285 pounds).

Surgery is typically recommended for people with a BMI of at least 40, or at

least 35 if they also have health problems such as diabetes or severe sleep apnea. Alcohol use dropped immediately after surgery, from 61 percent of people who initially reported drinking to 20 percent at one month postsurgery. But by three months, drinking rates had started to creep back up.

And at two years out, people were drinking significantly more often than before their procedures.

That was mainly the case for those who had gastric bypass surgery, not banding. On a scale from 0 to 10 of drinking frequency, where 0 represented never, 5 was sometimes and 10 always, gastric bypass patients reported

an increase from 1.86 before surgery to 3.08 two years later.

Conason said gastric bypass, in particular, has been shown to drastically lower alcohol tolerance, to the point that some post-surgery patients have a blood alcohol content above the legal driving limit after just one drink. For some, that could make drinking more appealing, she added.

One limitation of the study is that only one-quarter of the initial participants were still in touch to report their current alcohol and drug use at the twoyear mark, so the researchers don’t know how everyone else fared.

James Mitchell, a psychiatrist who

has studied alcohol use after weight loss surgery at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks, said there’s also a need for research going on for longer than two years, to see if alcohol use keeps increasing.

“The health risks of obesity are such that people with severe obesity should not forgo bariatric surgery because of this,” said Mitchell, who was not involved in the study.

But he added that everyone should be warned about the possibility of increased alcohol use - and people with a history of alcohol abuse should be especially careful. — Reuters

How compounding pharmacies rally patients to fight regulation Drug shortages, ‘individualized medicine’ fuel growth

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani child receives a polio vaccine from a health worker in a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, yesterday. — AP

Girls may not have riskier sex after HPV vaccination NEW YORK: Girls who had been vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV ) weren’t more likely to get other sexually transmitted infections or to become pregnant, according to a US study. This goes against worries on the part of some that getting the vaccine, which is supposed to ultimately help prevent cervical cancer, would encourage girls to become sexually active or engage in riskier sex than they otherwise would.

“Some parents have expressed it as a concern,” said Saad Omer, an infectious diseases and vaccine researcher from Emory University in Atlanta who worked on the study, which was published in Pediatrics.

“Parents can be reassured at least based on the evidence that young girls who receive HPV vaccines did not show increased signs (of ) clinical outcomes of sexual activity.”

The vaccine, which has been recommended for 11- and 12-year-old girls in the United States since 2006, is still controversial, and only about half of girls start the series of shots. One argument against it has been that it will make pre-teens feel a false sense of security when it comes to sex.

For the study, Omer and his colleagues analyzed databases from Kaiser Permanente Georgia, a managed care organization covering the Atlanta area. Out of 1,398 girls who were 11 or 12 when they saw their doctors in 2006 and 2007, 493 got at least one dose of the HPV vaccine.

Based on records of their primary care visits, 107 of the girls included in the study were given a pregnancy test through 2010, and 55 were tested for Chlamydia. Girls who did or didn’t get the HPV vaccine were

equally likely to be tested for both.

Two girls in each group got pregnant during the study. One girl who’d been vaccinated was diagnosed with Chlamydia, compared to three unvaccinated girls.

Omer’s team didn’t have any data on how many of the girls were sexually active during the study period. The researchers also couldn’t tell if the sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy tests were part of standard clinical procedures or if girls were tested because they were sexually active or had symptoms.

Divya Patel, an ob-gyn researcher from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, called the study a “really good first stab” at looking at the behavioral effects of HPV vaccinations, but felt it didn’t convey the full picture. For example, it’s possible that girls as young as 11 and 12 aren’t even told what the vaccine is for, or only hear about it in the context of cervical cancer. “I’d be really surprised if kids this age are knowing that, ‘I got a vaccine for HPV and it’s a sexually transmitted disease,” said Patel, who wasn’t involved in the study.

Future studies like this one, but in different locations and in older girls, will be needed to help piece together what’s going on. Researchers agreed there are other issues limiting the popularity of the HPV vaccine besides concern about a spike in sexual risk-taking.

“I think that perception of risk (with HPV) is not quite there. People don’t really consider themselves at risk, or they’re not concerned,” Patel said, noting that perhaps this was because it was so common. “We need to be aware of how to prevent it, and vaccination is the best way.” —Reuters

Biodiversity conference mulls true cost of nature HYDERABAD: Should European farmers pay for pollination provided by bees? Should city dwellers in Brazil pay for the abundant rain generated over the Amazonian forest? And if mangroves are a shield against tsunamis, shouldn’t seaside resorts in Thailand be paying for them? These are the kinds of questions being asked at the world’s top biodiversity conference in India, where policymakers are desperately seeking ways to preserve the world’s dwindling plant and animal resources.

A strong consensus is emerging that putting a price on nature may be the only way to get people to prevent Earth’s bounty being squandered, sometimes to extinction.

Less clear, though, is how this can be achieved. “The benefits have no price tag associated with them, which mean they are not accounted for ... when other decisions are made,” said Neville Ash, chief of the UN Environmental Programme’s biodiversity unit.

According to the IUCN, human expansion has lead to the destruction of six million hectares of primary forest every year since 2006. Thirty-five percent of mangroves-which are vital sources of food, fuel, fibre and pharmaceutical molecules-have also been lost in just 20 years. The idea of putting a price on some hitherto “free” resources has gained traction in recent years as pressure to halt the decline forces policy makers to think innovatively.

Nearly half of amphibian species, a third of corals, a quarter of mammals, a fifth of all plants and 13 percent of the world’s birds are at risk of extinction, according to the “Red List” compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

So academics and economists attempt to calculate the value of nature in dollars and cents, hoping that governments will include

the estimates in their long-term planning and short-term awarding of exploitation contracts.

“Economics has become the currency of policy,” environmental economist Pavan Sukhdev told AFP. “In order to make politicians see how important biodiversity is, you need to tell them the dollar value of ecosystem services their economy is losing because of their mismanagement and loss of ecosystems and biodiversity.” Researchers made a first stab at putting a value on Earth’s biosphere in 1997, submitting that ecosystems made an unseen annual contribution of $33 trillion (25 trillion euros in today’s terms).

The number amounted to double the annual global GDP at the time and was slammed by some for being grossly overinflated. Others scoffed at the “dollarisation” of Earth’s natural treasure.

Since then, smaller studies have tried to value everything from bee pollination (about $190 billion or 150 billion euros, based on one estimate) to mangrove storm protection (up to about $1,000 or 780 euros per hectare per year). Both resources are at risk-mangroves make way for shrimp farms that make their owners rich but rob local communities of fuel wood and fish, while bee numbers are slumping in some parts of the world along with a drop in the diversity of plants they feed on.

“There is no market for many things, the environment is a good example, and so we essentially treat (resources) as free and overexploit them,” said Dominic Moran, professor of environmental economics at Scotland’s Rural College. Valuation alone is not enough, said Nathaniel Carroll, head of the biodiversity programme at Forest Trends, a non-profit group promoting “market-based approaches” to forest conservation.— AFP

NEW YORK: When US senators met nearly a decade ago to consider the dangers of pharmacies that mix or alter drugs with little federal oversight, health officials briefed them on some alarming findings about the safety and efficacy of drugs made by these “compounding pharmacies.”

Dr. Steven Galson, a top official at the Food and Drug Administration, told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that in 2001 the agency had done a “limited” survey of drugs from 12 such pharmacies, including hormones, antibiotics, steroids and drugs to treat glaucoma, asthma and erectile dysfunction.

And he shed some light on the risks from an industry now at the heart of today’s unprecedented meningitis outbreak. Ten of the 29 drugs failed one or more quality tests, including nine that failed potency testing, some with less than 70 percent of their declared potency. By contrast, in its analyses of more than 3,000 samples from drug manufacturers, who are subject to FDA oversight, only four had quality problems.

“They had ample warning of problems in this industry,” said Sarah Sellers, a pharmacist who worked in compounding before joining the FDA in 2005 to work on compliance issues surrounding compounding. Now, as the deaths and illnesses mount from fungal meningitis linked to a contaminated steroid injection, the question of why early concerns about pharmacy compounding did not change U.S. law is a top focus for patients, regulators and lawmakers.

The FDA has traced the steroid injections to New England Compounding Center, or NECC, a Framingham, Massachusetts compounding pharmacy founded in 1998.

Shortly after Galson testified in 2003, Congress killed an attempt to establish an FDA oversight committee on pharmacy compounding. It was the first in a series of failures to regulate this littleknown side of the pharmaceutical industry, which has fought back through Capitol Hill lobbying and political donations.

Much of the lobbying comes from grassroots mobilization of compounding pharmacists.

Through programs such as “Compounders on Capitol Hill,” they fan out to their senators and representatives to impress on politicians and their staffers the need for compounding. “ They mobilize their members, they scare patients and parents, and they flood Capitol Hill,” said Sandra Fusco Walker, director of patient advocacy at Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics. “They are dedicated to making sure they never have FDA oversight.”

Fusco Walker first tangled with the industry in 2004, when drugs produced by a compounding pharmacy for use in special inhalers called nebulizers turned out to have contamination and potency problems. She and her allies succeeded in getting insurers not to reimburse for compounded nebulizer drugs, essentially driving compounders out of that business.

The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, the industry’s Texas-based trade association, has long argued that existing regulations are more than adequate to protect patients.

“Compounding pharmacies are regulated by state boards of pharmacy and we also have an accrediting body,” David Miller, chief executive of IACP, told Reuters. Heavy-handed federal oversight could strangle an industry that “serves a vital function,” he said, including providing drugs that major manufacturers have stopped producing.

Small-town politics proved key to defeating the 2003 effort, which would have added a provision for the FDA advisory panel in a bill on the government’s Medicare health plan for the elderly.

The IACP, which represents more than 2,700 pharmacists and others involved in compounding, ranging from those working in corner drugstores to owners of sizable operations including NECC, rallied its members.

It targeted lawmakers central to the decisionmaking process like Republican Representative Tom DeLay, whose Texas district was home to the IACP’s Missouri City headquarters. DeLay was also House Majority leader from 2003 until 2005, when

he resigned in the face of money-laundering charges for which he was later convicted.

The next serious attempt at regulation came in 2007, when Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy and Republican colleagues introduced the Safe Drug Compounding Act. It would have given the FDA authority to restrict when doctors could order injectable drugs from compounders, limit interstate distribution of compounded drugs, and establish requirements for sterile compounding.

The American Pharmacists Association, IACP and seven related professional organizations warned Kennedy and colleagues who were spearheading the bill that it would “negatively impact patient access to necessary compounded prescription medications,” according to a March 2007 letter reviewed by Reuters.

A spokesman for IACP, David Ball, said no one from that era remains in any leadership positions at the group, but did not respond to questions about the current leaders’ positions on the Kennedy bill.

The IACP raised its lobbying spending to $260,000 that year, from $20,000 in 2001 and $80,000 in 2005, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks such spending. It spent $116,189 in 2011 and $55,131 so far this year, according to the Center.

Compounders also enlisted parents of autistic children, who besieged Kennedy’s office, arguing that compounding pharmacies were the sole source of treatments for the condition, such as the unproven therapy chelation to remove toxic metals from the body. Kennedy’s bill never reached the floor. The bill’s proponents “saw the opposition and decided it wasn’t going anywhere,” said Fusco Walker. For critics of the industry, it is no small irony that Kennedy’s bill would have required the FDA to track three characteristics common to the tainted drugs linked to the current outbreak. The pharmacy under investigation, NECC, provided injectable drugs, shipped them across state lines and promised they met sterile conditions.

“There is a compounding pharmacy in every congressional district in the country, and compounders were on the Hill every year marching whenever there was a bill that would have increased federal oversight of them,” said pharmacist Sellers, now president of Q-Vigilance, a consulting firm that advises pharmaceutical companies on safety. Sellers resigned from the FDA in 2007, frustrated that bills such as Kennedy’s went nowhere.

Absent federal oversight of compounders, state boards of pharmacy, which typically have half a dozen inspectors for thousands of pharmacies, oversee them.

The FDA has asked Congress for greater regulatory authority, particularly after a 2002 Supreme

Court decision stripped it of much of what it had.

“FDA’s legal authority to regulate compounded drugs is complex and has been challenged vigorously by the compounding industry both in courts and Congress,” said FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson.

The practice of compounding dates to the earliest pharmacies. Under US law, compounding pharmacies can assemble the raw ingredients of any medication, whether or not it has been approved by the FDA, but are supposed to do so one prescription at a time, not in industrial-scale runs.

But as the Senate heard testimony in 2003 about thousands of patients injured or killed by bad batches of compounded drugs, demand for the products was growing from patients seeking more personalized therapies and from healthcare providers dealing with shortages of important medications.

A former NECC employee told Reuters that the lot numbers on the contaminated steroid indicated that the 17,000-plus doses were made on three days, casting doubt on whether the company was producing one prescription at a time for a named patient, as the IACP says compounding pharmacies are supposed to.

“More and more people are saying ‘I’m special,’ and can’t take off-the-shelf medications,” said Bill Zolner, chief scientific officer of Eagle Analytical Services, which performs quality and safety testing for compounding pharmacies and last tested a sample from NECC in 2008.

Some patients have allergies to a coloring agent or other inactive ingredient in a drug produced by a pharmaceutical company, for instance.

Compounding pharmacies can make medications without the allergen.

Other patients seek a more natural product. For example, some women who receive hormone replacement therapy to treat menopause symptoms do not want the standard Premarin, made from the urine of pregnant mares, but instead search for biologically closer alternatives.

A compounding pharmacist can produce human progesterone, for instance, from a plant compound, synthesizing a chemical identical to that in a woman’s body.

