18 Nov

Hand-made decorations are a smash hit

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Amir calls for tough action to maintain public order SEE PAGE 9

KUWAIT: (Inset) His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is chairing an emergency Cabinet meeting at Seif Palace yesterday. National Assembly Speaker Jassim Al-Kharafi (centre) and the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (right) also attended the meeting which dwelled on the mayhem created by protesters who stormed the National Assembly Wednesday evening demanding the Prime Minister’s resignation. MP Mussalam Al-Barrak (left) is seen amidst a group of protestors inside Parliament on Wednesday evening after protesters broke open the gate. — Photos by KUNA & Yasser Al-Zayyat

Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Local Spotlight

Satire Wire

Faking it in fashion

A call to legalize animals’ rights groups

By Sawsan Kazak

By Muna Al-Fuzai sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

H

igh-end purses, watches and wallets that are supposed to be worth hundreds of KDs can be found for a couple of KDs only. knockoffs are in abundance in Kuwait, but are they worth it? Fake designer items are usually a fraction of the cost and nowadays are almost identical replicas of the originals. You can find top level imitations of purses, accessories, clothes and even shoes of every brand imaginable. But there is always something preventing me from buying knockoffs; even when they are indistinguishable from the real items.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not my sympathy for the high-end designers that are being ripped off, or my strong ethics on style-theft that is preventing me from buying fake designer goods.

It’s the fact that I would only be lying to myself if I bought a fake X brand and parade it around as if it were an original. I’m of the mentality that if I can afford it then I will buy it and if I can’t, then I will buy something else. I am yet to understand the knockoff craze. Even if you do fool everyone else around you into believing you have a really expensive purse; you would always know deep down that you are an imposter.

A good friend of mine has no problems buying knockoffs, as long as she likes the way they look. She mixes her clothes with original brands and fake items and no one is the wiser. But I still can’t wrap my head around carrying or wearing an item that is pretending to be something it is not. It’s like if I go to

the supermarket and shop for a certain type of cheese and buy the imitation of it; a fake parmesan for instance. Or if I was in love with a cereal and bought the generic brand of that cereal and told everyone it was the original. I could trick everyone into believing I have the authentic brand but I would have to eat the fake cereal every morning. It’s the same concept with the high-end clothing and accessories; others would think I had an original, but I would be stuck carrying and looking at a fake.

I’m not saying we should strive to drape ourselves from head to toe in high-priced designer goods. I guess when it comes down to it, I would rather buy a real no-name item than a fake high-end item.

Just kiddin’, seriously

Look... stop staring

By Sahar Moussa

muna@kuwaittimes.net

I

s there enough awareness about how an injured cat or an ill dog should be taken care of and provided shelter?

Moreover, how can this shelter be run in a secure environment with an official license so that work is performed clearly?

I think many would agree that it would be of great help to animals. Yet, when it comes to real life, few people, mostly expatriates want to make it a reality. This noble idea to help animals especially in a harsh desert environment like ours is not easy. It requires volunteers and money.

The initiative would definitely be costly. The premises, with full-time guards, along with the expenses incurred to buy food, blankets and medical aid to help sick animals would require adequate amount of funding. Even now, when people give money to animal shelters, they know that they are doing something good but are never fully assured if the proper documentation is made.

It is no secret that there are two main animal shelter groups in Kuwait. A resident may adopt or admit an animal to PAWS and Animal Friends which are well-organized and run by responsible individuals. I am not aware of the functioning of other groups.

In order to achieve transparency and increase public awareness about animals rights, more efforts should be made by people. I feel terrible to see injured animals or new-born kittens being run over on roads or hit by cars or children. This means that we need public awareness about animals rights and encourage people to volunteer. This is why I believe that animals’ rights groups in Kuwait must obtain licenses.

sahar@kuwaittimes.net

“P

icture this... We’re on a nice long romantic drive and I feel blissful, like there’s no other place on this Earth that I want to be at the moment, and the next second, another car passes by and my man turns his head to look at the girl behind the wheel. It’s not like she’s Angelina Jolie, for heaven’s sake! After that I feel like denting his skull with the jackhammer kept under the seat! So much for romance,” told me a woman who is madly in love with her fiancé.

Various studies show that the amygdala and hypothalamus (parts of the brain) are more strongly activated in men than in women when viewing identical stimuli. In layman’s terms, this just means that men are more visual creatures than women. But does this biological hardwiring give men the ‘natural’ right to stare?

After asking a lot of women and men on how they feel if their dates start looking at other women or men while driving’ , in restaurants and shopping malls, I saw an immediate hostile reaction on the women’s faces. A cynical smile was drawn on the men’s. So here are some tips to men and women to avoid this dilemma.

Women, I do understand your irritation when your date starts looking at other women when you are a co-passenger, but you have to admit that there is nothing you can do to change this ‘genetic’ phenomena because it’s in their blood.

What you can do is to play it smart. If your date starts staring at a woman in a car next to you, try not to make a scene demonstrating jealousy and asking the clichéd question: “Why were you looking at her” or “ Is she more beautiful than me?”

Instead, try to share his opinion about what he thinks about her. If she is with a guy, try to comment on his T-shirt

and give him a bit of his medicine.

Men, you have to understand, it really bothers women when you stare. Try to hold yourself as much as you can and be respectful. There is nothing more amazing when a man respects his date and treats her like she is the only woman in the world.

Women are called the ‘fairer sex’ for a reason. Even other women admire good-looking women. So you can’t really blame men and I know it’s tempting for men to look or stare at other women especially in a shopping mall which is basically a female territory.

A friend told me that if she sees a man with a woman in a mall or a restaurant staring at her, she would immediately feel sickened by him. There is nothing more charming than a man walking with a woman and focusing only on her.

Even in restaurants, men should try not to scan every woman out there because that will definitely repel your partner. Women should avoid playing eye games to ensnare men with the aim of making your partner jealous.

The fact is, it is natural for men and women to glance at each other. However, as the rule goes, there is a difference between looking and staring. And a guy once told me,” When men stare or look at other women, it’s not like he’s thinking of marrying her, it’s just window shopping.”

The consolation for women is that he may look but there is a reason he’s with you. Technically speaking if he was with the other woman, he would look at you! Last but not the least , I don’t think a man would appreciate it if your date began staring at other men while she is with you. Would women prefer if their men look at other women ... or men?

P.S. If all else fails, gift your man blinders for Christmas.

KUWAIT: Yesterday the gate of the National Assembly was “handcuffed” after protestors stormed the building on Wednesday night. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Conspiracy Theories

By Badrya Darwish

Taken for a ride

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

H

ow do men abuse women in Kuwait? It is funny how men go out of their way to chase women and lure them. The more we live, the more stories we hear about the astonishing innovative methods that men try, to get to know women. If a man smells a foreign woman, they are on the case right away.

Even reporters from my field often encounter someone who approaches them and asks them if they are happy to join another publication or some other big business. It looks like a woman is carrying her CV in the hand and she has a stamp on her forehead and the back of her T-shirt that says: “Looking for a job. I am a celebrity. Help me out!”

If the woman shares that she is unhappy with her job they immediately jump to help. They only ask for her number and she is offered immediate connectivity.

If the girl is naive and a newcomer to Kuwait and she gives her number, they will keep bothering her day and night irrespective of what time it is. They are worried about finding her a better job even at 2 am! Of course, there are many men who want to help. They are too kind. Or many will approach an expat woman

offering her a driving license or a discount card for shopping. All offer help for free and in good will.

We often have fun in the editorial room because when we meet to discuss stories, and reporters come back from events, everyone shares their stories.

Sometimes it is hilarious. To add to the fun one of our editors said that it is not only reporters chased for “greener pastures.”

He once sent his maid to the grocery shop and somebody approached her offering her a proper job in a tailor shop or a restaurant. They told her that she will get more money and independence. The innocent girl went back to her Baba (the norm in Kuwait is that maids call their bosses Baba or Mama) and told him.

The guys didn’t stop then. They came with a better idea. To make it easier for her they said the family will not kick her out if she enters into a physical relationship with Baba, then Mama would kick her out from the house. “You call us and we will then secure a nice job for you,” they told the maid.

What kind of weirdoes are these? This girl might have been rational and didn’t believe them. But some

naive girls were taken for a ride like this. They end up being taken to a brothel. Of course, they blackmail them and there are threats that the police will jail them. Then, the poor girl is afraid to report the abuse.

The problem is that people of all nationalities and walks of life are into this creative HR move. My advice to all of you girls and ladies who are offered a lucrative job is to be extra careful. Do not trust just anybody. Do not fall an easy prey for ruthless people. You might think you are really smart and strong but believe me, people are different and not everyone is innocent.

Unfortunately, I cannot write the names of many acquaintances who have fallen into the trap and the names of those who encountered such offers to protect their privacy.

Have a good weekend!

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Local

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Rising mixed marriages set new societal trend

63% of Kuwaiti couples ended up divorcing, whereas mixed marriages enjoyed a miniscule 13 percent divorce rate

By Lisa Conrad

T

he instance of Kuwaiti men marrying foreign women has been rising steadily in recent years. According to a report by a local Arabic daily, it is fuelling fears that the numbers of unmarried Kuwaiti women will increase as a result. What’s more, the report found that the instance of divorce is much lower between a Kuwaiti and a non-Kuwaiti than between two Kuwaitis. The daily reported that an entire committee was formed to try and curb the trend, which they failed to manage. The trends, and the committee, have received much attention but the question remains as to why it’s becoming more common, and why resulting marriages are more likely to prevail. According to the report, the differences are astounding: 63 percent of Kuwaiti couples ended up divorcing, whereas mixed marriages enjoyed a miniscule 13 percent divorce rate.

According to 27-year-old Bader, mixed marriages last longer not because of nationality, but because they’re built on more solid foundations, “I don’t think that nationality is the determining factor in divorce rates.

Usually marriages are arranged and families seek spouses within their circle of acquaintances and distant or close relatives. So, the marriage between two complete strangers results in a lot of misunderstandings and end in divorce.” He added, “Because, traditionally, mothers don’t seek foreigner brides or grooms for their kids, one can say that almost all marriages between Kuwaitis and nonKuwaitis are not arranged. The couple here have met outside the circle of the family. They are not complete strangers to one another.”

Hanaa a 22-year-old agreed, “There are a lot more foreigners in Kuwait now and there’s not as much pressure as there was before about marrying a Kuwaiti, so nationality isn’t as much of a focus.”

While Hanaa and Bader feel that the trend is linked to circumstance and globalization, others insist that it is based not on nationality, but on culture. “Do you know how much it costs to marry a Kuwaiti woman?” asked 25year-old Abdulrahman. “The amount of gifts you have to give and the dowry and the house; it’s a huge sum. Plus, it’s still not the norm with Kuwaiti women to contribute to the household, and not all Kuwaiti women work. So you can expect high financial costs for good, especially since they like, and will often demand, the finer things in life.”

For Adbulrahman, the issue of finance is a serious one that he intends to keep in mind when choosing a partner, “These cultural customs will cost you a lot in the long term. I’m

happy to pamper my wife, but there are limits. I wouldn’t mind the customs if they were more of a choice and less influential. At the end of the day, if you marry a foreigner, especially a Western woman, you’re looking at more balance in your marriage. Plus, when you marry a foreigner you don’t have the same pressures regarding family name and family background. If you marry a Kuwaiti, you do, so it can be more limiting.

Power of reputation Fida, a Lebanese expatriate engaged to a Kuwaiti, agreed that culture is a central issue,

“Kuwaiti society is very close and interlinked, and marrying within it deepens your connection to it even further. If you marry a nonKuwaiti, the consequences of divorce aren’t so deeply tied into all of your social and family circles in the same way they are if you marry a Kuwaiti.” She added, “With Kuwaiti women, and most Arab women, you have to ask for her hand in marriage from her father. The difference here though is that reputation means so much and men can be rejected if they don’t meet certain standards. For example a friend of mine was rejected for having a reputation for travelling to Bahrain and Dubai to go clubbing with friends.”

The power of reputation is evident in this example as Fida continued, “After that, he gave up on the idea of marrying a Kuwaiti woman. His reputation was tarnished and he knew the women he would consider would reject him. With foreigners, especially westerners, you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone but her.” In addition to lesser social

pressures, Fida added that the children born of a Kuwaiti father and a non-Kuwaiti mother will still enjoy full rights, full nationality and all the benefits that come along with it.

There is no single, concrete, reason behind the rising trend of mixed marriages, and their increased likelihood of long-term success.

Unless, of course, you ask 32-year-old Maha, “If men have the chance to be lazy, they will.

Kuwaiti men love the idea of traditional women, and many of us still respect those values even if we have a career as well. But they also love the idea of reducing their responsibilities, and that wins out with some of them.”

She added, “Some arranged marriages fail, and some mixed marriages are because of love. But this trend, I think, is because Kuwaiti men no longer want to commit to their traditional responsibilities and, to be honest, we don’t want the ones who don’t anyway.”

Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Danger for sale

By Priyanka Saligram

‘W

e have some lovely cheetah cubs for sale for any loving and caring homes ready to spoil them with much love and care. All my babies are very friendly and sociable, and are current on all shots. They have all their papers and license. They are homely and potty-trained. They have been declawed as well and would be coming with all their toys and feeding menu. They are still bottle-fed with milk until they are ten weeks of age. They are just four weeks old as of now. This is your perfect opportunity to own a cheetah cub.’

This is an advertisement on a website in Kuwait which is openly offering cheetah cubs for sale.

Another popular Kuwaiti blog carries a picture of a cheetah cub resting comfortably on a bed in what looks like someone’s residence. The owner states that the cub is “domestic and safe to play with for children.”

While it is no secret that many endangered and exotic species like snow wolves, cheetahs, tigers and lion cubs, bears, bob cats, parrots, gorillas, baboons and Fennec foxes are up for sale in Kuwait, it is definite cause for concern that there aren’t many rules or regulations that manage to curb this trade. Rola Ahmed, an animal rights activist says that it is absolutely illegal to bring in exotic species but people do it for one strong reason: “There’s big money involved.” Many traders bring in animals from Jordan and Syria where it could be bought for a few hundred dinars only to be sold in Kuwait for a few thousand. “It’s like alcohol; it’s illegal here, but don’t we see it?” she asked.

Ahmed went on to reveal that it is unlawful to keep Siberian Huskies in Kuwait owing to the harsh weather conditions, but many keep them for breeding purposes. The puppies are much in demand and go at a price of KD 200 to 300 and breeders can easily make up to KD 1,000 plus every few months by just staying at home.

Ahmed spoke of how Kuwait Zoo had once housed 15 to 20 rare baboons in a single cage a few years ago, without the slightest inclination of the implications involved. “Baboons are known for being susceptible to Ebola and HIV virus, and cramping so many of them together could have been very dangerous - apart from being cruel,” she said. An Arabic newspaper reported a story in July 2010 on how an endangered species of deer died because of brutal heat and carelessness by

Qaz poses with his pet Wolf Spider Stanley and pet python Sebcha in Kuwait. the authorities and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) tried to intervene without result. “Fighting awful situations like these is not usually possible from a legal standpoint because, for the most part, no laws are being broken,” said Agnes Tam, Cruelty Caseworker and Legal Specialist at PETA. Youngsters indulge in shooting stray animals dogs in particular - who do it “just for fun” in Mina Abdullah and Wafra. When Ahmed and other volunteers tried to rescue some puppies, a youngster attacked them and said he could do whatever he wanted to. Complaining would have been an exercise in futility she admitted as “the only time police get involved is when an animal attacks someone, not vice versa.”

Runaway animals may scare most people but not 22-year-old Kaz who has a Wolf Spider, a “tiny” crocodile and a German Shepherd which is part-dog, partwolf (owing to a wolf mother) and had a pet snake until a while ago. “My brother accidentally stepped on it while it was under the carpet and the poor thing died,” he said. He had a pet python two years ago and a scorpion which is “missing currently but somewhere at home for sure” apart from an iguana which is staying at a friend’s place. What about a license? “You don’t need a license in Kuwait, you can do whatever you like,” he says nonchalantly.

Animals’ rights???

Animal welfare organizations like PAWS and K’S PATH work around the clock to rescue and house abandoned pets, especially the ones which find themselves badly abused and traumatized in desert areas but this task has only got harder for them over the years. An active volunteer at PAWS who chose to remain anonymous, revealed that wild animals which aren’t allowed to be kept as domestic pets anywhere in the world are brought in to Kuwait with original as well as fake licenses and reared as any harmless cat or dog. “Many people bring in monkeys because they are very cute as babies but as they grow up and display their natural wild aggressive instincts, they are duly

abandoned in the desert or kept in adverse conditions because they become unmanageable.”

While it is not only inhumane to house animals which aren’t naturally primed to live amongst humans and subject them to the extreme weather conditions in Kuwait, it is also a dangerous proposition to try and domesticate a beast whose ordinary instincts are to hunt for food. While the issue of dumping exotic pets is fairly on the lower side, there is more onus on callous owners that leave dogs on the roads to fend for themselves. “Many times, they get stoned and in extreme cases, they are chased around with guns as it is considered ‘exciting’ to shoot dogs,” revealed another volunteer. She said that nobody should get a pet when they’re not absolutely sure they’re ready for one, since it’s a commitment they would be making for a good number of years. “Every breed requires tremendous research because they come with their own history and temperament.”

The situation over the years has got grim for abandoned pets, as more people have been recorded moving into Kuwait with pets without adequate knowledge on how to care for them. PAWS has actively been involved in school initiatives to combat lack of awareness of pet care and promote a healthy attitude towards animals. The belief that love cannot co-exist with fear has pushed their volunteers to create learning modules which aim to familiarize children from a young age on how animals are different from humans, and why there is a special need to be patient and understanding with them.

A common misconception is that Islam considers some animals like dogs ‘haraam,’ and some people state this as a justified reason to hurt them. Ahmed said that Islam strongly prohibits abuse towards animals of any kind and narrated a ‘hadith’ of a woman who kept a cat locked up and failed to feed it until it died and she was sent to hell for negligence. “The Holy Quran emphasizes that people treat all animals with kindness and compassion.”

Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

a smash hit Hand-made decorations are

Treasure Tree enriches local market with unique concept

By Nawara Fattahova

W

ith Christmas fast approaching, finding the perfect decoration set becomes a treasure hunt. As it appears, custom-tailored and hand-made decorations are hit in the markets.

The Treasure Tree enriches the local market with handmade decorations for such occasions. By participating in holiday markets, coffee mornings and small bazaars, the Treasure Tree presents unique handmade decorations aimed at local and expat communities. These include monuments for Christmas trees in a bowl or on the table.

Some of the decorative items can also be hanged on windows or bathrooms, explains Moira Morton, the store’s International Sales and Distributor. She says that the best-selling holiday ornaments for trees are bubbles balls and the votive candles. She finds the availability of holiday decoration in Kuwait to be limited.

The Treasure Tree stocks a large variety of decorations, the most popular of which are related to the nature of the region: camels, date tree palms, little sheeshas, and reindeer decorations. She explained that Treasure Tree also sells whimsical items like fish, heart, Aladdin lamp, stars.

Perfume bottles and tea light votive candles are the new items of the season. So is the frosted glass with Arabic letters and writing - one of the best-selling items. “This Arabic frost bowl lights through the glass,” she pointed out.

The product range of Treasure Tree is extensive. According to her, depending on where women come from they look for different things when buying decoration. “The British, for instance, have trees colored with

blue or gold and match the decorations with this color,” she said.

While Americans like a riot of colors, the Europeans prefer just gold and silver decorations. “They decorate differently, and we offer them the selection,” she noted.

“During every season, we add a new design,” Moira says reminding of last year’s sheesha item. “Each piece is handmade by skilled craftsmen. So there will be some slight variations in each decoration. Each one is absolutely unique,” concluded Morton.

The Treasure Tree decorations are made from pyrex glass in Egypt. “It takes six minutes to make the bowl, and eight minutes to create the camel and reindeer, then it is hand-painted, she says. According to her, designers in Egypt collect a sample and once it is approved, it is manufactured. “Some customers like a name to be put on the decorations. We can do that,” Morton added.

For her, the decorations are not solely used during Christmas holidays. Many expats also take them back home as souvenirs. “We treasure these things as it evokes memories of the time we spent here,” she added.

About four years ago, Magdi Labib, Managing Director and his wife Jane Labib, Marketing Manager, Product Development, Customer Service of the company, started the decoration business in Kuwait. After they went back to Egypt earlier this year, Moira Morton inherited the business. Morton who has been residing in Kuwait for six years, has a 26-year experience in Retail Sales and Marketing. Now she works with craftsmen in Egypt where products are manufactured.

Then they are shipped to Kuwait.

The prices, Moira says, are affordable and are based on the amount of details involved in the decorative item.

For more information about Treasure Tree Handmade Ornaments, you can visit: www.Treasuretreeltd.com.

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Years

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Creative Design Mall aims to empower Kuwaiti youth

‘It is time to change Kuwaiti youth’s image’

By Ben Garcia

M

ahmoud Al-Jazzaf General Manager Creative Design Mall believes Kuwait is going through a phase where opportunities are plenty that utilize creativity and talent. This talent, however, he spots in the power of youth. “Kuwait is ready to conquer the world of creativity, but it needs the right venue,” Jazzaf said.

The Creative Design Mall concept was created to provide the venue and also empower the youth by providing them with support to become real entrepreneurs. “Considering recent development, tumultuous years have long passed. We are now facing a new chapter that I believe everyone in the society, especially the youth should participate in,” he said. The mall promises to help and guide the Kuwaiti youth of today. “We will help them build their dreams and create their businesses starting from scratch,” he added. In order for the Kuwaiti youth to take off, Jazzaf advised they should be armed with ideas and knowledge and hold a business-minded thinking. “Kuwait has a very good potential. We should have overtaken our neighbors a long time ago.

However, because of political instability, no large-scale developmental projects parallel to those implemented in the UAE were executed,” he said. “We were the leading country in almost all aspects, from economy to education and culture. However, it has been hampered because of the political situation,” Jazzaf explained.

He feels that the tumultuous years are over.

Kuwait is ready to defeat economic stagnation. The US-educated senior manager believed Kuwait has been doing its part to secure the place. “We were an economic powerhouse in the Gulf. After Egypt, Lebanon and Syria we were the next country in the Arab

world that enjoyed economic clout, but it shifted to Dubai because of the relations shared with Iran,” he said. “We have money, we have oil to be proud of, besides we have the most creative and business-minded people a country can have.”

Mahmoud Al-Jazzaf Wasta culture Jazzaf advises Kuwaitis to adopt a more open-minded approach and change their attitude towards business prospects. “Be openminded, remove the vested interest groups or the ‘wasta’ culture both in public and private sectors. It is ruining the very fabric of our society and our desire to advance further,” he claimed.

He highlighted that numerous projects have been cancelled due to sudden changes of rules and regulations in the government.

“We must change the rules which dated from antiquity, like not allowing commercial licenses to offices located on the first floor of a building in Shuwaikh. I don’t understand this.

Drop the mentality that is not practical during

our times. Stop changing rules overnight.

Work more towards improving education, create industrial areas, set rules and regulations that are favorable to both local and foreign businessmen,” he advised.

In order to change public sector work attitudes, Jazzaf said ministries should introduce a ‘performance evaluation’ gauge. “I highly encourage our government to provide incentives to employees that perform excellently. In that way, you are encouraging workers to respect their time schedule, work hard and perform their duties/responsibilities,” he asserted.

He noted that many people in the ministry work just for the sake of drawing monthly salaries even without showing up to offices. “This culture should be put an end to. We are throwing away money for nothing,” he said.

On prowl for change Creative Design Mall hopes to institutionalize the ideas that can somehow change Kuwait’s attitude in the long run. “Our mall is created in the hope of helping our youth create their own style, create small businesses and put in their own creativity. We want to promote it, we want to promote innovation and dependency. We want to show the real essence of entrepreneurship here,” he added.

Creative Design Mall is at the heart of Shuwaikh Industrial Area. The mall takes pride in its spacious shops, internet connectivity.

The offices will one day become a place to meet minds and brain storm for fresh ideas.

The mall offers building materials [A-Z] to tiles, furniture, electrical and lighting needs. “We make sure that some few basic things are provided like food or other basic necessities. We have the shop that offers services, few personalized stuffs. We have made sure that it can be provided within the vicinity,” he said.

According to Jazzaf, occupancy in the mall

has exceeded over 80 percent after a ‘soft’ opening two months ago. They’re now preparing for a grand opening in January 2012. “The mezzanine floor will have offices as they cannot be given for any licensed commercial use, [as per the law in Shuwaikh]. That is the reason why we offer this place for the youth, they don’t need to go through the tedious process of securing licenses. We created this for our youth, to let them feel they are welcome in the world of business and creativity. Creativity will begin in this place and it will eventually spread through,” he continued.

A Kuwaiti Squash champion in the 1980’s, Jazzaf observed that during his time, youth can be found engaged in various sports activities. Today however, youth are spending their precious time and money at sprawling malls.

“I don’t want to see this kind of attitude. I want them to use their precious time creating ideas that can eventually help build their future.”

This mall encourages entrepreneurship. “We are encouraging youth to be creative, proactive and believe in their talents and abilities.

I want them to change the image of Kuwaiti youth.

“I want them to see their real potential and discover the real essence of life.” Jazzaf argued that creativity in Kuwait has been stagnant for many years because the government has failed to tap their talents creatively. “We lack encouragement from the government. The government should lead us in the right direction.” Jazzaf admitted that after returning to the country upon completing his studies abroad, the first advise he received was to ‘get a job from the government.’ “I refused,” he reminisced. I said, “I don’t want to kill my motivation. I want to work and strive hard for my future. I landed in the private sector where I learnt many things. This time, I want to share it with our youth of today,” he concluded.

Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

News

in brief

Kuwait to host GCC confab on Leukemia KUWAIT: Kuwait will host the First GCC Health Conference on Leukemia and Anemia on Monday.

The event will feature local, regional, and international participants. In a press conference, Head of the Conference Scientific Committee Dr Samiya Abdulsalam said that the three-day event would focus on developing medical procedures to counter such ills, adding that workshops and lectures would be held to fulfill the goal. She indicated that the event was the first of its kind in the GCC. An exhibition of local and international pharmaceutical companies will be held on the sidelines of the event.

Kuwait cultural week opens in Mexico MEXICO CITY: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Mexico Sameeh Johar Hayat opened late Wednesday the Kuwait Cultural Week in Mexico. It is organized by Kuwait Information Ministry under the patronage of the Mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard. The Ambassador lauded the relations shared between Kuwait and Mexico in the opening speech, expressing hope that the two countries would continue to boost relations in the near future. He noted that the cultural week celebrated the 36th year of bilateral relations, stressing that the event would help bolster relations on the cultural level.

Mayor of Mexico City Ebrard praised the current cultural event, affirming that the event would increase cooperation between the two nations beyond the cultural level. It will conclude on November 20. - KUNA Safety, environment event to be held K U W A I T : The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), Kuwait Branch, will hold the Sixth Health, Safety, Environment, and Loss Prevention Conference on December 29. The event will be held under the patronage of Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Mohammad Al-Busairi. The Head of the ASSE Kuwait Branch Fadhel Al-Ali said that the workshops and training courses aim at boosting safety, health, and environmental awareness at oil facilities. The event will witness the participation of experts from the US, Europe, and the Middle East, adding that an exhibition would be held on the sidelines of the event featuring health and safety regulations to be followed at oil fields.

Poultry, egg imports from Iran banned KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources(PAAAFR) yesterday announced a ban on the import of poultry and eggs from Iran. A statement said that the ban follows reports released by the World Health Organization indicating presence of bird flu in Iran, and falls in line with the guidelines of veterinarian quarantine adopted by Kuwait.

Shooting championship preparation KUWAIT: In preparation for the first GCC Shooting Championship which will be held in Kuwait between December 5 to 7, Ministry of Interior’s Assistant Undersecretary for Training and Education Affairs, Lt General Sheikh Ahmed Al-Nawaf presided over a meeting convened yesterday.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah chairs an emergency Cabinet meeting yesterday at Seif Palace. — KUNA

Amir orders national guards, security personnel to end chaos Opposition vows to continue fighting

By B Izzak KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah yesterday ordered the National Guard and the Interior Ministry forces to take all “necessary measures” to establish law and order in the country and end chaos following the unprecedented storming of the National Assembly building.

The order was issued in a statement issued by the Cabinet following an emergency meeting chaired by the Amir himself to discuss the consequences of the situation in the country following the opposition-led protests that turned violent.

The Amir ordered that the forces be provided with whatever authority necessary to end chaos in the country, according to the statement. It did not name the specific measures that would be taken.

The Interior Ministry controls all the police force, the elite special forces and the Coast Guard, while the National Guard, which protects vital installations in the country, is only called to take action during cases of emergency.

The Cabinet also took note of the events that took place the preceding day when hundreds of protesters stormed the assembly building and stayed for several minutes in the main chamber. The storming followed clashes between security forces and protesters who wanted to

Speaker visits injured officer KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Jassim Al-Kharafi visited yesterday one of the Parliament’s police officers who was injured in Wednesday’s riot. Al-Kharafi wished Chief Warrant Officer Nasser Mohammad Al-Otaibi a speedy recovery. Al-Kharafi was accompanied by Deputy Speaker Abdullah Al-Romi, National Assembly Observer Dr Ali Al-Ameiri and General Secretary Alaam Al-Kandari, Assistant General Secretary of Parliament Security Brigadier General Bassam Al-Rifai. — KUNA

march to the residence of HH Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad AlAhmad Al-Sabah, close to the protest site.

Instead, protesters stormed the Assembly building and left the house voluntarily. The Cabinet called on the Interior Minister to initiate legal action against all demonstrators who broke into the Assembly and refer those responsible to the Public Prosecution Department including the opposition MPs who took part.

The opposition defied in a statement issued after the Cabinet meeting, pledging to continue to supporting youth activists and perform duties as “citizens and MPs regardless of the price” they might pay. The statement, issued after an emergency meeting was held for about 20 MPs, warned the “corrupt government” against any attempt to establish a police state or undermine the democratic system in the country.

The opposition also held the security forces responsible for beating up protesters and angering them to the extent that they forcefully entered the Assembly building.

The National Assembly office, which convened an emergency session, decided to ask the interior minister to initiate criminal charges against all protesters who stormed the chamber, including MPs. The office called the forensic experts to collect fingerprints of those who entered

the chamber so that lawsuits can be filed against them. The liberal National Action Bloc(NAB) strongly criticized the storming of the Assembly building, saying it was a very sad moment in the history of Kuwaiti democracy.

Pro-government MPs seized the opportunity to slam opposition MPs. Shiite MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan described the storming of the Assembly as a “step toward a coup” while his colleague MP Hussein Al-Qallaf said what happened was completely shameful. MP Salwa Al-Jassar described the storming as “terror” and said she would submit a proposal to expel MPs who took part in it.

But opposition MP Mubarak Al-Waalan said what the youth activists did was their legitimate right and MP Mussallam AlBarrak stressed that the opposition was waiting for the resignation of the prime minister and the Assembly’s dissolution.

The opposition, meanwhile, did not explicitly say if it was going to organize new protests. The Information Ministry meanwhile announced that it would take legal action against a number of local media outlets that violated the law while covering the events. It did not name any media. The Interior Ministry also issued a statement in which it blamed demonstrators for the riots and said that five security personnel and a national guard member were injured.

Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Housemaid beheads female employer

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 25-year-old female citizen was brutally beheaded by her Ethiopian housemaid yesterday. Case papers indicate that the victim was found decapitated in her own home in Jaber Al-Ali. Preliminary investigations showed that the housemaid committed the murder using a butcher’s chopper knife. Police arrested the suspect at the airport before she could flee the country.

Drug peddlers caught Detectives from the General Department of Drug Control (GDDC) recently arrested two Asians in connection with drug trafficking in Mishref. The suspects, a driver and a chef working for a Kuwaiti household, sold the contraband to

customers. Issuing a search warrant after coordinating with the Kuwaiti police , their room was searched and 1,500 hallucination pills and KD 1,800 were found. Both suspects admitted their involvement in the case.

Bizarre suicide attempt Following an incident that took place yesterday where a citizen held his own family members for ransom in Sulaibikhat, issuing death threats, another Sulaibikhat resident alarmed police when he threatened to leap from the rooftop because his wife allegedly cheated on him. The man appeared to be mentally disturbed, especially when he asked police to bring his wife’s lover so that he could take revenge.

Officials added that policemen had to disguise a passerby as the ‘lover’ and coax

him into giving up his suicide attempt.

Eventually, the man was distracted by attempts to recognize the ‘lover’ and police managed to restrain him.

es after being run over by a speeding vehicle in Kheitan. The man was admitted to Farwaniya hospital to receive treatment.

Paramedical staff manage casualties According to reports received about the Parliament and the Demonstration Yard clashes that took place on Wednesday evening, 13 ambulances and 26 paramedical staff were sent to the scene to manage various kinds of casualties. The report also stated that a 28-yearold National Guard was stricken by a stun gun, another 25-year- old guard fractured his right foot, a third 21-year-old suffered from low blood sugar levels while a 42year-old citizen fractured a leg.

Car accidents A 40-year-old Egyptian sustained a head injury and a 28-year-old Syrian fractured his collarbone after their vehicles collided in Amghara.

Paramedical staff reached the scene in response to an emergency call, and both men were admitted to Jahra hospital. Also, in a tragic traffic accident, a 17-year -old citizen suffered a skull fracture, a 42-year-old citizen sustained multiple injuries and a 19-year-old citizen fractured his right thigh bone after the vehicle they were travelling in flipped over along the Fifth Ring Road near Sulaibiya.