“Progesterone is not available from pharmaceutical companies because it’s not patentable,” said Zolner. “So you get it from a compounding pharmacy.” Drug shortages have also boosted business for compounding pharmacies. Zolner estimates that thousands of medicines still in use have become harder to find after losing the patent protection that kept them profitable, meaning that brand-name and even generic drugmakers have turned to making other products.— Reuters

BANGALORE: Indian schoolchildren wait for a free mid-day meal to be distributed at a government-run school on World Food Day in Bangalore, India, yesterday. Blaming flawed methodology and poor data, the United Nations says its 2009 headline-grabbing announcement that 1 billion people in the world were hungry was off-target and that the number is actually more like 870 million. — AP

Chefs fight flab with small portions, healthy snacks NEW YORK: Top chefs who spend long, late hours preparing meals for others, face greater temptation than most mortals to over-eat but they say small portions, healthy snacks and drinking plenty of water can help to keep the weight off.

Like many Americans, chefs struggle with the battle of the bulge. If he is not careful chef Marc Murphy, of the Landmarc restaurant in New York, admitted he can nibble on up to two plates of French fried potatoes during a busy day at his restaurant. To offset the additional calories during week he refrains from drinking alcohol. “I try to do cleanses Monday to Friday,” he said during a panel discussion during the

weekend at the New York City Wine and Food Festival. Murphy also uses fresh herbs to cut the amount of oil and butter in his dishes, and reduces the temptation to over-eat at friends’ restaurants, where extra dishes can flow freely from the kitchen by chefs eager to impress, by letting it be known he wants nothing extra.

“I just want to eat what I order,” the 43-year-old said. It took a health scare for Art Smith, the owner of the restaurant Table 52 in Chicago, to change his eating habits. Just before his 50th birthday he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, the illness that killed his father.

Since his diagnosis, the 52-year-

old who occasionally works as the personal chef of President Barack Obama and television personality Oprah Winfrey, has shed up 120 pounds (54 kg) by eating smaller meals, taking up running and boxing and eating healthy snacks.

“I keep almonds and apples around when I’m on the go,” he said.

Sue Torres, the owner of Suenos in New York, recommends a hearty breakfast to keep trim, and likes steel-cut oatmeal with different fruit toppings each morning.

Torres, who is known for her Mexican cuisine, also uses chili and other flavorful ingredients to reduce the amount of fat in her cooking.

“You could have cream and butter,

but it’s about portions,” the 39-year old chef explained.

Celebrity US Chef Katie Lee, 31, is also careful about what she eats.

“From Monday to Friday, I am very disciplined. I try to have 70 to 75 percent of my plate filled with vegetables. On Saturday and Sunday, I have more fun,” she said, adding that she also exercises like a mad person. While chefs are careful about they eat, they sometimes splurge so they don’t feel deprived.

Although Murphy abstains from alcohol during the week, when he has a tipple he also makes sure he drinks plenty of water. Although his doctor has told him, “The ice in your Scotch doesn’t count.” — Reuters

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

Nobel winner Roth help spark kidney donor revolution Donors work through single transplant center

ALWAR: An elderly Indian man stands at the roadside in Budhi Bawal village in the Alwar district of Rajasthan state on October 15, 2012. Whilst the traditional norms and values of Indian society laid stress on showing respect and providing care for the elderly, the advent of modernization has eroded the traditional values that vested authority with elderly.—AFP

Seabird atlas shows 3,000 ocean sites OSLO: A new atlas of the world’s oceans issued yesterday shows more than 3,000 sites important to seabirds from albatrosses to penguins as part of a drive to improve conservation. The free online atlas (www.birdlife.org/datazone/marine) could help governments plan, for instance, where to set up wildlife protection areas at sea or where to permit offshore wind turbines or oil and gas exploration, they said.

The atlas, showing areas vital to birds including pelicans, sandpipers, cormorants and skuas, was compiled by BirdLife International, drawing on work by 1,000 bird experts, government ministries and secretariats of UN Conventions.

“Seabirds are now the most threatened group of birds. They present unique conservation problems, since many species travel thousands of kilometres across international waters,” BirdLife International said in a statement. It identifies more than 3,000 important bird areas (IBAs) worldwide, such as breeding grounds and migration routes, covering in total 6.2 percent of the world’s oceans. “Our initial target is to encourage governments to

use this tool and use this data in their national planning,” Ben Lascelles, BirdLife’s Global Marine IBA Coordinator, told Reuters. He said that Japan, for instance, had recently consulted BirdLife about where to site offshore wind farms to avoid damage to migratory birds.

The atlas was unveiled at a U.N. conference on biological diversity in Hyderabad, India.

Areas such as off the tip of South Africa where or the Pacific off South America were among the most important “hotspots” for birds.

The atlas might also lead to the development of other global marine maps, for instance for turtles, whales or sharks, and encourage governments to identify where to site marine protected areas.

Governments have set a goal of protecting 10 percent of the entire area of the oceans by 2020, up from four percent in 2010. “People have often cited a lack of data as a reason for inaction for protection and management of sites, particularly on the high seas,” Lascelles said.

“This is showing that there is a lot of data out there.” — Reuters

NEW YORK: For Alvin Roth, joint winner of the 2012 Nobel prize for economics, studying the economy is about finding real-life solutions for real-life questions and never more so than in a revolutionary new system to match kidney donors with patients.

Roth and fellow laureate, the mathematician, Lloyd Shapley, have seen their groundbreaking work used in such diverse areas as matching up employers with job seekers, doctors with residency programs, and students with schools.

But arguably its greatest impact has been matching kidney donors to patients in a system that was first applied in New England hospitals under the New England Program for Kidney Exchange (NEPKE), a scheme Roth helped found in 2004-2005.

The computerized pairing of groups of donors and patients that Roth’s models inspired has revolutionized the way kidney transplants are handled in the United States and has actually increased the possible number of transplants.

Throughout the United States nearly 2,000 patients have received kidneys under t h e s ys te m d e ve l o p e d o n R o t h a n d Shapley’s models that would otherwise not h ave re ce i ve d t h e m , a cco rd i n g to Ruthanne Hanto, who has worked with Roth since 2005 after being co-opted to manage NEPKE. In 2003, the year before the system was implemented, there were just 19 kidney transplants from live donors in the United States nationally, said Hanto. That number rose to 34 when the system was introduced in 2004. Last year it reached 443.

“The majority have been done with some kind of computer matching,” said Hanto, who is now project manager of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a national kidney matching organization that NEPKE operations were folded into.

UNOS administers a kidney pared donor

program for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, a public-private partnership established in 1984 that links all of the professionals involved in the donation and transplantation system.

“He (Roth) had a hand in having these nearly 2000 transplants occurring in some form, because without his initial work none of the others would have been able to follow,” said Hanto.

Before wide-scale kidney-pair donations, donors and patients mostly worked through a single transplant center. A patient would identify friends and family that were willing to donate. But if those Kidney’s were not compatible with the patient the transplant could not take place and they would have to go on the waiting list for a deceased donor.

The system that Roth helped build uses complicated computer algorithms that allows patients to effectively swap incompatible donors with compatible ones from other donor-patient pairs. This can be done with single or multiple pares or in chains of unrelated donors and recipients.

Donors that were not used and were willing to donate to someone they did not know were also not lost to the system as they had been before, but could be matched up to other patients.

The system actually increases the number of k idney donations that are possible because it means that only people who really need deceased donors are given them while others are matched with live donors.

“Paired kidney donation is one of the few things that has happened in the recent decade or more that actually has come along and said we are going to get more kidney transplants into the system,” said Richard Formica, medical director of the kidney transplant program at Yale University.

Formica, who has worked on a committee called the kidney paired donation workgroup with Roth for about a year, says that

with pared donations the number of transplants could rise from between 1,500 and 2,500 a year on top of the 15,000 transplants currently undertaken in the United States.

Formica also points out that because more people are able to have live donor transplants fewer have to return for second transplants as kidneys from live donor tend to last longer.

“His algorithm allows us to see combinations that you wouldn’t see,” said Formica. “It revolutionized the way we do it.” Roth’s award is a reminder of kind of hands on work done by some economists that can often remain in the background while most of the attention focuses on economists who tackle the big, global policy issues du jour, such as eurozone debt crisis and the financial meltdown.

“Economics is about the real world,” Roth told Reuters shortly after finding out he had won the Nobel prize. “We are interested in how people lead their lives and like to think of economics as being not just a social science but a humanity.”

Roth works in a little known field known as market design that he affectionately describes as modeling the various “courtships” that occur when choice is not free, but depends on a second element in a pair.

Both Formica and Hanto describe Roth as a man who is both highly intelligent and good a describing his ideas in a way people can follow.

“Al is great to work with. Obviously he is highly intelligent, but very down to earth, which I think is a great combination,” said Hanto. “He is obviously very good at building a theory, but then taking that theory and putting into practice and looking at the practical implications of it.” For Hanto, the challenge now is uniting the three national kidney pair donor systems into one unified system. — Reuters

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WHAT’S ON

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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GUST hosts World Mental Health Day

Greetings

he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) hosted World Mental Health Day; a lecture aimed to raise public awareness about mental health issues, and inform and educate both staff and students on the subject.

Dr Robert Cook, VP of Academic Affairs, Dr Sabah Qaddoomi, VP of Academic Services and numerous staff members and students took their seats and excitedly waited for the lecture to start, interested in what the speaker had to offer. The event was to promote open discussions of mental disorders, preventions, and discuss treatment services.

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appy birthday to Elizabeth Laila. Best wishes from Salah, Mohammed, Rashabia, Sijjad, Evelyn, Jocelin, Jho, Kriqh, Julitha, Norma, Melissa, Marwa, Sherry, Riza, and English Play Group staff Rumaithiya.

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Galleries in Kuwait Gallery Tilal Gallery Tilal is located in Shuwaikh, Jahra road, Tilal Complex, M3-M4. For more information check out their facebook page.

Al M Gallery Al M. Gallery is located in Kuwait City, Salhiya Complex, Mezanine 2, Gate 4, Place 16. Working hours: Sunday - Thursday 10 am-3 pm and 5pm - 9pm.

Saturday by appointment only.

CAP Kuwait CAP Kuwait is a nonprofit venture, supported by an extensive private collection of modern and contemporary artwork. The Contemporary Art Platform is located in Industrial Shuwaikh Block 2, St. 28, Life Center, top floor (Across from the Shuwaikh Immigration Dept).

Open football tournament fter a successful inaugural tournament which had teams participating from Kuwait and the GCC countries, Real Betalbatim Football Club are all set once again for the second edition, which is scheduled on 27th October 2012. The tournament is organized in fond memory of Late Sheikha Huda Bader Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, and is a much awaited feature in the expatriate football circuit in Kuwait.

Among others who shone during the tournaments were teams: Vaxim Divar from Dubai (UAE), Fahaheel Bros. from Kuwait, CRC Chinchinim from Kuwait and DHL FC, Kuwait whose players were declared to receive special citation and prizes among the 22 teams who equally gave their best during the one day tournament which was cheered by hundreds of spectators and jointly expressed their fondness of celebrating the golden jubilee of Kuwait’s independence.

This year we are expecting many teams from Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar and Goa. Hence, we will have to minimize teams from Kuwait so it will be on first come first serve basis. A total of 22 teams participated in the fiesta which coincided with the 50 years of National Day Celebrations of Kuwait, last year, and more teams are envisaged to join in this year to claim the glittering trophy and valuable prizes.

Last year, Aldona Football Club took flight with the prestigious trophy to the United Arab Emirates to add to their collection, together with one of the ‘Man of the Match’ awards and the best goalkeeper award.

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Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

and possibly volunteering at a mental health organization to know how to interact and properly communicate with those suffering with mental health disorders.

Students later were invited to an open discussion where they each were able to ask questions regarding the subject and share stories and their experiences dealing with people who have mental health disorders.

The event was overall very educational and clarified the importance of one’s mental health to their wellbeing.

KIA gives away 2013 3-Door Rio in ‘Guess & Win’ Facebook contest ne of Kuwait’s biggest online contests drew to a close as National Agencies Group, the authorized dealer of KIA cars in Kuwait and a division of Abdulaziz Al-Ali Al-Mutawa Group of Companies, announced the winner to thousands of Facebook fans last month.

Lucky winner Anis Nahar, a resident of Kuwait, was chosen after correctly predicting the winning team of the UEFA Euro 2012 championship this past summer. Anis drove his new 2013 3-door Rio out of the KIA showroom in Al Rai this week.

“This is the best prize one can win in any Facebook competition!” said Anis upon learning of his victory.

The “Guess & Win” Facebook contest was part of KIA Motors Kuwait’s efforts to connect with fans and customers on a deeper level. Unlike some who may view social media as a chore, KIA has embraced it with a high level of enthusiasm and creativity.

“The remarkable success of this contest has strengthened the relationship KIA shares with customers & fans. We believe that we all live in a new world that is more dynamic, transparent and engaging. Embarking on social media communication is part of KIA’s global communication strategy that aims on giving our customers and fans the

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Hon Minister for Civil Supplies of Kerala, Anoop Jacob presenting the gold gifts to the lucky draw winner. Prize distribution was held at Orma Plaza Jewellery Abbassiya showroom.

Guest speaker Dr Mariam Al Awadhi, Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine at Kuwait University (KU) discussed the importance of understanding and differentiating between the different types of mental diseases such as personality disorders, eating disorders, psychotic disorders, and anxiety disorders.

Dr Al Awadhi also discussed how the discrimination of people with mental disorders is a human rights issue and that they should be treated with humanity, dignity, and respect. She then brought up the importance of educating ones-self and fellow peers about the subject

opportunity to share their experiences, express themselves and tell us what they want. We want to learn from our customers, improve our products and services through their valuable insights and find new ways to achieve higher levels of

Championship (2012 and 2016) as well as FIFA, the Australian Open, Davis Cup in addition to adopting tennis star Rafael Nadal, who is currently KIA’s global brand ambassador.

This deep commitment to sports is

customer satisfaction. In this spirit, we plan on running more engaging activities in the near future and trust that they will be as successful as the “Guess and Win” contest,” commented Ms Nadia Gobran, KIA Kuwait Marketing Manager.

KIA Motors is the official sponsor of the UEFA European Football

related to KIA’s passion for supporting excellence. The modern spirit that describes the KIA brand is said to fit hand-in-hand with that of the world’s most successful athletes and events.

The all-new Rio is a c-segment compact sedan that debuted earlier this year as part of KIA’s renewed offensive into

one of the world’s most competitive segments. Offering three unique options: 3door, 4-door and 5-door, the Rio has gained massive popularity amongst youngsters and families who appreciate style and flexibility.