Hit and run case A 31-year-old Egyptian sustained bruis-

Parliament protestors summoned for investigations MoI files complaint against MPs

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: Firemen graduate militray training course with the National guards. —Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Upon receiving ministerial orders, a team of crime scene investigators from the criminal evidence department began examining the Abdullah Al-Salem Hall and other facilities at the Parliament’s house to collect fingerprints of those protestors that broke into the building Wednesday. Some opposition MPs encouraged the act, said security sources’ noting that all the suspects would be taken to task.

Officials also said that the government has prepared a report to be made to the public prosecutor against lawmakers who incited, instigated and led the forcible entry to the National Assembly to clash with security forces, injuring some of them and assaulting National Guard personnel.

Furthermore, sources added that the report would be backed by video footage and photos that prove violations of people who have been indentified and caught on CCTV cameras breaking into the building and tampering with objects.

Commenting on the incident, MP Ali Al-Omair told reporters that lawmakers had met to discuss the matter and officially asked the interior minister to order an official investigation to take legal action in accordance with the law, authorizing the public attorney to lift parliamentary immunity to interrogate the MPs involved.

“This action is condemned by both lawmakers and citizens who believe that it would harm public

interests,” added Al-Omair noting that the decision to dissolve the Parliament rests with the Amir himself and stressed that no such decision had been made. “The Abdullah Al-Salem Hall will remain closed until the police examines all fingerprints and the CCTV footage to indentify the lawbreakers.”

MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan described the incident as a ‘defiant action’ to HH the Amir who ordered everyone to fully observe the Constitution. “What took place was complete imprudence,” he stressed noting that HH the Amir was the leader of Kuwait while the lawmakers had put themselves in trouble.

In this regard, MP Khaled AlAdwah described the incident as ‘an act of the mob that is very barbaric and reckless.’ “Things ought to be solved in a more civilized way.....what will the world say about us now?” he asked.

MP Saadoun Hammad Al-Otaibi described the incident as a misinterpretation of democratic practices by those who claimed to defend the Constitution. He added that when he published the documents proving his accusations to his colleague Ahmed AlSaadoun, the latter provoked the incident to divert attention.

“Those who boycotted the Parliament’s session during working hours are the ones behind the assault,” he stressed adding that he learnt that the Speaker ordered more National Guard forces to guard the Assembly.

MP Rola Dashti condemned the

incident saying that there were ‘persistent attempts made by chaos lovers’ to push Kuwait into a dark tunnel and ‘kill democracy with chopper knives.’ She added that when MPs failed to achieve their goals in Parliament, they felt helpless and opted to mislead and mobilize the youth through social networks by turning them against the government. “Those MPs betrayed the trust of voters and should be ashamed for their acts before cameras that broadcast the incident to the whole world,” she underscored.

Dashti also urged Ministry of Interior to take strict legal measures against those involved in the incident to ‘investigate this scheme.’ She also called for withdrawing citizenships of citizens who were naturalized along with their families.

On the other hand, opposition blocs commended the incident and described as ‘an unconstitutional government.’ They also blamed security forces saying that demonstrators were provoked when assaulted by police forces.

Opposition leader, MP Musallam Al-Barrak said that this was ‘only one step that many others would follow’. He denied that his colleagues had damaged public property inside the National Assembly.

MP Waleed Al-Tabtabae downplayed the event and ridiculed accusations of vandalism. “It was only a glass that was broken,” he claimed describing the government’s version of the story as twisted.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Uproar in Egypt over nude woman activist’s pictures

Police arrest suspect in White House shooting

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DAMASCUS: A handout picture shows the funeral of army Sergeant Hadi Ali Baldiah, reportedly killed in recent fighting in the country, during a military funeral outside the Tishreen military hospital yesterday. — AFP

Syrian rebels in fresh attack Russia says Syria’s crisis looks like ‘civil war’

DAMASCUS: Rebel troops hit offices of Syria’s ruling party yesterday, a day after a daring raid on an intelligence base that prompted Russia to warn its longtime ally is being dragged into civil war. The rocket-propelled grenade attack in northwestern Idlib province, near Turkey, came as security forces killed four people, including a nine-year-old girl, despite an Arab League ultimatum to halt the bloodshed or risk sanctions.

“A group of dissident troops attacked regime youth offices, where security agents were meeting, with rocket-propelled grenades and clashes broke out,” said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

On Wednesday, fighters of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group formed by army deserters that has inflicted mounting losses on the regular army in recent months, raided an air force intelligence base in Harasta, outside the capital. In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said it was “not surprising” the opposition was resorting to violence in its campaign to end

President Bashar al-Assad’s 11 years of iron-fisted rule.

“We don’t condone it in any way, shape or form but... it’s the brutal tactics of Assad and his regime... (that) is now taking Syria down a very dangerous path,” he said. “We don’t condone violence, not on the part of the Syrian military, the Syrian regime nor on the part of the opposition,” Toner said, without actually condemning opposition attacks. In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the global community should call on all sides in Syria to stop violence, including the opposition.

Pointing to Wednesday’s attack, Lavrov said “this was quite similar to a true civil war.” Russia has been deeply opposed to Western efforts to internationalise the crisis, fearing it might clear the way for Libya-style Western military intervention under a UN mandate. On October 4, it joined with China in vetoing a Western-drafted Security Council resolution that would have threatened Assad’s regime with “targeted meas-

ures” if it continued its deadly crackdown on protesters, which the UN says has killed more than 3,500 people.

Leading Syrian dissident Haithem Al-Maleh took issue with Russia’s warning of civil war, saying the intelligence base, where a number of detainees were being held, was a legitimate target in the protection of civilians. “This attack on one of the worst departments of the security services does not mean a civil war. This army of defectors is protecting civilians, no more, no less,” Maleh told Al-Jazeera television.

In New York, European nations said they have key Arab support for a UN General Assembly resolution condemning human rights abuses by Syria’s regime, whose success could increase pressure for the Security Council to act.

“The Arab world has sent a very clear message: the massive human rights violations and the suffering of the Syrian people have to stop,” German Ambassador Peter Wittig said. But Wittig said it was still imperative for the Security

Council to condemn Assad.

“No misunderstanding: this is no substitute for council action. We still see a need for the council to live up to its responsibilities and we expect that council members don’t easily dismiss the strong voices from the region.”

On the ground, security forces killed the nine-year-old girl during a search operation in the town of Subkhan, in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor, the Observatory said. Two civilians were killed in the central city of Homs and a fourth near Maaret al-Numan in Idlib, the watchdog added. The deaths came after at least 23 people were killed on Wednesday, even as Arab League foreign ministers, who had suspended Syria at the weekend, met in Morocco and gave Damascus three days to halt the bloodshed or risk sanctions. A League diplomat in Rabat told AFP “Syria’s suspension came into effect yesterday (Wednesday) but that is not to say that the League is going to sever its contacts with the Syrian government.”— AFP

International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Police arrest suspect in White House shooting Officials say Ortega had obsession with Obama

VIENNA: Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center yesterday. — AP

IAEA Iran resolution lacks deadline VIENNA: World powers have overcome their differences at the UN atomic watchdog and agreed a resolution criticising Iran over its nuclear programme, although it sets Tehran no deadline, envoys said yesterday. Instead the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board will express its concerns and call on the watchdog’s head Yukiya Amano to brief the board on progress in March, a Western diplomat said.

Amano said at the start of the meeting that he had written to Iran on November 2 proposing a “high-level” visit to Tehran, saying “clarifying all outstanding issues was in the interests of Iran.”

Western diplomats stressed that all major powers had agreed, except China, thus avoiding what would have been a potentially damaging split between permanent members of the Security UN Council. A European envoy said that Beijing was not thought to have any fundamental objections to the draft text. “The Russians are on board,” the diplomat told AFP. Israel’s ambassador expressed disappointment however, having hoped that last week’s hard-hitting IAEA report on Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons drive would produce a strong response from the agency’s board of governors. “It could be tougher,” Israel’s envoy Ehud Azoulay told AFP on the sidelines of the twoday Vienna meeting that began yesterday, commenting on a draft that he had seen.

“But this is the magic of diplomacy. If you want to get everyone on board you have to sacrifice something. I hope it will lay the ground for future (UN Security Council) resolutions ... I really hope so,” he said. Last week, the agency came the closest yet to accusing Iran outright of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, in a report immediately rejected by the Islamic republic as “baseless.” Based on a mass of information from different sources, the IAEA said it was able to build an overall “credible” impression that Tehran “carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.” The evidence included a bus-sized steel container visible by satellite for explosives testing and weapons design work, including examining how to arm a Shahab-3 missile, capable of reaching Israel, with a nuclear warhead. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday Tehran would send “an analytical letter with logical and rational responses” to the report. But the report laid bare deep differences within the so-called P5+1 bloc dealing with the Iran question, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council-the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France-and Germany. Washington, Paris and London jumped on it as justification to tighten the screws on Iran, already under four rounds of Security Council sanctions and additional US and European Union restrictions. But Beijing, which relies heavily on Iranian oil imports, and Moscow, which also has close commercial ties and built Iran’s only nuclear power plant, have been far more cautious. Both put pressure on Amano not to even publish the report, which Moscow said contained nothing new-even comparing it to the false intelligence used to justify the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. “The Russians and Chinese are in a bad mood, particularly because of what they perceive as a misuse of the last UN Security Council resolution on Libya,” Oliver Thraenert of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs said. — AFP

WASHINGTON: A man wanted in an investigation of shots fired near the White House was arrested Wednesday in Pennsylvania, a day after agents discovered two bullets had struck the executive mansion while President Barack Obama was away, the USSecret Service said. The Secret Service said it discovered Tuesday that the two bullets had hit the White House, one apparently cracking a window on the level of the president’s living quarters, while Obama and his wife Michelle were on a trip to California and Hawaii. The president has since traveled on to Australia, second stop on a nine-day tour of the AsiaPacific region.

The discovery of bullet holes followed reports of gunfire near the White House on Friday night, although the bullets have not been conclusively connected with that shooting, authorities said. On Friday, authorities found an abandoned vehicle with an assault rifle inside, which led authorities to disclose they had linked Oscar Ramiro OrtegaHernandez to the reported gunfire. A US Park Police crime bulletin issued before Ortega’s arrest said he is known to have mental health issues.

“Ortega should be considered unstable with violent tendencies,” the bulletin stated. There are also indications he had become obsessed with Obama and the White House, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Ortega, 21, was arrested Wednesday afternoon by Pennsylvania authorities at a hotel near Indiana, Pa., a community about 55 miles east of Pittsburgh, the Secret Service said. He was in Pennsylvania State Police custody. A tip from someone who saw and identified Ortega led to his arrest, Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said.

Ortega was arrested at a hotel and did not resist arrest, said Pennsylvania State Trooper Lt. Brad Shields. State troopers said Ortega had visited the hotel in recent days, and investigators believed he was back in the area Wednesday. The Secret Service passed out photographs, and a desk clerk recognized his picture and stalled him while notifying police. Ortega’s first court appearance is scheduled Thursday afternoon in Pittsburgh, according to

WASHINGTON: Law enforcement officers photograph a window of the White House as seen from the South Lawn. — AP the staff of USMagistrate Judge Cynthia Reed Eddy.

Ortega, from Idaho Falls, Idaho, was reported missing Oct. 31 by his family.

On Friday morning, he was stopped by police in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Va., after officers were called for a report of a suspicious person.

Police took photos of him but didn’t have any reason to arrest him, according to Arlington police Lt. Joe Kantor.

Ortega has an arrest record in three states but has not been linked to any radical organizations, US Park Police have said.

Witnesses on Friday reported hearing shots and seeing two speeding vehicles in the area. The assault rifle was recovered nearby and the abandoned car that authorities linked to Ortega was found near the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River to Virginia. The bullet that hit the White House window was stopped by ballistic glass. The Secret Service did not disclose the location of the second bullet, saying only that it “was found on the exterior of the White House.”

Obama and the first lady had traveled without daughters Malia and Sasha on Friday to San Diego en route to Hawaii for a summit, prior to heading to Australia. The White House had no

immediate comment on the shooting report or arrest or on who may have been home at the time. On Wednesday, officials could be seen taking photographs of a window on the executive mansion’s south face. The window is in front of the so-called Yellow Oval Room, according to the White House website.

The room is in the middle of the family’s living quarters on the floor that includes the president’s bedroom and the Lincoln Bedroom.

In 2010, there were a series of predawn shootings at military buildings in the Washington area, including the Pentagon and the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Police charged a Marine Corps reservist with those shootings earlier this year. The suspect, Yonathan Melaku of Alexandria, Va., remains in custody. In the last shooting at the White House, a Colorado man sprayed the mansion with at least 27 semiautomatic rifle bullets from Pennsylvania Avenue in an attempt to assassinate President Bill Clinton in October 1994. Bystanders subdued the suspect, and no one was injured.

Francisco Martin Duran was later convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison for that shooting. The next year, Pennsylvania Avenue was closed to traffic to bolster security. —AP

Iranian official’s son died of overdose: UAE DUBAI: The son of a top Iranian official whose body was found in a Dubai hotel last weekend died of an overdose of anti-depression and schizophrenia medicine, United Arab Emirates police said.

A forensic investigation “rules out any criminal suspicion” in the death of Ahmad Rezaei, 35, Dubai’s police chief, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan, said late Wednesday, according to the state news agency WAM. The body of Rezaei-

who held US nationality under the name Tom Anderson was discovered Sunday in his room on the 18th floor of a fourstar Dubai hotel.

Rezaei/Anderson was the son of Mohsen Rezaei, a former chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and 2009 defeated presidential candidate who is now secretary of the Expediency Council advising Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mohsen

Rezaei’s website this week described Ahmad Rezaei’s death as “suspicious.”

But Khalfan was quoted by WAM as saying: “US businessman Tom J Anderson’s death occurred because he consumed excessive amounts of a medicine used as an anti-depressant and for the treatment of schizophrenia.” Ahmad Rezaei emigrated to the United States 13 years ago and refused to return to Iran for several years. — AFP

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Fighters in Libya don role of state security TRIPOLI: At the Mellitah Oil & Gas facility, a joint venture between Italy’s oil major Eni and the Libyan national oil company, fighters from the mountain city of Zintan stand guard. Deep in the Sahara desert, 700 km south, another brigade of fighters from Zintan-a city which prides itself as being one of the first to rise up against Muammar Gaddafi-say they are securing the Akakus oil field in the absence of a national army.

Some of the fighters who ousted Gaddafi are not prepared to wait for their interim government to form a cabinet and begin the long task of rebuilding a functioning state. They are doing it for themselves.

Armed militias are acting as a pseudopolice force: setting up road checkpoints, directing traffic and arresting those they regard as criminals. Groups of fighters from Misrata, 190 km to the east of the capital, have joined some Tripoli brigades to guard the naval base where several military

ships that escaped the bombing by NATO during the war are docked.

At the Akakus field, fighters are positioned around the main facility, armed with heavy machine guns and rockets. “The protection of this field is by Zintani fighters to prevent looting,” said one guard at the gate to the field, which stands in a vast expanse of sandy desert. All of the militias claim loyalty to the National Transitional Council (NTC), which promises to lead Libya towards participatory democracy, but also to the clans, towns or regions from which they hail.

Fighters give different reasons for not handing in their weapons and returning home. Some say they are being paid by their commanders or are worried that a pro-Gaddafi insurgency will break out while the country is still weak. Others say they have a moral commitment to serve Libya, even unofficially. But there are suggestions

the militias also want to wield political leverage over the emerging government.

While officials hold secret meetings in Tripoli to decide on high-level positions, Colonel Abdullah al-Mehdi is trying to get the air force back in the air. “People are crossing the border illegally from Niger and Mali. They are smuggling drugs and attacking oil fields to steal cars and equipment,” Mehdi, from Zintan, told Reuters as he flew his favourite aeroplane from Gaddafi’s defunct Libyan air force, a twin-engined Russian military transporter.

“We need to position planes at airports around the country to patrol the border.”

He said he intends to move some fighter jets from the capital to the border town of Ghadames and the southern desert city of Sabha.

“Two jets here, three there,” the 49-yearold said. Shouting over the roar of propellers, Mehdi says he has been transport-

ing fighters and weapons to Libya’s borderlands and worked as an air ambulance. And more frequently now that the eight-month civil war has ended, he has ferried representatives of the interim government around the country to aid the reconciliation with tribes who fought for Gaddafi.

“I also run a prison,” he added. Who Mehdi is working for is unclear-both the defence and interior ministers are yet to be appointed-but he collaborates with the Tripoli Military Council, the armed wing of the NTC. “What ministry, I am the ministry,” Mehdi said, a broad smile emerging under his thick, greying moustache. With Gaddafi gone, Mehdi wants to reach out to the leaders of neighbouring Mali and Chad to deal with drugs and weapons smuggling, before taking a holiday in Russia. “I haven’t had a day off or been paid for eight months,” the pilot said in English. —Reuters

Uproar in Egypt over nude woman activist’s pictures Pictures divide liberals, conservatives further

RIYADH: In this file photo, veiled women are pictured. —AFP

Beautiful eyes ordered to be covered in KSA RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s religious police yesterday announced that it would compel veiled women to cover their eyes, particularly those with charmingly beautiful eyes, reported Kuwait local daily, Al-Rai. In this regard, the religious police spokesman in Ha’el (to the north of KSA), Sheikh Mutlaq AlThabet said that religious police would interfere and force women to cover their eyes, namely the charming ones.

Notably, a YouTube video had announced this intention noting that the religious police had every right in doing so. A citizen had been hospitalized when he was stabbed during a fight with a religious policeman for refusing to comply with orders to have his wife cover her eyes. The funny thing is that a court acquitted the religious policeman and accused the stabbed man and a companion of his for being snobbish and sentenced the former to eight months in jail plus 300 lashes and the latter to six months and 700 lashes.

CAIRO: A woman activist who posted nude pictures of herself on her blog to protest limits on free expression has triggered an uproar in Egypt, drawing condemnations from conservatives and liberals alike. Some liberals feared that the posting by 20-year-old university student Aliaa Magda Elmahdy would taint them in the eyes of deeply conservative Egyptians ahead of Nov 28 parliamentary elections in which they are trying to compete with fundamentalist Islamic parties.

Nudity is strongly frowned upon in Egyptian society, even as an art form.

Elmahdy’s posting is almost unheard of in a country where most women in the Muslim majority wear the headscarf and even those who don’t rarely wear clothes exposing the arms or legs in public.

Elmahdy wrote on her blog that the photographs - which show her standing wearing only stockings - are “screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy.”

The blog has received 1.5 million hits since she posted the photos earlier this week.

The posting comes at a time when Egypt, a nation of some 85 million people, is polarized between Islamists and liberals ahead of the elections, the first since the February ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. Members of the most hardline Islamic movement in Egypt, the Salafis, have warned voters during their campaigns that liberals will corrupt Egypt’s morals. “This hurts the entire secular current in front of those calling themselves the people of virtue,” Sayyed el-Qimni, a prominent selfdescribed secular figure, said referring to Islamists. “It’s is a double disaster.

Because I am liberal and I believe in the right of personal freedom, I can’t interfere,” el-Qimni said Wednesday night on one of Egypt’s popular TV political talk shows, “90 Minutes.” The April 6 movement, one of the most prominent liberal activist groups that led the 18-day uprising against Mubarak, issued a statement denying claims by some on the Web that Elmahdy is a member of the group.

A computer screen shot shows the blog page of young Egyptian Alia AlMahdy, who posted pictures of herself nude under the title “Memories of a Revolutionary”. — AFP The posting prompted furious discussions on Internet social media sites, with pages for and against her put up on Facebook. One activist, Ahmed Awadallah, praised her in a Tweet, writing, “I’m totally taken back by her bravery.” A supporter, who identified himself as Emad Nasr Zikri, wrote in a comment on Elmahdy’s blog, “We need to learn how to separate between nudity and sex.” He said that before fundamentalist influence in Egypt, “there were nude models in art school for students to draw.” Some 100 people liked his comment, while thousands flooded the site with insults. Some denounced Elmahdy as a “prostitute” and “mentally sick” or urged police to arrest her. Elmahdy did not reply to attempts by The Associated Press to contact her. Her move comes as Salafis have become more assertive in pushing their attitude that women should be kept out of the public eye, promoting a Saudi Arabia-style segregation of the sexes. On Salafi parties’ campaign banners, photos of the few female candi-

dates are replaced by drawings of a flower. During a recent election rally in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Salafists covered up a public statue that depicted mermaids. Salafi clerics appearing on TV talks shows have refused to appear face-to-face with female TV hosts, unless the presenter puts on a headscarf or in one case, a barrier was placed between the two. Most recently, an Islamist preacher crashed into a university musical concert in a Nile Delta province of Mansoura, saying music was forbidden by Islam and that he wanted to “promote virtue and prevent vice” - the term used for the mission of Saudi Arabia’s religious police. Women rights activist Nehad Abou el-Qomsan said conservatives “keep adding layers to cover up the women and deny their existence.”

But, she said, what Elmahdy did “is also rejected because posing nude is a form of body abuse.” Elmahdy and her boyfriend Kareem Amer, also a controversial blogger, have challenged Egypt’s social strictures before.— AP

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Greece’s Samaras rules out post-election cooperation Conservative leader says Greece needs early polls

PRAGUE: Czech President Vaclav Klaus (left) lays a wreath at a student memorial in Prague yesterday during a commemoration of the 22nd anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the peaceful coup that toppled communism in the then-Czechoslovakia. — AFP

Blair regrets freedom of information law LONDON: Poised on the brink of power, Tony Blair made an impassioned vow: Britain’s jealously-held culture of official secrecy would be dramatically swept away. Fifteen years later, the country has a thriving right to information law, with almost 44,000 requests made to central government last year, and recently announced it would accept some demands for government data posted using Twitter. So former prime minister Blair must now reflect with pride on delivering his promise? Not exactly. “You idiot. You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop,” Blair wrote of himself in his autobiography “A Journey” last year, recalling his adoption of the law, which took effect in 2005. “There is really no description of stupidity, no matter how vivid, that is adequate. I quake at the imbecility of it.”

Britain’s experience gives a close-up view of how controversial freedom of information laws can be, at a time when they are spreading rapidly around the world.

Blair was once a leading advocate for the people’s right to know what their government is doing behind closed doors. But even before Britain’s law passed, Blair had hurriedly watered down his original plans and stalled the bill’s progress. He strengthened exemptions that mean records related to the Royal Family, international relations, national security, defense, government policy and the courts are routinely refused.

The ex-leader, who stood down in 2007, accepts that rules on access to information can help democracy, but he argues that they can also undermine government.

“You can’t run government without being able to have confidential discussions with people on issues that are of profound importance,” a rueful Blair told The Associated Press in an interview. “What happens in the end is that you make politicians very nervous of actually debating things honestly, because they’re worried about what’s going to happen when there’s a FOI request.”

Critics suspect that his change of mind reflects an unease at the public response to the Iraq war, and his realization - seemingly shortly after he took office - that the information law could expose activities by his party that voters may find unacceptable. Blair suffered a series of embarrassing disclosures as a result of information requests, many of which were was used to scrutinize his contentious decision to join the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Responses to requests showed how advisers redrafted a dossier published to support Blair’s case for invasion, and that scientific experts for the government actually supported estimates of civilian casualties which it publicly dismissed as inaccurate. Files also have revealed Blair’s frequent phone calls with Rupert Murdoch, a gushing note of congratulations sent to President George W Bush on his 2000 election win and awkward discussions over a guest appearance on “The Simpsons.” He acknowledged in his autobiography that he became worried about his party’s “skeletons rattling around the cupboard,” including allegations over the influence donors had on policy. —AP

ATHENS: The leader of Greece’s conservatives, reluctant partners in a unity government, signalled yesterday his main focus was on winning an election expected in February and reversing policies prescribed under an emergency bailout. Antonis Samaras has infuriated Greece’s EU peers over the past two years by refusing to back austerity measures aimed at averting national bankruptcy, and he said he would not cooperate with other parties after the election, slated for Feb 19.

His statements are further evidence of the rough road ahead of technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, a former vice president at the European Central Bank whose three-party coalition won a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday. An opinion poll published yetserday showed Samaras’s New Democracy party had widened its lead over the Socialists of ex-prime minister George Papandreou, with its support rising to 32 percent from 30 in September.

Thousands of Greeks are due to protest on Thursday against painful spending cuts and tax hikes that have pushed their country into a fourth year of recession. The size and mood of the rally, the first big protest in almost a month, will show the level of bitterness towards further austerity measures sought by the European Union and International Monetary Fund in return for more loans. “Many people don’t expect any solution, but others hope too much. Deep inside, everyone knows policies cannot change and the measures may be even worse,” said Mary Bossis, professor of International Security at the University of Piraeus.

Backed by New Democracy, its bitter rivals the Socialists and the farright LAOS party, the cabinet must start meeting the terms of a new 130 billion euro bailout agreed last month.

Before that it must sign a pledge to assure the EU and IMF that it will do what it takes to make the deal work. In exchange it will get an 8 billion euro

loan tranche it needs to avoid bankruptcy next month.

But any progress under its temporary mandate could be short-lived.

“We are working towards an absolute majority to implement our programme without delay and procrastination,” Samaras said in an interview in the magazine “Epikera”. “When we can, we will change all that needs to be changed. But to do that, we will

future in the euro, led to Papandreou’s resignation and, after four days of wrangling, Papademos’s appointment.

Although the opinion poll showed no party would emerge from the election with a majority, Samaras said the experience of building the interim coalition had put him off cooperation with other parties.

“We went through such labours for a three-month transitional govern-

ATHENS: A woman holds a Greek flag at a monument to students killed in a 1973 pro-democracy uprising at the Polytechnic technical university yesterday. — AP need a strong mandate in the coming ment. Imagine if we had to agree on a election.” Polls show three quarters of government with a longer term,” Greeks back Papademos, a non-party Samaras said. “That’s why I’m telling technocrat, after decades of rotating you an absolute majority is the only rule by the PASOK Socialists and New solution.”

Democracy. These two are blamed for Apart from suggesting he would piling up vast debts and leading move to a pro-growth strategy, Greece to the brink of default.

Samaras repeated that he would not sign the pledge demanded by Brussels Budget swearing to do what it takes to see In Thursday’s opinion poll, PASOK through the 130 billion bailout. He says fell to 18.5 percent from 24.5, reflecting his word is enough. anger over Papandreou’s shock deciHe added that he would insist on sion last week to call a referendum the Feb 19 polling date. Papademos over austerity measures he had already and other officials have said the coaliagreed with euro zone leaders. That tion government could last longer if move raised doubts about Greece’s needed. — Reuters

Benetton yanks ad after protest VATICAN CITY: The Benetton clothing company quickly withdrew an ad featuring a fake photo of Pope Benedict XVI kissing a top Egyptian imam on the lips after the Vatican denounced it as an unacceptable provocation.

Benetton had said its “Unhate” campaign launched Wednesday was aimed at fostering tolerance and “global love.” The campaign’s fake photos feature a half-dozen purported political nemeses in lip-locked embraces, including President Barack Obama and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and

South Korean President Lee Myungbak.

The photo of the pope kissing Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb of Cairo’s alAzhar institute, the pre-eminent theological school of Sunni Islam, had been on Benetton’s website all day but was pulled about an hour after the Vatican’s protest.

Al-Azhar suspended interfaith talks with the Vatican earlier this year after Benedict called for greater protections for Egypt’s minority Christians. A Benetton spokesman confirmed to The Associated Press that the pope-imam ad was no longer part of the campaign. It wasn’t clear if the ad had been published anywhere; on Wednesday images

from the campaign were unfurled briefly in Milan, New York, Paris, Tel Aviv and Rome but were quickly taken away. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi called the ad an “unacceptable” manipulation of the pope’s likeness that offended the religious sentiments of the faithful.

“It shows a serious lack of respect for the pope,” Lombardi said in a statement that warned that the Vatican was studying measures to protect the pontiff’s image. Shock ads have long been a part of Benetton’s publicity strategy, with photographer Oliviero Toscani’s famous campaigns featuring death row inmates and people dying of AIDS. — AP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Regional disputes may cloud summit ASEAN seeks greater global role

By Sajeev K Peter

DARWIN: US President Barack Obama (right) greets Australian troops at RAAF Base in Darwin yesterday. — AFP

Obama flexes Pacific muscle in Australia DARWIN: President Barack Obama touted the military muscle behind a pivotal US shift to Asia yesterday and said Washington’s budget woes would not curtail his expansive vision for the region. His commitment came a day after the United States said it would deploy up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia and tighten air force cooperation, sparking concern from China, whose rapid rise is reorienting Asia’s strategic balance.

Obama told Australian lawmakers that America was an enduring Pacific power then travelled to Darwin, set to be a new home base for the Marines, to hail troops from the two allies as “some of the toughest warriors in the world.” In a message aimed both at a dynamic region he sees as key to the US economic future and budget-slashing Republicans at home, Obama said the Asia-Pacific was too vital to fall prey to US penny-pinching.

“As the United States puts our fiscal house in order, we are reducing our spending,” Obama said, warning that reductions in funding for the US military machine were inevitable after years of huge spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he added: “Here is what this region must know. As we end today’s wars, I have directed my national security team to make our presence and missions in the Asia-Pacific a top priority.

“Reductions in US defence spending will not-I repeat, will not-come at the expense of the Asia-Pacific.” But Obama’s promise came at an inopportune moment, as by coincidence the US national debt passed $15 trillion for the first time hours before he spoke, prompting Republicans to slam the president for profligate spending. Analysts have said key players in the region are weighing Obama’s promise of a long-term commitment against his debt-laden nation’s capacity to fund carrier battle groups, garrisons in Japan and South Korea, and new troop deployments.

During the speech, Obama touched on testy ties with China, pressed for more reform in Myanmar and warned North Korea would pay a heavy price for the proliferation of nuclear or other materials to states or individuals. “The United States will continue our effort to build a cooperative relationship with China,” Obama said in the signature speech of a tour that has laid bare divisions between Washington and Beijing.

“We will do this, even as we continue to speak candidly with Beijing about the importance of upholding international norms and respecting the universal human rights of the Chinese people.” After his speech, Obama joined Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at a Canberra school, greeted children with a hearty “G’day” and promised he would say “Hi” to teen singing sensation Justin Bieber.

Then he flew to the northern tropical outpost of Darwin, the cradle of the US-Australia alliance after a Pearl Harbor-style Japanese raid on US ships in 1942 which killed at least 243 people.The garrison town was also, in 1999, the staging post for the successful Australian-led effort to stabilise East Timor.

“Aussie, Aussie, Aussie,” Obama roared, drawing an “Oi, Oi, Oi,” from 1,650 Australian troops and 50 US Marines, symbolising the men from each nation who fought side-by-side in every major American war of the last century. “We are celebrating the 60th anniversary of our great alliance,” Obama told the troops, who he called the “backbone” of US-Australia joint operations and “some of the toughest warriors in the world.”

Darwin will host what Marine Brigadier General Ronald Baczkowski told reporters would be a “crawl, walk, then run” US deployment, starting with 250 Marines next year. —AFP

NUSA DUA: Asian leaders opened their annual summit yesterday in the idyllic island of Bali seeking an increased role for the region in deciding global politics and economy. As the leaders descended on this Indonesian island for the ‘ASEAN summit and Related Summits 2011’, they looked increasingly upbeat as the region remained largely insulated from the fallout of a simmering debt crisis that rattled the US and the European economies. However, some of the regional issues and the concern over Myanmar’s possible chairmanship of the 2014 summit clouded the optimism of a few who voiced doubts that a consensus on certain issues would be hard to reach.

Opening the summit at BNDCC convention center at Nusa Dua, Indonesian President Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said, “The resilience shown by the regional economies during the global economic crisis demonstrates the relevance of the ASEAN as a bloc. Today, the region shows the way to the rest of the world by ensuring smooth and steady economic growth throughout the ASEAN member states,” he stated.

Addressing the issue of security, the president said the ASEAN should become the canal to manage the global security by taking up even greater roles in promoting security and stability. “ASEAN is aware of its position in the global political constellation,” Yudhoyono said signaling the growing impatience of the regional leaders for not having given a fair share in global decision-making. The ASEAN has progressed towards forming a strong regional association of an ‘ASEAN community’ by 2015, he said.

Myanmar bid Though the summit went into parleys last evening to address the issue of Myanmar’s bid to become the chair for the 2014 summit, the plenary session could not arrive at definitive answer. “ASEAN will support Myanmar’s bid,” said Maria Teresa Lazares, the Philippines Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary, briefed the media after emerging from the session.

According to media observers, it would be a major shift in South East Asia’s policy if the leaders endorse Myanmar’s claim. Myo Tha Htet, producer, BBC Burmese Service, told the Friday Times yesterday that chairmanship for Myanmar would mean more pressure on the leadership to introduce more democratic reforms in the country. US President Barrack Obama’s decision to address the ASEAN summit today is widely seen

NUSA DUA: ASEAN Summit 2011 leaders pose for a photograph prior to the opening of the summit yesterday.

here as a diplomatic offensive intended to assert itself as a Pacific power amidst China’s growing global might.

Territorial waters The US and smaller Asian nations have grown increasingly concerned about China’s claims of dominion over Pacific waters and the revival of old territorial disputes, including confrontations with the Philippines over the South China Sea. The political observers here are keenly waiting to see how Beijing’s clout in the 10member ASEAN would be used to silence Manila’s dissent over the issue.

The Philippines Foreign Assistant Secretary Maria Teresa said, “A working group has been set up to discuss and settle the issue amicably,” signaling that an immediate solution was not in sight. In addition to China’s premier Wen Jiabao, a galaxy of world leaders such as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Australian

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and others are scheduled to attend the summit today and tomorrow.

Security blanket Bali Island and the nearby provinces had gone under a heavy security blanket weeks before the main summit started. According to reports, the Indonesian Navy had deployed seven warships around the island to secure the summit. The Navy also deployed three elite Kopaska frogman and underwater demolition units to Bali.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) has enforced a no-fly zone over the summit area. Only individuals with ASEAN Summit identity cards are allowed to enter the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) area. “Those without the proper ID, even members of security agencies, will be turned away,” an official told the Friday Times.