“The Rio delivers on KIA’s bold promise to provide best-in-class vehicles to customers through award-winning design, excellent performance, advanced features and 5-star safety. It is a gamechanging model for the segment and an outstanding achievement for the KIA brand,” addedMs. Gobran.

KIA is pursuing an ambitious designled transformation. Since 2008, KIA has introduced a total of 14 all-new models to the global automotive market; each of them pushing the boundaries of design, quality and technology for their respective segment.

KIA was recently ranked among the top 100 global brands according to the 2012 study released by Interbrand, the world’s largest brand consultancy agency.

National Agencies Group is part of the Abdulaziz Al-Ali Al-Mutawa Group of Companies and has been the sole distributor of KIA cars in Kuwait since 1997.

Fankaar Arts celebrates 27 years with successful show ankaar Arts, local Hindi theater group, recently held a show on 6th October 2012 at Salmiya Indian Model School Auditorium in Salmiya. The group performed their super hit play ‘Phir bhi Mumbai Meri Jaan’ along with dance and singing performances to enthrall the audiences with the variety of entertainment.

Audiences were welcomed in a unique way with two artists dressed up as Mumbai Police Hawaldar and Joker.

The play started with welcome by Farook Kasim acting as Mumbai Police Hawaldar followed by Fazal Zahid in Joker’s get up who performed on the opening song from Raj Kapoor’s all time great number ‘Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan’ and made way for Arif Kazi and troupe to perform the remaining song that relates well with the life of stage performers. The audiences applauded on the group’s emotional performance on the verse ‘Kal khel mein hum ho na ho’. Arif Kazi, took the liberty of sharing a few personal feelings of gratitude towards all those who have supported him in his absence from stage for more than a year due to paralytic stroke before resuming the play. Starting with humorous scenes that had audiences in a split of laughter the play transformed into depicting some tragic actual incidents that have occurred in Mumbai like the riots, terror incidents, hate crimes eventually ending in giving out strong social messages of peace and harmony which has always been the real spirit of Mumbai.

The hard hitting messages were equally well received by audiences and highly applauded by one and all. The actors of the play were Arif Kazi, Anwar Kadri, Naeem Chaughule, George D’souza, Shahjahan Jaffery, Nabeel Chogle and Cindy Fernandes. Music was arranged

by M.G. Shekar. Host Anwar Kadri called upon stage the Chief Guest Ambassador of India Satish Mehta and Mrs Preeti Mehta who were felicitated

by Director of Fankaar Arts Arif Kazi.

Local TV star Dawood Husein who was among the Guest of Honor was also felicitated. Two prominent personali-

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ties Mohammed Saleh Burud and Naseemul Hasan were given special felicitation and presented with plaques by the Ambassador of India for their continuous encouragement and support to Fankaar Arts over the years. The ambassador, in his speech, congratulated Fankaar Arts for their splendid performance and encouraged them to continue staging more such shows

that have humor as well as social messages blended so well. Dawood Hussein also expressed his astonishment at the local Indian talent and praised Arif Kazi’s efforts in training amateur actors and staging a show of this calibre in Kuwait. Mohd Saleh Burud speaking on the occasion recalled the first program of Bazme Kokan prior to invasion where he had

invited Arif Kazi to perform a play to raise funds towards charity. Since then he has been an ardent fan and supporter of Fankaar Arts and promises to continue his support towards the group in future. Naseemul Hasan expressed his gratitude for being felicitated and urged the group to continue performing and consistently present more such entertaining plays. Among

others felicitated were sponsors of the event Surinder Sahni, Varkey, Taher Affendi, Asad Khan, Mrs Nuna Goel, Haidar Ali, Nazeer Mohammed, Ashok Panchal, Adnan Qureshi, Vincent and Huzefa Petladi.

The show continued with solo dance performance by Aamna and an enthralling Patriotic dance by the group Fusion Dance Academy. The dance was presented by Imran Ahmed (President), Shamsher (choreographer), Shekar Balu, Habib, Hemnath, Babu and Kumar. The singers of the evening then took upon the stage starting with Shakir Shaikh, who mesmerized everyone with his singing by rendering a soft number ‘Chand Sifarish’ and equally well performing the lively ‘All Iz Well’ which had the crowd singing with him.

Urooj Sheikh followed with an all time romantic song ‘Ye Sama’ which was beautifully sung. Young singer Aleena Rehan rocked the stage with her performance on ‘Mayya Mayya’ and ‘Hal-eDil’. Jaya Dheeraj will be a name which many may remember for her power packed singing of Asha Bhosle’s ‘Piya Tu’ and her uncanny ability to sing even the RD Burman’s part ‘Monica O My darling’ in the song. The show ended on a high note with young children from dance group Fusion dressed colorfully performing a dance on ‘Mashallah Mashallah’ from Ek Tha Tiger. The young performers were Rosleen, Sabdhya, Ammulu, Jyothi, Tasleem, Dikshitha.

Kuwaiti actor Dawood Hussein, when requested by host Anwar Kadri to sing a few lines in hindi, surprised the audience by singing ‘Mere angne mein’ and sharing a few light moments with the crowd which had them applauding and asking for more. Local singer Mubarak who is famous for singing hindi songs also sang a Kishore Kumar number to captivate the audiences. All performing artists were felicitated by Mrs Nuna Goel and Mr. Haider Ali at the end of the show before the host concluded the evening with words of appreciation to all attendees and sponsors.

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WHAT’S ON

Embassy Information

BLS holds monthly dinner at Movenpick Hotel & resort he British Ladies Society held their monthly dinner on October 2, at the Movenpick Hotel Al Bida’a. The President of the BLS, Mrs Avril Bailey, welcomed new members and guests, as well as those members, returning after the summer break.

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It was an occasion for catching up and enjoying a typical Kuwait buffet. The guest speaker was Major Heather Grinted of the Salvation Army Kuwait. The presentation of the work they do in Kuwait was most informative and interesting.

Examples of the handy-crafts that their members teach using everyday recycled materials were on display to show what can be made out of items we usually throw away.

IKEA Kuwait announces Facebook, Instagram, Twitter contest winners KEA Kuwait recently announced the winners of its month long Social media campaign which involved two separate contests for its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram fans and followers. The winners received KD 50 worth gift vouchers to spend within the IKEA Kuwait store.

Igniting its active social media platform, IKEA Kuwait urged existing and potential fans to explore a fun route to a free shopping spree at the IKEA store by entering the contests. The Facebook contest, of which five winners were picked from different nationalities, was designed for new fans to get the chance to win the gift vouchers, by simply liking the FB page to enter the draw.

A second interactive contest was run separately on Twitter & Instagram where only the Ikea Twitter & Instagram followers were eligible to win the gift vouchers of KD 50 for Instagram & five gifts worth KD 50 each for Twitter. Users were asked to visit the IKEA Kuwait showroom to take a picture of any product and post it on Instagram mentioning

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“IKEA” after which only followers of the IKEA Instagram account were able to vote for the five winners. In an effort to highlight the new products in store, the Twitter competition ran on Afnanetoo account where in the users had to download the catalogue to answer correctly about the names of items found on certain pages.

The lucky winners of the Facebook contest were Dalal Salem, Rizvana Shahid, Fatemahh Bbas, Jaber Ba-Msallam and Faruha Tripoli while Abdel Razaq Al Sharad,Lolwa Al Otaibi, NourAkkari, Rasha Mostapha, Kowaitiya Aftakher and Sara_aaaaa, Sucarziyada, l-alqattan, rayonaalansari and nadine_leb78 won the Twitter and Instagram contest respectively.

IKEA Kuwait continues to adapt innovative methods to engage its fans through interactive online features and activities with an aim to provide an updated overview of the company’s latest products and services.

Soorya Festival 2012 - a mega success t was unforgettable evening for the art-lovers of Kuwait, as they witnessed a spectacular stage performance of classical dances of India, organized by Soorya Kuwait Chapter, in association with UAE exchange, on Friday, October 11th, at the Marina Hall, Abbassiya.

Indian Ambassador Satish C. Mehta inaugurated the program by

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lighting the traditional lamp, along with Dhari Al Muhareb, UAE Exchange, Pancily Varkey, President, Vijayan Karayi, Vice-President, and General Secretary B.S. Pillai. The Ambassador appreciated Soorya Kuwait Chapter for its excellent efforts in promoting India’s rich and diverse culture. General Secretary

welcomed the audience.

The program, “An evening of classical dances of India” started with the Odissi dance, one of the oldest Indian classical dance forms of India, by trio Ananya, Shivangi and Isha, was graceful, sensuous, expressive and sophisticated. The audience encouraged them with applause for their intense footwork,

hand gestures etc.

The enthralling recitals of Sunanda Nair, a dancer made for Mohinyattam, were well receptive.

The facial expressions along with rhythmic steps were a delightful aesthetic treat, as the audience was charmed into a dream. The contrasting emotions that her face out-

lined were eloquent to demonstrate her intelligence in abhinaya.

The most talented classical dancer of Bharatanatyam, Priyadarshini Govind, captivated the audience with her flawless renditions. The lively rhythm of the feet, the sculptural features of the sustained poses were eye-catching.

Later, the artistes were honored with gifts for their outstanding recitals. Vijayan Karayil, VicePresident, and Ramdas Nair, Treasurer, presented the gifts.

The chief architect of the Program, Soorya Krishnamurthy was also presented with a memento by Pancily Varkey, President, in honor of his valued contribution for the promotion of art and culture.

John Arts of Kalabhavan presented Soorya Krishnamurthy and Pancily Varkey with their caricatures drawn by him.

Soorya has been promoting Indian art and culture through music and dance with its 18 chapters all over the world. “We are committed to propagate the rich Indian art and culture with the active support of Chief Patron Dr. B.R. Shetty, Managing Director, NMC group of companies”, said Soorya Krishnamurthy.

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The Canadian Embassy in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-imenquiry@international.gc.ca.

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EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on short-stay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database.

Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, first-time applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. ■■■■■■■

McDonald’s Kuwait introduces new grilled halloum sandwich cDonald’s Kuwait introduced the all new Grilled Halloum with ciabatta bread sandwich to expand their much loved breakfast menu. This delicious addition will be available on the menu for a limited period of time, offering customers a wider range of high quality food and service.

The new Grilled Halloum is available until 11.00 am in all of McDonald’s branches serving breakfast across Kuwait. Served on freshly baked ciabatta bread, the halloum sandwich is grilled to perfection and sprinkled with dried mint leaves, then drizzled with olive oil, with a slice of tomato and crunchy lettuce.

George Khawam, Marketing Director of McDonald’s Kuwait stated: “We believe strongly in the power of choice, and the introduction of our Grilled Halloum sandwich is one of many ways we are delivering on this commitment.

Our key focus is to cater to our customer’s wants with high quality food with the finest ingredients and great taste”.

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EMBASSY OF FRANCE The Embassy would like to inform that starting September 2nd, 2012, visa demands for France will be handled by the outsourcing company “Capago - MENA Company”. Capago - MENA’S Call Center will be operational starting Sunday August 26 for setting appointments beginning September 2nd (+965 22270555).

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EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on Oct 24, 2012 -Wednesday-Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami) ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk.

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EMBASSY OF PERU The Embassy of Peru is located in Sharq, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Al Arabiya Tower, 6th Floor. Working days / hours: SundayThursday /9 am - 4 pm. Residents in Kuwait interested in getting a visa to travel to Peru and companies attracted to invest in Peru are invited to visit the permanent exposition room located in the Embassy. For more information, please contact: (+965) 22267250/1.

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EMBASSY OF UKRAINE

Celebrations of Eid Al Adha at Safir Hotel & Residences afir Hotel & Residences Kuwait Al Fintas, a five star is fully prepared to celebrate Eid Al Adha.

And for the record, Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait prepared special packages offered for the luxurious bed room & furnished apartments characterized by full and means of comfort and luxury at competitive prices.

Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait Fintas offers a special offer for the

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families in its five restaurants where you can enjoy the most delicious meals at flavors restaurant with a rich buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a beautiful view on the Arabian Gulf, and for Kuwaiti food lovers AlRoshina Restaurants offers authentic Kuwaiti delicious dishes, and Chit Chat Cafe & restaurant offers great deals of meals and refreshments in addition to sweets appetite.

The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait would like to remind that the external polling station No 90046 was created in the Embassy’s premises at the following address: Hawalli, Jabriya, bl.10, str. 6, build. 5. The working hours of the polling station: from Sunday to Thursday is from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Friday from 10 to 1 pm; Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm. On October 28, 2012 the working hours of the polling station from 8 am to 8 pm. Please be advised to refer to the Embassy to check your data in the Electoral Register as well as to pick up your personal invitation from the polling station if you did not receive this document by post.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Killer Whales 01:35 I’m Alive 02:25 Wild Animal Repo 03:15 Safari Vet School 03:40 Safari Vet School 04:05 Mutant Planet 04:55 Animal Battlegrounds 05:20 Dark Days In Monkey City 05:45 Wild Africa Rescue 06:10 Wild Africa Rescue 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Talk To The Animals 07:25 Growing Up...