NUSA DUA: Indonesian President and Chairman of the ASEAN Summit 2011 opens the summit yesterday. — Photos by Sajeev K Peter

International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Rockets strike near major Afghan meet Taleban threatens to disrupt summit KABUL: Insurgents fired two rockets yesterday toward a site where more than 2,000 Afghan elders are attending a national assembly to discuss the future of US military presence in Afghanistan, officials said. Both rockets missed their target, but one man was injured. No one claimed responsibility for firing the rockets, but the Taleban had threatened to disrupt the gathering - called a loya jirga, or grand council. “Everybody knows that they are trying to hit the jirga, but instead innocent civilians were the victims,” Mohammad Shafi said standing near where one rocket landed with a thud at about 8 am. “If the jirga weren’t going on, there would have been no rockets. If the man loses his hand, who will feed his family?”

Security for the four-day jirga is tight. Much of Kabul went into a lockdown mode ahead of the meeting and some foreigners working in Kabul were not allowed to travel around the city.

Roads were closed and intelligence agents swarmed the meeting hall on the outskirts of the capital. At the last such meeting - a “peace jirga” in June 2010 - Taleban fighters wearing suicide vests fired at a tent holding some 1,500 dignitaries, lawmakers and civil society activists. The assault triggered a battle with security forces that killed at least two militants. President Hamid Karzai, who was delivering a speech at the time, brushed off the interruption and urged fighters to lay down their arms. Since then, a new hardened

structure has been built at the jirga site.

Karzai spoke Wednesday on the opening day of the meeting where the elders are discussing negotiations under way for a US-Afghan agreement to govern the presence of US troops after 2014, when most international forces are to have left or moved into support roles. Karzai asked the elders to back negotiations for a new security pact, assuring them that he would demand an end to unpopular night raids in which troops swoop down from helicopters and search Afghan

homes. He said US troops should be allowed to stay, but that the night raids should end and that the Afghan government, not Americans, should be put in charge of detainees.

Yesterday, delegates to the jirga met in more than 40 committees to discuss the issue. Subghatullah Mujaddedi, the head of the jirga who briefly served as Afghanistan’s president in 1992, said he hoped the talks will provide “useful guidance for us and for the Americans.” Lawmaker Sayed Jamal Faquri, a delegate from Bamiyan province, said a majority at

KABUL: Afghan men look out a window damaged after a rocket landed nearby yesterday. — AFP

Japan bans Fukushima rice over radiation TOKYO: Japan yesterday announced its first ban on rice produced near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant after samples showed radioactive contamination well above legal limits. The findings will further worry nervous consumers, already fretting over the safety of domestic produce, despite its previous solid safety reputation.

Authorities in Fukushima prefecture say rice produced near the stricken atomic power plant contained caesium they measured at 630 becquerels per kilogram (2.2 pounds). The government safety limit is 500 becquerels.Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura ordered Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato to restrict shipments of rice from Onami-from where the samples were sourced-according to an agricultural ministry official.

“This restriction won’t be lifted until safety of the rice produced in the area can be confirmed,” the official said, adding that the ban will affect 154 farms that produced 192 tonnes of rice this year. It is the first ban on rice shipments since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was damaged by a massive quake and tsunami on March 11, when cooling systems failed and radiation was spewed into the air, oceans and food chain. While the natural disaster claimed 20,000 lives, the nuclear emergency has recorded no direct casualties, but it has badly dented the reputation of a technology on which Japan previously depended for a third of its electricity. Bans on food following the crisis are nothing new but rice-eaten three times a day in many homes-holds a special place in the Japanese heart.

Japanese-grown grain is widely held to be superior to imports, and is heavily protected by massive tariffs aimed partially at propping up the nation’s ageing farmers. The polluted samples were taken at a farm in Onami, 57 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the troubled plant.None of the 840 kilogrammes of rice produced at the farm this year has been shipped to markets, local officials said. —AFP

the jirga were in favor of having a strategic partnership agreement with the United States, but a minority argued it would look as if Afghanistan was occupied by America. Karzai doesn’t need the elders’ permission to broker a pact with the US, but he wants their stamp of approval to strengthen his negotiating position.

So far, Karzai’s terms have been unacceptable to American officials.

The US-led coalition has given no indication that it is willing to stop the raids, and says the night operations, which are conducted with Afghan security forces, are an effective way to keep pressure on militants. Kabul police criminal director Mohammad Zahir said one person was wounded in yesterday’s attack. One rocket landed on a hillside about half a mile (kilometer) from the meeting site. The other landed farther away in an open area, shattering a few windows in buildings near where merchants were selling vegetables and fruits.

“Me and my four friends were drinking tea and suddenly we heard an explosion,” said Shafi, a 28-year-old taxi driver. “We didn’t know if it was a bomb or a rocket.” Shafi said he helped a man whose left hand was bleeding find a ride to the hospital.

Ashmat Stanekzai, a spokesman for Kabul police, said police later arrested a man suspected of firing the rockets.

He said the suspect was seen driving away from a place on a hillside where the rockets were launched. —AP

Clinton meets flood evacuees on Thai trip BANGKOK: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton played with a toddler and asked a little girl if she misses school during a quick visit to an evacuation center for Thai flood victims yesterday, a day after announcing a $10 million aid package. Clinton exchanged the traditional Thai greeting known as “wai” bowing deeply while pressing the palms together near the face - with some of the more than 1,400 evacuees living in gymnasiums inside the Ratchamangala National Stadium complex. “Tell me your story,” she asked some of the evacuees, including Wirat Chumsuwan. “It’s someone big from another country and she’s interested in helping our country, so it feels good,” Wirat said.

Nearly a third of Thailand’s 77 provinces, including Bangkok, have been hit by floods since late July. More than one-fifth of the country’s 64 million people have been affected, and at least 567 have died. Clinton arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday in a hastily arranged trip, making a detour while on her way to attend a regional summit in Bali, Indonesia. On Wednesday, she announced an aid package worth $10 million in addition to $1 million in aid already given through the Red Cross. At

the stadium complex, evacuees sleep next to each other on blue mats with their meager possessions stacked nearby. Clinton, accompanied by Thai officials, played briefly with a toddler feeding from a milk bottle.

She then asked Wirat’s 9-year-old daughter Manthitha if she misses

school. The girl said she did, not having gone to class for more than two months. Wirat, who lives in the nearby province of Pathum Thani, said he battled the floods for two weeks but had to evacuate a month ago. “The water was rising and I couldn’t stay anymore,” he said.—AP

BANGKOK: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (left) talks with people evacuated from their homes during flooding, as she visits a relief centre at Rajamangala Stadium. — AFP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Cain accuser who settled keeps mum TRENTON: The first woman known to have filed a sexual harassment claim against GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain while he ran a trade group shows no interest in revealing her identity or publicly discussing her accusations against the Georgia businessman. The woman, who works for one of New Jersey’s largest lobbying firms, has deliberately made herself scarce. She has taken time off work, avoided staying at her home and dodged reporters’ visits, phone calls and emails for weeks since news surfaced about her sexual harassment claim against Cain. Her family, including a brother who is a lawyer and lists employment cases among his specialties, has declined interview requests.

She’s also steered clear of efforts by other women who have accused Cain of harassment and who hoped

to appear together at a news conference to discuss details of their complaints against the businessman while he led the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Joel Bennett, a Washington lawyer representing another woman who settled a complaint against Cain, said last week that his client hasn’t heard from her former restaurant association colleague from New Jersey and won’t go forward with a news conference unless she does. None of this comes as a surprise to those who know the New Jersey woman, all of whom agreed to speak to the AP on condition of anonymity to respect her desire for privacy. The AP knows her identity but is not disclosing it to protect her privacy.

She’s the behind-the-scenes researcher in a lobbying firm built by some of the state’s most prominent

political figures from both parties. Yet few who walk the halls of the Statehouse know her. It’s a stark contrast to the very public career of Karen Kraushaar, Bennett’s client, who has served as a public spokeswoman for various federal agencies.

Or the dramatic, nationally televised news conference last week by Sharon Bialek, a Chicago woman who stood with high-profile lawyer Gloria Allred to offer cringe-inducing accusations that Cain tried to force himself on her.

Cain has denied the women’s allegations and has promised to fight back against others who make such claims.

Kraushaar confirmed her identity last week. Bialek said she came forward to provide “a face and a voice” for other accusers who wouldn’t speak publicly. A fourth woman told The Associated Press that she had considered filing a sexual harassment

complaint against Cain when she worked at the restaurant association, but didn’t and said she doesn’t want to speak publicly. The New Jersey woman, now 43, was in her early 30s in 1998 when she accused Cain of inappropriate behavior. She worked on the trade group’s political and fundraising efforts. She agreed to leave her job after receiving a $35,000 payment to resolve concerns about Cain and other undisclosed problems, according to The New York Times. Kraushaar left the association about a year later after receiving a settlement of $45,000 to resolve her complaint against Cain, according to Politico, the political news website that broke the harassment story.

Politico also reported that the New Jersey woman complained that Cain invited her to his hotel room after an association event. —AP

US deficit committee locked in stalemate Republicans criticize Democrats’ counter-offer

NEW YORK: In this file photo, people walk below a New York Police Department security camera (upper left) which is next to a mosque on Fulton St in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. — AP

In NYPD spying, a Yippie legal battle echoes again NEW YORK: Barbara Handschu had tried to remove her name from the agreement that is her legacy. More than a quarter century ago, after New York’s police were caught spying on Americans who were exercising their right to free speech, she and others filed suit to stop it. The outcome was an agreement to place limits on surveillance - the Handschu rules. But then, in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, police said they needed more flexibility to protect the city. When the judge agreed to weaken the rules, Barbara Handschu tried unsuccessfully to strip her name from the guidelines.

Now, she sees the fruit of the weakened Handschu rules: the New York Police Department’s secret surveillance program targeting Muslims, detailed in a months-long Associated Press investigation. And she finds echoes of an earlier time in reports of police infiltrating student groups, of detectives inventing excuses to snoop in people’s homes.

“It’s not that different than what happened back in the ‘60s, except that somebody’s being targeted because of ethnicity and before we were targeted because of political belief,” Handschu says. “I mean, this is worse. This is racial profiling.” The AP stories revealed that that over the last decade, the NYPD built a wide-ranging program to map and monitor Muslim communities, recording everything from where they pray to the restaurants they eat in. Without evidence of wrongdoing, officers have infiltrated student groups, eavesdropped on people and documented what they heard in daily reports. —AP

WASHINGTON: Budget talks in the US Congress were locked in stalemate on Wednesday amid the disclosure of a Democratic offer last week that drew no Republican interest. With a deadline less than a week away, members of a 12member “super committee” tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in budget savings over 10 years confronted the same barriers that have thwarted earlier efforts to rein in the growing national debt, which crossed the $15 trillion mark on Tuesday.

Aides with knowledge of the negotiations said Democrats, in an attempt to break the deadlock, offered to embrace some Republican proposals including about $876 billion in new spending cuts coupled with about $400 billion in tax revenues through individual and corporate tax reform. That represents a considerable shift from an earlier Democratic proposal that sought about $1 trillion in new tax revenues.

The proposed spending cuts would contain $275 billion in savings from healthcare entitlement savings including the Medicare health-insurance plan for the elderly, according to several highlevel congressional aides. The Democratic counter-offer called for no increase in the eligibility age for Medicare or changes in inflation adjustments for retirement benefits, the aides said. At the same time, it sought money for job-creating economic stimulus.

The measure would not make permanent the Bush-era across-the-board tax cuts that are due to expire next year, the aides said. Republicans, who have moved from their staunch opposition to tax increases, were not impressed by the Democratic offer. Republicans said they would not give any more ground until Democrats consider reforms that would

DERRY: Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov Jon Huntsman points to someone with a comment during a town meeting. — AP

partially privatize Medicare.

“I’m still waiting for a proposal that actually solves the spending crisis,” the panel’s top Republican, Representative Jeb Hensarling, told Reuters. A Republican aide said the latest Democratic proposal, made on Friday, was a step backward and that it was nothing more than a “repackaged” version of an earlier offer that had been rejected by Republicans.

Democrats have rejected an earlier Republican proposal that would have reduced the top income tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent and are insisting publicly that tax increases for the wealthy be part of the package.

“We are not going to accept a plan that gives tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and balances all this incredible challenge we have on the backs of

middle class Americans,” said Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee. Despite the posturing, negotiations continued behind the scenes.

Many veterans of congressional negotiations predict that any deal will fall into place just hours before it has to be publicly posted on Monday in order to meet a Nov. 23 deadline for a vote by the six Democrats and six Republicans on the panel. As negotiators grappled, some 50 lawmakers from both parties urged them to shoot for a much bigger deal that would come closer to the $4 trillion in savings that outside experts say is needed to keep U.S. debt at a manageable level. “This is about more than money. It’s about whether the president and Congress can competently govern,” said Senator Lamar Alexander, the No 3 Republican in the Senate. —Reuters

International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Four dead as storms pound Southeast US Thousands of people affected by dead power lines

LONDON: Harry van Dorenmalen, CEO Europe IBM and member of Cyber Security Council, speaks at the London Conference on Cyberspace at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. — AP

US military better prepared for cyber warfare: General NEW YORK: The US military now has a legal framework to cover offensive operations in cyberspace, the commander of the US Strategic Command said Wednesday, less than a month after terming this a work in progress. “I do not believe that we need new explicit authorities to conduct offensive operations of any kind,” Air Force General Robert Kehler said in the latest sign of quickening US military preparations for possible cyber warfare. The Strategic Command is responsible for US operations in space and cyberspace. The US Cyber Command, a subcommand, began operating in May 2010 as military doctrine, since legal authorities and rules of engagement were still being worked out for what the military calls the newest potential battle “domain.”

The Defense Department, in a report made public Tuesday, ratcheted up its warnings, saying the United States reserves the right to retaliate with military force against a cyber attack and is boosting its ability to pinpoint network intruders. “When warranted, we will respond to hostile attacks in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country,” the Pentagon said in a report mandated by Congress. “We reserve the right to use all necessary means - diplomatic, informational, military and economic - to defend our nation, our allies, our partners and our interests.”

President must order cyber offensive Kehler, in Wednesday’s teleconference, equated offensive action in cyberspace with operations on the ground, air, sea and space in that any offensive action would be carried out under orders of the president as commander-in-chief. As recently as October 18, Kehler had told reporters that the military was still looking at “what kinds of options would we want to be able to offer” policymakers for cyber warfare.

Deliberations on military doctrine and legal framework are “ongoing,” Kehler said at the time. “I would say it’s not completed.” On Wednesday, he said the military was learning daily from its operations in cyberspace. “I think we all wish we were going faster, but we have made progress, we have a number of rules of engagement in place,” he said from Omaha, Nebraska, where Strategic Command was hosting a cyber and space conference.

The Pentagon’s advanced research arm said earlier this month that it is stepping up efforts to build a cyber arsenal for “more and better options” to meet computer-driven threats to a growing range of industrial and other systems that are vulnerable to cyber penetration. The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, a US intelligence arm, said in a report to Congress last month that China and Russia are using cyber espionage to steal US trade and technology secrets and that they will remain “aggressive” in these efforts.

It defined cyberspace as including the Internet, telecommunications networks, computer systems and embedded processors and controllers in “critical industries.” The Pentagon, in the report to Congress and made public Tuesday, said it was seeking to deter aggression in cyberspace by building stronger defenses and by finding ways to make attackers pay a price.

“Should the ‘deny objectives’ element of deterrence not prove adequate,” the report said, “DoD (Department of Defense) maintains, and is further developing, the ability to respond militarily in cyberspace and in other domains.” — Reuters

ROCK HILL: A strong storm system that produced several possible tornadoes hit the Southeast on Wednesday, damaging dozens of homes and buildings. At least four people were killed and dozens more were injured. Suspected tornadoes were reported in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina, and thousands of people were without power as trees and power lines were downed. In South Carolina, three people were killed and five injured when a likley tornado swept through a rural community near Rock Hill, about 20 miles south of Charlotte, North Carolina. In north Georgia, an unidentified person was killed when a tree fell on a sport utility vehicle In Alabama, a suspected twister splintered trees and demolished mobile homes at a pair of housing parks near the Auburn University campus. Less than sev-

en months ago, a massive tornado roared past the campus of archrival University of Alabama in the western part of the state.

It was the worst bout of weather for the state since about 250 people were killed during the tornado outbreak in April. Both campuses were spared major damage this time. In Rock Hill, Simone Moore told The Herald newspaper that she was sitting on her back porch when she saw the tornado touch down and then quickly move back up. She said after the storm passed, she noticed a nearby trailer had vanished.

“Everything’s gone,” Moore said. “Even the cows in the pasture.” As weather service experts fanned out to assess damage, Auburn graduate student Staci DeGeer didn’t have any doubts about what sent a pair of trees crashing through her mobile home at Ridgewood Village. Trees fell on

homes in southeastern Mississippi, where Jones County emergency director Don McKinnon said some people were briefly trapped. Mobile homes were tossed off their foundations. In all, 15 people were hurt in the area.

As the weather moved east, tornado warnings and watches were issued in Georgia and South Carolina. At least 10 people were injured when a possible tornado ripped through an area south of Lexington in North Carolina, destroying one building, damaging several others and leaving thousands without electricity.

Forecasters said a cold front stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Northeast was to blame. Temperatures dropped in some areas from the low 70s to the 50s as the front passed, and winds gusted to near 30 mph (48 kph). — AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE: A girl uses a stick to motivate a donkey to get moving in the mountains near Thomazeau. — AP

US couple bugs child to hear teacher bullying COLUMBUS: A couple raising a 14-year-old developmentally disabled student say they hid a recording device on the girl to prove a teacher and school aide were bullying her, and a subsequent investigation has led to a lawsuit, the aide’s resignation and disciplinary action for the teacher. The girl’s mother and the mother’s longtime boyfriend said in court documents they complained about the mental and emotional abuse to school officials in the Miami Trace district southwest of Columbus, and then secretly recorded instructors’ comments for four days last spring after their claims were rebuffed.

A $300,000 settlement was reached in a lawsuit filed this year by the girl’s family against the school district, aide Kelly Chaffins and teacher Christie Wilt, attorneys said. In the recording, voices identified as Chaffins and Wilt are heard questioning the girl’s weight and how active she is and making derogatory comments about her character and the character of her mother and the boyfriend.

“Are you that damn dumb? Are you that dumb?” Chaffins said. “Oh, my God. You are

such a liar. ... You told me you don’t know.

It’s no wonder you don’t have friends. No wonder nobody likes you. Because you lie, cheat ... steal.” In another instance, Wilt apparently talks to the girl about the results of a test before evaluating it. “You know what, just keep it,” she said. “You failed it. I know it. I don’t need your test to grade. You failed it.”

The girl’s mother, Kourtney Barcus, and her boyfriend, who helps raise the girl, said in the lawsuit that their concerns about the aide spanned several years before they recorded the audio and that school officials initially rejected their claims. But they were shocked by what they heard on the hours of tape. “We couldn’t know. We didn’t know,” the boyfriend, Brion Longberry, said Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show.

In comments to the local newspaper, district superintendent Dan Roberts acknowledged this week that there was a problem.

“The persons involved fell short of our mission,” Roberts told the Washington Court House Record Herald, which first reported the story. “We’re sincerely sorry for that and we

will work very hard to never let that happen again. We need to provide proper training and restate our expectations of how we treat children so that this never happens again.”

In an email to a social worker in April, Roberts said he had looked into similar complaints from the boyfriend earlier in the year and found that the girl was lying. “It came to a point where I had to remind the man that his continued false accusations were bordering on harassment and slander,” the email says. The lawsuit alleged verbal and emotional abuse and inappropriate comments by the aide and the teacher, as well as failure by school officials to report suspected child abuse. It also said the instructors put the girl on a treadmill if they were not satisfied with her work. The school has said the treadmill is used strategically to help students focus.

Chaffins resigned, and the State Board of Education on Tuesday accepted her decision to give up her educational aide permit “based upon her inappropriate comments to students,” according to board documents.

That prohibits Chaffins from getting another job as an Ohio teacher’s aide. —AP

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Political unrest drags down Kuwait, Egypt PAGE 20

Italy in spotlight as new PM unveils crisis plan PAGE 21

LONDON: In a file picture taken on January 12, 2009 former Northern Rock shareholders and their representatives protest outside a branch of the bank in London to highlight their claim for fair compensation ahead of the judicial review. Britain said yesterday it will sell Northern Rock, which was nationalised in the global financial crisis, to Richard Branson’s Virgin Money for 747 million British pounds (1.18 billion USD, 872 million euros). — AFP

Northern Rock bank sold at loss Three years after meltdown LONDON: British bank Northern Rock, nationalised at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008, was sold yesterday to Richard Branson’s Virgin Money in a deal leaving the taxpayer with losses. The coalition government has agreed to sell Northern Rock to online lender Virgin Money for £747 million ($1.18 billion, 872 million euros) in cash, although the final amount could rise to about £1.0 billion, the Treasury said.

The British taxpayer has injected £1.4 billion of public funds into the bank, whose nationalisation three years ago sent shockwaves through the global financial markets.

“The government is selling Northern Rock plc to Virgin Money. It represents a significant step in returning public sector stakes in banks

to the private sector,” the Treasury said in a statement.

“The sale is in the best interests of the taxpayer, secures the long-term future of the company and will increase competition in the banking sector.” Finance minister George Osborne said the sale represented “the best deal for the British taxpayer”, adding that it was “an important first step in getting the British taxpayer out of the business of owning banks.”

Northern Rock was plunged into crisis in mid-September 2007 when its exposure to the credit crunch forced it to seek emergency assistance from the Bank of England, sparking the first run on a British bank in recent history.

The lender was last year split in two, form-

ing a so-called “good bank” for its healthy businesses and a “bad bank” management company to wind down toxic assets. Only the “good” bank-Northern Rock plc-has been sold to Virgin. The takeover is expected to be completed by the end of the year, subject to regulatory and EU merger approvals.

The deal will cover 75 Northern Rock branches, one million customers, 2,100 employees and a £14-billion mortgages book, as well as its £16-billion retail deposits book.

Virgin Money has committed to making no compulsory redundancies at Northern Rock for at least three years from completion of the deal. It also pledged to expand its branch network. Founded in 1995, Virgin Money has three million customers and is backed by

Wilbur Ross, the billionaire Wall Street investor, as well as an Abu Dhabi investment fund. “Virgin has a history of entering new sectors to improve service and provide value for customers. We plan to do the same in banking,” Branson said yesterday.

Northern Rock was nationalised in February 2008 by the Labour government which was last year ousted by the current Conservative-Liberal Democrat administration. Labour’s finance spokesman Ed Balls questioned whether the government was right to take a loss on the lender. “We will need to look at the details. Given the original money put in from the taxpayer was £1.4 billion, we are going to get less back,” he said. — AFP

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Gulf carriers aim for top spot in global travel DUBAI: Gulf carriers have underlined their ambition to redraw world travel maps and turn the region into a global hub by placing record orders for new planes at the Dubai Airshow closing yesterday.

Aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus have embraced the game-changing vision, built on the geographic advantages of these young carriers, although conventional airlines fear they will pay the price. Huge orders for new planes placed by Dubai-owned Emirates Airlines, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways and Doha-based Qatar Airways were placed on the strength of the strategic location of the Gulf between the West and Asia. At the prestigious show this week, Emirates ordered 50 of the long-haul Boeing 777-300ER for a record $18 billion, while Qatar Airways bought 50 Airbus A320neo single-aisles and doubled its orders for the long-haul A380 to 10. “We have an ambitious and strategic plan to continue growing our international network and especially increasing our long-haul, non-stop routes,” said the head of Emirates, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Makhtoum.

US manufacturer Boeing sees its Gulf customers as world players. “The Gulf three don’t view the Middle East as their market, they view the world as their market,” Boeing’s vice president for marketing Randy Tinseth told AFP. Boeing’s European rival Airbus are also tuned in, appreciating the growth potential for Gulf carriers in long-haul travel. John Leahy, Airbus commercial director, likes to explain using a diagram that with a long-haul A330 or Boeing 777, 90 percent of the world population and two thirds of global wealth are accessible on a flight from Dubai.

With a superjumbo A380, the whole world is within reach. Airbus forecasts that Dubai in 20

DUBAI: Emaratis walk in front of an Airbus plane yesterday, on the last day of the Dubai air show. Gulf carriers marked their ambition to redraw world travel maps, turning their bases into global hubs, as they placed new record orders for planes. — AFP years will rank just behind Beijing and Hong Kong as a centre of world air traffic, while Boeing says the United Arab Emirates will become the world’s third market for air travellers behind the United States and China.

“You don’t need to have a huge population on the ground,” said Tinseth. “You can grow in other ways, the way they have, by providing a non-stop service around the world.”

For him, three factors explain the three Gulf carriers’ rapid growth rate of 23 percent a year over the past decade: the region has a young population, large numbers of migrant workers and new emerging tourist destinations.

Indian minister says no Kingfisher bailout DUBAI: India’s civil aviation minister ruled out a public bailout for India’s Kingfisher Airlines or any other airline, urging private airlines in India to put their own house in order.

Cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines, the country’s No.2 air carrier by market share, saw its quarterly loss double and cancelled scores of its flights this week.

“There is no bailout scheme or plan by the government for any of the private airline before me,” Valayar Ravi said during a private visit to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Reports this week said that the government had decided in principle to allow foreign airlines to own up to 24 percent of Indian carriers, a move that could throw a lifeline to Kingfisher and its struggling rivals such as Jet Airways and SpiceJet. “There is a representation by many institutions and people for some kind of FDI. But the government has not taken a decision on it. It all depends on the financial policies,” Ravi said. Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya, the liquor tycoon who owns a cricket team and a Formula One racing team, has said the government should allow foreign airlines to buy stakes in Indian carriers. But Ravi said managements have the main responsibility for the health of their investments. “In totality the managements should also be very careful.” When asked if Kingfisher Airlines was mismanaged, he said: “That is for him (Mallya) to decide whether he managed it properly or not. If mismanaged, he will pay a heavy price.”

Industry executives have blamed Kingfisher’s problems on various factors including its purchase of a low-cost carrier and a mixture of weak oversight and different fleet types, which are most costly to operate.

Kingfisher’s competitors such as private carrier Jet Airways, budget airline SpiceJet and the national carrier Air India have all been facing losses in the face of rising fuel costs and sales tax by state governments.

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation has forecast a record $2.5 billion to $3 billion loss for Indian airlines for the year ending March 2012, with state-run Air India alone likely to account for more than half of it. “In India, the problem is the sales tax. Every state is making a major income from it for their exchequer. —Reuters

Leahy added a fourth element-the opening of the aviation market in India, which has allowed Gulf carriers to penetrate the subcontinent market. Coupled with progress made by traditional regional airlines and the emergence of low-cost operators such as Sharjah-based Air Arabia, launched in 2003, and flydubai, which began operations in 2009, the breakthrough of the Gulf big three justifies the manufacturers’ upbeat forecast.

Boeing expects the region will need 2,500 new aircraft in the next 20 years, a market of $450 billion. Somewhat more conservatively, Airbus expects a market for 1,900 planes worth

$347 billion. But Richard Aboulafia of the USbased Teal Group said that air traffic will not accommodate such an expansion of fleets.

“There is no way to make the numbers work without taking an enormous amount of traffic from the legacy carriers, European and Asian,” he said. Air France-KLM, British Airways and Lufthansa are already complaining of unfair competition. They accuse the newcomers of benefiting from lower fuel prices in the energyrich Gulf and government funding, including for aircraft purchases. “It is an industrial policy. This works as long as Gulf governments commit the cash to it,” Aboulafia said.

But the UAE are used to beating predictions.

Dubai was mocked when it decided in the 1970s to build dry docks for large ships when nearby Bahrain already had one deemed good enough for the Gulf. The port of Dubai is now one of the busiest container terminals in the world.

When in 1985, Dubai launched its own airline, competing with Gulf Air operated by Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, the skeptics were many. The rest is history.

Emirates is the largest single customer of the A380 with 90 units, and the largest operator of Boeing’s long-range 777s. It also placed orders for 70 Airbus medium-size, long-range Airbus A350s, whose production is facing delays.

Qatar Airways is the lead and largest customer for the A350 with orders for 80 aircraft.

The aircraft is aimed at competing with Boeing’s 777 and 787 Dreamliner which has just entered service. The Qatar flag carrier has ordered 70 Dreamliners. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad, which was launched in 2003, now operates a fleet of 63 planes to 72 destinations. It has firm orders for 100 aircraft, including 10 A380s and 31 Boeing 787s. — AFP

Political unrest drags down Kuwait, Egypt Gulf markets end lower in thin trade DUBAI: Political turmoil in Kuwait weighed on the country’s share index yesterday and Egypt fell ahead of planned Friday protests, while most Gulf markets ended lower in thin trade. Dozens of protesters stormed the Kuwaiti parliament building on Wednesday demanding the prime minister step down.

Kuwait’s emir asked to meet the government later on Thursday, which analysts say will dictate market sentiment next week.

The benchmark slipped 0.2 percent, extending 2011 losses to 15.8 percent.

“Kuwait is made up mainly of local investors and if you’re going to have political problems, you’ll see a sell off,” said a Kuwaitbased trader on condition of anonymity.

“We had more liquidity earlier this week but it’s all gone away. Nothing today matters except the politics.”

National Industries Group and Gulf Bank each fell 1.9 percent, while Kuwait Finance House dipped 1.1 percent. In Egypt, the benchmark index fell 1.1 percent to its lowest level in five weeks ahead of Friday’s street protest led by Islamist groups who want the government to scrap plans to lay down principles for a new constitution before it is written.

Investors were also awaiting the outcome of protests by residents of the northern Egyptian port city of Damietta, who are complaining about what they say is environmental damage from a nitrogen factory owned partly by Canada’s Agrium. One per-

son was killed and at least 11 wounded on Sunday in clashes between the army and protesters sparked by concerns about pollution from the factory.

“We’re slowing down in anticipation of tomorrow’s events but, more importantly, investors are anxiously waiting to see what that supreme (army) council will do with the Agrium debacle,” said Osama Mourad, chief executive of Arab Finance Brokerage. The market was led lower by Commercial International Bank , falling 1.3 percent. It reported worse-than-expected earnings this week.

Most other Gulf markets also ended lower in thin trade, taking a weak lead from a dip in world stocks on rising fears the euro zone debt crisis would spiral out of control.

Dubai’s benchmark ended 0.6 percent lower, down in four of the past six sessions.

Emirates NBD was the main drag, dropping 2.4 percent. Real estate stocks also weighed with Emaar Properties down 0.8 percent and Deyaar Development falling 4 percent.

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark eases 0.08 percent to its lowest close in three weeks.

“Right now, we are monitoring global markets and hoping they don’t breach their levels because if they do, we might be seeing another major sell off,” said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Investments.

In Qatar, the index eases 0.05 percent to

8,744 points. Masraf Al Rayan and Commercial Bank of Dubai slip 0.4 and 0.5 percent respectively. “More or less, Q3 results are out and it’s absolutely dead because everybody realised that there are no regional factors that might drive the markets,” said Ibrahim Masood, senior investment officer at Mashreq bank.

Elsewhere, Oman’s index ended 0.2 percent lower. Raysut Cement was the main drag, dropping 3 percent. Heavyweight Bank Muscat slipped 1.1 percent and Bank Dhofar shed 0.5 percent.

KUWAIT The measure slipped 0.2 percent to 5,858 points.

EGYPT The measure fell 1.1 percent to 4,125 points.

DUBAI The index dipped 0.6 percent to 1,379 points.

ABU DHABI The index slipped 0.08 percent to 2,474 points.

QATAR The benchmark eased 0.05 percent to 8,744 points.

OMAN The index declined 0.2 percent to 5,521 points.

BAHRAIN The measure gained 0.8 percent to 1,168 points. — Reuters

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Centrica warns as households, businesses retrench LONDON: British Gas owner Centrica issued a profit warning, saying customers were shopping elsewhere following price hikes and using less electricity and gas due to economic uncertainty and warmer weather.

The utility, whose British Gas unit is the UK’s biggest household energy supplier, said customer churn had risen since it raised prices by as much as 18 percent and that account numbers had dipped since the start of the year to 15.9 million.

The drop in account numbers, which one analyst put at close to 100,000, was also due partly to Centrica ending doorstep sales in response to pressure from consumer

groups. Following the latest round of price hikes by Britain’s six dominant energy suppliers, gas prices are rising by an average of 15 percent this winter, just as austerity measures aimed at cutting government debt curb economic growth and reduce household incomes.

Britain’s rising dependence on energy imports is helping make household bills less affordable than at any time since the oil shocks of the 1970s. Deutsche Bank has said with price rises of 25 percent by 2015, a quarter of the country could fall into fuel poverty. Centrica, which said in July conditions were “increasingly challenging” due to lower household

disposable incomes, added that the market for central heating installations remained particularly difficult.

Apart from the weak economy, Centrica has also been hit by warmer weather which has dampened consumption relative to last year when Britain was hit by unusually bleak winter and the coldest December on record.

Centrica said average residential gas consumption was 17 percent lower and electricity use was down 3 percent in the 10 months to October.

Business consumption fell 15 percent for gas and 12 percent for electricity.

“As a result of the unusually warm weather experienced in the UK in

Italy in spotlight as new PM unveils crisis plan ‘First step in an operation to restore credibility’ ROME: Italy’s new Prime Minister Mario Monti is set to unveil his economic crisis plan yesterday, under heavy scrutiny from global leaders, financial markets and parliamentarians wary of hard-hitting reforms.

Monti, who has promised to “race” to implement initiatives demanded by the eurozone, is likely to offset planned austerity measures with new stratagems for growth, social cohesion and youth unemployment, Italian media said.