08:15 Dogs 101 09:10 Bad Dog 10:05 Mutant Planet 11:00 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz 11:55 Vet On The Loose 12:20 Vet On The Loose 12:50 Wildlife SOS 13:15 Rescue Vet 13:45 Animal Cops Houston 14:40 Mutant Planet 15:35 Dark Days In Monkey City 16:00 Talk To The Animals 16:30 America’s Cutest Pet 17:25 The Jeff Corwin Experience 18:20 Dogs 101 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Rescue Vet 20:10 Animal Battlegrounds 20:35 Dark Days In Monkey City 21:05 Mutant Planet 22:00 The Magic Of The Big Blue 22:55 Speed Of Life 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 00:30 Antiques Roadshow 01:25 Holmes On Homes 02:15 Holmes On Homes 03:05 Living In The Sun 04:00 Saturday Kitchen 04:25 Saturday Kitchen 04:50 MasterChef 05:20 Living In The Sun 06:15 MasterChef 06:45 Saturday Kitchen 07:15 MasterChef Australia 08:00 MasterChef Australia 08:25 Holmes On Homes 09:15 Holmes On Homes 10:05 Bargain Hunt 10:50 Antiques Roadshow 11:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 12:20 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 13:10 Twiggy’s Frock Exchange 14:00 10 Years Younger 14:50 Bargain Hunt 15:35 Antiques Roadshow 16:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:10 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 18:00 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 18:25 Gino D’acampo: An Italian In Mexico 18:45 Rhodes Across Italy 19:30 Coastal Kitchen 19:55 Come Dine With Me 20:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 21:25 Antiques Roadshow 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 23:45 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow EditionEdition 00:15 01:10 02:05 03:00 03:55 04:20 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 Junior 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 14:35 15:05 15:30 16:25 Junior 17:20 18:15 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

River Monsters: Lair Of Giants Body Invaders Rattlesnake Republic Mythbusters Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Extreme Fishing American Chopper: Senior vs Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Auction Hunters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made River Monsters: Lair Of Giants Body Invaders Rattlesnake Republic Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings Ultimate Survival American Chopper: Senior vs Extreme Fishing Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings Deception With Keith Barry Mythbusters Mythbusters

23:20 Surviving Disaster 00:35 Mega Builders 01:25 Stuck With Hackett 01:50 Stuck With Hackett 02:15 Moon Machines 03:05 The Gadget Show 03:35 Sport Science 04:25 NASA’s Greatest Missions 05:15 Scrapheap Challenge 06:05 Mega Builders 07:00 Catch It Keep It 07:50 Moon Machines 08:40 Head Rush 08:43 Tech Toys 360 09:12 Patent Bending 09:40 NASA’s Greatest Missions 10:30 The Gadget Show 10:55 The Gadget Show 11:20 Mega Builders 12:10 Scrapheap Challenge 13:00 Catch It Keep It 13:50 Moon Machines 14:45 NASA’s Greatest Missions 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Tech Toys 360 16:32 Patent Bending 17:00 Mega Builders 17:50 NASA’s Greatest Missions 18:40 Scrapheap Challenge 19:30 Space Pioneer 20:20 Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design 21:10 The Gadget Show

21:35 The Gadget Show 22:00 Space Pioneer 22:50 Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design 23:40 Sport Science 20:20 Bang Goes The Theory 00:15 00:40 00:55 01:10 01:30 01:55 Pooh 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:20 03:40 04:05 Pooh 04:10 04:35 05:00 05:15 05:30 05:50 06:00 06:15 06:30 06:45 07:00 07:15 07:45 08:10 08:20 08:35 08:50 09:05 09:15 Pooh 09:20 09:35 09:45 09:55 10:20 Pooh 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:00 Pooh 12:10 12:25 12:40 13:05 13:15 13:30 13:55 14:20 Pooh 14:45 15:00 15:15 15:25 15:50 16:05 16:30 16:45 17:10 17:40 17:55 18:10 18:20 18:35 19:00 19:05 19:25 19:40 Pooh 20:05 20:20 20:30 Pooh 20:35 20:40 20:45 21:00 21:25 21:40 21:55 Pooh 22:20 22:30 22:45 22:55 23:20 23:35 23:50

Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Lazytown Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Lazytown Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mouk Mouk The Hive Mickey Mouse Clubhouse New Adventures Of Winnie The Art Attack Imagination Movers Lazytown Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Handy Manny Jungle Junction Imagination Movers The Hive Special Agent Oso Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse New Adventures Of Winnie The Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Art Attack S2 Doc McStuffins Art Attack S2 Jake & The Neverland Pirates Art Attack Lazytown Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Mouk Imagination Movers A Poem Is...

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jungle Junction New Adventures Of Winnie The Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Mini Adventures Of Winnie The A Poem Is...

A Poem Is...

Mouk Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Special Agent Oso New Adventures Of Winnie The Timmy Time Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Lazytown

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

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:05 05:30 06:10 06:35 07:00

Gotta Grudge Gotta Grudge Pro Bull Riders 2010 World Combat League TNA: Greatest Matches Re-Evolution Of Sports Re-Evolution Of Sports Enfusion Pro Bull Riders 2010 Ride Guide Snow 2009 Ride Guide Snow 2009 Tread BMX Tread BMX Ticket To Ride– 5 2012 Ticket To Ride– 5 2012 Alli Presents Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Pro Bull Riders 2010 Mantracker Superstars USA World Combat League Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Tread BMX Tread BMX Ticket To Ride– 5 2012 Ticket To Ride– 5 2012 Mantracker Pro Bull Riders 2010 Superstars USA World Combat League Crusty Demons: No Borders Crusty Demons: No Borders TNA: Greatest Matches Enfusion

Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Guy’s Big Bite Guy’s Big Bite Grill It! With Bobby Flay Grill It! With Bobby Flay Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Guy’s Big Bite Outrageous Food Crave Chopped Barefoot Contessa Barefoot Contessa Iron Chef America

07:50 Barefoot Contessa 08:15 Barefoot Contessa 08:40 Unique Sweets 09:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 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 Unwrapped 11:35 United Tastes Of America 12:00 Chopped 12:50 Guy’s Big Bite 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Barefoot Contessa 14:30 Unique Sweets 14:55 Charly’s Cake Angels 15:20 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 15:45 Food(Ography) 16:35 Barefoot Contessa 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Guy’s Big Bite 18:40 Unique Sweets 19:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 21:35 Charly’s Cake Angels 22:00 Unique Sweets 22:25 Unique Sweets 22:50 Kid In A Candy Store 23:15 Kid In A Candy Store 23:40 Guy’s Big Bite

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

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

Ghost Lab A Haunting Fatal Encounters Killer Kids Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting Disappeared Mystery ER Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Murder Shift Disappeared Mystery ER Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Murder Shift Disappeared Forensic Detectives Street Patrol True Crime With Aphrodite Stalked: Someone’s Watching Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Behind Mansion Walls American Greed Dr G: Medical Examiner

David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 3

By Any Means Ultimate Traveller Which Way To Don’t Tell My Mother Long Way Down Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Food Lover’s Guide To The Food Lover’s Guide To The David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3

By Any Means Ultimate Traveller Which Way To Don’t Tell My Mother Long Way Down Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Food Lover’s Guide To The Food Lover’s Guide To The David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3

By Any Means Ultimate Traveller Which Way To Don’t Tell My Mother Long Way Down David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 Food Lover’s Guide To The Food Lover’s Guide To The Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Food Lover’s Guide To The Food Lover’s Guide To The

Hackers-PG15 Rocky III-PG15 The Recruit-PG15 Hackers-PG15 Carlito’s Way-18 The Kingdom-18

20:00 Fighting-PG15 22:00 Homecoming-18 02:00 The Ricky Gervais Show 03:00 30 Rock 04:00 Two And A Half Men 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 06:00 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Two And A Half Men 08:30 30 Rock 09:30 Cougar Town 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Friends 12:30 Two And A Half Men 15:00 Cougar Town 16:30 Friends 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 30 Rock 19:00 Cougar Town 19:30 New Girl 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The Boondocks 22:30 The Big C 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fall on 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:00

White Collar Breaking Bad Homeland Grimm Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice White Collar Emmerdale Coronation Street Castle The Ellen DeGeneres Show Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Castle White Collar Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Castle Bunheads Franklin & Bash Combat Hospital Supernatural Grimm Grimm

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00

Street Kings 2: Motor City-18 A Dangerous Man-PG15 Behind Enemy Lines-PG15 Jackie Chan’s Who Am I?-PG15 Wild Bill-PG15 Behind Enemy Lines-PG15 Go Fast-PG15 Wild Bill-PG15 Aeon Flux-PG15 Alien-18 The Godfather III-18

23:00 Luster-18 00:00 All Night Long-PG15 02:00 Prom-PG15 04:00 Open Season 3-FAM 06:00 Held Up (1999)-PG15 08:00 Little Fockers-PG15 10:00 Bob Roberts-PG15 12:00 The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy-PG 14:00 The Marc Pease ExperiencePG15 16:00 Bob Roberts-PG15 18:00 Stuck On You-PG15 20:00 The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou-PG15 22:00 How High-18 22:00 Frenemy-18 01:00 2:22-18 03:00 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter-PG15 05:00 Talhotblond-18 07:00 Uncorked-PG15 09:00 Another Year-PG15 11:15 Anna And The King-PG15 13:45 Get Low-PG15 15:45 Les Miserables 25th Anniversary-PG15 18:45 Evita-PG 21:00 Jungle Fever-18 23:15 Fargo-18 Square Grouper-18

Delinquent Gourmet

23:00 Naked Science 00:00 Philly Undercover 01:00 Hooked 01:55 Untamed Americas 02:50 World’s Deadliest GPU 03:45 Prehistoric Predators 04:40 The Living Edens 05:35 Searching For The Snow Leopard 06:30 Untamed Americas 07:25 World’s Deadliest GPU 08:20 Prehistoric Predators 09:15 Phantom Wolverine 10:10 City Of Ants 11:05 Hunter Hunted 12:00 Hooked 13:00 Untamed Americas 14:00 World’s Deadliest GPU 15:00 Prehistoric Predators 16:00 Moray Eels: Alien Empire 17:00 Monster Fish of The Congo 18:00 Hunter Hunted 19:00 Untamed Americas 20:00 World’s Deadliest GPU 21:00 Prehistoric Predators 22:00 Phantom Wolverine 23:00 City Of Ants 22:00 Crimes Against Nature 23:00 Shark Nicole 00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 09:45

12:00 14:00 15:45 17:45 19:30 22:00

Tupac: Resurrection-18 Thick As Thieves-18 A Dangerous Man-PG15 Takers-PG15 Rocky III-PG15 In The Line Of Fire-PG15

01:00 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter-PG15 03:00 Dear John-PG15 05:00 Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure-PG 07:00 Legend Of The Guardians-PG 09:00 Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story-PG 10:45 X-Men: First Class-PG15 13:00 Soldier Love Story-PG15 15:00 Oceans-PG15 17:00 Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story-PG 18:45 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 21:00 Ceremony-PG15 23:00 Cowboys & Aliens-PG15

00:00 The Three Bears: Dreadful Dangers-FAM 02:00 Rainbow Valley Heroes-FAM 04:00 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2-PG 06:00 Cars 2-FAM 08:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM 10:00 Gulliver’s Travels-PG 12:00 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2-PG 14:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. EvilPG 16:00 Mia And The Migoo-PG 18:00 Gulliver’s Travels-PG 20:00 A Venetian Rascal Goes To America-FAM 22:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. EvilPG

KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (11/10/2012 TO 17/10/2012) SHARQIA-1 THE APPARITION :2D FRI THE EXPATRIATE :2D THE APPARITION :2D THE EXPATRIATE :2D THE WORDS :2D THE EXPATRIATE :2D THE EXPATRIATE :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-2 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

SHARQIA-3 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-1 THE WORDS :2D THE EXPATRIATE :2D THE APPARITION :2D THE WORDS :2D THE EXPATRIATE :2D THE EXPATRIATE :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

MUHALAB-2 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-3 TAKEN2 :2D FRI HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET TAKEN2 :2D HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET TAKEN2 :2D HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-1 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

1:30 PM 1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 1:00 AM

FANAR-2 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D DREDD :3D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

FANAR-3 WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-4 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

FANAR-5 THE WORDS THE APPARITION THE WORDS THE APPARITION THE WORDS THE APPARITION NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

MARINA-1 THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE APPARITION :2D THE WORDS :2D THE APPARITION :2D THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

MARINA-2 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET WON’T BACK DOWN :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:30 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

MARINA-3 THE EXPATRIATE: 2D TAKEN2 :2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D TAKEN2 :2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

AVENUES-1 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-2 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE APPARITION :2D

PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE APPARITION :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

DREDD :3D BAIT (3D- Digital) DREDD :3D BAIT (3D- Digital) DREDD :3D NO SUN+TUE+WED

AVENUES-3 THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-4 THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 7 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D 1:45 PM THE WORDS :2D 4:15 PM WON’T BACK DOWN :2D 6:30 PM NO WED (17.10.2012) French Film Festival Show“The Artist”6:30 PM WED (17.10.2012) French Film Festival Show“War is declared” 8:30 PM WED (17.10.2012) THE WORDS :2D 9:00 PM NO WED (17.10.2012) WON’T BACK DOWN :2D 11:00 PM

AVENUES-5 TAKEN2 :2D 12:30 PM TAKEN2 :2D 2:45 PM NO SAT (13/10/2012) Special Show “THE EXPENDABLES 2(2D-Digital)” for Ms. Rana Al Bassam 2:45 PM SAT (13/10/2012) TAKEN2 :2D 5:00 PM TAKEN2 :2D 7:15 PM TAKEN2 :2D 9:30 PM TAKEN2 :2D 11:45 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-6 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-7 TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-8 WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

AVENUES-9 THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-10 THE WORDS :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D THE WORDS :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D THE WORDS :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

AVENUES-11 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360º- 1 THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 2:00 PM THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 4:15 PM THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 6:30 PM NO TUE (16.10.2012) THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 8:45 PM NO TUE (16.10.2012) French Film Festival Show“The Intouchables” 9:00 PM TUE (16.10.2012) THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 11:00 PM NO TUE (16.10.2012) THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 1:15 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360º- 2 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 3 THE APPARITION :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE APPARITION :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE APPARITION :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 4 THE IMPOSTER THE IMPOSTER THE IMPOSTER THE IMPOSTER THE IMPOSTER NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

12:30 PM 3:15 PM 6:00 PM 8:45 PM 11:30 PM

360 º- 5 WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM FRI+SAT WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM

360 º- 6 BAIT (3D- Digital)

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

1:15 PM

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

360 º- 8 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 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) HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 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) TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 11 THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 12 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 13 THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN THE DARK KNIGHT RISES RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:45 AM

360 º- 14 TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital)

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

360 º- 15 AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:30 PM 11:30 PM

AL-KOUT.1 TAKEN2 :2D THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH TAKEN2 :2D THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.2 THE EXPATRIATE: 2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.3 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET THE APPARITION :2D HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET THE APPARITION :2D HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.4 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D THE WORDS :2D WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM WA ALAIK YA HABEEB AL SALAM NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

BAIRAQ-1 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D BAIRAQ-2 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET THE WORDS :2D HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET THE WORDS :2D HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET NO SUN+TUE+WED

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 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

Orthodox). If interested ACCOMMODATION

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR JZR ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR QTR THY DHX SVA KAC SVA BAW JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ETD ABY GFA QTR FDB IRA ETD BAB GFA UAE MEA JZR MSR IRM JZR BBC CLX KNE MSR RJA GFA FDB IRC QTR KAC SVA KAC QTR JZR KAC IYE ETD UAE UAL SVA GFA JZR JZR ABY KAC QTR BAB KAC KAC FDB KNE MSR RBG JZR KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK KAC KLM UAE JZR BBC ETD ABY QTR AIC FDB GFA UAL KAC JZR DLH MSR THY KAC

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 17/10/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 4389 JEDDAH 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 4353 JEDDAH 157 LONDON 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 933 ABU DHABI 125 SHARJAH 223 BAHRAIN 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 871 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 606 LUXOR 5066 MASHAD 561 SOHAG 88 JEDDAH 792 LUXEMBOURG 472 JEDDAH 610 CAIRO 640 AMMAN 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 6791 MASHAD 140 DOHA 790 MEDINAH 500 JEDDAH 788 JEDDAH 134 DOHA 535 CAIRO 538 SHARM EL SHEIKH/SOHAG 824 SANAA/DOHA 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 166 PARIS/ROME 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 460 MEDINAH 620 ASSIUT 3553 ALEXANDRIA 787 RIYADH 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 102 NEW YORK/LONDON 572 MUMBAI 774 RIYADH 393 KOZHIKODE/COCHIN 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 229 COLOMBO 1716 MEDINAH 417 AMSTERDAM 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 43 DHAKA 307 ABU DHABI 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 975 CHENNAI/GOA 59 DUBAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 1730 MEDINAH 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 614 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 1902 JEDDAH

Time 0:15 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:45 2:20 2:25 2:30 3:10 3:20 3:25 4:35 5:00 5:25 6:15 6:25 6:30 6:40 7:15 7:30 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:20 8:25 8:30 8:30 8:40 9:00 9:20 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:00 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:10 11:55 12:25 12:30 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:10 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:00 15:15 16:00 16:10 16:35 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:55 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:45

Depature Flights on Wednesday 17/10/2012 Airlines Flt Route AIC 982 AHMEDABAD/HYDERABAD/CHENNAI UAL 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES DLH 637 FRANKFURT MSR 615 CAIRO PIA 206 LAHORE THY 773 ISTANBUL ETH 621 ADDIS ABABA UAE 854 DUBAI FDB 68 DUBAI ETD 306 ABU DHABI MSR 613 CAIRO QTR 139 DOHA QTR 149 DOHA JZR 560 SOHAG SVA 5389 MEDINAH JZR 164 DUBAI GFA 212 BAHRAIN THY 771 ISTANBUL SVA 5353 MEDINAH KAC 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH/SOHAG BAW 156 LONDON FDB 54 DUBAI ABY 126 SHARJAH JZR 534 CAIRO GFA 224 BAHRAIN KAC 787 JEDDAH UAE 856 DUBAI KAC 789 MEDINAH QTR 133 DOHA KAC 117 NEW YORK FDB 56 DUBAI ETD 302 ABU DHABI BAB 437 BAHRAIN IRA 602 SHIRAZ ETD 934 ABU DHABI GFA 214 BAHRAIN KAC 541 CAIRO MEA 405 BEIRUT MSR 619 ASSIUT JZR 776 JEDDAH UAE 872 DUBAI KAC 103 LONDON KAC 785 JEDDAH JZR 176 DUBAI IRM 5065 MASHAD BBC 88 DHAKA KNE 461 MEDINAH GFA 220 BAHRAIN FDB 58 DUBAI MSR 611 CAIRO RJA 641 AMMAN CLX 792 VIETNAM KAC 673 DUBAI IRC 6792 MASHAD SVA 503 MEDINAH/JEDDAH KAC 617 DOHA JZR 786 RIYADH KAC 1715 MEDINAH QTR 135 DOHA KAC 773 RIYADH ETD 304 ABU DHABI JZR 238 AMMAN IYE 824 SANAA JZR 538 CAIRO QTR 141 DOHA KAC 1901 JEDDAH KAC 1729 MEDINAH UAE 858 DUBAI GFA 216 BAHRAIN JZR 134 BAHRAIN ABY 128 SHARJAH UAL 982 BAHRAIN SVA 511 RIYADH JZR 266 BEIRUT QTR 145 DOHA FDB 64 DUBAI BAB 439 BAHRAIN KNE 477 JEDDAH RBG 3554 ALEXANDRIA MSR 621 ALEXANDRIA JZR 184 DUBAI KAC 283 DHAKA KAC 361 COLOMBO JAI 571 MUMBAI FDB 62 DUBAI KAC 331 TRIVANDRUM KAC 351 COCHIN OMA 648 MUSCAT MEA 403 BEIRUT GFA 222 BAHRAIN JZR 502 LUXOR DHX 171 BAHRAIN ALK 230 COLOMBO KLM 417 DAMMAM/AMSTERDAM ABY 120 SHARJAH ETD 308 ABU DHABI KAC 381 DELHI UAE 860 DUBAI QTR 137 DOHA KAC 301 MUMBAI KAC 205 ISLAMABAD JZR 554 ALEXANDRIA BBC 44 DHAKA QTR 147 DOHA AXB 394 COCHIN/KOZHIKODE FDB 60 DUBAI GFA 218 BAHRAIN JZR 528 ASSIUT KAC 415 KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 1:25 2:15 2:45 3:45 3:50 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:50 6:55 7:05 7:10 7:55 8:20 8:25 8:25 9:05 9:10 9:25 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:25 10:30 10:45 11:30 11:55 12:10 12:15 12:20 12:30 13:10 13:20 13:25 14:00 14:10 14:25 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:45 15:05 15:10 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:00 16:15 16:25 17:20 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:55 18:00 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:45 19:55 20:05 20:15 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:35 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:50 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

contact:

Bed space available for a Keralite bachelor near Amiri hospital next to Holiday Inn downtown.

Contact: 99387111, 97929183.

15-10-2012

jlovedale87@yahoo.com

Accommodation available, near Jabriya Indian School, Jabriya. Central A/C flat, decent Muslim couple or two working ladies only. Call 66795253. (C 4173) 10-10-2012

passed Pakistani/ Canadian

Sharing accommodation in Khaifan bloc 4 from Nov 1st in one room, KD 70 only for one working lady. Contact: 60413536.

8-10-2012

9-10-2012

Apartment to share decent working ladies, Salmiyah, restaurant street, exactly behind Platinum. Contact 66920590. (C 4161) 7-10-2012 MATRIMONIAL Marthoma parents of male (29) Keralite engineer work-

(C 4175) 11-10-2012 24 year old daughter BSc dual citizen. Highly qualified professionals from

ents of engineering graduates/ post graduates of other fields. M4M 2804610.

Contact:

Proposals invited for a girl, God-fearing (Marthomite, 30yrs/160 cm) born and

d3sak@yahoo.com (C 4172)

FOR SALE Toyota Camry GL, model 2012, color silver, km done 13,000, alloy rim, original paint. Price KD 4,880. Tel: 66507741.

(C 4181) 17-10-2012 Toyota Corolla 2008, dark grey color (1.6 CLR). KD 2,350. Mob: 50699345.

(C 4177) Jeep Mitsubishi Nativa 2004, white color, ver y good condition. KD 1,600.

Tel: 66729295.

(C 4178) 15-10-2012 Complete household furniture, crockery, electronics, salon items, going for a give -away price. Call: 50693289. (C 4167) 9-10-2012

educated in Kuwait and Mangalore, MDS Doctor presently working in India, from Post Graduate boys Mathomite/CSI, God-fearing and having good family background. Email: mathewjacob201@hotmail.com (C 4153) Marthoma parents working in Kuwait invite proposals for daughter 25/162, M.Sc Biotech, from parents of professionally qualified boys (Marthoma/ CSI/

‡ ([FHOOHQW H[SHULHQFH LQ $XWR&$' ' PD[ 3HUVSHFWLYHV +DQG VNHWFKLQJ ,OOXVWUDWRU 5HQGHULQJ 6KRS GUDZLQJ )LQLVKHV TXDOLW\ FRQWURO DW VLWH 3KRWRVKRS 3RZHU3RLQW ‡ 7\SH RI SURMHFWV 5HVLGHQWLDO EXLOGLQJV YLOODV &RPPHUFLDO EXLOGLQJV 6KRSV 2IÀFH EXLOGLQJV 6KRZURRPV &OLQLF EXLOGLQJV

CV to be sent including the expected salary to )D[

can contact at email:

propmt1983@gmail.com 14-10-2012

Â&#x2021; &RXQWU\ 3KLOLSSLQHV <HDUV RI H[SHULHQFH \HDUV

Pakistan age up to 29 years

ing in Kuwait (170cm, fair) invites proposals from par-

$5&+,7(&7 LV UHTXLUHG IRU FRQWUDFWLQJ FRPSDQ\

Box delivery van Nissan high roof, 2008 model.

Lancer 2009 GLX. Phone: 66052331. (C 4166) 8-10-2012 Used 2 sofa bed, color brown, good condition, in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. Price each KD 15. Call 66762737.

(C 4163) 6-10-2012 Galant 1997 model, blue color, good condition, A/C, price KD 400, passing valid for one year. Contact: 96975726.

CHANGE OF NAME I, Megala Devi, holder of Indian Passport No: G1871523 converted to Islam do hereby change my name to Ayesha Banu.

(C 4179)

TUITION A 22 years (moderator and examiner) highly experienced Math, teacher in IB, SAT â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, IGCSE available.

Contact: 66920590.

SITUATION WANTED

I, Surinder, S/o Ram Chand R/o H.No. 106, Amar Garden near Tanda Road Jalandhar have changed my name from Surinder to Surinder Kumar Gaat. All concerned please note.

(C 4180) 16-10-2012 I, Vita Quirino Monteiro, holder of Indian Passport No: E8364338 have changed my name to Vita De Jesus Maria Monteiro as per gazette No X - 18770.

(C 4168) 14-10-2012 I, Mr Achankunju Baby, son of Mr Baby Mathew, Ancy Villa, Bharanickavu P.O., Alappuzha District, Kerala, holder of Indian Passport No: J4441990 hereby changed my name to Mathew Achankunju Baby. (C 4174) 10-10-2012

Australian Engineer with two-Engineering (Civil/ Elect) & four Master Degrees (Engg/Prog Mgmt/ Education/MBA). 23 years experience in Dubai/ Qatar/ Australia, looking project Mgr / QHSE Mgr job. Contact: 65695468.

(C 4160)

SITUATION VACANT Live-in maid wanted for a small family in Farwaniya.

Full time.

Contact: 50833103.

10-10-2012 LOST Indian Passport, name: Shaikh Ali, No: F3606335, date of issue: 10/05/2005, date of birth: 20/06/1981, has been lost, finder please contact: 69694619/ (C 4164) 7-10-2012

112 Prayer timings Fajr:

04:30

Duhr:

11:34

Asr:

14:51

Maghrib:

17:19

Isha:

18:35

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

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 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-Shohadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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

22451082

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36

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

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M o v i e s

Elton John remembers Ryan White at his AIDS gala n the red carpet of his annual AIDS foundation benefit Monday night, Sir Elton John remembered AIDS sufferer Ryan White. The 65-year musician said dealing with the teenager’s death was a major turning point in his life, which at the time was “out of whack.” “Six months after Ryan died I decided that was it,” John said. And within a year of becoming sober, he begin thinking about starting a foundation and “giving something back and making up for lost time.” White contracted AIDS in 1984 after a blood transfusion for his hemophilia. Once diagnosed, he was expelled from middle school and became a poster child for young people afflicted with the disease. John was with the boy and his family when

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he died in 1990.

While great strides are being made in research and behavior, John said we have a long way to go. “The stigma involved in people coming out and saying they’re HIV positive is still an underground thing, it’s still a shamebased thing until we can get everybody tested and people to come out and be role models to people who have HIV, then we’re still battling against this disease,” John said.

Established in 1992, the Elton John AIDS Foundation continues its global humanitarian efforts to help raise money for a variety of services for HIV/AIDS, including prevention programs, campaigns to end HIV/AIDSrelated stigma and discrimination, and treatment, care, and support serv-

ices for people living with the disease.

The EJAF proudly presented Enduring Vision awards to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Diana Jenkins, chairman, CEO and founder of beverage company Neuro, and Joseph Blount, an ardent benefactor to the foundation since its inception. Stevie Nicks performed for at the benefit. Other celebrity guests included Brooke Shields, Lance Bass, Alan Cumming, and Courtney Love.

The EJAF raised $2 million at Monday’s event. —AP

Review

Sessions tells feel-good, low-key tale iven that it’s based on the true story of a man with polio who spends most of his time in an iron lung, “The Sessions” is not as painfully heavy-handed as it might sound. And given that it’s about this man’s nervous attempts to lose his virginity at age 38, it’s also not as obnoxiously wacky as it might sound. Instead, “The Sessions” occupies a safe gray area

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Still, the hugely versatile John Hawkes gives a subtly funny, impressive performance which must have been a massive physical challenge. The lanky but intimidating co-star of “Winter’s Bone” and “Martha Marcy May Marlene” is called upon here to act entirely with his face and voice, frequently having to keep his torso still while lying down in a contorted pos-

This publicity photo released by Fox Searchlight Pictures shows Helen Hunt in a scene from “The Sessions.” —AP somewhere in the middle. It has some difficult and heartfelt performances as well as moments of uncomfortable honesty, but ultimately writer-director Ben Lewin’s film feels too slight, too pat, and too wildly overhyped out of its festival showings. It is, in short, a nice story - but not one that’s told with any particular stylistic panache or emotional power.

ture.