Thousands of students took to the streets in Italian cities ahead of his speech. In Milan, they threw flares at riot police during protests against a technocratic government they fear will act in favour of fat cats and bankers. “We are not merchandise in the hands of politicians and bankers.

People before Profit!” read banners at a procession which blocked traffic in Palermo. The new cabinet, sworn in Wednesday under intense pressure from financial markets and global leaders, faces a confidence vote in the Senate, before another in the lower house today.

Monti, who replaced the billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi as premier, is expected easily to win the votes, but could face a political backlash when he begins implementing painful and long-delayed economic reforms. To counter criticism over “sacrifices” Italians will be forced to make, the former Eurocrat insisted his new cabinet include a super ministry of economic development, transport and infrastructure charged with boosting growth.

The new minister at its helm, Corrado Passera, who is chief executive of Italy’s biggest retail bank Intesa Sanpaolo, said “Italy is worth more than the markets think” and that his aim was “sustainable development and new jobs.” Monti’s economic reforms will be “the first step in an operation to restore credibility lost under Berlusconi,” the Repubblica daily said. He faces his first international

test next week, when he is expected to travel to Brussels, Berlin, Paris and London, it said. Italy’s economic commentators sounded a cautious note.

While the Stampa newspaper acclaimed a cabinet of technocrats “with a political brain” capable of managing the crisis, the Corriere della Sera warned Monti has “lost a lot of

half of Italians, according to a poll by IPR Marketing. German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated him on his appointment yesterday and urged him to move fast to implement “crucial” reforms.

Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker rang Monti ahead of the speech to insist on the EU’s “full confi-

ROME: Italian Premier Mario Monti sits down after unveiling his anti-crisis strategy ahead of a confidence vote in his day-old government at the Senate in Rome yesterday. — AP time” and must convince Italians to “work like ants.”

Loretta Napoleoni, an economic analyst for Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper who teaches at Cambridge University, said Monti risked obeying the European Union’s orders unquestionably, throwing Italy into “the worst recession since 1929.”

While Monti has won endorsements from all of Italy’s main political forces so far, he faces a major challenge in steering a course through a fractious political world, with particularly intense sniping from Berlusconi allies. The soft-spoken economist appears, however, to have already garnered the support of more than

dence” in Italy’s ability to overcome the current crisis and confirmed the meeting in Brussels next week.

Tense markets had fluctuated before and after Monti’s nomination, with the rate on Italian 10-year government bonds hovering around the 7.0-percent warning threshold that set off alarm bells around Europe and beyond. Milan’s stocks were down yesterday, in line with other European markets. Italy has to issue 440 billion euros (about $590 billion) in debt next year, according to the main public debt representative in the Italian Treasury, Maria Cannata, who said it would be “more complicated” because of market volatility. — AFP

recent months, and the corresponding impact on consumption, it is currently anticipated that Centrica’s 2011 earnings may be marginally lower than current market expectations,” Centrica said in a trading statement.

The company had been expected to report a full-year pretax profit of 2.3 billion pounds ($3.6 billion), according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll of analysts, 20 percent higher than the 1.9 billion pounds it reported in 2010. Centrica said yesterday that it still expected an increase relative to last year but did not specify by how much. Shares in the company were down 1.6 percent at 290.2 pence by 1008 GMT. — Reuters

Spanish borrowing costs shoot to euro-era high MADRID: Spain’s borrowing costs shot to a euro-era record yesterday as a market crisis lurched into dangerous new territory three days before general elections. Spain paid sky-high rates in a bond auction-close to levels that triggered collapses in other eurozone nations-and its debt risk premium struck the highest level since the launch of the euro.

Investor fear has spread rapidly through the single currency area, from Greece and Italy to Spain, which faces general elections on Sunday, and even AAA-rated France.

“The basic question is what is going to be done about Italian and Spanish bonds,” said Edward Hugh, independent economist based in Catalonia.

“Is the ECB going to continue buying or is another formula going to be brought forward?,” he asked. “There seems to be a complete silence at the moment.” Markets were waiting for a clear answer from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, he said, and they were disturbed by reports of differences between the two leaders. Despite Merkel’s proclamations in favour of the euro, investors were not convinced that Germany was prepared to put real money behind the single currency, he said.

“Normally when there is a currency there is a government that stands behind it. Who stands behind the euro?,” Hugh said. “You cannot restore confidence in the currency without a government putting money on the table.”

Spain’s Treasury had to pay a rate of 6.975 percent-near levels considered unsustainable of 7.0 percent-to raise 3.563 billion euros ($4.8 billion) in an auction of 10-year bonds. On the markets, traders inflicted more punishment.

Spanish government 10-year bonds changed hands for yield of 6.75 percent-the highest since May 1997 in the days of the peseta. The debt risk premium-the extra rate charged on Spanish 10-year government bonds compared to safe-haven German bonds-leapt to a euro-era record of 4.99 percentage points.

The sense of crisis hounded the ruling Socialists in their last days before Sunday’s election. Polls show hard-hit voters ready to punish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s government over the crisis, delivering a likely landslide win to conservative opposition leader Mariano Rajoy. Rajoy said the surging debt risk premium was “terrible”. “It means it is costing us a lot to finance ourselves, if we can finance ourselves,” he told Cadena Ser radio. “It has a big impact on our economy, the financing of government administrations, businesses and the competitiveness of our economy and as a consequence employment.”

Spain has an unemployment rate of 21.5 percent-the highest in the industrialised world-and its economy stalled in the third quarter with many analysts predicting recession ahead. Equally seriously, even the European Commission has forecast that Spain will miss its targets to trim the bloated public deficit from 9.3 percent last year to 6.0 this year and 4.4 percent in 2012.

Rajoy, head of the Popular Party, is promising widespread spending cuts if he wins. —AFP

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Treasurys wobble, remain popular overseas WASHINGTON: Treasurys wobbled as encouraging economic news and fears about Europe held prices in a narrow range. Foreign demand for Treasurys and US corporate debt remained strong in September as the European debt crisis threatened to spin out of control, the Treasury Department said.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note rose 31 cents for every $100 invested, pushing its yield down to 2.01 percent at 4 p.m. Eastern time from 2.05 percent late Tuesday. The yield rose as high as 2.05 percent earlier Wednesday afternoon.

Americans paid less for gas, cars and computers in October, the government said early Wednesday. The Consumer Price Index decreased for the first time since June, a sign that prices are holding steady despite extremely low interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve. Low rates often cause prices to rise by encouraging more lending to consumers and businesses. Sellers, in turn, can charge more without pricing too many people out of the market.

Fitch warns on US bank exposure NEW YORK: A warning from Fitch Ratings that large US banks could be hit hard if Europe’s debt crisis spreads sent stocks on a downward spiral late Wednesday. US indexes were moving between small gains and losses before Fitch released its report around 3:15 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow was down 36 points with an hour of trading left, then plunged to end the day down 190.

Fitch, one of the three main credit ratings agencies besides S&P and Moody’s, said in its report that US banks could be “greatly affected” if Europe’s debt crisis continues to spread beyond the financially troubled countries of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Large banks took a late dive. Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. each lost 3.7 percent. Goldman Sachs dropped 4.1 percent and Morgan Stanley 7.9 percent. “This is a long-running, slowdeveloping story,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. US stocks had rallied in the past week as new governments took over in Greece and Italy and promised to implement budget reforms. It’s a familiar pattern, Ablin said. “It seems like it’s always one step forward and two steps back.” The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 11,905.59, a loss of 190.57, or 1.6 percent. It was the Dow’s first close below 12,000 since last Thursday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 20.89 points, or 1.7 percent, to 1,236.92. The Nasdaq composite lost 46.59, or 1.7 percent, to 2,639.61. Concerns that the debt troubles of Greece and Italy could spread have been driving the borrowing rates of France higher on bond markets since the beginning of November. The benchmark rate on France’s 10-year bonds was just 2.54 percent on Oct. 5. It has climbed steadily since then, reaching 3.69 percent Wednesday. That’s a reflection of deepening worries that France, the second-largest country in the euro bloc after Germany, could be in danger of losing its triple-A credit rating.

For the moment, Fitch said the risks to US banks from Europe appeared to be “manageable,” but investors have been quick to respond to headlines about how Europe’s debt woes might hurt the global financial system. Fitch said the top five US banks have a total of $114 billion in loans, deposits and other assets tied to French banks. French banks also have large holdings of bonds issued by Greece and Italy.

Stock indexes wavered earlier Wednesday as the price of oil crossed above $100 a barrel for the first time since July.

The jump in crude prices could weaken the already US fragile economy by raising costs for gasoline, heating oil and airline fuel. Oil futures surged 3 percent to $102.59 a barrel as US supplies dropped and a new pipeline deal by a Canadian company threatened to cut them even more.

In corporate news, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. plunged 13.6 percent after the company reported earnings that fell far short of Wall Street’s expectations. The company said rising costs for cotton and other commodities cut into profits. Dell Inc. dropped 3.2 percent after the company said late Tuesday that its revenues will be held back by an industry-wide shortage of hard drives.—AP

High inflation would hurt bondholders because they collect their investment returns over time. If prices rise, those future returns have less buying power. When prices are stable, the future income holds more of its value. Low inflation also gives the Federal Reserve leeway to consider buying more bonds as it works to revive the struggling economy. Such a move would likely cause investors to buy Treasurys, pushing their prices higher before the market’s biggest buyer starts bidding.

In a separate report the Fed said that US industrial output rose in October at the fastest pace in three months.

Factory production increased solidly, a signal that manufacturers are recovering after slowing down this spring.

Meanwhile, foreign investors bought more Treasurys and corporate bonds in September, despite economic uncertainty and a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating

by Standard & Poor’s in August. The Treasury Department said total foreign holdings of Treasurys increased 1.9 percent in the month after the S&P downgrade. It was the second straight monthly increase. China, the largest for-

eign owner of Treasurys, increased its holdings by 1 percent.

Net purchases of long-term securities, a category that includes Treasurys and corporate bonds, increased by $68.6 billion, the biggest gain in almost a year. The results highlight the crucial role of Treasurys as ultra-safe investments that grow more attractive when other assets appear shaky.

“Despite the anemic economic recovery in the U.S. and its various political failings - the U.S. is still the prettiest pig at the fair,” said Chris Christopher, senior principal economist with IHS Global Insight. “Given the current financial and economic woes in Europe, the U.S. is beginning to look even prettier,” he added.

The price of the 30-year Treasury bond rose 72 cents per $100 invested, pushing its yield down to 3.05 percent from 3.08 percent late Tuesday. Bond yields fall as their prices rise. That means investors are willing to accept an even tinier return in exchange for holding an asset seen as safe. — AP

Obama foes pounce on $15 trillion US debt ‘That’s more than $48,000 per citizen’ WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama’s Republican foes pounced Wednesday on news the US national debt passed $15 trillion for the first time to assail his economic policies one year from November 2012 elections.

Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said on his official Twitter feed that the figure “marks an infamous day in US history. You deserve leaders willing to tackle this problem.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry, a candidate for the Republican nomination to take on Obama next year, took to Twitter to blame “Obama’s socialist policies” for “bankrupting” the country, and declared it was “time to overhaul Washington.”

“This astounding debt is a heavy pair of cement shoes for our children and America’s economic future,” he added in a statement. Another Republican presidential hopeful, Michele Bachmann, compared the country to a boat heading towards a waterfall.

“If you’ve ever been in Niagara Falls, there’s a river that feeds into Niagara Falls, (and) there’s a certain point when you’re in a boat where the current has taken you and you can’t get out any more, you’re going to go over the Niagara Falls.

“That’s the point that we’re coming to in the United States” because of the debt, said Bachmann. Her solution: “You’ve got to stop spending, you’ve got to stop the welfare state,” she told a meeting with prominent Republicans while campaigning in the mid-western state of Iowa.

“America has crossed an unthinkable threshold: our national debt now exceeds $15 trillion. That’s more than $48,000 per citizen,” scolded Republican National Committee

Chairman Reince Priebus.

“This massive debt slows our economy and damages our credit rating.

America cannot afford another four years of this president and the Democrats’ reckless spending,” he added in a statement.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, one of Obama’s fiercest critics, did not immediately comment on the news, though he recently quipped: “Look, we have a debt the size of our economy. That alone makes us look a lot like Greece.” But his office put out a statement that pointed out the national debt was $10.62 trillion when Obama took office, and $14.304 trillion when the president vowed “I believe we can live within our means” in April 2011.

None of the Republicans comment-

ing referred to the 2007-2008 economic crisis under Republican president George W. Bush, which independent analysts say is the primary driver of the galloping US debt.

They also skipped mentioning that Bush’s vast 2001 and 2003 tax cutswhich Obama renewed in late 2010 — as well as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq-which Obama has vowed to wind down-are among the other top factors.

That was roughly equal to 99 percent of the size of the total US economy projected for 2011, a level normally seen as very unhealthy by economists.

Government debt has steadily climbed since August 2, when Congress broke a months-long deadlock and agreed to raise the country’s official debt ceiling, which previously stood at $14.3 trillion. — AFP

TEXAS: In this Nov. 14, 2011 photo, job seekers line up to speak to recruiters during a career expo in Las Colinas, Texas. Fewer people sought unemployment benefits last week, the fourth drop in the past five weeks. The decline indicates the economy’s modest growth is reducing layoffs and may lift hiring. — AP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Gold industry upbeat despite consumer slump MUMBAI: Global economic uncertainty will fuel the current surge in investment demand for gold, even as record prices force a slump in the jewellery market, the World Gold Council (WGC) said yesterday. Global demand for gold was 1,054 tonnes in the three months to September, up 6.0 percent year-on-yearequal to a record high of $57.7 billion in value terms, the WGC said in a report.

The increase was driven by a 33 percent rise in investment demand, with gold offering a safe haven after a US sovereign debt downgrade, plunging global equity markets and the escalating eurozone crisis. The investment surge offset a 10 percent drop in jewellery demand during the quarter as gold prices hit a record $1,920 per ounce in September.

“Investors across the globe sought to protect their wealth, diversify their risk and benefit from gold’s strong returns,” the WGC said in a report. “Given gold’s proven risk mitigation properties, it is likely that investors will continue to seek protection from economic uncertainty, which shows no signs of abating,” Marcus Grubb, WGC’s investment managing director said.

“Gold’s long-term fundamentals remain strong with a diverse and growing demand base, coupled with constrained supply-side activity,” Grubb added. The yellow metal, whose key drivers are investment and jewellery, is widely seen as a safe haven for cash in times of uncertain economic conditions and high inflation.

September’s record price followed

US housing starts down slightly in October WASHINGTON: US builders started slightly fewer homes in October but submitted plans for a wave of apartments, a mixed sign for the struggling housing market. Builders broke ground on a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000 homes last month, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

That’s down 0.3 percent from September and roughly half the 1.2 million that economists say must be built to sustain a healthy housing market.

But building permits, a gauge of future construction, rose nearly 11 percent. The increase was spurred by a 30 percent increase in apartment permits, which reached its highest level in three years. New-home construction and sales are in the midst of one of its worst years in history. Demand for new homes is weak and historically-low mortgage rates and plunging home prices have done little to help.

Renting has become a preferred option for many Americans who lost their jobs during the recession and were forced to leave their homes. The surge in apartments may help boost economic growth, but it has not been enough to offset the steep declines in single-family homebuilding. Overall, homebuilding dipped in 2009 to just 554,000 homes, the lowest levels in 50 years in 2009. Last year the figure rose to roughly 587,000 homes and this year may not be much better. Cash-strapped builders are struggling to compete with deeply discounted foreclosures and short sales, when lenders allow borrowers to sell homes for less than what is owed on their mortgages. And few homes are selling.

Though new homes represent just 20 percent of the overall home market, they have an outsized impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders. After previous recessions, housing accounted for at least 15 percent of economic growth in the United States. Since the recession officially ended in June 2009, it has contributed just 4 percent.

Sales of new homes rose in September after four straight monthly declines, largely because builders cut their prices in the face of weak demand.

Sales hit a six-month low in August and this year is shaping up to be the worst since the government began keeping records a half-century ago.

Another reason sales have fallen is that previously occupied homes are a

CANONSBURG: This Oct. 18, 2011 photo, shows two new home developments in Canonsburg, Pa. US builders started slightly fewer homes in October but a wave of apartment construction is being planned, a good sign for the struggling housing market. —AP better deal than new homes. The median price of a new home is about 30 percent higher than the median price for a re -sale. That’s almost twice the markup in a healthy housing market.

The homebuilders’ trade group said Wednesday that its survey of industry sentiment rose this month to 20, the highest level since May 2010. Still, any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market. The index hasn’t reached 50 since April 2006, the peak of the housing boom. — AP

frenzied buying by investors, large funds and central banks around the world. But the high costs and near double-digit inflation saw demand in India-the world’s largest gold consumer and importer-fall 23 percent to 203.3 tonnes in the quarter to September, from 263.9 tonnes a year earlier.

“Consumer confidence has been knocked by high domestic inflation, of near 10 percent,” WGC analysts Louise Street and Johan Palmberg, said in the report. “This adversely affected jewellery demand, impacted disposable income levels and overall consumer sentiment.”

High and volatile prices during India’s festive season, which peaks with the Hindu festival of Diwali in October, deterred customers, they added. China, where there is rising demand among an

ever richer middle class for luxury goods, dominated growth in the quarter, with a 17 percent increase to 200.7 tonnes. Other Asian economies such as Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan also posted strong growth.

The council expects India’s demand for gold to increase during its main wedding season, which runs from December to January. India’s successful monsoon this year is also likely to yield good crops and boost rural income, while easing high food inflation, the report said.

“We look forward to periods of increased price stability which will result in Indian consumers being able to build gold purchases into their household budgets,” said Ajay Mitra, WGC’s managing director for Middle East and India. — AFP

Eurozone bond tensions hit stock markets Germany warn Italian PM to move fast LONDON: European stock markets slid yesterday amid record tensions on the eurozone bond market and risks from debt contagion hours before a key policy speech by the new Italian prime minister. Investor sentiment was already under pressure after ratings agency Fitch warned overnight that US banks could be exposed if the eurozone crisis intensified.

The critically important spread between German and French borrowing rates indicated on the market for existing bonds rose above 2.0 percentage points. Meanwhile Germany warned Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to move fast to enact the policies he was to announce later in the day to stop Italy sliding further into a debt trap.

“The eurozone crisis shows little sign of respite and there is a real risk of an escalation in the crisis,” said Neil MacKinnon, an economist at Russian financial group VTB Capital. In late morning deals, London’s FTSE 100 index sank 1.42 percent to 5,430.68 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 1.37 percent to 5,834.85 points and in Paris the CAC 40 dropped 1.73 percent to 3,011.99. But in foreign exchange trading, the euro edged up to $1.3463, from $1.3451 late in New York on Wednesday. It had fallen overnight to $1.3422 — which was the lowest level since October 10.

Spain’s treasury had to pay a record interest rate of 6.975 percent at a new debt issue when it raised 3.563 billion euros ($4.808 billion) with 10year bonds yesterday. The government had hoped to raise between three and four billion euros with the bond sale and the interest rate paid is the highest since the creation of the euro single currency, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

“Spain’s debt auction will do nothing to settle nerves in Madrid,” said research director Kathleen Brooks at trading site Forex.com.

“The yield investors demanded to hold 2022 debt was 6.97 percent-millimetres away from the crucial 7.0-percent level considered to be the threshold that could push Spain to needing a bailout. “Spain still has 12 billion euros of debt to auction next month, if sentiment does not start to pick up then we could see funding stresses reach a critical level in Madrid very quickly,” Brooks added.

France was meanwhile due to issue between six and seven billion euros in five-year bonds later in the day, in another key test of market confidence in eurozone financial management.

Despite new governments taking over in Italy and Greece to push through key reforms, the cost

of borrowing for under-pressure countries remained dangerously high. Italian benchmark 10year bond yields once again topped 7.0 percent yesterday, while in Spain-whose massive debt and crippling unemployment has also come into focus-the cost of borrowing has hit 6.66 percent.

Bond yields remained above or close to the 7.0percent danger zone considered unsustainable for governments to service their debts.

And in another gloomy signal, the gaps in borrowing rates on German government bonds and those of France and Spain hit the highest levels since the creation of the euro amid acute strains over eurozone debt. Asian stock markets closed mixed on Thursday but trading was cautious after two ratings agencies sounded alarm bells over the potential impact of the eurozone debt crisis on major banks.

Tokyo finished 0.19 percent higher, Sydney rose 0.25 percent and Seoul added 1.11 percent. But on the downside, Hong Kong fell 0.76 percent and Shanghai closed 0.16 percent lower.

Fitch warned that the contagion effects on US banks were “potentially large” if the crisis spreads beyond Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

It pointed to the risks in France, where banks are being weakened by their own eurozone exposure, while Paris is cutting spending to avoid losing its AAA credit rating.

Fitch said the top five US banks had $188 billion in exposure to France at the end of the second quarter, $114 billion of it to French banks. Wall Street’s three main indexes ended lower on Wednesday following the announcement, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 1.58 percent, the S&P 500 down 1.66 percent and the Nasdaq losing 1.73 percent. Adding to the sense of fear was Moody’s decision to downgrade 10 German public-sector banks, saying they were now less likely to receive state support if needed.

There was a little respite in Europe after Italy’s new Prime Minister Mario Monti put together his new cabinet charged with pushing through legislation aimed at putting the economy back on an even keel.

And in Greece, the newly installed premier Lucas Papademos kicked off talks with international banks on reducing the country’s mountain of debt, after winning overwhelming support from parliament in a symbolic vote of confidence, but reports said progress was snagged on details of how the banks will take their losses. — AFP

Business FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Airline passengers asked for extra cash for fuel LONDON: Airlines have already begun charging for food, drinks, seat assignments and baggage. Now one is demanding that passengers cough up extra cash for fuel. Hundreds of passengers traveling from India to Britain were stranded yesterday in Amritsar, India, by the charter airline Comtel, which was asking them to kick in money to cover the cost of fuel and fees.

Passengers will not be allowed to leave for Britain unless they pay 10,000 rupees (about $200) each, Bhupinder Kandra, the airline’s majority shareholder, told the BBC. It was not clear if the pas-

sengers were stranded on the plane or at the airport.

But that incident came just days after 180 other travelers flying the same route were stranded on a Comtel plane at a layover in Vienna until they could raise more than 20,000 pounds ($31,000) to fund the rest of the flight to Birmingham, England. Footage from the first Comtel airline incident broadcast by Britain’s Channel 4 news showed a cabin crew member telling passengers: “We need some money to pay the fuel, to pay the airport, to pay everything we need. If you want to go to Birmingham, you have to

pay.” Channel 4 news said the crew told the passengers they would have to come up with 24,000 pounds ($38,000) between them. Some passengers said they were allowed to leave the plane to get to cash machines in Vienna to raise the money.

“We all got together, took our money out of purses - 130 pounds ($205),” said Reena Rindi, who was aboard with her two-year-old daughter. “Children under two went free, my little one went free cause she’s under two. If we didn’t have the money, they were making us go one by one outside, in Vienna, to get the cash

out.” The plane then took off and reached Birmingham. Kandra, Comtel’s majority shareholder, told the Associated Press from Vienna that travel agents had taken the passengers’ money before the planes left but had not passed it on to the airline. “This is not my problem,” he said. “The problem is with the agents.”

But Kandra insisted that the company was solvent and that the “show will go on.” “We have not run out of money,” he said. “We have enough.” Airport officials in Birmingham, however, said Thursday that Comtel’s weekend flights had been canceled. — AP

Thousands march in Athens austerity protest Papademos must secure 2010 bailout to avert bankruptcy

MELBOURNE: Marius Kloppers, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BHP Billiton (R) speaks as Chairman of the Board Jac Nasser (C) and Group Company Secretary Jane McAloon (L) listen during the mining company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Melbourne yesterday. — AFP

BHP cautious on global economic uncertainty MELBOURNE: The world’s largest miner, BHP Billiton, warned yesterday that global economic uncertainty and volatility in the commodities market would present it with short-term challenges.

The Anglo-Australian giant expressed caution on its outlook, saying some of its customers were already facing difficulties from a tightening in availability of trade finance and the terms at which it can be accessed.

“The heightened volatility and uncertain economic outlook are expected to continue to weigh on sentiment in the markets for our commodities,” BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers told shareholders in Melbourne.

“None of us is able to say for certain how the markets will perform in the short run,” he said at the company’s annual general meeting.

“One thing we can probably say is that higher volatility is likely to remain until issues surrounding the European sovereign debt markets are definitively addressed.”

But despite challenging times, he said the company was managing to sell all it produces and that the longer-term outlook remained positive as developing nations contribute more to global economic growth. “Against this backdrop, the future long-term demand for our products will remain strong,” he said. BHP’s strategy remained to invest through economic cycles, he said, adding that the company had plans to invest more than US$80 billion over the next five years on its mining and petroleum assets.

The company’s chairman, Jacques Nasser, said BHP would continue to make acquisitions from “time to time” when they make strategic sense.

Nasser, responding to a shareholder call to halt acquisitions and return further cash to holders, said BHP had a welldefined strategy that included investing in key assets, maintaining its credit rating and paying out dividends.

BHP Billiton also announced it had priced a US$3.0 billion, three-tranche global bond, with the proceeds earmarked for general corporate purposes and the retirement of commercial paper. The bond is priced under a debt shelf registration statement previously filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Debt ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service said it assigned an A1 senior unsecured rating to the BHP guaranteed senior unsecured bond issue, with a stable outlook to the rating. — AFP

ATHENS: Thousands of protesters were demonstrating in Athens yesterday against austerity measures demanded by the new unity government to persuade its creditors to release bankruptcy-saving loans.

“We will throw all of them out,” promised a banner held aloft by students while another carried by anarchists read: “In the face of tyranny, one must choose between chains and arms.”

Greece is slogging through a third year of recession exacerbated by wage cuts and tax hikes imposed by the previous socialist government of George Papandreou, and set to continue under the new coalition administration set up last week under former European Central Bank deputy chief Lucas Papademos.

Thousands of police were deployed across Athens for the demonstrations which will test the scale of public defiance against the new government. The participation of far-right politicians in the cabinet for the first time since democracy was restored in 1974 also added to the outrage of the protesters.

“Down with the government of socialists, conservatives and fascists,” a protester banner said. The march on November 17 each year commemorates a student uprising in 1973 that helped topple a US-backed army dictatorship and brought back the republic.

About 7,000 police-including 700 riot officers equipped with tear gas, batons and shields-mobilised in the capital focusing on state buildings and embassies that are regularly targeted during protests. The march, culminating at the US embassy, was to pass in front of parliament, the European Union offices in Athens, the French and Italian embassies and several ministries. Tempers flared on Wednesday after leftist students prevented youth members of the socialist party-which also shares power in the governmentfrom laying a wreath at the Athens Polytechnic, the heart of the 1973 uprising.

Last year, police fired tear gas and arrested more than 20 people after clashes broke out on the sidelines of the demonstration attended by about 20,000 people, according to the authorities. The socialist, conservative and far-

BRUSSELS: The head of the European Task Force for Greece Horst Reichenbach attends a news conference at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, yesterday. Reichenbach has been appointed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to lead a task force within the Commission to provide technical assistance to Greece. — AP right nationalist parties formed a coalition last week to save Greece from looming bankruptcy, and they must now approve a crucial eurozone debt bailout before holding early elections.

The new government was officially confirmed in parliament late on Wednesday, with 255 out of 300 lawmakers showing their support in a vote of confidence. But Greece’s third largest party, the Communists, and the smaller leftist Syriza party have pledged to fight to bring down the government to prevent further belttightening in a country mired in a deep recession since 2008.

“The Greek people won their independence through struggle. Anybody who tries to deprive them of it will pay dearly,” said Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras.

Papademos must secure the latest installment of a 2010 bailout to avert bankruptcy by mid-December, when the state coffers run dry, and enforce reforms agreed as part of a second res-

cue deal agreed last month.

He took the first steps towards writing off a large chunk of Greece’s 350billion-euro debt on Wednesday night when he held talks with Charles Dallara, the managing director of the Institute of International Finance who is leading negotiations on behalf of the banks.

Brussels has maintained pressure on Athens to commit itself in writing to the measures required by its foreign creditors, a pledge which two parties within the governing coalition have so far resisted.

The November 17 demonstration is a treasured anniversary to many Greeks. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta’s grip on power.

The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital.— AFP

Business FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

China’s business jet market soars Beijing poised to eclipse US market for jets: Expert

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hina may one day be the largest buyer of business jets in the world, eclipsing the US market, a Chinese business aviation expert said this month. Right now, China is not a meaningful part of the business jet industry.

Roughly 200 business jets operate in China’s vast mainland.

That is expected to change.

China is expected to eventually take 20 percent of all business jets delivered in the world, up from about 7 percent today, said Rollie Vincent, president of Rolland Vincent and Associates, a market research, analysis and consulting firm.

That would bode well for Wichita manufacturers, which have seen sales fall during the economic downturn, Vincent said. “I think there’s a lot of export opportunity,” he said.

Planemakers will soon have to increase production for China, especially for large-cabin aircraft, Jason Liao, chairman and CEO of China Business Aviation Group, told Aviation Week this month.

By 2018, Liao told Aviation Week, he thinks China’s business jet market will be worth more than $11 billion, roughly the same as the United States. But it will take time for China to get the systems and infrastructure in place to facilitate business aviation, experts say.

“I do not doubt their resolve,” Vincent said.

China’s central government has named general aviation as one of the country’s pillars of economic development in its 2011 to 2015 plan.

The plan includes developing the industry, building a substantial number of airplanes and relaxing its airspace.

China conglomerate AVIC is seeking proposals from business-jet makers to set up a final assembly line for aircraft delivered in China and is seeking a foreign partner to co-develop a business jet made in China. Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna Aircraft and others have answered AVIC’s call and are in talks with the Chinese.

Developing China as a long-term strategy makes sense, planemakers say. China has emerged as a major financial world power with the capital to finance investments internally.

The development of its industrial base and natural resources is creating substantial wealth, said Hawker Beechcraft’s CEO Bill Boisture.

“If you look forward in time to a better infrastructure of airports and a more relaxed airspace and a continuing creation of wealth, you have the beginnings of an airplane market,” Boisture said.

As China works to build its own nuclear power plants, high-speed trains, aircraft engines and commercial aircraft, it also wants to build its own business jets.

Last week, Beijing set up its first general aviation manufacturing company to launch development, manufacturing, sales and operation in China’s capital, according to the China Daily newspaper.

Beijing General Aviation Group and Beihang University signed a contract on Tuesday and set goals. They will initially invest about $15.7 million in the venture. China’s first interest is in long-range business jets, larger than those built in Wichita. The focus has been on larger Gulfstream and Bombardier’s Global-size airplanes for customers wanting to fly long dis-

Chinese officials pose in front of the first Hawker 4000 business jet delivered by Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC).

tances, said Brad Thress, Cessna senior vice president for business jets.

But as the market matures and opens up, midsize airplanes will be attractive, for example as engineers want to travel from one factory to another, Thress said. “That’s our niche,” he said.

“It will be a little while for the market to mature, to take advantage of the light and mid-size jets that we offer.”

ties, but he says it’s too soon to identify them.

AVIC selected Hawker Beechcraft as a one of the final contenders that answered its initial proposal, Boisture said. Cessna also is in talks with AVIC, Thress said, and, according to a report in Aviation Week, so are Bombardier and Israel Aerospace Industries.

China has talked about making a major leap into aviation for the past 30 years, said Richard

China has emerged as a major financial world power with the capital to finance investments internally. As China works to build its own nuclear power plants, high-speed trains, aircraft engines and commercial aircraft, it also wants to build its own business jets.

Cessna has about 20 business jets in China and about 170 single-engine aircraft in operation there.

“It’s not a big market for us,” Thress said.

“But I think in the future it will be. It’s a very, very long-term strategy.” Today, China builds Cessna’s light sport aircraft, the Skycatcher, in a factory in Shenyang. Cessna has not planned for further assembly in China or determined which aircraft model it might propose to assemble there or when. To grow there in the future, China will likely expect a manufacturer to at least operate a final assembly line of products delivered in the country, Thress said.

“You’re going to have to participate in things,” he said. “I can’t tell you what that looks like today. I think it will take years to unfold, but I think to be actively involved in those kind of activities will be key.” Hawker Beechcraft’s Boisture said he has been to China four times this year, and AVIC has been to Wichita to visit the company twice in the past 10 months.

Boisture also is talking with other Chinese enti-

Aboulafia, aviation analyst for the Teal Group.

“So far, it’s just in baby steps,” he said. “And that’s true of the commercial jetliner side; that’s true on the general aviation side.”

Several issues hinder China’s business jet market, experts say. For one, it must continue to liberalize its airspace so travelers can fly where and when they want to, Aboulafia said.

And it must create the infrastructure to support business jet travel. Development will be paced by the availability of trained technicians, mechanics and pilots, and the development of airports, Boisture said.

China also needs to develop a network of fixed base operators. “When you get to an airport is there somebody who will refuel you, take care of you and give you a tasty mint?”

Aboulafia said. “(Landing) at an isolated airstrip with nothing but an air traffic controller isn’t very useful.”

Manufacturers are working to open service centers in China so there are places to service their aircraft. There are also many unknowns

about China’s general aviation future.

One is how business jet travel will develop in China. How it develops will determine which aircraft will be most in demand first. One view is that China’s eastern coast would develop first because that’s where several major cities are located, such as Hong Kong and Macau, and it’s where the most people are, Boisture said. If that happens, then short-range airplanes would be useful to fly up and down the eastern coast, he said.

If the western part of China develops more quickly, then Hawker Beechcraft’s super midsize Hawker 4000 and the mid-size Hawker 900 would be useful to fly east-west routes, Boisture said.

The issue of the country’s development was part of discussions Boisture had with AVIC. “So my discussion with them was maybe you should consider how your market is going to develop before you make decisions about what airplanes you want to build,” Boisture said.