Hawkes stars as Mark O’Brien, the Berkeley, Calif.-based poet and journalist whose 1990 article, “On Seeing a Sex Surrogate,” inspired the script. Lewin who also contracted polio as a child lays out the details of Mark’s daily existence in matter-of-fact fashion, and with zero condescension. He can

breathe on his own for a few hours at a time, he can turn the pages of a book or dial a phone with a stick in his mouth, and while he can’t move anything from the neck down, he can still feel sensation.

Hence, his interest in visiting Cheryl Cohen Greene, a married sex therapist played with an appealing directness (and a great deal of nudity) by Helen Hunt. Their body language sometimes literally reveals everything about them in the first of their six scheduled meetings, making “The Sessions” the rare film to address sexuality in such an unadorned, judgment-free way. While the suggestion of a deeper romantic connection between the two feels forced, their shared sense of humanity and self-deprecating humor always make their meetings compelling. Hunt radiates a kindness and decency that helps keep the film grounded.

William H Macy gets some laughs, as well, as the Catholic priest who helps Mark reconcile his curiosity with his deep faith. Macy’s portrayal defies some of the expectations that viewers might have of the clergy: “I know in my heart that God will give you a free pass on this one,” he says in giving his blessing to Mark to pay a stranger for sex.

“The Sessions” similarly has a fascination with intimacy - and similarly, it means well. Running time: 95 minutes.

Two and a half stars out of four. —AP

No hint of mellowing for ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon early four decades after crashing onto the music scene at the age of 19 as the lead singer of British punk outfit the Sex Pistols, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) is enjoying being back in the limelight. Lydon is in the early stages of a North American tour with his long-running post-Pistols band, Public Image Ltd. Trademark orange hair on end - now more of a faded yellow - and with the mixture of ecstatic visionary and escaped mental patient that is Lydon’s stock-in-trade stage presence, he pounded out his lyrics to a sellout crowd in Williamsburg, New York, last week. There is little hint of the mellowing that besets many other singers as far into their 50s as he is.

“I’m not an old codger yet,” Lydon told Reuters in an interview at a Manhattan hotel after the concert.

Lydon is promoting his new album, “This is PiL,” a sprawling, hour-long musical journey that both evokes the PiL of old and pushes into new territory. The hotel, part of a generic chain, is about as far away from punk rock as one can get. Lydon, wearing bright orange trousers and checked shirt, is an incongruous figure among the business people and families milling around in the lobby.

After overcoming the initial horror of discovering there was no bar and that he was going to have to get through the entire interview without a drink, Lydon settles into an enormous armchair the same color as his trousers.

A couple, obviously from out of town, slink onto a neighboring sofa to eavesdrop, looking for that New York celebrity story to tell their friends back in the ‘burbs. Lydon rolls his eyes. “Regardless of the obstreperous behavior of corporate record companies, they’ve not been able to keep me down. It’s taken nearly two decades but I’m right where I belong,” he said.

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The band reformed in 2009 after a 17year hiatus, and “This is PiL” is their first studio album in 20 years. The title track, which leads off the album, seems aimed at both proclaiming the band’s return and reminding people who they are. A mixture of big, bassy, fast-moving tracks, some slower guitar pieces and Lydon’s at times-unaccompanied voice, “This is PiL” has an epic album feel without being overblown. Or in Lydon’s own words: “It’s those juxtapositions of events pinned

John Lydon down with some gloriously sweltering bass that we can hover around.”

Water, sheep and fishing?

There is also more of Lydon himself on “This is PiL.”“I’m John and I was born in London,” he sings at the start of “One Drop.” He points out the leitmotif of water in the album - something to do with nerve-wracking childhood fishing trips with his grandfather. “This album truly, truly, truly acknowledges, I think, an absolute highlight in my life,” he said.

“The sheer exuberance and exhilarance (sic) we all felt to get in a recording scenario was amazing.”

The album was recorded in the English countryside with little rehearsal.

Most of the songs came together through conversations on the bus while touring. “We more or less worked in a rehearsal barn in the Cotswolds with nothing but sheep for company,” said Lydon. “It was a very quick album, six weeks really.” PiL formed in 1978, the year the Sex Pistols split up. The band has gone through 49 members by Lydon’s count and has had nine albums in the UK Top 40.

But the band has never reached the iconic status of the Sex Pistols.

And Lydon has never really left behind that legacy. The Pistols were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 but the band refused to attend the ceremony. Lydon is synonymous with the irreverence and rebellion he epitomized with the Sex Pistols in songs like “Anarchy in the UK” and his ironic take on Britain’s national anthem, “God Save the Queen.” But his anti-monarchy stance seems to have mellowed. He calls Prince William and wife Kate (officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) the “least offensive in an awful long time.” But he adds defiantly: “I still want my money back.”

Yet he said he found the Occupy Wall Street movement an inspiration. I “loved it, loved it,” he said. “It brought debate and issues into people’s heads without violence; superb ... they didn’t resort to rioting.” Lydon has resided for 20 years in Los Angeles, where - when not touring, writing, or recording - he says he lives the quiet life with his wife, Nora. He chose LA to escape the London weather.

“It’s 70 all year round on the beach, and the salt air cleans me right up, and I got used to the vibe of being healthy. I kind of like it.” —Reuters

Elton John appears on stage at his AIDS Foundation’s 11th annual Enduring Vision benefit on Monday. —AP

‘Ant-Man’ Opening in 2015; Marvel Releasing ‘Iron Man 3’ in 3D

dgar Wright’s “Ant-Man,” the story of the smallest of earth’s mightiest heroes, is headed for the big screen in 2015, Disney said Monday.

That wasn’t the only Marvel Comics related news that the studio had up its sleeve. It also announced that when Tony Stark flies into theaters in his armored suit next summer, he’ll be doing it in three dimensions. As announced previously, “Iron Man 3” will open on May 3, 2013, but it will be the first Iron Man film released in 3D, joining the likes of “The Avengers” and “Thor,” which used the format to great box office success.

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“Ant-Man” has long been a passion project for Wright, the English director behind such cult favorites as “Hot Fuzz,” but it seemed for a while like the character might be a bit too outre for mainstream tastes. That changed last summer when Wright unveiled test footage at Comic-Con. He now gets to realize his vision on Nov 6, 2015, when “AntMan” is set to premiere.

Disney also said it has final titles for two upcoming Marvel sequels.

“Captain America: The Winter Solider” will hit theaters on April 4, 2014, and “Thor: The Dark World” opens in 3D on Nov 8, 2013. Among the other release

date announcements, Disney plans to open “Saving Mr Banks,” its story of the studio’s efforts to adapt Mary Poppins for the movies, on Dec 20, 2013 when it will compete for audiences’ hearts and also Oscars. Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson will star in the film.

It will also move the animated film “Phineas and Ferb” from July 28, 2013 to an unspecified date in 2014 and plans to open an untitled animated movie on Nov 7, 2014 and an untitled Pixar movie on Nov 25, 2015. —Reuters

‘Ted’

Talks Way to Box-Office Record for Original R-Rated Comedy niversal and Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted,” the tale of a trash-talking teddy bear, has become the world’s highest grossing original R-rated comedy of all time. Fox’s “Taken 2” had a great second week, racking up $41 million from 36 markets, which easily led the foreign grosses. Sony’s “Hotel Transylvania” added $13.7 million from 25 territories and Paramount’s “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” took in another $10.4 million from 30 markets, to up its foreign overall gross to $465.2 million and its worldwide to $681.5 million.

“Ted” took in nearly $14 million from 44 overseas markets this weekend, upping its international gross to $250.5 million. With that, and a 16week domestic gross of $218.5 million, the worldwide gross for “Ted” now stands at $469 million. That eclipses the standard established by “The Hangover,” which took in $467.5 million worldwide in 2009. “Ted” had a great second week in Italy, moving up to No. 1 with $4.2 million to raises it overall gross there to $8.9 million.

Strong bows in France ($2.8 million)

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and Belgium ($1.8 million) helped, too. “Ted” still has yet to bow in several markets, including Japan, where it will debut in January. —Reuters

‘Taken 2’ again tops North America box office iam Neeson’s return as ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills in “Taken 2” topped the North American box office for a second straight week, best-

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place was “Argo,” a political thriller set during the Iranian hostage crisis directed by and starring Affleck, which raked in $19.5 million during its debut week-

ing the Ben Affleck thriller “Argo,” industry figures showed Monday. “Taken 2”, whose prequel relaunched Neeson as a Hollywood action star four years ago, took in a healthy $21.9 million between Friday and Sunday, according to movie tracker Exhibitor Relations. In second

end.

“Argo” tells the true story of how a CIA agent managed to rescue six Americans who had escaped the embassy in Tehran in 1979 and taken shelter at the Canadian ambassador’s residence. Another debut film took

third place. “Sinister,” the latest in a series of so-called “found footage” horror flicks, took in $18 million. Animated film “Hotel Transylvania,” in which monsters become Dracula’s guests, took in $17.2 million in its third week of release for fourth place.

“Here Comes the Boom,” a comedy starring Kevin James as a high school teacher who looks to become a mixed martial arts fighter to raise money for his school, debuted in fifth place with $11.8 million in box office receipts.

“Pitch Perfect,” a comedy-musical about a cappella singing groups, followed in sixth place with $9.3 million.

“Frankenweenie,” Tim Burton’s latest effort, earned $7.1 million to claim the seventh spot.

In eighth place was “Looper,” a time travel mob movie starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which earned $6.2 million. “Seven Psychopaths,” a comedy starring Colin Farrell and Christopher Walken, opened in ninth place with $4.2 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” a comingof-age flick starring “Harry Potter” alum Emma Watson, with $2.15 million in receipts. —AFP

37

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

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Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan, left, and Kareena Kapoor greet waiting fans after getting married.

M o v i e s

Randhir Kapoor , father of newly-wedded Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor, and Kareena’s sister Karishma Kapoor wave towards media outside Saif Ali Khan’s residence.

Khan and Kapoor in Bollywood ‘royal’ marriage B

ollywood glamour couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, who have been dating for five years, finally tied the knot in Mumbai yesterday in a much-anticipated Indian celebrity wedding. Kapoor, 32, and Khan, 42 — India’s answer to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie held a quiet official ceremony at the groom’s home, which will be followed by an evening reception at the grand Taj Mahal Palace hotel. The newly-weds married in front of close friends and family, before emerging to pose and wave to the large press pack and

fans waiting outside. Kapoor was dressed in an embellished red shawl, while Khan wore a simple grey kurta.

“It was a registered marriage with three witnesses-Kareena’s father Randhir Kapoor, her mother Babita and Saif’s mother Sharmila Tagore,” marriage registrar Surekha Ramesh told the Press Trust of India news agency.

The couple, dubbed “Saifeena” by the media, come from famous acting families and their wedding attracting frenzied media attention. “Party time” ran the headline in the Mail Today,

which offered breathless coverage of a pre-wedding function in Mumbai on Sunday evening.

“Dressed every inch like a brideto-be, Kareena dazzled in an orange-yellow lehenga (skirt) and a shimmering golden choli (top),” it said.

“Beau Saif Ali Khan turned out more on the simpler side. He looked dapper in a white outfit.”

Superstar actor Shah Rukh Khanno relation to the groom-was one of the first big names to congratulate the couple on Twitter. “Happiest marriage bond to my friend Saif & Kareena. May

Allah keep (your) family healthy & happy. Just saw it is registered, sealed & delivered,” he wrote.

Friends have been tight-lipped about the private event, but the bride’s uncle, actor Rishi Kapoor, confirmed to AFP that the wedding day would be followed by a reception in Delhi in the near future. “It is a very joyous moment for our family,” he said.

Another celebration is reportedly planned at the Pataudi Palace, the ancestral home of Khan in northern Haryana state.

Khan became the new Nawab (Muslim prince) of the former

princely state of Pataudi last year after the death of his famous cricketing father Mansur Ali Khan, well known as “Tiger Pataudi”. Khan’s mother is an award-winning actress and his sister Soha is also in the movie business. Kapoor hails from one of Bollywood’s foremost acting dynasties, started by her greatgrandfather Prithviraj. Her grandfather Raj Kapoor was a cinematic legend while his brothers and a number of relatives have become well-known names in the industry.

Khan, who has appeared in

about 50 films including 2001’s “Dil Chahta Hai” (The Heart Desires) and “Hum Tum” (You and Me, 2004), has two children with his previous wife Amrita Singh. They divorced in 2004.

Kapoor, entering her first marriage, has similar number of film credits to her name including hits such as “3 Idiots” (2009) and “Jab We Met” (When We Met, 2007). She appeared alongside Khan in this year’s spy flick “Agent Vinod”. —AFP

‘The Devils’: Why Ken Russell’s Crazy, Sexy, Heretical Shocker is a ‘Masterpiece’ ith its heady mixture of sex and religion, Ken Russell’s “The Devils” was one of the most controversial films ever produced. It inspired waves of protests across the world when it opened in 1971 and ignited fierce critical debates about whether the British enfant terrible was a visionary or a shameless provocateur - or both. However, the film, which was was ruthlessly edited by Warner Bros. in a futile attempt to stifle the backlash, is all but forgotten today. The original cut, which includes an orgiastic dream sequence involving nuns and an effigy of Jesus Christ, is no longer available, and the studio has never released “The Devils” on DVD domestically.

“They killed the key scene in the movie . . . it was glorious stuff,” Russell said. In an attempt to rescue the film from the cinematic graveyard, film critic Richard Crouse has written “Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of ‘The Devils’”(ECW Press). Drawing on interviews with the film’s cast and crew, the book chronicles the troubled production and release, as well as the turbulent lives and working styles of Russell and star Oliver Reed. At the core of Crouse’s account, however, is a compelling case that the film strives for and achieves masterpiece status.