Boisture also noted what has been happening in China with the build-up of high-speed rail, where builders are being forced to suspend construction work of more than 6,000 miles of railway.

That’s because funds have dried up, in part because of China’s overall money-tightening efforts as it tries to rein in inflation, according to the Wall Street Journal. “This is not good news for any of us,” Boisture said. Still, the market slowdown is only momentary, he said. “It’s a slowdown from above double-digit growth to growth,” Boisture said. Cessna’s Thress said he predicts modest growth in the next three to five years. “But it will be a long time before it will look like Western Europe and the United States,” he said.

The ability to file a flight plan 30 minutes ahead of time and go? “That will be 15 to 20 years away,” Thress said. — MCT

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

The rising threat from Boko Haram

By Scott Stewart

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he US Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, issued a warning Nov 5 indicating it had received intelligence that the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram may have been planning to bomb several targets in the Nigerian capital during Eid al-Adha, also known as Eid alKabir, celebrated Nov 6-8. The warning specifically mentioned the Hilton, Nicon Luxury and Sheraton hotels as potential targets.

The warning came in the wake of a string of bombings and armed attacks Nov 4 in the cities of Maiduguri, Damaturu and Potiskum, all of which are located in Nigeria’s northeast. An attack also occurred in the north-central Nigerian city of Kaduna. The sites targeted in the wave of attacks included a military base in Maiduguri and the anti-terrorism court building in Damaturu.

Militants reportedly attacked these two sites with suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs). The Nigerian Red Cross reported that more than 100 people were killed in the attacks, while some media reports claimed the death toll was at least 150.

According to AFP, a spokesman for Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attacks Nov 5 and threatened more attacks targeting the Nigerian government until “security forces stop persecuting our members and vulnerable civilians.” On Nov 7, a Boko Haram spokesman claimed that his group employed only two suicide operatives in the attacks and not 12 as reported by some media outlets. Though Eid al-Kabir passed without attacks on Western hotels in Abuja, a deeper examination of Boko Haram is called for, with a specific focus on its rapidly evolving tactical capabilities.

Boko Haram Boko Haram, which means “Western education is sinful” in Hausa, was established in 2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s Borno state. It has since spread to several other northern and central Nigerian states. The group officially is known as Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, Arabic for “group committed to propagating the Prophet’s (PBUH) teachings and jihad.”

Some in the country have referred to Boko Haram as the Nigerian Taleban in reference to the group’s call for shariah throughout Nigeria. (At present, only the northern part of the country adheres to shariah.) In June, a spokesman claiming to represent Boko Haram amended this demand, instead calling for what the group defines as a stricter form of shariah in the northern Nigerian states where shariah already is the law.

With approximately 150 million people, Nigeria is the most populous African country and one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It has some 250 distinct ethnic groups, with the dominant groups being the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa-Fulani, along with a smaller but critical fourth group, the Ijaw. These groups are in constant tension as they attempt to dominate the nation’s politics and the allocation of its natural resources. Approximately half the country is Muslim and half is

Christian (though many Nigerians follow traditional religions). The Muslim population predominates in the north while Christians predominate in the south.

The Muslim north is parched and devoid of significant resources (agriculture is the north’s economic mainstay). This contrasts sharply with the economic environment in southern Nigeria, an area that includes Lagos, the country’s vibrant commercial capital and the business hub for much of West Africa, and the Niger Delta region, home to about 90 percent of the country’s large crude oil and natural gas sector.

In addition to ethnic tensions, Nigeria has experienced frequent and intense bursts of sectarian violence

in hiding, possibly in a neighboring country. Mixed messages have emerged from various individuals claiming to speak for Boko Haram. Some figures have come across as more moderate and willing to negotiate, while others have been more strident, rejecting talks.

This difference makes it appear that Boko Haram comprises a loose confederation of militants operating relatively independently from one another, rather than a cohesive, hierarchical organization pursuing a unified set of objectives.

Ramping Up Boko Haram initially was involved mostly in fomenting sectarian violence.

Its adherents participated in fairly rudi-

Significantly, the attack occurred outside Boko Haram’s traditional area of activity, proving the group can now project power at least as far as Abuja.

Reports emerged in September indicating that Boko Haram was threatening to conduct attacks in the Niger Delta, though these threats have yet to materialize. The Niger Delta is significantly farther from Boko Haram’s base in the north than Abuja, which is in central Nigeria. Distance aside, ethnic and linguistic differences would make it difficult for Boko Haram members to operate in the Delta without being detected.

Recruiting and training a suicide operative who can conduct successful missions when an organization has no

In this Sept 27, 2011 photo, children carry plastic containers on their heads as they walk through a dusty field in Maiduguri, Nigeria. — AP between Christians and Muslims, especially in the areas where the two religions overlap, like Jos in the northern tip of Plateau state. This struggle pits the powerful Hausa-Fulani from the north, which tends to be Muslim, against a number of smaller local ethnic groups that tend to be Christian. Indeed, Boko Haram has been involved since its inception in several outbursts of intercommunal violence, including the Nov 2008 violence that saw some 800 people killed in Jos, the July 2009 violence that saw more than 700 people killed in Jos, and the Jan 2010 violence in Jos that claimed 450 lives.

Following the July 2009 violence, which brought Boko Haram to the world’s attention, Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf and his deputy, Abubakar Shekau, were both killed.

Yusuf died in police custody, allegedly during an escape attempt, though his followers have called his death an extrajudicial execution.

Since the destruction of Boko Haram’s leadership, the exact structure and makeup of the group has been unclear. Boko Haram now seems to lack organizational structure or strong leadership. If the group has any central leadership, it has maintained a very low profile since Yusuf’s killing. It may even be

mentary attacks involving clubs, machetes and small arms. By late 2010, the group had added Molotov cocktails and simple improvised explosive devices to its tactical repertoire, as reflected by the series of small IED bombing attacks against Christian targets in Jos on Christmas Eve in 2010.

Boko Haram also conducted a number of armed assaults and small IED attacks in 2011. The IEDs involved in these attacks were small devices either thrown from motorcycles or left at the attack location.

On June 16, Boko Haram made a huge operational leap with the detonation of its first suicide VBIED. The attack was directed against the police headquarters in Abuja. While it proved largely ineffective - security kept the vehicle in a parking lot away from the targeted building - the attack nonetheless represented a significant tactical development in that it demonstrated that Boko Haram had mastered a completely new aspect of terrorist tradecraft. Employing a suicide VBIED is a far cry from throwing a few sticks of dynamite with a piece of time fuse at a police station or leaving a small IED with a crude timer outside a church. The VBIED was also quite sizable; it destroyed some 40 vehicles in the parking lot.

history of such operations is no small feat. Frequently, poorly prepared suicide operatives back out of missions. By being able to recruit, indoctrinate and then send out a suicide operative who can complete his mission, Boko Haram enjoys a great deal of operational latitude.

Taken together, these facts illustrate the large operational leap Boko Haram accomplished in 2011. It is very unusual for a militant group to achieve such a significant operational leap absent outside training or assistance. In many past cases, that outside assistance came from state sponsors. For example, the Soviet Union and its allies assisted various Marxist revolutionary groups, Iran and Syria have assisted Hezbollah, and the United States and Pakistan aided the Afghan mujahideen. Non-state actors also have been involved in such training, however, with Hezbollah having taught Al-Qaeda how to construct large VBIEDs and Al-Qaeda trainers having taught others how to construct IEDs in their training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On June 14, 2010, Abu Musab Abd Al-Wadoud, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), told Al Jazeera that his group would provide Boko Haram with support and

weapons to build strategic depth in Africa. We initially viewed the claim with some skepticism, as Al-Wadoud had made previous unfounded claims that his group was going to expand.

Following that announcement, however, we continued to receive reports that Nigerians associated with Boko Haram had been seen at AQIM training camps in the Sahel and that some of them even had received training from the jihadist group Al Shabaab in Somalia.

While we have not received hard confirmation of these reports, we believe that the rapid uptick in Boko Haram’s bombmaking capability provides strong circumstantial evidence that such an interchange did indeed happen between Boko Haram and one, or perhaps both, of those African jihadist groups.

On Aug 26, Boko Haram conducted a second suicide VBIED attack in Abuja, this time attacking a UN compound.

This attack proved far more successful than the June attack against the police headquarters. The VBIED driver managed to enter the compound by ramming an exit gate, then maneuvering his vehicle into a parking garage before detonating it. The attack also stands out in that the UN compound was located in the diplomatic district of Abuja, where numerous high-profile facilities are located, demonstrating that Boko Haram possessed the ability to spot a soft target amid harder targets like foreign embassies and government buildings.

The group’s preoperational surveillance efforts also permitted it to accurately identify a security weakness - the exit gate - which it then successfully exploited. This attack was Boko Haram’s first attack against a transnational target rather than against a government or sectarian target. Boko Haram sees the many UN development programs in Nigeria as an affront, as have the various jihadist groups in places like Algeria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan that also have attacked the United Nations because of its programs.

The Hotel Threat All of this, then, helps us place the recent hotel threat into perspective.

While Boko Haram’s attacks against hardened targets largely have proved unsuccessful, the group has clearly displayed the ability to conduct attacks against soft targets in Abuja. It also has demonstrated a desire to hit transnational targets.

As we have previously discussed, measures taken to harden diplomatic facilities have caused militant groups to come to regard hotels as attractive targets. Striking an international hotel in a major city like Abuja would allow militants to make the same kind of statement against the West as they could by striking an embassy. Hotels often are full of Western business travelers, diplomats and intelligence officers. This makes them target-rich environments for militants seeking to kill Westerners and gain international media attention without having to penetrate the extreme security of a hard target like a modern embassy. —Stratfor

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www.kuwaittimes.net

Actress Shenae Grimes arrives at the Google and TMobile party celebrating the launch of Google Music, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011, in Los Angeles. —AP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

New PC games invite players to don new roles Everything from airline bosses to racers

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here are a lot of familiar games coming out for the PC in November. But are they exciting upgrades or boring old retreads?

Players will need to decide as they sort through new versions of Need for Speed, Assassin’s Creed, Stronghold and Airline Tycoon. What’s clear is that players will have a whole host of new roles to try out with the games, whether they want to be the lord of a castle, an investigator, a racer or an assassin.

Airline Tycoon 2 lets players see if they can develop a company from a budget airline into a global operation.

From Calypso, the game requires some business skills for putting together the airline, but also technical skills, for planning new kinds of airplanes. The developers have stayed true to the games’ comic book style, although the graphics have gone 3D. Gameplay operates under the same principle as the 1998 original, although the airplane editor has new functions. A demo is already available for testing online. With no age restrictions, the game is available for about 37 euros (52 dollars).

The third edition of Stronghold, from THQ, is less colorful, opting for a more rustic look. This castle creation simulator requires players to build a fort and set up barricades, boiling oil and all kinds of projectiles to protect it from attackers. At the same time, you have to keep your subjects happy. A new graphics engine is a significant upgrade for Stronghold 3, making

characters, buildings and effects that much more detailed.

Thus, the change from day to night and weather patterns don’t just look pretty, but play a role in the course of the game. Builders work much more slowly in driving rain. The game combines classic military campaigns with economic goals, a castle editor and the mandatory multi-player mode. The game, designed for players aged 12 and up, is on sale for 46 euros. NCIS from Ubisoft is based on the TV show of the same name. Players take on the role of the show’s characters, developing different skills and investigating cases of espionage, murder and terrorism. Four episodes are set in places like Atlantic City and Dubai. Along with a PC version (30 euros), there are Nintendo DS (40 euros), XBox 360 and Playstation (50 euros each) and Wii (30 euros) versions. It is designed for players aged 12 and up.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, also from Ubisoft, if the fourth installment of this action-adventure series.

Starting on December 1, players can slip into the role of assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze. This time he is on the search for a powerful artifact of the Templar order, which takes him to Constantinople. There he runs across the trail of Altair, the hero of the series’ first game. Ezio shimmies, jumps and fights his way across roofs and through the alleys of the city. In a new development, he now has a grappling hook, which allows him to slide along a rope and to deal with his opponents.

Compared to previous versions, the gaming world is supposed to be more colourful and full of details. There are also changes in gameplay. The hero can try his hand at bomb building, for example.

There’s also a tower defense mode, in which the player is in a tower and has to defend himself with traps, bombs and swords against invaders.

Along with the 49-euro PC version of the game (for players aged 16 and up), there if a 59-euro version for the Playstation 3 and XBox 360.

Need for Speed: The Run, from Electronic Arts, is due for a November 17 release. This new installment of the successful series packs the racing into a detailed background story. Playing Jack, the hero, players participate in an illegal road race from San Francisco to New York. Not only are there competing racers, but also natural catastrophes such as rockslides, not to mention the police. There are even times when the hero has to travel by foot so he can steal a police car.

The main focus is on wild chases and spectacular crashes. The stable of cars includes the Lamborghini Aventador, the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. A new graphics engine is supposed to deliver impressive light, shadow and motion effects.

The PC version of the game costs 42 euros, while the Playstation 3 and XBox 360 versions will go for 58 euros.

The game is designed for players aged 12 and up. — dpa

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Relationships

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Picture perfect at retirement age Ramsey falls into what’s known in the industry as the ‘classic’ model category t age 63, when most people are heading for retirement, Valerie Ramsey launched a new career - a move that was especially unusual given the field modeling. But take a look at her portfolio and you have an “aha” moment. She’s beautiful. The kind of beauty of the people who populate Ralph Lauren ads, who draw and hold your eye in a field of cookie-cutter pubescent models. Ramsey, now 67, the mother of six and grandmother of seven, was “discovered” while doing her regular job as public relations manager for the Pebble Beach Co. One day a few years back, she was touring a Hollywood producer around the resort. He was scouting locations for a battle-of-the-sexes golf tournament.

“He kept saying ‘I like your look and want photos of you,’” Ramsey said. “I thought it was the ultimate Hollywood come-on, that he just wanted to do the tournament” so he was flattering her. But it wasn’t. The tournament didn’t pan out and he still wanted the photos, to circulate among people who might want to hire her for her “look.” So Ramsey asked local photographer Tom O’Neal to shoot some pictures. She sent them to the producer and they wound up in the hands of a modeling agency in San Francisco that wanted to sign her. Now she’s represented by four agencies, each with a particular geographic territory, including the Chicago office of internationally known Ford Models.

The Monterey, California, resident squeezes in jobs when she can, around her full-time work at Pebble Beach.

There have been, among others, appearances in fashion shows, an ad in The Golfer magazine, catalog shots, print and television ads for Carmel, California, clothier Pacific Tweed, and ads for a local plastic surgeon - though Ramsey said she hasn’t had any “work” done.

She attributed her lovely complexion to simple soap and water, her lithe 5-foot 10-inch figure to healthy eating and regular exercise. She laughed about perhaps her most striking feature, her hair: For years, she spent a fortune having it highlighted. When she finally let it turn its natural platinum color, people took notice and stopped her with compliments.

Ramsey falls into what’s known in the industry as the “classic” model category - a group that’s gotten more in demand as the business world has tried to capitalize on the size and buying power of the booming baby-boom population. The older woman “is a terrific target for the marketing world,” Ramsey said. “Older women have disposable income, are strong, younger and healthier than they’ve ever been.”

Jeffery Hasseler, who handles bookings for Ramsey through the Look Talent agency in San Francisco, said he’s seen increased interest in older models since he started in the business 16 years ago. Hasseler said his agency has been strategizing with certain retailers about using older models who reflect their customers, “women who are already established at a certain level ... It’s a sales tool.”

“I think more retailers are starting to pay attention,” he said. “There is never as much demand as for young models and I don’t think that’s ever going to change. But women who are now in the 50s and 60s look like they’re in the late 40s.” Hasseler said Ramsey appeals to the

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established, affluent market. “She caters to that type of market,” he said. “Tiffany, St John, to the people who can afford that stuff.”

The women’s magazine, More, even does an annual search for models older than 40, saying that, though the segment isn’t the majority of the modeling business, it “is steadily increasing.” Still, it’s no secret that young models dominate. Ramsey recalled going to one of her first jobs, a fashion show in San Francisco.

She went backstage and found a roomful of models who all looked about 19.

“I said to them, ‘Your den mother is here,’” she said.

They laughed and welcomed her into the fold. More daunting, she said, was the show itself, staged in the Fairmont, California, “with a T-shaped runway that looked big enough to land a 747.” But it wasn’t daunting for long.

Despite her late start, she said, she’s taken to modeling pretty easily.

“I just like being pulled together and expressing myself that way,” she said. Launching a new career late in life also came easily; she had already done it once. Ramsey, who lives in Monterey, spent most of her adult life as a stay-at-home mom to six children. But once she and her husband, Wally, were empty-nesters, she went to work at Pebble Beach, at age 53. She started out as an administrative assistant in marketing in 1993 and within a few years became the public relations manager. Her husband, a longtime teacher at Stevenson School, retired a year ago but then was called back to teach a class. Ramsey said she doesn’t have any retirement plans. “When I retire, it would be from the corporate world,” she said. “I’d like to do (modeling) as long as they want me.” — MCT

At age 63, when most people are heading for retirement, Valerie Ramsey launched a new career— a move that was especially unusual given the field— modeling. — MCT photos

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Fo o d

Everyday cooking

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

By Sawsan Kazak

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inter is finally here and it’s the perfect time to try out all those amazing soups and stews you’ve been waiting out on. A big bowl of piping hot broth or thick and luscious stew is just what is needed during those cold winter nights.

And the great thing about soups is that they are made in one pot, can be eaten over a few days, and usually freeze well. Try to following recipes and keep warm during this winter.

Send your suggestions to: sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

Vegetable broth

Homemade chicken stock 4 pounds chicken carcasses, including necks and backs 1 large onion, quartered 4 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2 4 ribs celery, cut in 1/2 1 leek, white part only, cut in 1/2 lengthwise 10 sprigs fresh thyme 10 sprigs fresh parsley with stems 2 bay leaves 8 to 10 peppercorns 2 whole cloves garlic, peeled 2 gallons cold water

2-3 Tbs Olive Oil 1-2 Large Onions, chopped 1 lb Celery, Chopped 1 lb Carrots, washed but unpeeled, chopped 3 Whole Cloves Garlic 1 Bay Leaf 10 Whole Black Peppercorns 2 tsp Salt 1/4 Cup Low Sodium Tamari 1 Gallon Water 2 Parsnips, chopped 2-3 Tbs Tomato Paste (or one or two tomatoes) A few Sprigs Rosemary (parsley is more traditional, use a lot!)

1 Head Broccoli (a strange but decent choice) 1 Sweet Potato (another odd choice, whatever)

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eat a large stock pot with some olive oil in the bottom. I chop my way through the vegetable list as I’m cookingñso once the onion is chopped, add it to the pot, then do the celery, the carrots, etc, adding each thing once it’s chopped up a bit.

When you’re out of stuff to add, pour in the water, turn up the heat and cover.It should only take you about 20 minutes to chop everything and get it in the pot.Cook for 1 hour, turning the heat down a bit once the whole thing starts boiling. Finish the broth by adding salt/tamari/soy sauce to taste and letting it simmer uncovered for another 20-30 minutes to concetrate the flavors.

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lace chicken, vegetables, and herbs and spices in 12-quart stockpot. Set opened steamer basket directly on ingredients in pot and pour over water.

Cook on high heat until you begin to see bubbles break through the surface of the liquid. Turn heat down to medium low so that stock maintains low, gentle simmer.

Skim the scum from the stock with a spoon or fine mesh strainer every 10 to 15 minutes for the first hour of cooking and twice each hour for the next 2 hours. Add hot water as needed to keep bones and vegetables submerged. Simmer uncovered for 6 to 8 hours.

Strain stock through a fine mesh strainer into another large stockpot or heatproof

container discarding the solids. Cool immediately in large cooler of ice or a sink full of ice water to below 40 degrees. Place in refrigerator overnight. Remove solidified fat from surface of liquid and store in container with lid in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or in freezer for up to 3 months. Prior to use, bring to boil for 2 minutes. Use as a base for soups and sauces.

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Fo o d FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Potato

Soup 6 -8 medium potatoes 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup flour 6 cups milk 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/2 lb cheddar cheese

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Seafood stew

12 littleneck clams 2 cup water 2 lb mussels Fish broth 2 carrots, finely diced 1 onion, finely diced 3 sticks celery, finely diced 4 tbsp. olive oil 2 tsp. garlic, minced 1 (12 oz.) can crushed tomatoes or 2 c. coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes 12 lg. shrimp 1 lb. scallops 1 lb. halibut or other firm fish cut into 6 serving pieces Salt and pepper to taste A drizzle of olive oil, capers, chopped basil to taste

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lean the clams. Bring 1 cup water to a boil and steam the clams, covered, until their shells open. Put the clams and the broth into separate bowls, discarding any clams that have not opened. Repeat the process with the mussels. Strain the clam and mussel broths through a fine mesh sieve to remove any sediment. Combine them and add homemade fish broth or water to make 1 cup.

Make the mirepox, a flavorful sauce base. In a large pot that is wider than it is deep, saute the carrots, onion and celery in the olive oil over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden. Add the minced garlic, raise the heat to medium and saute 1 minute. Put in the remaining cup of water and the tomatoes, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Mix in the seafood broth and continue simmering, covered, for another 30 minutes.

When ready to serve, simmer the shrimp in the sauce for 2-3 minutes, then add the scallops and the halibut. Cook for 2-3 minutes more, until the fish becomes opaque. Put in the calms and mussels and cook just long enough to warm them.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer the stew to a serving bowl and garnish with the olive oil, capers and basil. Serve immediately in flat soup bowls. Serve with a good French bread and salad. This recipe can easily by cut in half for 2-3 people.

Chicken tortilla soup

1 cup carrot, diced 1 cup celery 1 cup onion, diced 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 fresh diced garlic clove 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoons corn oil 4 cans chicken broth 1 can tomatoes, diced chilies, diced 1 (1 1/4-1 1/2 ounce) packet taco seasoning 1 package corn tortillas (broken or cut into small pieces) 12 ounces chicken meat, poached, diced 1 cup milk 12 ounces Monterey jack cheese Corn tortilla chips, broken into small pieces

Old-time beef stew

eel, cube, boil, drain and “mush” potatoes to the consistency you like (I like them lumpy, but my kids like smaller pieces).In separate pan, melt butter, add flour and cook while stirring for about a minute or so. Add half the milk and stir until lumps are out of flour mixture.Add remaining milk and on med-high heat, heat to a boil.Stir almost constantly or it will scorch.After boiling, turn heat off and add remaining ingredients.

2 pounds stew beef 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 cups water 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 clove garlic, peeled 1 or 2 bay leaves 1 medium onion, sliced 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon paprika Dash ground allspice or ground cloves 3 large carrots, sliced 3 ribs celery, chopped 2 tablespoons cornstarch

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aute carrots, onions, celery in corn oil, garlic, salt and pepper until tender. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Add tomatoes, Rotel, taco seasoning, and chicken.

Cut Tortillas into small pieces and add to broth mixture. Let boil for 20 minutes or until tortillas are thoroughly incorporated into soup stirring occasionally to keep from sticking. Reduce heat and add 8oz. cheese.

Simmer for additional 10 minutes. Add milk and simmer for additional 10 minutes. If thicker soup is desired, add more diced tortillas and let incorporate into soup. Garnish with shredded cheese and broken tortilla chips. Substitutions: 1 cup Masa Harina (Masa Flour) for 1 10 ct. package of corn tortillas.

Gradually add masa flour mixing into broth, mixing thoroughly into broth. If thicker soup is desired, add more masa flour.11You can also use grilled chicken fajita meat for poached diced chicken.

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rown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours.

Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots and celery. Cover and cook 30 to 40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth.

Mix with a little hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend.

One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost. His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power. Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world. A force known as ... the 99!

THE STORY SO FAR : The 99 visits the opening of the brand-new amusement park ROBOT WORLD -- just in time for its robot cowboys to run amok!

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2011, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

www.the99.org

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

3 trip

This Saturday, June 16, 2001 file photo shows the Leaning Tower, right, and the Duomo Basilica during celebrations for the official ceremony marking the end of the tower restoration in Pisa, Italy. —AP By: Karen Matthews, Jocelyn Noveck, David Koenig

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lanning a vacation with two generations - parents and kids - can be tricky. Planning a vacation with three generations grandparents, parents and kids can be daunting. With family gettogethers coming up over the holidays, and some families already planning next year’s trips, here are three first-person stories about different types of multi-generation vacations - a road trip, a house rental and a cruise ROAD TRIP: Some of my happiest childhood memories are of the road trips I took with my grandparents, mother and brother in the 1960s. One year we made a loop through the Pacific Northwest; another year we visited national parks including Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I remember the unreal blue of Crater Lake and the well-thumbed American Automobile Association guide that steered us to inexpensive motels.

After my daughter was born, it seemed natural to return to threegeneration vacationing. In the last five years my mother, my daughter

and I have crisscrossed much of the United States. We’ve been to Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone - again.

We’ve been to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

My mother, a historian as well as the captain of our expeditions, has aimed to balance kid-friendly activities with the historical and cultural attractions she craves. A museum one day, a trail ride the next. It hasn’t always gone smoothly but it’s been fun.

Williamsburg’s 18th-century reenactments were right up my mother’s cobblestone alley. My daughter was 8 that year and her attention wavered. A brickmaking demonstration interested her more than a tour of the Governor’s Palace. But a promise that the following day would be spent at a water park kept grumbling in check.

We went to Mount Rushmore in 2008. I had not seen it before and was suitably awestruck. My daughter thought it was cool. In planning the trip, my mother had not realized that our stay in South Dakota would coincide with the Sturgis Rally, which attracts hundreds of thousands of motorcycle riders annually.

As we drove through Colorado,

Wyoming and South Dakota that August it seemed we were the only non-bikers on the road. The restaurants and motels were full of beefy, tattooed men in Sturgis T-shirts.

Members of a biker church sold bottled water at a rest stop. They could not have been nicer to us. One of my abiding memories of that trip is my 10-year-old taking turns on the indoor water slide at a hotel in Rapid City with a biker who seemed to enjoy the splashdown as much as she did.

Earlier this year, we visited Tennessee and the Civil War battlefields of Stones River and Shiloh.

Exhibits and ranger talks brought wartime heroism to life, though my daughter’s attention, once again, flagged. But she liked the zipline course at Ruby Falls, near Chattanooga, and all of us enjoyed the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, which has a 72.7 percent grade and bills itself as the world’s steepest passenger railway. Families that visit the area should consider staying, as we did, at the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel, where the lobby is the city’s lovingly restored historic train station and you can eat dinner in a repurposed dining car. We’ll do another trip next year, destination as yet

unplanned. I can’t wait.

HOUSE RENTAL: As an American, I’m used to the “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium” style of travel, running frenetically from place to place. But when the British side of the family proposed spending two weeks relaxing on a rustic property outside a small town in Tuscany, I had to confess it sounded idyllic. We were 20-odd family members and partners, from an 18-month-old to an 87-year-old, coming in from London, New York, Boston, Madrid and the Italian city of Padua. We stayed in three stone houses atop those lovely Tuscan hills. We were 45 minutes from the nearest big tourist attraction - the medieval city of Siena - and we had no plans, other than swimming, reading, cooking, eating and spur-of-the-moment excursions if we felt like it. Days were spent mostly around the pool, which occupied a gorgeous spot overlooking only fields and more hills. There were occasional trips into town to shop for food, get a morning coffee or an afternoon gelato, or to hook up to the Internet (no Wi-Fi at the house).

We had no cooks coming in, as some do. Instead, in a brilliant sys-

tem devised by two young members of our group, we divided into teams of two or three people. Each team was responsible for meal duty one day a week. The team would do all shopping, cooking, serving and cleanup. And everyone else would relax, knowing they soon would have a turn. There was an indoor kitchen, but we never used it. All meals were cooked in an outdoor kitchen that boasted a wood-fired grill, and eaten on a stone deck.

Dinners were long and leisurely come to think of it, so were lunches - always with a few bottles of nice Tuscan wine. Nobody watched television. Instead we talked, played cards, and read books, though I have to admit my young kids, deprived of their usual electronics, were addicted to games on their father’s iPad (to his annoyance.)

On days where the sun and the pool seemed a bit too much, or when we feared our kids were getting too noisy, we packed them up in the car and took off. We brought the kids into Siena for an afternoon stroll one day, then came back ourselves - just parents - to see the art and amazing mosaic floor of the cathedral. (I am forever grateful to the older family members who babysat the kids.)

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Though this holiday was not planned around kids - Europeans, sensibly, do that much less than Americans - there were interesting places for them to see, too. On a trip to Pisa to pick up her older sister, our young daughter enjoyed seeing the Leaning Tower, which has been shored up, but still leans. And they loved Bomarzo, a 16th-century “Park of Monsters,” full of scary stone sculptures. (They also liked a nearby complex of outlet stores much less romantic, but there you have it.)

One of my favorite events was also the most unexpected: An evening talent show. Nobody got a pass; everyone had to have an act.

Performances took place on the deck where we ate. We had three judges, “American Idol” style, and cream pies to throw at the judges at the end.

But the biggest surprise for me was something many people take for granted. In the decade since I had become a mother, I had never once been able to read a book on holiday. This time, with the help of a huge crew to entertain the kids, I actually read an entire book: “Life,”

by Keith Richards. Cover to cover.

Victory!

This August 2007 file photo shows the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska as seen from the deck of Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas cruise ship. Planning a vacation with three generations - grandparents, parents and kids - can be tricky. An Alaskan cruise is one way to go. —AP

CRUISE: My brothers and I had not shared a vacation since we were kids. Now we were grown, with eight children from 12 to 27 between us, all standing on the deck of a cruise ship as it pulled away from the Seattle har-

bor, headed toward Alaska. It was my mother’s idea. A couple years had passed since my father’s death, and I believe the trip was her way of saying, “Your father isn’t here anymore, but we’re still a family.”

The weeklong trip had some-

thing for every generation, starting with the spectacular scenery. My mother paced herself, going ashore to visit a glacier and a bald eagle habitat but skipping other excursions to rest aboard the ship.

My brothers and our wives tried

different things from whale-watching to sea kayaking to visiting the art galleries and gift shops in port towns. On the ship, diversions ranged from photography classes to a talent show to an Elton John tribute act - he was actually good. And

This August 2011 photo courtesy of Francesco Mattiello shows a pool and home in Tuscany where AP writer Jocelyn Noveck and some 20 others in an extended family enjoyed a two-week vacation in Italy. Renting a house is one option for a relaxing multi-generation vacation. —AP

a bonus: My younger brother won the ship’s blackjack tournament.

The seven grandchildren went on many of the same trips, but what they enjoyed most was the freedom to roam the ship, eating what they wanted when they wanted it. The prepaid all-you-can-drink soda cards made the younger ones such as my son, 12 at the time, feel like big shots, and they’re a bargain compared to paying by the glass.

My daughter, then 17, said there could have been more activities for teens. The club and game room on the Holland America ms Oosterdam were aimed at younger kids.

The cruise lines are trying to fight the image that they appeal mostly to older people by adding new entertainment acts (Norwegian brags about the Blue Man Group), amusement areas complete with a carousel (Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas), rock climbing walls, 3-D movies and other attractions. Disney has its own cruise line.

Sometimes, just the route might make a difference for younger family members. On our trip along the Alaska coast, it was cold enough most days that the kids didn’t want to swim on the ship, and of course snorkeling excursions were out of the question. A cruise is a good option if there are family members who have limited mobility. It also eliminates the need to pack and unpack every day, yet the scenery changes with every destination.

Big ships tend to have more activities, and they have a range of room sizes and prices - an important consideration for many multi-generation family trips. While everyone in our group tried different activities each day, we gathered as a family for dinner, just as we did years ago at home. It’s those memories of spending time together that will endure long after the excursions have ended. —AP

Books FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Creative writing: How to write poetry

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ere, you’ll find a definition of poetry based on some of its important characteristics. This is just one of many pages on this website about poetry techniques, types of poetry, and how to write poems. At the bottom of this page, you’ll find links to related topics.

What is poetry?

The question “What is poetry” used to be easier to answer. If it rhymed and had a regular meter (a type of rhythm), it probably was a poem. As they say, “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it must be a duck.”

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he‘s a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he ‘s to setting.

Now here’s the same part of the poem, organized in a paragraph as if it were prose.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: and this same flower that smiles to-day to-morrow will be dying.

that you have to choose profound or “poetic” material. Anything can be the subject for a poem. Great poems have been written about such topics as a gas station (Elizabeth Bishop,”The Filling Station”), a clothesline full of laundry (Richard Wilbur, “Love Calls Us to the Things of the World”), and pieces of broken glass on the beach (“Amy Clampitt, “Beach Glass”).

It’s easiest to write a good poem about something you know well, that you have experienced first-hand, or that you have nearby so that you can observe it carefully.

This is because what makes the poem profound and interesting will be the hidden

about the conversation. Similarly, if your attention is focused on “being poetic,” if you are worrying about what impression your poem will make, then that takes your attention away from the animal or weather or whatever the subject of your poem is.

Even if the poem’s about you or your life, try to take the perspective of a careful reporter when you write it down. You should focus on accurately communicating an aspect of your experience, instead of focusing on what impression you are making when you do it.

How to write a poem expressing your insights So far, I’ve talked about paying careful attention to your subject matter. But paying attention is obviously not enough - you also have to communicate your insights to the reader. Here are some tips that will help: 1. Don’t state the obvious. Everyone knows that grass is green, and that snow is cold. If you mention grass, readers will suppose it is green unless you inform them otherwise. It’s not necessary to mention the color of the grass unless you have something to say about it that the reader doesn’t already know.

2. But don’t force originality. If the grass is actually green, you don’t have rack your brain for another way to express the color just to be “different.” Keep looking, focus on your subject matter, to find the real details that make it unique, the hidden meaning.