“It still resonates with audiences,” Crouse said. “It’s a complicated film about the struggle between church and state and that’s always timely. We still have religion and politics intertwined today. ‘The Devils’ is a cautionary story about the dangers of that relationship becoming too cozy.” Based partly on Aldous Huxley’s novel “The Devils of Loudun” and a subsequent stage adaptation by John Whiting, Russell’s film recounts the story of a radical Catholic priest (Reed) in 17th century France who is accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. It also mixes in a group of sexually hysteric nuns, Vanessa Redgrave receiving a grotesque enema and complicated

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File photo shows Tina Fey arriving at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre, in Los Angeles. —AP photos

File photo shows actress Amy Poehler arriving at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre, in Los Angeles.

political intrigues involving King Louis XIII. Oh, and there’s a grand inquisitor wearing a pair of John Lennon glasses.

Amazingly, and in part because the early ‘70s were a decade when envelope-pushing entertainment like “The French Connection” and “A Clockwork Orange” were connecting with audiences, Warner Bros. not only greenlit the film, it allowed Russell to realize his vision on a massive scale. The director built the biggest film set since the Elizabeth Taylor historical epic “Cleopatra” (1963) and the budget soared to the equivalent of roughly $70 million today.

“This was a huge film,” Crouse said.

“It was an anomaly, because it had a big budget, but it was challenging, uncomfortable and fascinating. Those kind of films don’t get released today.”

Alas, the best didn’t pay off. At the time the film was released, the critical consensus was that Russell’s cautionary tale was a garish provocation without much substance.

“It’s a see-through movie composed of a lot of clanking, silly, melodramatic effects that, like rib-tickling, exhaust you without providing particular pleasure, to say nothing of enlightenment,” Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times. Pauline Kael, the New Yorker’s acidic critic, was even more savage, writing, “Ken Russell doesn’t report hysteria, he markets it.”

The film bombed at the box office, and Warner Bros., hoping to tamp down the controversy, kept insisting on additional cuts to the film even as it was in release. “Short of burning the entire film I had no choice,” Russell said.

Not helping matters was the fact that Russell, who at one point in his native United Kingdom was listed as being more influential than the prime minister, was unable to get jobs in studio films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, causing him to fall into semi-obscurity.

Given the fact that he was nominated for an Oscar for “Women in Love,” directed “The Who’s Tommy” and

helped launch the career of actress Glenda Jackson, his death in 2011 generated surprisingly modest attention.

But among a small, but fervent group of directors like Guillermo Del Toro and Joe Dante, Russell and “The Devils” have continued to grow in stature.

“Guillermo loves the movie,” Crouse said. “He told me he watched the movie, or at least part of it, at least once a month and he credits Russell as one of his favorite filmmakers.”

“David Cronenberg, John Landis, Terry Gilliam are also fans,” he added. “I think what they admire is his strength of vision. You can’t watch five minutes without telling its a Russell film. This guy was a real storyteller with incredible visual flare.” Yet many of them have not seen the original cut of the film as Russell intended it to be shown, and even Crouse is uncertain whether Warner Bros. will take the risk of releasing a complete edition of the film on DVD or Blu-ray.

In particular, he doubts the studio is interested in restoring the “rape of Christ” sequence, which features a sexual encounter between Redgrave and Reed, wearing Christ’s crown of thrones and being taken off a cross.

“Forty one years later, that scene will still snap your head back,” Crouse said.

“Because it mixes sexuality with violence and religion, that’s the reason, the ban has lasted 40 years. Loads of movies have violent components or sexual or religious, but Russell wove them together. I’m not sure there would be protests in the street, but if they released it in its complete form there would be problems.”

Instead it endures in mangled form, its disturbing pleasures available to those who seek it out online or on videotape, until the next revolution in filmmaking emerges to make Russell and his fellow hell-raisers seem tame by comparison. —Reuters

Tina Fey, Amy Poehler to host next Golden Globes

omic actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host next year’s Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, organizers said on Monday. The decision, announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) on its official Twitter account, means acerbic Briton Ricky Gervais will not be returning for a fourth time to skewer Hollywood’s leading film and TV stars at the annual ceremony.

Fey, 42, creator and star of “30 Rock,” and her former “Saturday Night

C

Live” collaborator Poehler, 41, will host the gala dinner and ceremony on Jan 13, 2013, the HFPA said. Gervais hosted the event, which hands out awards to the best films, actors and TV shows of the previous year, for three years, attracting plenty of publicity along with criticism for his acid one-liners about the assembled celebrities.

The British creator of the TV series “The Office” was the first person to host the Golden Globes ceremony since 1995. In the interim, the live,

televised show went without a formal host and used presenters to introduce the various awards. The Golden Globes is one of Hollywood’s key award ceremonies ahead of the Oscars, which take place next year on Feb. 24 and will be hosted by “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane. —Reuters

S African rapper ‘Jub Jub’ guilty of drug-fuelled murder South African court yesterday found rapper Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye guilty of ploughing his car into a group of children while drugged and drunk, killing four and seriously injuring two more. A Soweto court found the rap star guilty on four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, the SAPA news agency reported.

Maarohanye and his co-accused were said to have been drag racing in the township on March 8, 2010, under the

A

influence of a cocktail of drugs and alcohol, when they hit a group of school children. The verdict was read by Brian Nemavhidi of the Protea Magistrate’s Court to cries of emotion from the relatives of the deceased. “The death of the deceased occurred as a result of the driving of those vehicles and as such the accused are convicted of driving their vehicles while under the influence of drugs,” Nemavhidi said. —AFP

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page waves during a press conference for his film "Celebration Day" in Tokyo, yesterday.—AP

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

lifestyle T r a v e l

By Ross Werland

T

he danger of going to Malta for a relaxing vacation is that a history lesson might break out. Frankly, the place even exceeds the limits of history, because we don’t really know a lot about those people who built temples here that predate the pyramids by about 1,000 years.

The people we do know about made the two main islands of Malta a destination as soon as mankind learned how to float boats in one direction. Its desirability for navigation makes sense, because it sits nearly equidistant from each end of the Mediterranean.

But Malta’s history is not all ancient. It was here that Chris Stevens, the recently slain US ambassador to Libya, visited frequently to prepare for his posting in that war-ravaged nation just to the south. Before that, it was such a strategic aggravation to Hitler, because of British guns and aircraft that he did his best to reduce these chalky limestone islands to gravel with bombings several times a day during World War II. Because war has so defined the place, the warmth of the Maltese toward strangers is all the more amazing. If you’re lost, I know for a fact that they will gladly help you get found, and they will do it in English, thanks to a British past dating back two centuries, though now it’s an independent and also Maltese-speaking country.

Vocalist Nayo Jones performs a cover of “Route 66” with The Lazy Boys at Maison on Frenchmen Street.

By Jessica Gelt

T

he cab careened past Washington Square and onto Frenchmen Street. It was close to 10 pm, and the neighborhood was filled with locals adorned with tattoos, piercings and lots of ragged black accessories. “The cab drivers call this ‘Freak Street,’” our driver said. “Because a lot of crazy characters hang out here-guys in skirts with huge holes in their ears, that kind of thing.

But we mean it in a good way. This is where all the music happens.”

My Australian friend, Jordan, and I had spent the last few days finding novel ways to avoid Bourbon Street, where I had twice been accosted by drunken frat boys in flip-flops who wanted to ply me with foot-tall Hurricanes and make me listen to bad cover bands playing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

I’m a bass player and an avid music fan who was raised on jazz, including plenty of Louis Armstrong. I was 14 on my first visit here, but in those days I was more interested in voodoo and swamps. Times change and so have I: Now, I was here on a sort of musical mission to find out whether Hurricane Katrina, which had slammed into the Big Easy in 2005, had drowned its rhythmic soul.

It hasn’t, but you won’t find it on Bourbon Street. Ask anyone here who knows anything about music and they’ll tell you to head to Frenchmen Street (and the surrounding area)

Meghan Stewart and the Reboppers perform a daytime set inside The Spotted Cat jazz bar on Frenchmen Street.

drinks are cheap and cover charges minimal.

Music is such a part of life here that some restaurants on the busy strip feature a talented jazz trio with a tip jar.

Set aside a night just to roam the area and you’ll begin to find the legitimate musical soul of the city in the characters who often pop up here: the R&B-fueled majesty of native son Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews or the legendary post-punk, experimental noise rocker Quintron and his wife, Miss Pussycat. How to pick your spots? Let your ears guide you. Wander from place to place; spend a few minutes or a few hours in this joint or that. Want something more formal?

Look at schedules of acts online and plan your night that way.

We needed to be well-fed to sustain ourselves on our harmonic pilgrimage, so we started, as any club-hopping night in the Crescent City should, with fried chicken and rabbit-and-sausage jambalaya at Coop’s Place, a hole-in-the-wall on neighboring Decatur Street. When it comes to decor, Coop’s sets the bar pretty low: scratched wooden tables, a large, square bar and bathrooms outside in an alley.

The low-key ambience blended seamlessly with the down-home cooking: The fried chicken was juicy, crisp and golden, and it bumped up nicely against the slightly sweet coleslaw. We sampled the fried oysters with tangy tartar sauce and washed it all down

If you go Where to stay: Dauphine Orleans Hotel, 415 Dauphine St, New Orleans; (504) 586-1800, www.dauphineorleans.com. A quiet respite.

Doubles from $239.

Where to eat: Coop’s Place, 1109 Decatur St, New Orleans; (504) 525-9053, www.coopsplace.net. Down-home soul food.

Mains from $9.95.

Where to listen: The Spotted Cat Music Club, 623 Frenchmen St, New Orleans; (504) 258-3135,

www.spottedcatmusicclub.com. Up-and-coming local talent.

The Maison, 508 Frenchmen St, New Orleans; (504) 371-5543, www.maisonfrenchmen.com.

Brass bands, jazz, funk and zydeco.

Snug Harbor, 626 Frenchmen St., New Orleans; (504) 949-0696, www.snugjazz.com. Sets by the likes of Ellis Marsalis and Charmaine Neville.

To learn more: www.neworleansonline.com.

and its warren of live-music clubs. It’s about a 15-minute walk from Bourbon Street, but it is light-years away. (Hurricane Isaac hit the city in late August but inflicted substantially less damage than Katrina.)

After spending some time here, you’ll realize this: You can’t know New Orleans unless you know its music, and you can’t know its music unless you get acquainted with Frenchmen Street.

There you’ll find rockabilly, bluegrass, R&B, jazz, blues, Latin music, hip-hop, rock ‘n’ roll and more in the numerous live-music venues that line a two-block stretch. Well-known musicians, including Ellis Marsalis and Charmaine Neville, show up regularly. The

with a house Sazerac, a New Orleans cocktail standard made of rye, bitters and sugar.

Sated, we followed our ears to a bar called the Abbey (also on Decatur), which our cab driver called “the nexus of all things dark.” She should have added “and drunk.” Inside this tiny dive we found a rollicking Irish-influenced bluegrass band called the Woodchuck Ramblers, which appears here on Sundays.

The musicians played so loudly they didn’t need microphones or amps.

“Got fat, got angry, started hating myself,” the lead singer shouted while a fiddler sawed away and a banjo player kept the beat. They were sloppy but fun, and the beer-swilling punk rockers who filled the bar loved and

The lay of the land Sitting 60 miles south of Sicily, the nation of Malta is about 122 square miles-the size of Omaha, Neb-most of that on Malta, the biggest of the stunningly deforested handful of islands. Although its 408,000 people make it the most densely populated nation in the European Union, the main island actually has enough countryside to get lost in if you’re driving, which I was.

I rented a walled villa in one of the oldest cities, Zurrieq (pronounced like Zurich), because I wanted a more genuine Maltese experience and not one more urban European visit. Honestly, though the capital of Valletta is beautiful in its antiquity, if that’s all you experience of Malta, you might as well pick any of half a dozen Italian cities for the same kind of vacation.

Small-town faves My favorite small town is the Norman city of Mdina (St Paul’s Cathedral and the gorgeous medieval Palazzo Falson house/museum).

You probably could get your fill of ancient architecture in Valletta and environs, but Mdina is a fascinating, scenic place to walk, with immaculate, narrow stone streets built on a curve supposedly to make the flight of arrows more difficult. There also is a fair share of shopping, so you will find that Maltese-cross pendant you didn’t know you wanted.

The picture-perfect fishing port of Marsaxlokk (pronounced marsashloke and home to a fishing fleet and attendant great seafood) is near the airport and thus a great way to decompress whether coming or going. On a Saturday in Marsaxlokk, restaurants offer all kinds of alfresco dining. I eeny-meeny-miny-moed one of the tents arrayed along the harbor and had some of the best amberjack I’ve ever tasted (they call it acciola).

I liked Zurrieq for a different reason: Not a tourist town, it seemed the most genuinely Maltese. It’s also where a shopkeeper-a sweet man-started crying when talking about the global economic downturn. Until that moment, I’d envied his situation in life. Turns out he envied mine. The town seemed Italian, with old men gathering on the streets near dusk to talk about a day that was a lot like the one before. Meanwhile, the old women went into the main church, I think to pray for their old men outside.

The Spotted Cat features local and touring jazz acts on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. — MCT photos taunted them in equal measures.

In contrast was the Vaso Ultra Lounge, where the Young Fellaz Brass Band rocked its way to heaven. Dressed in jeans, white Tshirts and tennis shoes, the members of the six-piece band played tirelessly, as befitting their youth. I was reminded of the frantic scene in Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” in which, upon seeing a great tenor horn player, Dean Moriarty jumps around shouting, “Blow, man, blow!”

Before I could do likewise, Jordan dragged me out of Vaso onto Frenchmen Street, and we were soon sucked into the slightly more sedate Maison, a true jazz-style club with small circular tables. Here, the Lazy Boys played jazzy funk to a packed house.

Performers, sometimes just drifting in off the street, kept hopping onstage to sing or play a horn.

As luck would have it, we were sitting next to one of the guest stars, a beautiful young vocalist named Nayo Jones who sang a sultry cover of “Route 66.” Jones, who made her New Orleans Jazz Fest debut earlier this year, was sitting at a table with her father, Doc Jones, and Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill, who was gearing up for a gig at the Hollywood Bowl opening for the Neville Brothers.