3. Choose the right words. I’m not talking about words that are “poetic” or “impressive,” I’m talking about words that express your subject matter. In his essay about animal poems, Hughes talks about words as if they themselves were living animals, each with a certain appearance and sound and way of moving.

These days, not all poems rhyme or fit into standard forms. And if you look for a response to the question, “What is poetry?” you’ll find lots of musings about how extremely important and meaningful poetry is, how it’s our true essence of our world, the oxygen that keeps us alive, etc. Some of this is interesting, but most of it isn’t very helpful if what you’re looking for is an actual explanation. One reason why it’s so hard to get a straight answer on the subject is that people disagree about what should and shouldn’t be considered poetry.

But here are some general differences between poetry and prose (prose is writing that’s not poetry), that you can use as a practical definition of poetry.

Definition of poetry - line structure: The easiest way to recognize poetry is that it usually looks like poetry (remember what they say about ducks). While prose is organized with sentences and paragraphs, poetry is normally organized into lines.

Here’s part of a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674). See how it looks like poetry?

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, the higher he‘s a-getting, the sooner will his race be run, and nearer he ‘s to setting.

If you print a page in prose, the ends of the lines depend on where the margin is.

With a bigger font size or a bigger margin, the lines are shorter. But in poetry, the poet decides where the lines end. This choice is an essential part of how we hear and see a poem. It affects how fast or slowly we read, and where we pause when we’re reading. It causes certain words to stand out more or less. It affects the way the poem looks to us on the page; for example, is there a lot of white space, giving us a feeling of lightness and air, or are the words packed solidly together?

Poetry Techniques 1 Here are some tips that can help you write better poetry.

How to write a poem - what to write about?

The first step in any poem is coming up with something to write about. Don’t feel

details or qualities you discover, or what the subject reminds you of, your unique perspective. With poems, as with other things (or so I hear), it’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with it.

How to write a poem getting outside yourself In his book Poetry in the Making, the poet Ted Hughes talks about how to write a poem about an animal. The key, he says, is to concentrate hard enough on the animal, to choose the words that best capture the animal you have in your mind. You can use this approach with any subject matter.

In the beginning, you don’t have to worry about “style,” about writing in a “beautiful” or a “poetic” way. In fact, if you start to think about “being poetic,” it can distract you from what you’re actually writing about and hurt your poem. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who was trying to impress you? Then you know how boring this can be. The person is really thinking about himself or herself, not

Think of the words “glow” and “glitter.”

Both describe light, but different kinds of light. When I see the word “glow,” I think of a gentle warm light coming from inside of something. When I see the word “glitter,” I think of many tiny pieces of light reflecting off of a hard surface. The word “glitter” gives me more of an idea of motion. The sounds of the words also create different feelings. “Glow” has a soft, round sound; “Glitter” has a hard sound and is broken into two parts, like light that is fragmented or moving. (www.creative-writing-now.com)

Books FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Poems of Sleep and Dreams Peter Washington (Editor)

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oets have always drawn inspiration from the wild fancies of dream life.

We spend a third of our lives asleep, and throughout history our nocturnal visions have engaged the interpretive talents of our greatest writers. This treasury of poets-Sidney, Donne, Blake, Keats, Wordsworth, Whitman, Rilke, Plath, Graves, Roethke, Bishop, Moore, Updike, and many more-encompasses lullabies, invocations, aubades, songs, epigrams, and stories, in every conceivable mood

from the broadly comic to the tragic. It includes poems about daydreams and nightmares, about falling asleep and about waking up, about insomnia, night thoughts, monsters of the dark, twilight, dawn, and the rebirth of morning. From Auden’s “Lullaby” to Rossetti’s “Nuptial Sleep,” from Salvatore Quasimodo’s “Insomnia” to Thom Gunn’s “Annihilation of Nothing,” Poems of Sleep and Dreams evokes the whole haunting, magical spectrum of sleep and dream.

Edda Snorri Sturluson

Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer

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ounded in 1906 by JM Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic’s introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman’s uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards.

The Poem of the Cid: Dual Language Edition One of the finest of epic poems, and the only one to have survived from medieval Spain, “The Poem of the Cid” recounts the adventures of the warlord and nobleman Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar - ‘Mio Cid’. A forceful combination of heroic fiction and historical fact, the tale seethes with the restless, adventurous spirit of Castille, telling of the Cid’s unjust banishment from the court of King Alfonso, his victorious campaigns in Valencia, and the crowning of his daughters as queens of Aragon and Navarre - the high point of his career as a warmonger. An epic that sings of universal human values, this is one of the greatest of all works of Spanish literature.

Poems From My Bleeding Heart David Rehak

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avid Rehak (b. 1980?) is a CzechCanadian author who’s talent is in early bloom like Mary Shelley, Arthur Rimbaud or our own Jiri Wolker before him. Such literary and artistic cases and rare but not unheard-of.

Apparently his mother went through very difficult delivery and he was born dead for some minutes but miraculously revived. As a little boy he must have grew up hard in corruption and oppression of the Communist regime which no doubting shaped his views on freedom and

censorship in adult life.The regime was giving his parents problems so they escaped to Canada. In Canada his family’s fortunes improved. There he lived most his life. Now recently he is back in Europe after his university courses are interrupted due to failing health. I see him as pitiable figure, broken by nervous disorder and years of drug-use and debauchery — probobly convalescing in some hospital or prison.

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he result of a collaboration between Sumerian scholar Noah Kramer and folklorist Diane Wolkstein, this book is a thoughtfully annotated translation of the major Sumerian cuneiform texts devoted to the goddess Inanna-among the oldest religious texts in the world. It is illustrated with blackand-white reproductions of ancient Sumerian art, mostly on clay tablets.

Our understanding of Sumerian culture continues to grow as new texts are found and our perceptions change. This book was published in 1983, and included material unknown to the general public at the time. There are four major stories of Inanna told here: “The Huluppu Tree,” “Inanna and the God Of Wisdom,” “The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi,” and the extended epic “The Descent of Inanna.” Seven hymns to the goddess round out the collection.

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Years

C h i l d re n FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Spot the difference

color me

connect the dots

maze

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C h i l d re n

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

alfa-search

number-search

Can you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal or vertical.

AMAZON, COLORADO, CONGO, DANUBE, ELBE, EUPHRATES, GANGES, HUDSON, INDUS, LIMPOPO, LOIRE, MEKONG, MIS-

SOURI, MURRAY, NILE, ORINOCO, RHINE, RIO GRANDE, SEINE, SHANNON, THAMES, TIBER, TIGRIS, VOLGA, YANGTZE, ZAMBEZI.

Can you find the hidden numbers? They may be horizontal or vertical 11363, 14749, 17659, 28273, 36238, 36433, 38473, 49387, 61355, 64848, 66483, 78448, 82993, 83738, 87637, 99938.

word fit

sudoku

solution Can you fit all the words correctly into the grid? Two letters have already been entered.

3 letter words RAT ZOO 4 letter words GOAT LAMB NEWT SEAL 5 letter words ADDER

EIDER KOALA LLAMA 7 letter words KESTREL ROOSTER 9 letter words ALLIGATOR LYREBIRDS

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Health

Years

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

What is low blood pressure?

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lood pressure is the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels. It constitutes one of the critically important signs of life or vital signs which include heart beat, breathing, and temperature. Blood pressure is generated by the heart pumping blood into the arteries modified by the response of the arteries to the flow of blood.

Low blood pressure (hypotension) is pressure so low it causes symptoms or signs due to the low flow of blood through the arteries and veins. When the flow of blood is too low to deliver enough oxygen and nutrients to vital organs such as the brain, heart, and kidney, the organs do not function normally and may be temporarily or permanently damaged.

Unlike high blood pressure, low blood pressure is defined primarily by signs and symptoms of low blood flow and not by a specific blood pressure number. Some individuals routinely may have blood pressures of 90/50 with no symptoms and therefore do not have low blood pressure. However, others who normally have higher blood pressures may develop symptoms of low blood pressure if their blood pressure drops to 100/60.

Is low blood pressure bad for your health?

People who have lower blood pressures have a lower risk of stroke, kidney disease, and heart disease. Athletes, people who exercise regularly, people who maintain ideal body weight, and non-smokers tend to have lower blood pressures. Therefore, low blood pressure is desirable as long as it is not low enough to cause symptoms and damage to the organs in the body.

What are low blood pressure signs and symptoms?

When blood pressure is not sufficient to deliver enough blood to the organs of the body, the organs do not work properly and can be temporarily or permanently damaged.

For example, if insufficient blood flows to the brain, brain cells do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients, and a person can feel lightheaded, dizzy, or even faint.

Going from a sitting or lying position to a standing position often brings out symptoms of low blood pressure. This occurs because standing causes blood to “settle” in the veins of the lower body, and this can lower the blood pressure. If the blood pressure is already low, standing can make the low pressure worse, to the point of causing symptoms. The development of lightheadedness, dizziness, or fainting upon standing caused by low blood pressure is called orthostatic hypotension. Normal individuals are able to compensate rapidly for the low pressure created by standing with the responses discussed previously and do not develop orthostatic hypotension.

When there is insufficient blood pressure to deliver blood to the coronary arteries (the arteries that supply blood to the heart’s muscle), a person may develop chest pain (a symptom of angina) or even a heart attack.

When insufficient blood is delivered to the kidneys, the kidneys fail to eliminate wastes from the body, for example, urea (BUN) and creatinine, and increases in their levels in the blood occur.

Shock is a life-threatening condition where persistently low blood pressure causes organs such as kidney(s), liver, heart, lung, and brain to fail rapidly.

What are the causes of low blood pressure?

Conditions that reduce the volume of blood, reduce cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped by the heart), and medications are frequent reasons for low blood pressure.

Dehydration is common among patients with prolonged nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Large amounts of water are lost when vomiting and with diarrhea, especially if the person does not drink adequate amounts of fluid to replace the depleted water.

Other causes of dehydration include exercise, sweating, fever, and heat exhaustion, or heat stroke. Individuals with mild dehydration may experience only thirst and dry mouth. Moderate to severe dehydration may cause ortho-

static hypotension (manifested by lightheadedness, dizziness, or fainting upon standing). Prolonged and severe dehydration can lead to shock, kidney failure, confusion, acidosis (too much acid in the blood), coma, and even death.

Moderate or severe bleeding can quickly deplete an

individual’s body of blood, leading to low blood pressure or orthostatic hypotension. Bleeding can result from trauma, surgical complications, or from gastrointestinal abnormalities such as ulcers, tumors, or diverticulosis.

Occasionally, the bleeding may be so severe and rapid (for example, bleeding from a ruptured aortic aneurysm) that it causes shock and death rapidly.

Severe inflammation of organs inside the body such as acute pancreatitis can cause low blood pressure. In acute pancreatitis, fluid leaves the blood vessels to enter the inflamed tissues around the pancreas as well as the abdominal cavity, concentrating blood and reducing its volume.

Causes of low blood pressure due to heart disease Weakened heart muscle can cause the heart to fail and reduce the amount of blood it pumps. One common cause of weakened heart muscle is the death of a large portion of the heart’s muscle due to a single, large heart attack or repeated smaller heart attacks.

The resting heart rate for a healthy adult is between 60 and 100 beats/minute. Bradycardia (resting heart rates slower than 60 beats/minute) does not always cause low blood pressure. In fact, some highly trained athletes can have resting heart rates in the 40s and 50s (beats per minute) without any symptoms. (The slow heart rates are offset by more forceful contractions of the heart that pump more blood than in non-athletes.) But in many patients bradycardia can lead to low blood pressure, lightheadedness, dizziness, and even fainting.

Several common reasons for bradycardia include: 1) sick sinus syndrome, 2) heart block, and 3) drug toxicity. Many of these conditions occur in the elderly.

1.Sick sinus syndrome: Sick sinus syndrome occurs when the diseased electrical system of the heart cannot generate signals fast enough to maintain a normal heart rate.

2.Heart block: Heart block occurs when the specialized tissues that transmit electrical current in the heart are damaged by heart attacks, degeneration from atherosclerosis, and medications. Heart block prevents some or all of the electrical signals from reaching parts of the heart, and this prevents the heart from contracting as well as it otherwise would.

3.Drug toxicity: Drugs such as digoxin (Lanoxin) or beta blockers for high blood pressure, can slow the transmission of electricity in the heart chemically and can cause bradycardia and hypotension (see section below “Medications that cause low blood pressure”).

An abnormally fast heart rate (tachycardia) also can

cause low blood pressure. The most common example of tachycardia causing low blood pressure is atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation is a disorder of the heart characterized by rapid and irregular electrical discharges from the muscle of the heart causing the ventricles to contract irregularly and (usually) rapidly. The rapidly contracting ventricles do not have enough time to fill maximally with blood before the each contraction, and the amount of blood that is pumped decreases in spite of the faster heart rate. Other abnormally rapid heart rhythms such as ventricular tachycardia also can produce low blood pressure, sometimes even lifethreatening shock.

Medications that cause low blood pressure Medications such as calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, and digoxin (Lanoxin) can slow the rate at which the heart contracts. Some elderly people are extremely sensitive to these medications since they are more likely to have diseased hearts and electrical conduction tissues. In some individuals, the heart rate can become dangerously slow even with small doses of these medications.

Medications used in treating high blood pressure (such as ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and alpha-blockers) can excessively lower blood pressure and result in symptomatic low blood pressure especially among the elderly.

Water pills (diuretics) such as hydrochlorothiazide furosemide (Lasix) can decrease blood volume by causing excessive urination.

Medications used for treating depression, such as amitriptyline (Elavil), Parkinson’s disease, such as levodopacarbidopa (Sinemet), erectile dysfunction (impotence), such as sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra), and tadalafil (Cialis) when used in combination with nitroglycerine, can cause low blood pressure.

How is low blood pressure treated?

Low blood pressure in healthy subjects without symptoms or organ damage needs no treatment. However, all patients with symptoms possibly due to low blood pressure should be evaluated by a doctor. (Patients who have had a major drop in blood pressure from their usual levels even without the development of symptoms also should be evaluated.) The doctor needs to identify the cause of the low blood pressure; remedies will depend on the cause. For example, if a medication is causing the low blood pressure, the dose of medication may have to be reduced or the medication stopped, though only after consulting the doctor. Self-adjustment of medication should not be done. (www.medicinenet.com)

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Do you have a sick house? Lead paint, pesticides, and pollution can contribute to sick house syndrome.

Here are things you can do to keep your house, and you, healthy.

Is your house making you sick?

I

s your house making you sick? Don’t be surprised if the answer is yes. Toxins, pesticides, gases, mites, and molds are everywhere, and the more you’re exposed to them, the greater your risk for developing the health problems they can cause.

When it comes to being “home sick,” says Robert McLellan, MD, director of Exeter Hospital’s Environmental and Occupational Health Center in Portsmouth, N.H., you can look at it from two angles. Which of your health problems are related to your environment? Or what hazards are lurking in your environment and what can they do to you?

The first angle, typically referred to as “sick building syndrome,” usually results in a group of symptoms such as eye, nose, and throat irritation, stuffiness, “spaciness,” and rash, says McLellan. “These symptoms come and go fairly quickly — you may notice them within an hour or two of entering a building but also notice that they will be gone within an hour or two of leaving a building.” There is no objective test that measures these symptoms, McLellan says, so it’s more a matter of paying attention to the symptoms and trying to pinpoint when you have them and where you are when they strike.

“Building-associated illness” covers the second angle. In this case, the effects of environmental hazards may not be immediately apparent. Exposure to radon, for example, can lead to lung cancer, but it may be years before that happens. With building-associated illness, abnormalities — such as sinusitis, allergies, asthma — can be diagnosed through objective tests.

Every household is different, says Elizabeth Sword, executive director of the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC), in Princeton, N.J., but we should all look to the same general sources when trying to determine what hazards we’re facing. Air, food, water, and consumer products are what Sword calls the “organizing principles” of confronting environmental risks.

Falling under those headings are “10 environmental hazards you can live without,” says McLellan: 1.Tobacco smoke. Long-term exposure to other peo-

ple’s tobacco smoke (not to mention your own!) increases your risk for lung cancer, respiratory infections, other lung problems, and possibly heart disease. Don’t allow tobacco smoke in your home, McLellan cautions.

2.Radon. Radon is an odorless, invisible gas that can increase the risk of lung cancer, especially for smokers.

3.Asbestos. If your home was built between 1920 and 1978, you may be exposed to asbestos, which was commonly used as a building and insulation material then.

Exposure to small amounts of asbestos probably won’t harm you, but breathing high levels of it can increase your risk of cancer and lung disease. Only specially trained and licensed contractors should remove asbestos, but you can identify it yourself.

4.Lead. Many homes built in the US before 1978 contain lead paint, which causes lead poisoning in nearly 900,000 American children each year. If you have a young child at home who is at risk for lead exposure, talk to your physician about having the child’s blood tested for lead levels.

And if you live in an older home, consider testing for lead paint.

Another, more contemporary, risk of lead poisoning comes from scented candles. According to the Environmental Illness Society of Canada, some candle makers are still using lead cores in their wicks, which can result in lead particles being emitted into the air of a home. This is particularly dangerous for infants, small children, and pregnant women. lCombustion gases. These gases include carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide. They can cause flu-like symptoms, respiratory illnesses, or even death. Don’t use unvented combustion appliances (such as portable kerosene heaters) indoors. Use an exhaust hood over a gas stove. Clean and maintain your chimneys and furnace every year, making sure that they are properly vented. And install a carbon monoxide monitor. lWater pollution. The US has one of the safest water supplies in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s failsafe. If you use a private well, test your water every year for nitrates and bacteria. Depending on where you live, you

may also want to test for pesticides, organic chemicals, or radon. lHousehold chemicals. Some household products may be dangerous if not used correctly. Choose the least dangerous chemical for the job. Keep household chemicals away from children and pets, and if possible, store them outside the house and away from living spaces. lPesticides. Try to avoid using chemical pesticides when maintaining your gardens, lawns, and trees. Also, store firewood outside and away from the house to avoid insects, keep food in tight containers, and clean up food spills to minimize insects. lAllergens. Water-damaged materials frequently grow molds and other organisms that can cause allergies and other illnesses. To reduce other allergens in the home and fix leaks and moisture problems, don’t use a humidifier unless you follow the manufacturer’s instructions, keep furry animals out of the house (or at least out of the bedroom), wrap your mattresses and pillows in allergy-proof covers. lFood poisoning. Food must be properly prepared and stored to prevent food poisoning. Keep your refrigerator below 40 degrees F. Refrigerate cooked, perishable food as soon as possible. Wash cutting boards with soap and hot water after each use. Don’t allow raw meat, poultry, or fish to come into contact with food that will not be well cooked. Don’t eat raw or undercooked eggs.

Though we may be at higher risk for environmentalrelated conditions and illnesses than ever before, the good news, says McLellan, is that from a preventive standpoint, much can be done. “If we build, design, and operate our homes in a healthy manner, we can keep a lot of these problems from getting out of hand.” (www.medicinenet.com)

Art FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan

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eonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan, the National Gallery’s once-in-a-lifetime show, is a revelation from first to last.

It contains more than half of all the surviving paintings, so fragile and rare, begged and borrowed from around the world. These are sparely presented, one or two to a room, and with lighting superbly matched to that of the pictures themselves, with their pale figures looming out of the darkness like night creatures, held fast in knife-edge contours and sealed off by an almost alien perfection. The show is dazzling, mysterious and disturbing.

That there are any paintings to show at all is something of a miracle. Leonardo’s career is a catalogue of lost works and false starts. He ruined his greatest paintings, The Last Supper and the Battle of Anghiari, by experimenting with new fresco techniques that entirely destroyed the latter during his lifetime. His fabled Medusa disappeared long ago and his dream of the world’s largest equestrian statue, of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, never got any further than the clay model later shot to smithereens by French troops.

Leonardo probably started no more than 20 paintings, in any case, a scant total for a 50-year career. Of these only 15 are agreed to be entirely by him so it is remarkable to have nine in this show. He was notoriously slow, reworking a painting for decades, and constantly distracted by the visionary machines and armaments, the metaphysical and mathematical speculations, the strange inventions, anatomical inquiries and treatises on art for which he is celebrated.

Leonardo is a visual thinker who painted part-time; his mind is only intermittently expressed in paintings as opposed to schemes, sketches and words. So the National Gallery’s decision to include more than 50 of his stupendous drawings - thought-into-line - is not just wise but apposite. The show starts with one of the greatest drawings: his vision of how the mind works.

A man’s head is bisected in profile. The crosssection shows his external appearance - gruff mouth, Roman nose, wavy hair - but also his inner being, consisting of three interlinked chambers in the brain. Knowledge comes in through the eye, is processed in the first chamber, understood in the second (the soul) and stored by memory in the third. Centuries before anyone discovered how the eye works (still less

the mind) Leonardo correctly conceives of it as an extruded part of the brain.

And when you look from this astonishing image, all its insights condensed in a little page, to the portrait of a musician, borrowed from Milan, this guess becomes true metaphor. The musician’s eyes are painted as glinting spheres, all vitality and inner perception. Leonardo senses the connection between mind and eye: to see is in some sense to know.

The Musician is a peculiar painting, with its wooden hand holding a stiff little score. Perhaps these elements are not by Leonardo? Doubts about who painted what keep surfacing throughout the show, but there is no mistaking the young man’s angelic nose and lips, or those clouds of curling tendrils that prefigure Leonardo’s later obsession with the movements of air and water. Already, the images are otherworldly.

Partly that lies in their superhuman precision.

Leonardo is master of the metal point and sharpened quill, transmitting information to perfection on paper, the line controlled, incised, repeated: nothing spontaneous, everything studied. And the empirical character of the drawings - what does the world look like, how do things work - leaves its trace in the paintings.

Look at Cecilia Gallerani, Sforza’s beautiful 16-year-old mistress, turning towards something or someone unseen beyond the picture.

This is a vision of lithe animation caught fast, pinned down. Her elegant contours are measured by headband, veil, straps and beads, but the painting itself keeps her tautly confined in its lines: a shapely contrapposto, not a hair out of place.

Cecilia is holding an ermine, Sforza’s emblem, and even without the adjacent studies of bears and dogs’ paws, one sees that this animal must be a composite, a mythical creature.

And maybe Cecilia is too. The sheer strangeness of this wild thing, so impossibly still, is echoed in her preternatural beauty, somewhere between real and ideal.

It is this tension between what he observed and what he imagined that makes Leonardo’s Milanese paintings so singular. Much is made of the way he revolutionised portraiture, turning his sitters out of the traditional profile into three-quarter view, but you see this in Van Eyck, Botticelli, Messina and others before Leonardo.

What strikes is something far more outlandish.

It’s in the drawing of a living neck cut away to show the nerves and vertebrae like the inner structure of a helter-skelter. And in the study of the skull he eventually acquires (“on the 2nd day of April 1489” as Leonardo excitedly records) where the skull is growing back into a man nose-first, as if still possessed of life and soul.

It’s in the drawing of twining biceps that metamorphoses into the astounding anatomy of St Jerome, a strenuous saint glowing out of brown underpaint like some musclebound superhero. And in those gloomy rocks and caverns, first observed as local geology then reprised as landscapes of the mind, jagged and fearful.

He sees, he draws, but when he paints, the seeds of reality have germinated into something hauntingly mythic and yet still momentary. I suppose the pre-eminent instance of this doubling is the Mona Lisa, ageless apparition and Florentine housewife all in one. She falls outside the span of this show - the years 1482-99, when Sforza employed Leonardo - but most of the works here have this quality.

Consider The Virgin of the Rocks. What a hor-

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci rifying spot these saints are in, the vicious rocks around them, the jutting pinnacles in the distance like teeth, that cold blue water, those dismal caverns. The National Gallery has both versions of the picture, mounted on opposing walls and irresistibly proposing comparison: is the Louvre’s early version, yellow with filth, more tender-hearted, sympathetic and natural than the National Gallery’s newly cleaned vision of spotlit and sharply haloed figures with shellac complexions? Both partake of the real, down to the smallest botanical detail, but both are eerily remote: lunar figures, beyond time and out of this world.

The unprecedented massing of Leonardo’s paintings reveals strong similarities from one to the next - shattered rocks, pointing fingers, those angelic eyelids like slits in a jingle bell - as well as bewildering disparities. It is hard, for instance, to connect the dissolving sfumato of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, a feat of diaphanous chalk and charcoal, with the hideously glib sfumato of the recently attributed Salvator Mundi.

The insistent frontality of this painting suggests traditional Veil of Veronica icons (Christ’s image miraculously transferred to cloth, not made by human hand). But the narcotised eyes, and those fingers holding an invisible joint, resemble some stoned symbolist fantasy. It may be by Leonardo - the National Gallery is apparently “testing” its authenticity here - but it

remains a monstrously hard painting to admire.

So much about this show is contradictory, hovering, elusive. It is greatly to the credit of the curators, Luke Syson and Larry Keith, that neither the wall texts nor the marvellous catalogue - thorough, eloquent, original: that is to say, nearly unique in this field - attempt to pin Leonardo down. They allow him to be what he is, matchlessly strange and various.

That is most evident in the drawings, of course, with their teeming observations of eyeballs, teeth, architraves and flaccid jowls, their visions of apocalyptic downpours and their questing for the last trace of human presence even in the hollow of a skull.

The drawings are fully as riveting as the paintings and still quick with their maker’s touch. Because they seem to carry Leonardo’s thoughts with such immediacy, one searches them for a better understanding of the paintings; but the paintings resist. Their cool perfection compels, but so much else - meaning, mood, emotion - is withheld.

The experience at the National Gallery is of persuasive clarity and intense control, a way of painting disciplined by analysis, vision and pure draughtsmanship. But there is always something else too, something going on behind or below all this that one cannot reach or deduce: what was happening within that second chamber of the artist’s head.—Guardian

Art FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Tate director urges galleries to turn down the heating G

alleries and museums are guilty of boosting global warming and paying too much for heating and air conditioning, according to Tate galleries director Sir Nicholas Serota. The influential art expert is leading a backroom campaign to urge fellow art gallery chiefs across the world to drop stringent rules about the temperature and humidity levels inside their buildings.

“There is a strong feeling emerging that new galleries and refurbishment should not have to assume the same established levels for climate and humidity,” said Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund and former director of Tate Britain. “But in the last few years there has been much more pressure on galleries around the world to lend precious works they would not have considered lending before, and so they look for reassurance.”

International regulations about maintaining the right temperature and “relative humidity” inside an exhibition were laid down in the middle of the last century, driven by fears that artworks would be damaged if their surroundings changed.

As it stands, unless a museum can guarantee a climate of 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) and 50% relative humidity, it is not seen as suitable to borrow great art. The rules were established in London after artworks were moved to avoid the aerial bombardments of the first and second world wars.

Studies of the effects of the storage of the British Museum’s collections, which were held in underground rail tunnels during the first world war, were followed by analysis of the minimal damage to works stored in stable slate quarry caves in Wales in the second world war.

But today, alongside improvements in technology, the understanding of how artworks are damaged has deepened. Behind the scenes Serota, along with Mark Jones, for-

mer head of the Victoria and Albert Museum, is now calling for a radical rethink. “We need to establish a new dialogue between professionals and empower them to consider fresh options,” Serota told an international conference, before setting up a working group and looking into how to make changes at the Tate. “We need to devise imaginative new solutions to resolve the dichotomy between long-term collections care and expensive environmental conditions,” he said.

Tensions about the care of great works of art when they travel have always run high. Some of the invaluable paintings on display at the hit Leonardo da Vinci show that opened at the National Gallery have been at the centre of such rows. The loan of the priceless Lady With An Ermine, held by a gallery in Krakow and now on show in London, was in doubt last year, when Polish experts said it was too delicate to be moved.-Guardian “When you look at the current Leonardo show, you can see it is the result of some very sophisticated negotiations between curators and conservators,” said Deuchar. So far the Tate has proceeded cautiously by making changes in the collection display galleries at Tate Modern and Tate Britain, but it has not rolled them out at its loan exhibition galleries, nor in the rooms where vulnerable works might be displayed.

“Materials which are highly sensitive will always need tight controls. It is hoped that over the next couple of years definitive guidelines and conditions can be reached through co-ordinated research findings from a range of institutions in the UK and internationally,” added the Tate.

The National Museum Directors Conference has modified advice in “interim guidelines” in response to Serota’s arguments, but they have pointed out that lower temperature limits were set for the comfort of human beings, not

just to preserve artworks.

Meanwhile, a gallery in America has taken the bull by the horns. Without discussion, Indianapolis Museum of Art has unilaterally abandoned agreed environmental control levels and lets temperature and humidity fluctuate a little to either side of the global standard.

Architects also advocate a return to buildings with “smart” ventilation -the kind put out of business by air conditioning. Yet, as Deuchar points out, there is no way to prevent the effects of time on an artwork entirely. Conservators will ruefully admit that the work they do simply slows down inevitable decay.—Guardian

Climate control is vital for the preservation of rare paintings but not all art needs such care

Comics

C R O S S W O R D

5 0 1

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

To Yester

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

ACROSS

1. One of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof.

5. Protective covering made of metal and used in combat.

10. A change in the electrical properties of the skin in response to stress or anxiety.

13. Widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions for its fragrant flowers and colorful fruits.

14. A river that rises in central Germany and flows north to join the Elbe River.

15. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

16. Jordan's port.

18. The scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals.

19. A decree that prohibits something.

20. An island of central Hawaii.

21. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

22. An anti-TNF compound (trade name Arava) that is given orally.

26. A master's degree in business.

29. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

30. An Eskimo hut.

34. A mythical Greek warrior who was a leader on the Trojan side of the Trojan War. 37. A state in northwestern North America.

38. A relative position or degree of value in a graded group.

39. A bag used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women).

41. Filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock.

43. A condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people.

44. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

45. A Kwa language spoken by the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria.

46. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

47. A promontory in northern Morocco opposite the Rock of Gibraltar.

50. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

54. With the mouth wide open as in wonder or awe.

58. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

62. The biblical name for ancient Syria.

63. The compass point that is one point east (clockwise) of due north.

64. Fear resulting from the awareness of danger.

65. (New Testament) The sages who visited Jesus and Mary and Joseph shortly after Jesus was born.

66. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

67. A genus of Ploceidae.

68. Assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing.

DOWN 1. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

2. A town and port in northwestern Israel in the eastern Mediterranean.

3. Lacking excess flesh.

4. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

5. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

6. A deceitful and unreliable scoundrel.

7. Stem of the rattan palm used for making canes and umbrella handles.

8. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot palm used in India for writing paper.

9. Belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler.

10. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

11. Speaking a Slavic language.

12. Type genus of the Ranidae.

17. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs

that can solve problems creatively.

23. An Indian side dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices.

24. An independent group of closely related Chadic languages spoken in the area between the Biu-Mandara and East Chadic languages.

25. Medium-sized tree-dwelling monkey of the Amazon basin.

27. A small ball with a hole through the middle.

28. A former copper coin of Pakistan.

31. An ancient Egyptian city on the west bank of the Nile opposite Cairo.

32. Plant having a large slender white bulb and flat overlapping dark green leaves.

33. Relating to the Urdu language.

35. Having a specified kind of border or edge.

36. Norwegian mathematician (1802-1829).

40. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

42. The arch of bone beneath the eye that forms the prominence of the cheek.

48. The hair growing on the lower part of a man's face.

49. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

50. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

51. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

52. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

53. Offering fun and gaiety.

55. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

56. Especially one side of a leaf.

57. Expel, as of gases and odors.

59. A diagrammatic representation of the earth's surface (or part of it).

60. Someone who is morally reprehensible.

61. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

Yesterday’s Solution

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Lifestyle

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Veganism has some stylish new spokespeople W

alk into Pure Food on Manhattan’s chic Irving Place and out back to its spacious, luxurious garden, and you might spot actress Katie Holmes. Or Alec Baldwin and his new girlfriend, whom he met at the restaurant. Or football player Tom Brady. Or radio host Howard Stern. Or Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea, who’ve made a number of visits together, enjoying the sweet corn and cashew tamales with portabella or a mint sundae for dessert. Or any number of Wall Street moguls.

It could be any trendy New York eatery, but Pure serves only vegan and raw food, with nary an egg nor an oven in sight. Its upscale clientele is a mix of vegans, vegetarians and just plain foodies, but clearly a sign of how the image of veganism has changed in recent years. Call them the big-time vegans: The celebrity standard-bearers for a vegan lifestyle aren’t just wispy young actresses.

They include talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, along with Portia de Rossi. (Or Oprah Winfrey, who isn’t vegan but led her staff on a public 21day vegan cleanse.) Or men like Ozzy Osbourne and Russell Brand, who in recent weeks both declared themselves vegans. Athletes like Carl Lewis and Mike Tyson. Even NFL player Tony Gonzalez, tight end for the Atlanta Falcons and 245-plus pounds, attributes his longevity to a largely vegan diet.

And then there are the moguls, like billionaire publisher, real estate developer and recent avowed vegan

Mike Tyson Mort Zuckerman, and Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino magnate, who’s hired a vegan chef and put vegan options in his resort restaurants. Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter, also

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi has spoken of his veganism. Of all the high-profile vegans, though, Clinton is the biggest “catch.” Advocates were thrilled and stunned when he talked about it on CNN last year, telling host Wolf Blitzer that his impressive 24-pound weight loss was due to a largely plant-based diet - a regime he believes will prolong his life.

“I fell off my chair when I heard him talking about his almond milk smoothie,” says prominent vegan chef and cookbook author Tal Ronnen, who has worked with celebrities like Winfrey and DeGeneres, and is a collaborating chef for Wynn’s two Las Vegas resorts. “Someone like Bill Clinton who grew up on southern comfort food talking about his vegan diet - it shows how things are changing.” The question is, of course, how much those changes have influenced ordinary Americans.

“All the exposure is absolutely having an influence,” says advocate Joseph Connelly, editor and publisher of VegNews. “People can pronounce the word ‘vegan’ now! Five, 10 years ago they couldn’t. It’s nothing but positive.” But what about hard numbers? The Vegetarian Resource Group, a nonprofit education and advocacy group, reports that its polling on the issue indicates there’s been a marked increase over the last decade in veganism in America and that it’s currently either remaining steady or, more likely, slowly rising.

The group says its latest figures show that about 5 percent of American adults are vegetarians - saying they never eat meat, fish, seafood or poultry - and that half of these vegetarians are also vegan, meaning they

don’t eat dairy or eggs, either. (Strict vegans also don’t eat honey.)

In addition, the proportion of vegans to vegetarians seems to be going up, says Charles Stahler, co-director of the group. “It seems to all add up,” Stahler says. “It comes from different angles - the public campaigns of animal rights groups, the emergence of the health rationale, the environmental movement.” There is also the issue of supply - more vegan options available in supermarkets and restaurants all the time. “There are a lot of ways that people come to it,” says Ronnen, the vegan chef, who catered DeGeneres and de Rossi’s wedding and supervised Winfrey’s cleanse.

“But I’ve been doing this a long time and I have never seen such a shift.

“It’s no longer seen as a diet of hummus and alfalfa sprouts on some really dry healthy bread,” he says. “It’s not hippies preaching peace and love.

Now, you have a crossover of mainstream business people and goodlooking celebrities.”

De Rossi certainly falls into that latter category. The actress has written about her struggles with eating disorders. Now, she says, she wants people to know about the vegan lifestyle she’s adopted with DeGeneres, her wife of three years, one they’ve chosen out of concern for animal welfare. In an interview, de Rossi said she had been essentially vegan when she met DeGeneres, who was a fan of meat, especially burgers. De Rossi went back to meat, but later, together, they became vegans.

“It took a couple years, but we realized we didn’t feel comfortable ethically eating meat,” de Rossi says.

“For animal lovers, something kind of clicks. But it doesn’t really matter how you get to it, as long as you believe in why you chose a vegan diet.” De Rossi is encouraged that prominent figures like Wynn and Clinton are throwing their weight - even 24 pounds less of it, in Clinton’s case behind veganism. “I think men in particular are taking note of Steve Wynn and Bill Clinton,” she says. “They’re really powerful men that people want to emulate.” As for entertainment figures like herself, “we can do our part too,” the actress says. “The more we can demystify the word ‘vegan,’ the better.” She notes that all cooking segments on DeGeneres’ show are vegan.

But what about the cost argument - that shifting to a vegan diet is expensive and time-consuming, and often simply untenable for average Americans who, unlike stars and billionaire moguls, don’t have their own private chefs? “I get some of that,”

acknowledges de Rossi. “But look at the diet. Foods like beans and rice are staple foods in so many cultures. And there’s so much you can buy in supermarkets now. Being vegan is not an

Katie Holmes exclusive thing. I think for people to say, ‘Well, it’s fine for you’ - that’s kind of an excuse.” De Rossi and DeGeneres, in fact, are becoming restaurateurs: They’ve invested in a vegan chain, The Veggie Grill, and may be investing in a standalone vegan restaurant as well, according to a spokesman.

They could probably take advice from Sarma Melngailis, owner of Pure, who co-founded it in the summer of 2004. “It’s all so much more mainstream now than seven years ago,” Melngailis says. “We’ve moved away from that crunchy image. You won’t see that here.” What you will see are diners eating a raw lasagna made with zucchini, heirloom tomatoes and macadamia pumpkin seed ricotta, or squash blossoms filled with a spiced cashew “cheese” - both dishes bearing a high-end $24 price tag.

Or sipping cocktails made with fresh organic juices, like a mojito with mint, lime juice and sake.

Melngailis, who also owns the One Lucky Duck retail store and online business, specializing in vegan snacks, feels that the more adaptable veganism is, essentially, the more people will accept it. “A lot of people associate veganism with judgment, and I don’t like that,” she says. “Our goal is to encourage a shift. It’s not black and white. It’s gray.” The role of a (mostly) vegan like Clinton is crucial, she says. “It legitimizes it a lot. I like to point it out all the time when people are skeptical about veganism - Clinton’s a smart man.” —AP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Lawsuit dropped, but Bieber baby claim lingers

Canadian singer Justin Bieber receives the ‘Entertainment’ Bambi award during the ceremony. —AFP

G O S S I P

Winehouse wrote full 3rd CD, planned supergroup

A

my Winehouse had written all the songs that were to appear on her third album. She even picked out song titles. But music producer Salaam Remi said the soul singer, who died over the summer, was not rushing to release that new material, instead planning to drop a jazz album first with a “supergroup” including guestlove of the Roots.

“She had written down everything she wanted to do,” Remi said Tuesday. Only two of the tracks Winehouse wrote were recorded and appear on her compilation album, “Lioness: Hidden Treasures,” out Dec. 5 in the United Kingdom, and a day later in America.

Winehouse died from accidental alcohol poisoning at age 27. Her body was found at her London home July 23. Remi, who worked on the singer’s two albums, “Frank” and “Back to Black,” produced most of the upcoming CD, saying Winehouse was a perfectionist when it came to composing music. “She was taking her time with it, and at the end of the day all of her songs are somewhat autobiographical, so

T

he woman who claimed teen singer Justin Bieber fathered a baby with her has dropped her paternity lawsuit, but Mariah Yeater’s lawyer said on Wednesday she is pursuing her claim out of court. Yeater, 20, of southern California, had claimed in her lawsuit that she had sex backstage with the 17-year-old Canadian singer last year and that he was the father of her baby who was born in July. She was demanding child support. Bieber has repeatedly denied the allegation, saying he never met Yeater but said last week he would take a paternity test. Sources close to Bieber said on Wednesday that arrangements were underway for the DNA test to take place soon.

Chicago attorney Jeffery Leving said on Wednesday that Yeater had dropped the lawsuit but had a new legal team and hoped to reach a private settlement with Bieber’s lawyers. “She believes Justin Bieber is the father,” Leving told Chicago TV channel WGNtv on Wednesday. “Negotiations are going on right now with Bieber’s counsel and we’re trying to negotiate a private, secure DNA test with the same safeguards that would exist if there were a court order, but without a court order.”

“This matter is not over,” Leving said. It was not clear why the paternity lawsuit was dropped butLeving said Yeater had received death threats and was being harassed by the media. Bieber’s spokesman Matthew Hiltzik called it “sad” that “someone would fabricate such a malicious, defamatory, and demonstrably false claim. We’ll continue to consider all of our options to protect Justin.”

The baby claims have threatened to tarnish Bieber’s squeaky clean image and left Yeater open to a possible charge of statutory rape because Bieber was only 16 years-old at the time of the alleged encounter. In her complaint, Yeater claimed the two had sex for 30 seconds in a backstage bathroom after she attended a Bieber concert in Los Angeles in October 2010.

Bieber, has been promoting his new Christmas album in Europe, was silent on Twitter on Wednesday.—Reuters

she had to live through something, then get out of it and then look back at it to be able to write about it,” he said.

“Who knows what will happen in the future with that,” he said of the songs she penned. Remi held a press listening for “Lioness” on Tuesday. The 12-track set features covers and stripped-sounding versions of released Winehouse songs, with some completed in one take. Before her third album would come out, Remi said, Winehouse wanted to record with Roots drummer guestlove and saxophone player Soweto Kinch.

“There were a bunch of other names bouncing around,” Remi said. Guestlove did make the new album, though. He appears on the track “Half Time.” There’s also a song by an 18-year-old Winehouse, another about her ex-husband’s infidelity and “Best Friend,” which opens with the line: “I can’t wait to get away from you.”

Remi has produced for the Fuguees, Nas, Jazmine Sullivan and Nelly Furtado. He produced the song “Block Party” from TLC member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and

This image provided by Universal Republic Records shows artwork for Amy Winehouse’s posthumous compilation album titled “Lioness: Hidden Treasures.” — AP Winehouse sought him out after hearing the track. Remi says that Winehouse usually wrote songs while playing the guitar and that the new album sounds just as good as her critically acclaimed predecessors. He also said he wanted to release new material from the late singer before others did so.

“Before somebody comes up with some weird song .... this is what it really is,” he said. “This is the quality.” — AP

‘Breaking Dawn’ on track for $140M opening

Box office:

S

ensing that end is nigh for their favorite vampire romance franchise, members of Team Edward and Team Jacob will flock to the movie theaters this weekend to see “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1.” But will tween ticket-buyers turn out in enough force to propel the Summit sequel to record numbers?

It’s unlikely, but even if the sequel falls short of those lofty marks, it still stands to sink its teeth into an awful lot of green.

The first installment in the two-part finale is on pace to bank $140 million this weekend in 4,061 theaters. Also opening wide this weekend: Warner Bros.’ animated sequel “Happy Feet Two”; Fox Searchlight Oscar hopeful “The Descendants,” meanwhile, will expand to 27 theaters Friday from the five it opened up with Wednesday.

“Breaking Dawn’s” projections fall short of the $169 million all-time record set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” last summer, but should be roughly in line with the franchise’s

highest grossing opener, the $140 million posted by 2009’s “New Moon.” The studio is feeling more conservative, projecting an opening weekend on the order of $125 million. Summit did not release the number of theaters that plan to host midnight screenings, but studio executives told TheWrap that the movie may be a 12 a.m. record breaker.

It could easily surpass the $43.5 million benchmark set by “Deathly Hallows Part 2” in late night showings. If Twi-hards are particularly eager to catch the latest entry in the vampire romance saga-a gorier and sexier affair that includes a trip to the altar, a deflowering and a grisly demon child birth-it may shatter the single day record of $92 million set by the bespectacled wizard. “Those midnight showings are where they always excel, so they’re almost certain to get the single day gross record,” a rival studio executive told TheWrap. “The question is can they sustain it? Do they get all those girls out and then fall off a cliff.” —Reuters

US judge dismisses Gomez ‘stalker’ charge

A

Los Angeles judge dismissed Wednesday a felony charge against a 46-year-old man accused of stalking US teen actress and singer Selena Gomez. Superior Court Judge Edmund Clarke Jr. said Thomas Brodnicki “lacked specific intent to cause the victim fear,” according to Sandi Gibbons of the District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors did not say whether they will refile the charges. “We disagreed and argued against dismissing the case, and we now are evaluating our next step,” said Gibbons.

Brodnicki pleaded not guilty earlier this month

to stalking the 19-year-old “Wizards of Waverly Place” entertainer-and girlfriend of teen sensation Justin Bieber-between July and October.

Another judge on November 3 issued a threeyear protective order against Brodnicki approaching the actress. According to court documents, Brodnicki allegedly told a psychiatrist he traveled to Los Angeles to see Gomez, visited her workplace and said he had conversations with God about killing her. Gomez has starred in children’s and teen TV shows including “Hannah Montana.” —AFP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Pudsey Bear takes to the stage in rock gear performing the finale alongside the cast of ‘Rock of Ages the Musical’ in aid of Children in Need at Shaftesbury Theatre in London, Wednesday. Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organized by the BBC. —AP

Ricky Gervais to host

Globes again, despite row B

ritish comic Ricky Gervais is to host the Golden Globes again despite ruffling feathers with his close-tothe-bone humor at the last show, organizers and the unpredictable star said Wednesday. And Gervais, who launched off-color barbs at stars including Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr from the Globes stage in January, made it clear he won’t tone down his performance this time. “‘BOOM! @rickygervais back hosting Golden Globes. Be afraid, Hollywood egos, be very afraid.’

It’s gonna be biblical,” he posted on Twitter, retweeting a comment by CNN celebrity talk show host Piers Morgan. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Globes event, said the decision was taken after talks with US broadcaster NBC, which airs the event to be held January 15. “After weeks of rumors, it’s finally official-Ricky Gervais will be back to host the Golden Globes for a third year,” it said. “While

many welcome Gervais’s return, not everyone is happy with the decision because last year his blunt one-liners targeting big-name celebrities caused anger and resentment in some quarters,” the HFPA said.

It noted that Gervais, creator of hit comedies including “The Office” and “Extras,” had initially dismissed the possibility of presenting the Globes again amid the furor over the last show. “But he gradually warmed to the idea and last month met with HFPA president Dr Aida Takla-O’Reilly in Paris to discuss it,” the statement added. Minutes after the announcement, Gervais took to Twitter with a typically provocative joke involving Billy Crystal, named last week to host the Academy Awards, the climax of Hollywood’s annual awards season due on February 26.

“Just told Billy Crystal he’d better not use any of my Holocaust or pedophile material at The Oscars. He agreed (true),” Gervais tweeted. Then in an exchange with Morgan, who was asking Gervais for a post-show interview, he posted: “‘Dear @rickygervais - please can I have the first ‘Sorry if I offended anyone.’ What if I’m not sorry? Like last time. Ha ha.” Gervais came under fire for remarks in January

about Gibson’s alleged anti-Semitism, Downey Jr’s past drug problems and Charlie Sheen’s reputation for hard partying.

He also took a shot at the HFPA for allegedly taking bribes, and quipped that before coming on stage, he had to get then HFPA head Philip Berk “off the toilet and pop his teeth back in.” The winners of the Golden Globes are selected by a relatively small number of journalist members of the HFPA-in contrast to the Oscars, chosen by some 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Gervais joked openly about the credibility of the HFPA leadership at the last show, asking how the widelypanned Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp movie “The Tourist” managed to get nominated.

“I’d like to crush this ridiculous rumor that the only reason ‘The Tourist’ was nominated was so that the foreign press could hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. “That was not the only reason-they also accepted bribes,” he said. Berk, president of the HFPA at the time, said after the show that Gervais “definitely crossed the line,” adding: “But that’s Ricky .. When you hire Ricky Gervais, you expect the unexpected.”—AP

The top 10 songs 1. “We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris),” Rihanna 2. “Sexy and I Know It,” LMFAO 3. “If This Was a Movie,” Taylor Swift 4. “Without You (feat. Usher)”, David Guetta 5. “Ours,” Taylor Swift 6. “Someone Like You,” ADELE 7. “Good Feeling,” Flo Rida 8. “It Will Rain,” Bruno Mars 9. “Moves Like Jagger (Studio Recording from “The Voice” Performance) (feat. Christina Aguilera) , Maroon 5 10. “Pumped Up Kicks,” Foster the People

File photo shows US singer Rihanna performs on stage at the V Music Festival in Hylands Park, London. —AP Top Albums: 1. “Blue Slide Park,” Mac Miller 2. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt 1 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack),” Various Artists 3. “Mylo Xyloto,” Coldplay 4. “21,” ADELE 5. “Ceremonials,” Florence + The Machine 6. “Take Care,” Drake 7. “Christmas,” Michael BublÈ 8. “The Lost Children,” Disturbed 9. “Formula, Vol 1,” Romeo Santos 10. “NOW That’s What I Call Music, Vol. 40,” Various Artists. —AP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

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hristine Scholtes Covic went to Croatia’s Lika region drawn by its stunning scenery and ended up with a husband and a new career combining Belgian chocolate with nature’s bounty. “Chocolate is the food of gods, something really noble,” said the Belgian native at her tiny production facility in a village nestled among the green hills and valleys of central Croatia. The 37-year-old had found a new home in the Lika region, famous for its well-preserved forests, mountains and crystal clear rivers and lakes, and there turned her passions for nature and chocolate into a business making truffles and bonbons.

“I always loved to cook but pastries were my speciality. As a six-year-old I was making my own birthday cakes. “My grandmother had a restaurant so I’m like an Obelix who fell into the magic potion,” she said with a grin, referring to the character from the French comic book series Asterix as she explained her “chocolate addiction”. Years later she obtained a diploma in France in bakery

and pastry from the Institut National de la Boulangerie et Patisserie, and opened a small pastry shop back in Belgium. But after discovering the beauty of Lika and its Plitvice Lake national park with 16 cascading lakes and spectacular waterfalls, she fell in love with the place and a local man and moved to Croatia in 2009.

“I was looking for a house and got a husband with it,” said the short-hair brunette, smiling warmly. When the chocolate ‘addict’ first spoke of setting up a luxury chocolate shop in the Lika area, picturesque but hard-hit by Croatia’s 1990s independence war and with over 20 percent unemployment, the locals were surprised, even sceptical. But she eventually won over the people in the town of Rakovica.

“It was a great idea but it was something completely new for me,” said Ankica Baric, a local woman who helps out in the shop. “When Christine asked me what I know about chocolate I replied that I only knew how to eat it,” she added, bursting into laughter.

Best of both worlds After struggling with a slow and often confusing amount of red tape and bureaucracy, the shop Lika Chocolate finally started with the production of truffles and chocolates in October 2010. “It really combines the best of both worldsfinest Belgian chocolate enriched with excellent Croatian ingredients-butter, cream-and local flavors such as honey, nuts, lavender, or local wines,” Scholtes Covic said. Her shop worker Baric gushed that the truffles with locally produced plum brandy were an “absolute hit”. Visitors are greeted by the seductive warm smell of chocolate and spices when they enter the small production facility, located on the ground-floor of a building in the centre of Rakovica.

At the entrance small packages of sweets are laid out while the main part serves as a kitchen dominated by a giant granite table and a fridgeScholtes Covic’s ‘treasure chest’-filled with handmade truffles and chocolate. She produces some 20 varieties of chocolate and truffles-around 150

kilos (330 pounds) monthly. For the time being her products can be ordered through the Internet at www.lika-chocolat.com, but Scholes Covic wants to expand to the capital Zagreb where truffles would be sold in delicatessen shops.

Sales at the shop in Rakovica are brisk during the summer when people stop on a road connecting Zagreb and the Adriatic coast, as the reputation of Lika Chocolate has been spreading by word of mouth. Chocolates cost some two euros (2.7 dollars) a piece and truffles around 33 euros for a kilo. “I like the idea and the chocolate is really excellent,” said Nikola, a man in his 50s, who stopped at the shop while driving to the capital.

He learned about Lika Chocolate in a television reportage. “This should be available in Zagreb,” he added after tasting and buying a box of plum truffles. — AFP

New York

Models outfitted by costumes made of chocolate during a fashion show for the opening night of the New York Chocolate Show on November 09, 2011 in New York. — AFP

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Lifestyle

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Models present creations by Lithuanian designer Juozas Statkevieius (Josef Statkus) during the 2012 Spring/Summer Collection fashion show in Vilnius yesterday. — AFP

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aylor Swift, at 21 one of the biggest stars in country music, says she considers her fame to be an awesome responsibility almost from the minute she wakes up. “I definitely think about a million people when I am getting dressed in the morning,” the singer-songwriter with the supermodel looks told the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” in an interview to be telecast on Sunday. “That’s just part of my life now. I think it’s my responsibility to know it and to be conscious of it.”

She added it would be all too easy, as a star, to deny any impact on her audience: “The truth of it is that every singer out there with songs on the radio is

raising the next generation-so make your words count.” Swift-who collected her second career entertainer of the year trophy at the Country Music Awards last week-scores her eighth top-10 debut in the Billboard singles charts this week with “If This Was a Movie.” Her first concert album, “Speak Now World Tour: Live,” recorded during the early stages of an ongoing world tour that kicked off in Singapore in February this year, is due out Monday. CBS posted a snippet of her “60 Minutes” interview Wednesday on its news website (www.cbsnews.com).—AFP

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Lifestyle

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Reebok CrossFit, a revolutionary strength and conditioning programme, teamed up with artists 3D Joe and Max to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever 3D street art. The painting measured an impressive 1,160.4 square metres and was unveiled at West India Quays, Canary Wharf, London, yesterday. The public were invited to take part in a Reebok CrossFit WOD (workout of the day) on the spectacular artwork. — AP

NY museum galleries

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refocus gaze on Islamic art

ifteen renovated galleries offer fresh perspective on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of more than 12,000 Islamic works of art spanning 13 centuries and an area ranging from Spain to India. About 1,200 pieces of art will be on view at any one time with displays of textiles and works on paper changing frequently due to the sensitivity of these materials to light.

A re-thinking of the Islamic art collection, developed alongside the museum’s years-long renovation project, led to the new galleries being named to reflect the range of nations and empires that produced the art. While the collection was once succinctly termed Islamic Art, the museum now describes the works inhabiting the galleries as “Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia.”

The new emphasis on geography grew out of the view that while religion unifies the collection, region diversifies it. “Islam is not a single lense through which we view and interpret the art,” said Navina Najat Haidar, curator and coordinator in the Met Museum’s department of Islamic art. “Rather, it’s an inverted lense that reveals great diversity.” This multi-faceted approach stresses the immense variety of artistic expression. “It’s less linear and more integrated with world culture and world heritage,” Haidar said. The layout of the galleries, with several logical entry points, creates a circular flow, emphasizing the connectedness of the cultures represented by the art.

Colors and stonework typical of the geographical area where the art was made enhance the galleries, setting the art among materials that bring out its diversity. “The whole space changes as the visitor goes through the galleries,” Haidar said. “The floor plan also connects the galleries to the work of European Orientalists, opening up a conversation between East and West,” she said, referring to works by 19th century European artists who drew on their travels to North Africa and Western Asia for subject matter.

A striking, unifying element of the Met’s new galleries is calligraphy, a form of artistic expression that acquired great prestige because it was

used to transcribe the Koran. The museum has an encyclopedic collection of the many styles of Arabic calligraphy, which was used to represent non-Arabic languages as well as Arabic. It appears on ceramics, manuscripts, metal work, coins and architecture. “The physical act of writing was highly respected and the status of calligraphers was extremely high,” Haidar said.

“Calligraphy is a great backbone for the collection.”

The dismantling of the museum’s Islamic art galleries in 2003 for renovation and expansion let the museum’s staff apply the latest scientific conservation and restoration techniques to manuscripts, fragile glass objects and rare carpets. It also gave curators and scholars from inside and outside the museum a chance to re-examine objects, explorations that sometimes led to new ways of displaying the works.

For instance, when the museum took down the Damascus Room, a wood-paneled reception chamber from a private house in Damascus built in 1707, its staff studied it closely and discovered a numbering system on the panels. “That gave us a clue to its original configuration so when we reinstalled it, the entrance door and windows were returned to their correct location,” Haidar said.

The current installation of the Damascus Room also restores the calligraphic text that ran from right to left on the upper part of the wall to its proper sequence. Museum officials expect new visitors to the galleries to include the growing communities of people from this part of the world who now live in New York City. “Those communities should feel very proud to see their heritage being recognized,” Haidar said.

“Whether they are from Morocco or Uzbekistan, in the work and in the explanations of the work, they will find themselves somewhere. They can bring their children and families; that’s a very important thing.” — Reuters

Rare

Tagore

notebook to be sold at NY auction

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previously unknown manuscript by Bengali poet and Nobel Literature Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore is expected to fetch up to $250,000 when it is auctioned next month in New York.

Rabindranath’s 1928 notebook contains 12 poems and lyrics for 12 songs in Bengali, some of which were drafts for works that were published later, according to Sotheby’s.

Marsha Malinowski, the auction house’s senior manuscript specialist, described the notebook, which is covered in red cloth and will be auctioned on Dec 13, as “in gorgeous condition.” “It has been preserved very well,” she said, adding that it had been kept in a safe deposit box since the 1950s. Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize in 1913 and became the first Asian Noble Laureate, kept the diaries when he traveled, according to Malinowski.

But in her 25 years at the auction house she said it was the first time she had come across anything connected to Tagore, who won global fame as a poet, novelist, playwright, composer and artist. Tagore presented the 152-page notebook to a family friend who was also an early patron in the mid1930s. Thirty four pages of the notebook contain writing.

“It really is a microcosm of what Tagore did best-his poetry, what he loved and what he loved to do,” said Malinowski. “To have bits of art with corrections, to have songs with lyrics, and emendations all done in such an artistic form makes for an amazing package and speaks to what he was all about.”

Sotheby’s said it expects the notebook, which will be exhibited in New York before the sale, to appeal strongly to members of the Indian community, for whom Tagore is a hero.

Tagore campaigned for the Indian nationalist movement, wrote the national anthems for both India and Bangladesh and was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi. He was knighted by the British government in 1915, but gave back the honor four years later to protest against British policies in India. He died in

1941. Other potential bidders are expected to include collectors of rare literature or those who feel a special connection with Tagore.

The owner, a descendant of one of Tagore’s patrons, was motivated to sell the manuscript by a combination of strong prices drawn by Tagore paintings in London last year and the 150th anniversary of his birth.

The New York Asia Society is staging an exhibition of Tagore’s work which runs through Dec 31. — Reuters

Rabindranath Tagore

Stars

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Aries (March 21-April 19) There are plenty of opportunities to go in just about any direction you want to go, particularly when it comes to your future professional life. You take your work more seriously than usual; a lot of energy goes into getting things organized. You are clever and seem to enjoy testing yourself to the maximum in how you handle most difficult situations and time limits as well as difficult people. You can expect a little boost, some sort of extra support or recognition from those around you, and you may be surprised at how many young people want to know your work secrets. You are a good mentor but it is important to add relaxation to your day as well as laughter and friends. Enjoy some time away from the stress of work this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Lightning fast when it comes to the business deal, you seem to have direct insight into what is worthwhile and worthless in a situation. You have new and unconventional ways to cut through the red tape and get at what is important. There are optimism, faith and deep emotional levels present. You have to give something in order to get something; that’s the message you need to take to heart now and it can be a very beneficial one indeed, if you play by the rules. Investments can start small and grow beyond your wildest dreams—look for opportunities of this sort. Check out all hard-to-believe deals! Think and talk about organizing a cleanup crew for your nearby community park this weekend. Romance comes your way tonight.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You have a keen interest in what makes things tick. Who or what pulls the strings in your life is the hallmark of the mental cycle that now begins for you. An unsolved problem perks your interest this afternoon. Sex, death and life’s other ultimate mysteries and taboos arouse your curiosity. This could involve the work you do—teaching, sales, etc.

Others learn by following your lead. Be very careful not to turn your curiosity into gossip. Later today check out an investment plan before letting go of your money. Travel and other contacts with faraway people and places will play a bigger role for you soon—plan. You have a lot of energy and determination to accomplish your goals. You learn a lot as a result of your social interactions this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your mind may be very clear now and your thoughts are brought into sharp focus. It is easy to organize your thoughts and communication of all kinds is furthered. Right now, the key to career moves involves attending to nagging details—whatever you have neglected and delayed.

Attention to matters such as health and efficiency are also important.

Dodging interruptions and pointedly taking your breaks is a wise behavior now. Everything may be pouring in at once and it’s all good news. Your career direction gets some encouragement and life’s problems should find easy solutions. Discovering some sort of break with the tried and true comes naturally now. A change in financial status is possible and can lead you into unexpected directions.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You may have to learn more conversational tools when it comes to a difficult person today. Do not take someone’s words too personally; he or she may be testing your staying power. They could also just want attention, whether it is negative or positive, it does not matter. Smile—if you disagree, find the positive in what they say. There is a greater appreciation for things of value and the idea of value itself. This could be a period of great material gain; it is certainly a time when material things have a great deal of importance. Financial responsibility is the lesson to be learned now. Think about the energy, which is the elbow grease, time and effort it takes to earn a dollar before you spend a dollar. Your protection from income loss is to be cautious.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Things seem to fall into place and progress is easy. Your career direction gets some encouragement and life’s problems seem to have easy solutions. You may find yourself pulling more on the imagination today in order to stay in front of the pack, so to speak. You are the one that will set the example. You experience life mostly through your emotions and how you feel about someone or something. Your intuition is strong and can guide you accurately. You enjoy figuring things out, being the first to make a discovery or defining a problem. You have a heightened interest in health and diet and have an urge to get things organized into a rational system. There is much mental busywork now. Seeing both sides of an issue is important.

Libra (September 23-October 22) Feeling successful and prosperous is the first step toward becoming those things. Picture your life the way you want it to be and lead yourself and those you love into a better life condition. Work is productive this afternoon. You and your co-workers work well together in some project all day long. Friends, who are planning a celebration, ask for your help. It is easy for you to love and be compassionate and to value what life offers. You have a sense of unity and brotherhood that will stay with you—always. This may be a period of greater social involvement—particularly with neighbors and brother(s) or sister(s). Learning and teaching seem to satisfy an important need for you now and you teach not only through your words but by example.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) This morning, others may disagree with what you say or think, or in some way oppose your ideas and thoughts. Your current situation may demand some reevaluation or otherwise challenge your ideas.

Take some time to regroup your thoughts or ideas and keep trying to communicate—this is a good challenge—it will teach you to slow down, rephrase and to back up your ideas with facts. Charisma, self-transformation, the development of your personal powers are the things that play a big role in your life now. Remember that tiny causes can lead to big effects. This is a time of profound changes on the personal level; as if you are transforming into an entirely new person. Although you may have your doubts . . . this is a good time to project your image.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You are responsible to the extreme and take on obligations today as though you just cannot get enough. You enjoy discipline and any limitations are seen as opportunities rather than as handicaps. Make sure your life is fairly balanced so that the additional duties that you pile on yourself do not add up to a negative. You would make a good teacher of others in matters of organization, practical competence, etc. You have a great desire to be thorough and responsible down to the smallest detail. Banking or investment positions are certainly an avenue in which you could excel. You love routine. Your own forcefulness and drive can make it difficult for others to offer you nourishment and support. Make it a point to reach out and touch someone.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You may prefer to be a bit more direct this day. You want to get things accomplished and interruptions may not be on your list of acceptable behavior from others. Be careful in your response—let them know up-front your plans for the day so they will understand you are involved in some project. You are able to cut through to the real business at hand. Unique and unconventional approaches to study or research, any kind of inquiry, are soon to appear. This afternoon you can relax—saying and writing things with style counts for a lot now and this tends to bring out the social butterfly. Neighbors or family will likely bring all kinds of good experiences your way. Plans for the upcoming winter events may take up most of your energies.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) On the professional level, you seem able to magically make things happen. If you are in sales, there are new contacts to be made. If you are in art, design or some other artistic field, there are new color schemes and ideas, etc. If you are in some creative writing field, there will be an opening of opportunities in which you will be able to excel. You have a natural sense of what the public wants and your path to success is open and clear. This afternoon you may find yourself being put to good use by your friends. All of this should go rather smoothly. Your common sense will come into play and others will find your suggestions very workable. This is the perfect time to be assertive and to move forward in whatever you choose to accomplish.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) A part-time job may be in order to afford you the purchase power you want for the winter events ahead. Financial matters are emphasized throughout the rest of this month. Before you spend a dollar—think about the energy it takes to earn a dollar—time and effort. Your protection from income loss is to be cautious, think ahead and plan for the future. You may be especially dynamic and assertive just now. There is a lot of energy available for whatever you would like to accomplish. You are insightful, always darting straight to the heart of things and never shy about working with the most sensitive and vulnerable areas of the human psyche. You love new and different ways of self-discovery and transformation. Others will be supportive of your ideas.

COUNTRY CODES Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African Republic 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands)0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686

Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland)0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK)0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

W h a t ’s O n FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Announcements November 20 Aware Arabic courses: “The AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Winter 1 Arabic language courses will begin on November 20th, 2011 until January 12th, 2012. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. For more information or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105/104/0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.”

November 24 Lebanese cooking classes: Would you like to prepare Lebanese Cuisine for your family and loved ones? Its food will soon adapt to your kitchen with, and its favorite ingredients will tickle your taste buds! Ladies only. From November 24th - December 15th at TIES Center (Shuhada, Block 4, Street 413, Villa 64). For more information contact 2523-1015/6 or 9722-8860/9779344.

November 25 Movie Day: AWARE Centre hosts a movie day on November 25th at 3pm. Join the AWARE Center once a month as they explore the culture of the Arabs and Muslims through film. This Friday’s film is titled Cairo Time; a 2009 drama Canadian Film.

Cairo Time is a 2009 film by Canadian director Ruba Nadda. It is a romantic drama about a brief, unexpected love affair that catches two people

completely off-guard. This movie won the “Best Canadian Feature Film” at the Toronto International Film Festival 2009. Duration: 90 minutes.

Plot Synopsis Juliette (Patricia Clarkson) is a Canadian magazine editor who arrives in Cairo for a vacation with her long-time husband (Tom McCamus), a UN official working in Gaza. Delayed, her husband asks his friend-a handsome Egyptian named Tareq (Alexander Siddig)-to watch over Juliette. Juliette finds herself falling in love not only with the city but with Tareq.

For more info: 2533-5260/80 December 9 Christmas Carol concert: The Ahmadi Music Group will be holding a fantastic Christmas Carol Concert on December 9 and 10 at New English School (NES) from 5pm both days with an adult show at 7:30pm on both days, in which Santa will be making an appearance, and the children can get involved with singing, waving jingle bells, etc. Guaranteed Christmas fun for the whole family!

Talent Hunt: Wesal Media Team is organizing a new concept competition for little talents in Kuwait. This competition is for children ages 612 years who have excellent talents in singing, dancing, drawing, etc. All interested little talents

are welcome to participate. To sign-up, just visit their website and register your child. The final announcements will be published in a short event at Discovery Mall with famous singers and actors in Kuwait. For more information: 97547705 Youth Chorus competition Youth Chorus is organizing the sixth Christian Malayalam Group Song Competition today, 18th November 2011 at 6:00 p.m. at the United Indian School Auditorium, Abbasiya. The team has to present one Christian Malayalam song within seven minutes. The minimum number of members in the team should be 7 and the maximum 20, including the orchestra persons.

The first, second and third prize winners will be awarded with rolling trophies and certificates.

The following prestigious trophies will be awarded to the winners.