“That’s the beautiful thing about New Orleans,” Nayo Jones said. “There’s music everywhere, and we just sit in with each other.” We spilled out of the Maison in a kind of trance. It was close to 2 am, but discordant strains from club after club hung in the swampy air. We walked into Cafe Negril, a tiny bar where Ruby Moon and her Vicarious Pleasure Band wrestled “House of the Rising Sun” to the ground. Then it was off to the Spotted Cat, where Pat Casey and the New Sound played a mix of modern and classic jazz spiced with Latin swing and funk from a tiny stage. I had never seen a drummer hit as hard or as well.

I ended the night in line for the bathroom at the Cat. I waited for what seemed like forever until a young tattooed girl with neon red hair emerged, smiling shyly. “I’m sorry, it’s just that there’s a piano in there,” she said, pointing to the bathroom. “And I couldn’t stop playing.”—MCT

An audience member crowd surfs as Quintron and his wife Miss Pussycat peforman at One Eyed Jacks, one of the Bouron Streetadjacent clubs that New Orleans locals frequent.

The food I’m not a foodie, but the standard fare of Malta seemed bland for a country so close to Italy, where you can find great restaurants blindfolded. I’m sure there’s great food here; I just didn’t find it, with that one exception in Marsaxlokk.

The only chichi restaurant I wanted to try was the one in Mdina seemingly favored by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie when he was shooting a movie here in 2011 (“World War Z,” set for release in 2013). The man answering the phone at De Mondion (tinyurl.com/csyq5r2) seemed stunned that I thought I could make a same-day reservation. I didn’t try again.

Malta’s national dishes are rabbit stew and lampuka (dolphin fish). I thought the “stew” part meant I would not see enough rabbit shape to discern that I was eating a bunny. But there that big leg sat. It wasn’t bad, but I prefer fish. The lampuka was OK, but my serving was no big deal.

OK, the history You could spend an eon visiting crypts, churches, museums. For a comprehensive history lesson in one 45-minute sitting, do it with a film, “The Malta Experience” (themaltaexperience.com) along the Grand Harbor in Valletta. See St John’s Co-Cathedral in central Valletta for jawdropping opulence. This place is integral to Maltese history’s chief players: the Knights of Malta (the Crusades, the Maltese cross, etc.).

You should see at least one of the prehistoric temples. Some are on the smaller island of Gozo, requiring a ferry ride. I preferred the Hagar Qim Temple on the southwest coast of Malta, minutes west of Zurrieq.

(How the heck did those guys quarry and transport a 20-ton stone?) And spend a day in Mdina. The Normans did nice work. Trust me. History can make for a relaxing vacation.

Malta’s fishing port of Marsaxlokk. — MCT

If you go Flying to Malta from the US means you will have a connection. Mine was in Paris, requiring a 2 hour flight south. The cost was in line with most any European destination.

Getting around: Arriva Malta (arriva.com.mt) provides bus service all over Malta, including the airport. Daily and weekly passes are dirt cheap.

If driving, expect Italian-like intensity while driving on the left. GPS advised.

Staying there: I rented through homeaway.com last October, but the Malta Tourism Authority provides a wide array of options at visitmalta.com. There you also find links to historic sites. — MCT

lifestyle

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

T r a v e l

A young man picks up a saxophone once owned by singer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti as the musician’s shoes hang in the background.

“F

ELA LIVES,” reads the Gothiclettered tattoo on the back of one of the sons of the legendary Afrobeat singer from Nigeria. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died 15 years ago but his name seems to be mentioned more now than ever. Radio stations across Africa’s most populous nation continue to play his trumpet-and-saxophone-infused songs, the girlish cries of his female backup singers ringing out of tinny speakers in crowded buses. Leaders he linked in songs to corruption remain close to the levers of power in this oil-rich but poverty-stricken country. He’s a legend among unemployed gang members and academics alike and was the subject of a smash Broadway musical produced by some of the biggest celebrities in the US. Now, the family house where his remains lie has become a governmentendorsed museum that offers a look inside his life, as well as the challenges still facing Nigeria years after his death.

“In one of his songs, (Fela) said it takes 10 years for us to catch up to his message,” said Theo Lawson, the architect who helped design the new museum. “The expectation, I think, would be that the people would rise up and demand their rights and this didn’t happen because everybody was scared. “Fela’s been dead

for 15 years and unfortunately, we’re still where we are. It’s probably longer than he anticipated.”

Fela created Afrobeat in the late 1960s, mixing the rhythm of jazz, the catchiness of pop music and traditions of African mysticism into 10-minute-long songs riffing on politics and sex in a nation only recently freed from colonialism. He embraced the idea of panAfrican leadership and openly criticized the military rulers who revolved in and out of power in Nigeria when others had been cowed into silence.

Many in Nigeria, at times a very religious and conservative nation, shied away from Fela over his heavily publicized sexual appetite and marijuana use.

His escapades became the fodder for endless and titillating newspaper headlines, including marrying more than 20 women at the same time, living in a freesex commune and smoking massive spliffs during performances. The military and police, never amused, conducted raid after raid on his home, which he declared the Kalakuta Republic. In one such assault, soldiers so severely beat Fela’s mother, an activist in her own right, that she later died of her injuries.

Those government crackdowns, as well as disapproval of his lifestyle,

A woman walks past portraits of late Afrobeat Legend Fela Kuti, at the Kalakuta Museum.

A man dressed like the late Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, attends an opening of Kalakuta Museum.

Yeni Kuti, Daughter of late Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, laughs during an opening ceremony of Kalakuta Museum in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday.—AP photos

A young man picks up a shoe once owned by singer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti .

stopped some Nigerians from accepting Fela, said Lemi Ghariokwu, who designed many of the musician’s album covers.

That coldness continued even after Fela died in 1997 of complications brought on by AIDS. The disease sapped his energy to perform in his last years, even though he dismissed AIDS in song and called safe sex “unnatural.” His children since have been advocates of safe sex and AIDS awareness.

“If you go to Jamaica, there’s a Bob Marley museum,” Ghariokwu said, mentioning another singer with an affinity for marijuana. “The government of Jamaica gave Bob Marley (one of ) its highest national honors, because they can see beyond.”

While Fela’s son Femi Kuti performs at The New Afrika Shrine, which is in honor of his father’s former performance space, family and friends wanted a formal place to honor the musician. They decided to remodel the family home, which sits on a narrow street in Lagos’ sprawling Ikeja neighborhood near the city’s international airport. The Kalakuta Museum includes a wall holding Fela’s shoes, photographs of him and his family, murals and album art. It also features his room as he left it at the time of his death, with VHS tapes, a giant inflatable globe and racks of clothes hanging above a simple twin bed. Pillows and a sheet lay nearby, a remembrance of how he slept on the floor, weakened as AIDS slowly killed him, Ghariokwu said.

On Monday, which would have been Fela’s 74th birthday, his sons Seun and Femi and daughter Yeni celebrated the opening of the museum, which will include a boutique hotel and a rooftop lounge and concert space. The opening comes during Felabration, an annual week of concerts put on by his children to honor their father’s musical legacy.

Lagos state government provided $250,000 for remodeling the home into a museum, Lawson said. Yet Femi Kuti made a point to say the family will continue to say whatever it feels like saying.

“We are not a family that is supporting the government, because of what my father stood for,” he said. But he applauded local officials for “being brave enough to be identified with the name that many people fear and shy away from.”

As he spoke, a giant diesel generator nearby kicked on, drowning out his words and showing how electric power

remains out of reach for many in Nigeria.

Later, someone tried to walk off with a pair of Fela’s shoes from the racks hanging in the museum, a sign of the country’s struggles with lawlessness. But Fela’s now-grown children laughed and smiled, shouted and waved as they walked past portraits showing them as infants with unlined faces. By the end, they rushed down several flights of stairs, champagne flutes in hand, laughing and calling out: “Soldiers coming!” Below, their father’s crypt sat just in front of the museum.

— AP

An onlooker peers into the preserved bedroom of singer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti while a reflection of a room containing the musician’s shoes and a saxophone can be seen in a reflection.

Femi Kuti, left, and Yeni Kuti, right, children of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, attend the opening of Kalakuta Museum.

Femi Kuti, the son of late Afro beat legend FelaKuti, looks at portraits of his Father at Kalakuta Museum.

Khan and Kapoor in Bollywood ‘royal’ marriage

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

The 2002 painting ‘Woman with Eyes Closed’ by Lucian Freud.

The 1971 painting ‘Harlequin Head’ by Pablo Picasso.

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Edvard Munch’s painting ‘The Scream’ is displayed at the Munch Museum in Oslo.

The 1919 painting ‘Reading Girl in White and Yellow’ by Henri Matisse.

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In this undated file photo released by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum shows the painting ‘Chez Tortoni’ by Manet, one of more than a dozen works of art burglars stole during a 1990 heist in Boston.

A reproduction of the Edgar Degas painting ‘Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter’, one of four paintings by major artists which were stolen from the private EGBuehrle Collection, in Zurich, Switzerland.

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rad Pitt made his debut as the first male face of Chanel’s iconic No.5 fragrance on Monday, in an ad campaign that had fans and fashionistas split on the actor’s latest role. Pitt, 48, is seen with long hair and dressed casually, looking wistfully into the camera in an enigmatic black-and-white video directed by “Atonement” filmmaker Joe Wright. “It’s not a journey. Every journey ends, but we go on. The world turns, and we turn with it. Plans disappear, dreams take over. But wherever I go, there you are, my luck, my fate, my fortune. Chanel No.5, inevitable,” the “Moneyball” actor says.

The video is part of a $10 million advertising campaign for which Pitt was paid $7 million, according to Women’s Wear Daily. Time magazine’s Erik Hayden called the ad “nonsensical,” saying Pitt’s “vaguely existential monologue ... sounds like it could plausibly have been discarded narration from the trailer for Terrence Malick’s (film) ‘Tree of Life.’”

Us Weekly’s Zach Johnson called the video “sensual,” while Vanity Fair’s Amy Fine Collins said the choice to cast Pitt as spokesperson showed the French fashion house “subtly circling back to its gender-twisting origins.” Pitt is the first male spokesperson for women’s fragrance Chanel No.5, the first perfume

even paintings by artists including Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet were stolen from a museum in Rotterdam in an earlyhours heist, Dutch police said yesterday. The theft at the Kunsthal museum is one of the largest in years in the Netherlands, and is a stunning blow for the private Triton Foundation collection, which was being exhibited publicly as a group for the first time.

The collection was on display as part of celebrations surrounding Kunsthal’s 20th anniversary. Police spokeswoman Willemieke Romijn said investigators were reviewing videotapes of the theft, which took place around 3 a.m. local time, and calling for any witnesses to come forward. Police have yet to reveal how the heist took place.

The stolen works were Picasso’s 1971 “Harlequin Head”; Monet’s 1901 “Waterloo Bridge, London” and “Charing Cross Bridge, London”; Henri Matisse’s 1919 “Reading Girl in White and Yellow”; Paul Gauguin’s 1898 “Girl in Front of Open Window”; Meyer de Haan’s “SelfPortrait,” around 1890, and Lucian Freud’s 2002 work “Woman with Eyes Closed.”

Mariette Maaskant of the Kunsthal museum said the paintings taken were of “considerable value.” Independent experts said the works were clearly worth millions of dollars but would be impossible to sell on the open market.

The museum’s director Emily Ansenk had been in Istanbul, Turkey, on business but was returning yesterday. The Triton Foundation is a collection of avant-garde art put together by multimillionaire Willem Cordia, an investor and businessman, and his wife, Marijke Cordia-Van der Laan.

The Kunsthal museum is a display space that has no permanent collection of its own - the name means “art gallery” in Dutch. The Cordia family collection includes works by more than 150 famed artists. Others whose work was on show include Paul Cezanne, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Edgar Degas and Andy Warhol.

Curators of the Cordia family collection aim to have the works on display for the public, and pieces have been shown in the past. The museum was closed yesterday due to the police investigation. — AP

launched by legendary French designer Coco Chanel in 1921. In a statement from Chanel, the actor called the fragrance “revolutionary.”

“Nº5 has always been the most iconic women’s fragrance,” Pitt said. “That’s what I see being the appeal of this campaign; it goes beyond the abstract of emotion or beauty to evoke what is timeless: a woman’s spirit.” Chanel No.5 has been represented by actresses Audrey Tatou, Nicole Kidman and Catherine Deneuve in the past. It has also been linked with screen icon Marilyn Monroe after she famously said the fragrance was all she wore to bed.

Love, scorn and ambivalence On Twitter and YouTube, some fans noted the somewhat ironic coincidence of the campaign’s release tying in with the 13th anniversary of “Fight Club,” in which Pitt played a consumerism-hating salesman. While the video for Chanel No.5 had generated more than 3,000 ‘likes’ on YouTube within the first 24 hours, it also has 850 ‘dislikes’, with some commenters saying they believe the ad did not represent the fragrance.

Harper’s Bazaar editor-at-large Derek Blasberg said on Twitter: “I’ve watched Brad Pitt’s Chanel No.5 com-

‘The Storm on the Sea of Galilee’ by Rembrandt, one of more than a dozen works of art burglars stole during a 1990 heist in Boston.

The 1898 painting ‘Girl in Front of Open Window’ by Paul Gaugain.

The empty space where Henri Matisse’s painting ‘La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune’ was hanging, right, is seen next to a painting by Maurice Denis, center, and Pierre Bonnard, left, at Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, yesterday. — AP photos

mercial, oh, about 17 times today. I still don’t know how I feel about it.” Another Twitter user, Aime Rogers, said, “ WHAT were they thinking?? So strange.”

YouTube user BabyHippo26, said “So pretentious!!!

Why does he look so sad and serious ... I have been a long-time consumer of Chanel No.5 and Chanel products. This commercial has turned me off so much, I won’t be buying No.5 again!” Other fans, however, were mesmerized by the Hollywood star.

User Medusafern posted on YouTube: “it’s his VOICE, that VOICE, Jesus; it’s like one sweet drop of liquid angel I shall savor on my weary lips.” Twitter user Liz Lyons simply said, “I love love love Brad Pitt for Chanel no.5.”— Reuters

US actor Brad Pitt arrives for a photocall during the 65th Venice International Film Festival at Venice Lido, on August 27, 2008. — AFP