First Prize - Youth Chorus Ever Rolling Trophy Second Prize- Omana Jose memorial Ever Rolling Trophy Third Prize- Youth Chorus Ever Rolling Trophy All the other participating teams will be awarded a Youth Chorus memento. Please register the name of your team with the conveners on or before 10th November 2011. Tel: 66853100, 6651093 or to our e-mail address youthchorus@gmail.com

Dr Kepel lectures at AUK

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s part of his visit to Kuwait, Dr Gilles Kepel, a world-renown expert in Middle Eastern studies, will be giving a talk at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) on Monday, November 21st. The talk titled “A New Arab World: Implications and Challenges Facing the Gulf Countries” will be hosted by the Center for Gulf Studies at AUK and will take place at 6:00 pm in the AUK Auditorium, located in the Liberal Arts Building - AUK Salmiya Campus.

Dr Kepel is Professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po University, a Senior Fellow at the Institut Universitaire de France, and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. Dr Kepel is the author of more than ten books on the Middle East, and the General Editor of the Near East Series at Presses Universitaires de France - PUF - Publishing House. The lecture will be open to public and free of charge.

Galleries & Art Exhibition •

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The Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI) is a cultural organization based on a Kuwaiti private art collection. Since its inception in 1983, DAI has grown from a single focus organization created to manage the loan of the prestigious Al-Sabah Collection of art from the Islamic world to the State of Kuwait to become an internationally recognized cultural organization. DarMuseum.org.kw Al Americani Cultural Centre and Administrative Offices in the Historic Americani Hospital Buildings Tel: (965) 2240 0992 Fax: (965) 2246 7770 Email: info@darmuseum.org.kw Sultan Gallery: As the first venue of its kind in Kuwait, Sultan Gallery believes in the power of art as a medium of meaningful expression. Founders Ghazi Sultan, and the late Najat Sultan, envisioned a gallery that would serve as a platform for Arab artists to showcase their most inspired work. Empowered by the mission to forge cultural understanding and artistic appreciation in Kuwait, Sultan Gallery has spent 40 years exhibiting both the most visionary artists and thought provoking

themes. Sultan Gallery showcases artists that explore the breadth of creative expression - from the traditional painting to the contemporary audio and visual installation. Sultan Gallery enriches the Kuwaiti cultural scene with its passion for art as a vehicle of cultural understanding through visual language. Email: sultangallery@sadeer.com Location: Sabhan, Sadeer Co, Block B, Street 105, Building 168 •

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Al-Maidan Cultural Centre: Abdullah al-Salem School, Maidan Hawally, near al-Shaab Leisure Park. Opening Hours: Sunday - Thursday 9am - 5pm, until 9pm on event nights. Tel: (965) 2563 6561/ 2563 6528 Fax: (965) 2565 3006 Email: friends@darmuseum.org.kw The Kuwait National Museum is located on the Arabian Gulf Street between Seif Palace & the National Assembly (Parliament). Phone: 2245-1195 or 2245-6534 Kuwait Textile Arts Association (KTAA): The Kuwait Textile Arts Association (under the auspices of Sadu House) is a non-profit multinational organization which

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aims to bring together individuals interested in textiles and the fibre arts including appliquÈ, embroidery, knotting carpets, quilting, silk painting and weaving.

Members include a number of talented decorative artists who hold classes throughout the year. Quilt Group: q8quilter@yahoo.com Yarn & Fiber Group: q8yarnandfibregroup@yahoo.com Contact: Joan Fisher Tel: 2390-3462 (English)/2243-2395 (Arabic) Email: wovenpieces@yahoo.com

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Shyma’s Ashkanani

igurative abstract and translucent acrylic colors form the subject of this exhibition. Opening Reception: November 14, 2011 @ 7 pm. Exhibition Hours: 15 - 24 November 2011 10 am - 2 pm and 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm.

Dar Al-Funoon art exhibition

ar Al Funoon has the pleasure to invite you to an art exhibition of works from Hamad Al-Saab & Ali Sultan titled: Connect To Disconnect To Connect When: Opening on November 14th & will continue until November 21st Where: Dar Al Funoon (Behbehani Compound, House 28, Kuwait City). Time: 7pm on opening night

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Art Exhibition

ebut exhibition by Samira Bukhamseen. The exhibition will take place on November 14th, and it will run until the 24th.

The first day will be for women only. If you’re an art lover or would like to visit, the exhibition will be held in Mishref, Block 6, Street 5, Villa 40. Daily viewing hours are from 10am - 1pm & 5pm 8pm (closed Fridays). I must say the painting above is exquisite!

She is truly talented! Best of luck to her on all her future endeavors!

W h a t ’s O n FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF CANADA

Soorya Fest

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oorya Kuwait Chapter, in association with UAE Exchange Centre is all set to stage Soorya Fest 2011, on Thursday, 1st December, 2011, at the American International School Auditorium, Maidan Hawalli, at 7 pm.

Satish C. Mehta, Indian Ambassador to Kuwait will inaugurate the cultural extravaganza that aims at international integration through cultural promotion.

Bishop Derek in Kuwait

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orth Kanara Association Kuwait (NKA-K) announced that His Lordship Bishop Derek Fernandes is in Kuwait until 21st Nov to meet his flock scattered around Kuwait. There will be a Eucharistic celebration on Friday (18th Nov) at 10 am celebrated by his lordship at St Therese Church Salmiya, followed by a get-together at Indian English Academy School (IEAS-Don Bosco) hall at 12 noon.

Eucharistic celebration will also be held by his lordship on Sunday (20th Nov) at the Holy Family Cathedral at 4:30 pm followed by a get-together at St Padre Pio hall after 4:30 pm. All are invited to come and seek his lordship’s blessings and share their hearts joys and woes.

The program, which will commence with a vibrant Jugalbandi will be followed by a mix of Mohiniyattam and Odissi.

Soorya Stage and Film Society, led by versatile founder-director Soorya Krishnamurthy, aims to promote Indian arts and culture through organizing Soorya Festivals in India and abroad.

Chapters of the society are currently open in 18 countries worldwide.

Soorya Kuwait Chapter has been propagating the art of India outside the country for the last 11 years with the active support of its Chief Patron Dr. B.R. Shetty, Managing Director, NMC group of Companies.

Entry for the show is limited to invitation only. For details, contact 97977317, 66250037, or contact at Sooryakuwait@yahoo.com

The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad.

This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca. Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed. To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website. As of January 15, 2011, forms are to be filled in electronically. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

The forms are available on the internet at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM52 57E.PDF. A guide explaining the process can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/5256E .PDF. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy.

We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area Block 6 - Street 9 - Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax- 25387719.

Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk

TV Listings FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 Mandy 23:00 23:25 23:50

00:50 I Was Bitten 01:45 Animal Cops Houston 02:40 Planet Earth 03:35 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz 04:30 I Was Bitten 05:25 Dogs 101 06:20 Animal Cops Houston 07:10 SSPCA: On The Wildside 08:00 Monkey Life 08:25 The Really Wild Show 08:50 Baby Planet 09:40 Breed All About It 10:10 Must Love Cats 11:05 Dogs 101 12:00 Animal Cops Houston 12:55 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 13:50 World Wild Vet 14:45 Animal Cops Miami 15:40 Planet Earth 16:30 Monkey Life 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Panda Adventures With Nigel Marven 18:25 Dogs 101 19:20 My Cat From Hell 20:15 Monkey Life 20:40 Breed All About It 21:10 Dogs 101 22:05 Planet Earth 23:00 Whale Wars

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

Afterlife 2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link: S10: Set 2 Big Cat Diary Big Cat Diary 2 Point 4 Children 3rd & Bird: set 01 Bobinogs Boogie Beebies: Set 4 The Adventures Of Spot Me Too: Set 1 Fimbles: Set 2 3rd & Bird: set 01 Bobinogs Boogie Beebies: Set 4 The Adventures Of Spot Me Too: Set 1 Charlie & Lola: Set 1 Fimbles: Set 2 3rd & Bird: set 01 Bobinogs Boogie Beebies: Set 4 The Adventures Of Spot Me Too: Set 1 Charlie & Lola: Set 1 Fimbles: Set 2 3rd & Bird: set 01 Bobinogs Boogie Beebies: Set 4 The Adventures Of Spot Me Too: Set 1 Charlie & Lola: Set 1 Fimbles: Set 2 2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link: S10: Set 2 Coast Doctors: Set 2 Eastenders: set 253 Big Cat Diary 2 Point 4 Children One Foot In The Grave Coast The Weakest Link: S10: Set 2 Doctors: Set 2 Eastenders: set 253 Big Cat Diary Coast The Weakest Link: S10: Set 2 Doctors: Set 2 Doctor Who Afterlife

00:00 00:45 01:15 02:05 02:55 03:40 04:10 04:55 05:50 06:35 07:30 08:00 08:40 10:35 11:30 12:15 13:00 13:50

Holmes On Homes The Naked Chef Come Dine With Me What Not To Wear Holmes On Homes The Naked Chef Come Dine With Me What Not To Wear Holmes On Homes The Naked Chef Daily Cooks Challenge Fantasy Homes By The Sea Daily Cooks Challenge Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Daily Cooks Challenge

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Total Drama Action Adventure Time The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Ben 10 Bakugan Battle Brawlers The Secret Saturdays

00:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson 01:00 Backstory 01:30 World Sport 02:00 The Situation Room 03:00 World Report 04:00 Anderson Cooper 360 05:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 06:00 Quest Means Business 07:00 World Sport 07:30 I Report For CNN 08:00 World Report 08:30 Backstory 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Report 11:00 World Sport 11:30 The Best Of Backstory 12:00 World Business Today 12:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 13:00 American Morning: Wake-Up Call 13:30 The Best Of Backstory 14:00 World One 15:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 16:00 News Stream 17:00 World Business Today 18:00 International Desk 19:00 The Brief 19:30 World Sport 20:00 World Report 20:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 21:00 International Desk 21:30 The CNN Freedom Project 22:00 Quest Means Business 22:45 CNN Marketplace Africa 23:00 Piers Morgan Tonight

2012 ON OSN ACTION HD 15:50 16:40 17:25 18:10 19:00 19:25 19:50 20:15 20:45 21:35 22:25 23:10

Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Ching’s Kitchen James Martin’s Brittany Eating In The Sun Eating In The Sun Come Dine With Me Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds Bargain Hunt

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 01:45 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:30 05:45 06:00 06:30 06:45 07:00 07:30 08:30 08:45 09:30 09:45 10:30 10:45 11:00

BBC World News America Hardtalk BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News America Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News

11:30 World Business Report 11:45 Sport Today 12:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 World Business Report 14:45 Sport Today 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact 16:30 Talking Books 17:00 Impact 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 World Have Your Say 19:00 BBC World News 19:40 Weekend World 20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 21:30 Middle East Business Report 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Have Your Say Extra 22:40 Weekend World 23:00 BBC World News 23:30 Talking Books

00:15 Samurai Jack 00:40 Megas XLR 01:05 Robotboy 01:30 Squirrel Boy 01:55 George Of The Jungle 02:20 Cramp Twins 02:45 Chop Socky Chooks 03:10 Best Ed 03:35 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Generator Rex 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 05:40 Chowder

05:55 Powerpuff Girls 06:30 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:55 I Am Weasel 07:20 Squirrel Boy 07:45 Cow & Chicken 08:00 Casper’s Scare School 08:04 Cow & Chicken 08:25 Angelo Rules 08:50 Best Ed 09:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 09:40 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 10:05 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 10:30 Courage The Cowardly Dog 10:55 Cow & Chicken 11:20 I Am Weasel 11:35 Adventure Time 12:00 Ben 10 12:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 12:50 The Secret Saturdays 13:15 Samurai Jack 13:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 14:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 14:30 Skunk Fu! 14:50 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 15:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 15:40 Ed, Edd n Eddy 16:05 Camp Lazlo 16:30 Chowder 16:55 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 17:25 Cow & Chicken 17:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 18:15 I Am Weasel 18:40 George Of The Jungle 19:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 19:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 19:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge 20:20 Generator Rex 20:45 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 21:10 Hero 108

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

Swamp Brothers Dual Survival Overhaulin’ Dirty Jobs Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How It’s Made How Do They Do It? Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ How It’s Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Scrappers Ultimate Biker Challenge South Beach Classics American Chopper: Senior vs Ultimate Survival Dual Survival Swamp Brothers Cash Cab Us Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Scrappers How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Cash Cab Us American Chopper: Senior vs Carfellas South Beach Classics Desert Car Kings

00:40 The Gadget Show 01:05 The Tech Show 01:35 Mighty Ships 02:25 Green Wheels 02:50 Bang Goes The Theory 03:40 Brainiac 04:35 The Gadget Show 05:25 How Stuff’s Made 05:50 Mighty Ships 06:40 Stuntdawgs 07:10 Invisible Worlds 08:00 Thunder Races 08:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 09:40 The Tech Show 10:10 Weird Connections 10:35 The Gadget Show 11:25 Invisible Worlds 12:20 Sci-Fi Science

12:45 How Stuff’s Made 13:15 Bang Goes The Theory 14:05 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:55 Stuntdawgs 15:20 Green Wheels 15:50 Mighty Ships 16:40 Weird Connections 17:05 Thunder Races 18:00 Brainiac 18:50 Sci-Fi Science 19:15 The Tech Show 19:40 Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg 20:30 How The Universe Works 21:20 The Future Of...

22:10 The Gadget Show 23:00 Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg 23:50 How The Universe Works

00:00 00:25 01:15 02:00 02:50 03:35 04:25 05:15 06:00 06:20 06:45 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:35 09:00 09:15 09:25 09:35 09:50 10:15 10:30 10:50 11:15 11:35 12:00 12:25 12:45 13:10 13:30 13:55 14:55 15:20 15:45 16:00 16:10 16:35 17:00 18:15 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:28 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Replacements Emperor’s New School Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Emperor’s New School The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody Cars Toons Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction The Hive Handy Manny Imagination Movers Phineas And Ferb Emperor’s New School Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Good Luck Charlie Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Friends For Change Games Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Emperor’s New School Fish Hooks Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 15 Most Shocking Political Sex Scandals 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 40 Smokin’ On Set Hookups 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Dirty Soap 10:15 50 Most Insane Celebrity Oops 12:05 E! News 13:05 Bridalplasty 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Giuliana & Bill 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Style Star 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Giuliana & Bill 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami

00:00 01:00 01:35 02:00 02:30

Departures Bondi Rescue: Bali Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Travel Madness

TV Listings FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:35 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Deadliest Journeys Deadliest Journeys Cruise Ship Diaries Ultimate Traveller Departures Bondi Rescue: Bali Bondi Rescue Travel Madness Deadliest Journeys Cruise Ship Diaries Ultimate Traveller Departures The Music Nomad Geo Sessions Treks In A Wild World Travel Madness Amazing Adventures of A Nobody Around The World For Free A World Apart Departures The Music Nomad Geo Sessions Treks In A Wild World Travel Madness Amazing Adventures of A Nobody Amazing Adventures Of A Nobody Around The World For Free A World Apart

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

Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Psychic Witness Cuff Me If You Can Forensic Justice Dr G: Medical Examiner Psychic Witness Ghost Lab Mystery ER FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol True Crime With Aphrodite Jones Disappeared Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol True Crime With Aphrodite Jones Disappeared FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery ER Street Patrol True Crime With Aphrodite Jones Disappeared True CSI True Crime With Aphrodite Jones

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:15 10:30 13:15 15:30 17:15 20:00 22:00

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan-18 Deadly Impact-18 Rage: Carrie 2-PG15 The Manchurian Candidate-PG15 Bugsy-PG15 2012-PG15 Coach Carter-PG15 No Time To Fear-PG15 2012-PG15 Mindhunters-18 Mirrors 2-18

01:15 03:30 05:15 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:15 PG15 21:00 23:15

Broken Embraces-18 Private-PG15 The Lizzie McGuire Movie-PG Slipstream-PG15 Attack On Leningrad-PG15 Leap Year-PG15 The Flyboys-PG15 The Spy Next Door-PG Secretariat-PG15 Desperate Hours: An Amber Alert-

00:30 01:00 01:30 02:30 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00

09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:30 23:00 23:30

Wilfred Community Just Shoot Me The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Yes Dear According To Jim Friends Dharma And Greg Just Shoot Me Wilfred Community The Daily Show With Jon Stewart The Colbert Report Yes Dear Late Night With Jimmy Fallon The Office Community Hot In Cleveland The Tonight Show With Jay Leno The Daily Show With Jon Stewart The Colbert Report Entourage South Park Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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

The X Factor (US) Treme Eureka Alias Good Morning America Detroit 1-8-7 Emmerdale Look-A-Like The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View The X Factor (US) Alias Live Good Morning America The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tower Prep Glee The X Factor (US) Survivor: South Pacific Friday Night Lights Detroit 1-8-7

Squeakquel-FAM 14:00 What’s The Worst That Could Happen?-PG15 16:00 A Pyromaniac’s Love Story-PG15 18:00 Sleepover-PG15 20:00 The Bounty Hunter-PG15 22:00 French And Saunders Still Alive-18

14:00 Tooth Fairy-PG 16:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 18:00 Marmaduke-PG 20:00 Furry Vengeance-PG 22:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG

01:00 03:15 05:15 07:30 09:15 PG15 11:15 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

00:00 The Girl In The Park-PG15 02:00 District 9-PG15 04:00 The Chaperone-PG15 06:00 My Dog Tulip-PG15 07:30 Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief-PG15 09:30 The Chaperone-PG15 11:15 Lottery Ticket-PG15 13:00 Iron Man 2-PG15 15:15 Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief-PG15 17:30 Robin Hood (2010)-PG15 20:00 Country Strong-PG15 22:00 Greenberg-18

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

The Closer Treme No Ordinary Family The X Factor (US) Eureka The Closer The Simpsons Bones Eureka The X Factor (US) The Simpsons The Ellen DeGeneres Show Bones The Closer The Simpsons White Collar Glee The X Factor (US) Survivor: South Pacific Friday Night Lights No Ordinary Family

01:00 PG15 03:00 05:30 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:15 21:00 23:00

Bodyguard: A New BeginningInglourious Basterds-18 Luster-18 The Next Karate Kid-PG The Karate Kid III-PG Collateral-PG15 Batman: Under The Red Hood-PG The Karate Kid III-PG Set It Off-PG15 Rocky III-PG15 Paranormal Activity-PG15 Diary Of The Dead-18

01:30 Gentlemen Broncos-PG15 03:00 The Greatest-PG15 05:00 Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement-FAM 07:00 Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant-PG15 09:00 City Of Life-PG15 11:00 Winning Time-PG15 12:30 The Karate Kid-PG 15:00 The Last Song-PG15 16:45 City Of Life-PG15 18:45 Eat Pray Love-PG15 21:00 Country Strong-PG15 23:00 Harry Brown-18

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00

A Pyromaniac’s Love Story-PG15 Mystery Men-PG15 Heart And Souls-PG Garfield-PG Chasing Papi-PG My Father The Hero-PG15 Alvin And The Chipmunks: The

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00

The Outlaw Josey Wales-PG15 Thunderheart-18 I Am Sam-PG15 The Fantastic Water Babes-PG Star Trek III: The Search For SpockUnstrung Heroes-PG15 Where The Wild Things Are-PG Me And Orson Welles-PG Witch Hunt-PG15 Mary Reilly-PG15 On The Edge-18 Guilty As Sin-PG15

The Little Engine That Could-PG15 Christmas In New York-PG Ulysses-PG The Little Engine That Could-PG15 Gladiators: The Conspiracy-PG Marmaduke-PG Furry Vengeance-PG

02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 11:00 14:30 18:30 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 139 Countdown WWE NXT Rugby League 4 Nations WWE NXT WWE Vintage Collection Rugby League 4 Nations Premier League Snooker Live PGA European Tour Aquabikes UFC 139 Countdown WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line UFC The Ultimate Fighter

02:00 02:30 06:00 07:00 11:00 14:30 18:30 19:00 21:00 21:30 22:00

Futbol Mundial Premier League Snooker Trans World Sport Darts Premier League Snooker Darts Beach Volley Ball Rugby League 4 Nations Total Rugby Futbol Mundial Live Darts

02:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 12:00 12:30 14:30 18:30 19:30 21:30 22:00

European PGA Tour Total Rugby Golfing World Live European PGA Tour ICC Cricket World European Challenge Cup Live European PGA Tour Golfing World European Challenge Cup Total Rugby Live European Challenge Cup

01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 139 Countdown WWE NXT V8 Supercars V8 Supercars WWE NXT WWE Vintage Collection Le Mans Cup Powerboats V8 Supercars V8 Supercars UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC139 Countdown WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line UFC The Ultimate Fighter

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00

The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Johnny Bravo Duck Dodgers King Arthur’s Disasters The Scooby Doo Show Popeye Classics Tom & Jerry Popeye The Jetsons The Flintstones Looney Tunes Pink Panther & Pals

The A-Team-PG15 Blue Valentine-18

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart The Colbert Report South Park Entourage Friends Friends According To Jim The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Dharma And Greg Yes Dear Just Shoot Me Late Night With Jimmy Fallon According To Jim Friends Dharma And Greg

BLUE VALENTINE ON OSN CINEMA

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

Tex Avery Duck Dodgers The Garfield Show New Yogi Bear Show Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Pink Panther And Pals Puppy In My Pocket The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley The Flintstones Tom & Jerry Pink Panther And Pals Top Cat New Yogi Bear Show Puppy In My Pocket Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas The Jetsons Duck Dodgers Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Tom & Jerry The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Dexters Laboratory Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Top Cat Wacky Races Tom & Jerry The Scooby Doo Show Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Johnny Bravo Dexters Laboratory

00:00 Globe Trekker 01:00 Glutton For Punishment 01:30 Glutton For Punishment 02:00 People Of The Sea 03:00 Wild Camping 04:00 Planet Sports 05:00 Globe Trekker 06:00 Glutton For Punishment 06:30 Glutton For Punishment 07:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 08:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Intrepid Journeys 10:00 Exotic Lives 11:00 Glutton For Punishment 11:30 Glutton For Punishment 12:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 13:00 Globe Trekker 14:00 Sophie Grigson In The Orient 14:30 Journey Into Wine-Spain & Portugal 15:00 People Of The Sea 16:00 Planet Sports 17:00 Globe Trekker 18:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 19:00 Sophie Grigson In The Orient 19:30 Journey Into Wine...

20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Intrepid Journeys 22:00 Inside Walt Disney Studios - Paris 23:00 That Crazy French Woman

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

Deep Wreck Mysteries Modern Marvels Lost Worlds Ax Men Ax Men Swamp People Deep Wreck Mysteries Modern Marvels Lost Worlds Ax Men Ax Men Swamp People Deep Wreck Mysteries Modern Marvels Lost Worlds Ax Men Ax Men Swamp People Deep Wreck Mysteries Modern Marvels Lost Worlds Chasing Mummies Ancients Behaving Badly Clash Of The Gods

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Years

Information

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines LMU JZR PIA JZR JZR THY UAE QTR DHX MSR FDB ETD RJA GFA KAC THY JZR JZR KAC BAW KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD IRA GFA RBG TAR JZR MEA IYE MSR MSR JZR GFA KAC FDB UAL OMA QTR RJA KAC JZR KAC QTR JZR JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA RBG ABY JZR

Flt 1109 185 205 267 539 772 853 138 370 612 67 305 642 211 544 770 555 529 416 157 206 53 352 302 332 676 284 344 855 125 132 55 301 619 213 3555 327 165 404 825 623 610 201 219 618 57 982 645 140 640 788 257 546 134 561 213 303 857 215 510 3557 127 125

Arrival Flights on Friday 18/11/2011 Route ALEXANDRIA DUBAI LAHORE BEIRUT CAIRO ISTANBUL DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN CAIRO DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN CAIRO ISTANBUL ALEXANDRIA ASSIUT JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR LONDON ISLAMABAD DUBAI COCHIN MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM DUBAI DHAKA CHENNAI DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI LAR BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA TUNIS/DUBAI DUBAI BEIRUT SANAA SOHAG CAIRO DAMASCUS BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI WASHINGTON DC DULLES MUSCAT DOHA AMMAN JEDDAH BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA DOHA SOHAG DEIREZZOR ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH SOHAG SHARJAH BAHRAIN

Time 0:01 0:20 0:25 0:45 0:50 2:15 2:35 2:40 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:10 3:15 4:40 4:50 6:00 6:20 6:25 6:40 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:15 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:20 9:35 9:50 9:55 11:05 11:15 11:20 11:55 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:00 13:25 13:40 13:50 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:40 14:50 15:00 15:20 15:25 16:10 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:35 17:40 17:45

MLR JZR FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC AIC KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB JAI KAC MSR DHX VOS FCX MEA GFA QTR ALK JZR UAE SAI JZR UAL PIA DLH

403 177 63 502 542 787 614 744 674 975 166 102 774 562 61 572 786 618 372 81 304 402 217 136 227 135 859 441 239 981 215 636

Airlines UAL LMU AXB BBC AIC DLH PIA THY FDB UAE DHX MSR ETD QTR THY JZR GFA RJA JZR SWT FDB KAC BAW JZR KAC JZR UAE ABY KAC FDB

Flt 981 1110 390 44 982 637 206 773 68 854 371 613 306 139 771 164 212 643 200 90 54 545 156 256 787 560 856 126 117 56

COLOMBO/DUBAI DUBAI DUBAI BEIRUT CAIRO RIYADH BAHRAIN DAMMAM DUBAI CHENNAI/GOA PARIS/ROME NEW YORK/LONDON RIYADH AMMAN DUBAI MUMBAI JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAGHDAD RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA COLOMBO/DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI LAHORE AMMAN BAHRAIN KARACHI FRANKFURT Departure Flights on Friday 18/11/2011 Route WASHINGTON DC DULLES ALEXANDRIA MANGALORE/KOZHIKODE DHAKA AHMEDABAD/HYDERABAD/CHENNAI FRANKFURT LAHORE ISTANBUL DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN CAIRO ABU DHABI DOHA ISTANBUL DUBAI BAHRAIN AMMAN DAMASCUS BAGHDAD DUBAI ALEXANDRIA LONDON BEIRUT JEDDAH SOHAG DUBAI SHARJAH NEW YORK DUBAI

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QTR ETD KAC KAC GFA IRA JZR RBG KAC TAR KAC MEA KAC IYE MSR JZR MSR GFA JZR FDB KAC KAC KAC OMA UAL RJA JZR KAC KAC QTR KAC JZR ETD JZR QTR UAE GFA RBG ABY SVA MLR JZR FDB JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC JAI MSR DHX MEA GFA KAC QTR ALK KAC JZR KAC FCX UAE JZR SAI KAC

133 302 617 177 214 618 212 3558 541 328 103 405 501 825 624 176 611 220 124 58 561 673 785 646 982 641 786 613 773 141 743 238 304 538 135 858 216 3556 128 511 404 134 64 184 283 361 62 343 351 571 619 373 403 218 381 137 228 301 554 205 102 860 502 442 411

DOHA ABU DHABI DOHA FRANKFURT/GENEVA BAHRAIN LAR DEIREZZOR SOHAG CAIRO TUNIS LONDON BEIRUT BEIRUT DOHA/SANAA SOHAG DUBAI CAIRO BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI JEDDAH MUSCAT BAHRAIN AMMAN RIYADH BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA DAMMAM AMMAN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA SHARJAH RIYADH DUBAI/COLOMBO BAHRAIN DUBAI DUBAI DHAKA COLOMBO DUBAI CHENNAI COCHIN MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BEIRUT BAHRAIN DELHI DOHA DUBAI/COLOMBO MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA ISLAMABAD DUBAI DUBAI LUXOR LAHORE BANGKOK/MANILA

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

I Unlike other mammals, dolphin babies are born tail first.

I A dolphin’s dorsal fin is as distinctive as a person’s face.

I Dolphins can jump as high as 20 feet out of the water.

“When I was young, I always bullied somebody.

After I learned martial arts, I learned respect.”

— Actor Jackie Chan, on People.com

— animal.discovery.com

Bullying: It’s Against the Law! It’s back to school for kids in New Jersey. But state lawmakers want students to know that it’s not back to bullying. A new law against the hurtful behavior took effect in the state at the start of this school year.

New Jersey’s law says bullying is not allowed for any reason. All public-school workers in contact with students, from custodians to teachers and principals, must be trained in how to prevent bullying. Schools must report immediately any bullying that occurs, and they will be graded on how well they handle the problem.

New Jersey is one of 47 states that have antibullying laws for schools. Only Michigan, Montana and South Dakota do not.

Brenda High started an organization called Bully Police USA, which reports on and grades these laws. She says New Jersey’s law is among the toughest yet, and gives it her highest mark, an A++. Other states whose laws make the top grade include North Dakota and Massachusetts.

L E O N A R D O RT I Z / T H E O R A N G E C O U N T Y R E G I S T E R / M C T

Actress Cozi Zuehlsdorff, 13, points out her image in the “Dolphin Tale” movie poster.

Cozi Zuehlsdorff talks about her first movie role in ‘Dolphin Tale’

BY BARRY KOLTNOW The Orange County Register

The following story is true. A 13-year-old Mission Viejo, Calif., girl swears to it.

According to Cozi Zuehlsdorff, just after returning from Florida, where she completed filming the movie “Dolphin Tale” about a real-life dolphin that lost its tail in an accident and would have died if not for the work of a marine biologist and a prosthetics doctor, her family was watching some old home movies.

On one tape, a very young Cozi and her older sister were playing together in a bathtub. Her sister grabbed a toy on the side of the tub and said, “Let’s play with the dolphin.”

Her sister held up the toy dolphin, and that’s when Cozi’s father hit the pause button. The entire family stared speechless at the screen. The toy dolphin’s tail had broken off.

“It was freaky,” Cozi said.

“I think it was prophetic,” her father Scott added.

In “Dolphin Tale,” Cozi plays the daughter of the aquarium’s owner (Harry Connick Jr.). She befriends a local boy and the two youngsters care for the injured dolphin. The real dolphin, named Winter, remains a major tourist attraction in Florida.

Cozi got her start in an Orange County, Calif., production of “Annie,” and continued in local musical theater until she started making commercials. “Dolphin Tale” is her first film.

Q: When was the first time you said to your-

self, “Hey, I want to be an actress?”

A: For sure, it started when I was 7 in musical theater. I didn’t even know I wanted to do it but my mom encouraged me to audition for “Annie.”

Q: Which commercials did you do?

A: I did two insurance companies and a bank. Then I did a Nestle’s commercial, and a Hallmark voiceover

C O U R T E S Y O F WA R N E R B R O S .

From left, Nathan Gamble, Harry Connick Jr., and Cozi Zuehlsdorff star in the film “Dolphin Tale.”

for a Father’s Day commercial. And I just shot a Trident commercial that hasn’t come out yet.

Q: So, how did you get the dolphin movie?

A: I went out on five TV and movie auditions, and then I got the script for “Dolphin Tale.” It said they were looking for an 11-year-old Caucasian girl with freckles, blond hair and a big personality. Well, hello.

Q: How did the audition go?

A: I felt so good about it that I took a picture of myself when I left the audition so that if I got the part, I’d have a picture of the moment. Two or three weeks later, I got a callback to meet with the director, Charles Martin Smith.

Q: Describe what’s like to swim with a dol-

phin.

A: The first time wasn’t with Winter. It was with an older dolphin named Panama, and it was magical.

Dolphins are so big and grand. The water was about 86 degrees, and I put on goggles and watched her swim underwater. It was really amazing. Winter was a little smaller, but she was so personable.

BULLYING BASICS

Bullying takes many forms. It may include teasing, name-calling and leaving someone out. It also can be physical. The behavior happens over and over again, and can take place anywhere from the playground to the Internet. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry reports that nearly half of all kids will experience bullying in school, and at least 10 percent are bullied regularly.

PAU L T R A P / M C T National Bullying Prevention Month, observed each year in October, encourages people to raise awareness about bullying and take action to stop it. Many schools hold anti-bullying programs.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM

Will stronger anti-bullying laws change the behavior for good? That question is up for discussion. Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, firmly says no. “State anti-bullying laws do not provide any additional money, staff or other support,” he told TFK. Christopher Irving, who helped coordinate the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Conference, in June, agrees that money is an issue, especially now, as schools face serious financial challenges. New Jersey’s law is “the toughest law in the nation that comes with no money to support it,” he says.

Some administrators note that they had strict anti-bullying policies in place long before the law passed. “The law will not change what we do, because we already take the issue very seriously,” explains Bruce Winkelstein. He is the principal of Brookside School in Allendale, N.J. You can do your part by treating others kindly and speaking out against bullying. Kids will make the biggest difference of all.

— Elizabeth Winchester

© 2011 Time Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TIME FOR KIDS and Timeforkids.com are registered trademarks of Time Inc.

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Contact: 66857416 13-11-2011

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

AVONDALE: Jimmie Johnson (front) and Landon Cassill drive into Turn 4 during a NASCAR Sprint Cup auto racing practice at Phoenix International in this file photo.

(Inset) Jimmie Johnson. —AP

Johnson balancing two sides of personality CHARLOTTE: Just a few weeks after winning his first NASCAR championship, Jimmie Johnson was goofing around with his friends when he decided to climb atop a golf cart during a charity event. As he pretended to surf, Johnson fell off the cart and broke his wrist.

Concerned that such a silly incident could tarnish his reputation, or anger his team and sponsors, he lied about the circumstances of the accident. Of course, the truth eventually came out, and Johnson was even more embarrassed.

So began a journey of personal growth and maturation for one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers. For some athletes, that means toning down the nightlife and focusing on the job.

For Johnson, it’s been more about balancing the two sides of personality - the talented, super ambitious driver and the guy who likes to have a good time.

In the early morning after his fourth championship, Johnson was found asleep on the curb outside his South Beach hotel when the car service arrived to take him to what ended up being a grueling day of media appearances for a hungover champion.

The next year, his first as a father, he rolled his pants legs up and stood in the sand and surf surrounded by his five championship trophies in a quiet moment of reflection at sunrise.

There won’t be such a celebration for Johnson this year. His record run of five consecutive championships came to an end with a whimper last weekend at Phoenix, where he crossed the finish line in 14th and was mathematically eliminated from title contention.

Sunday will mark the first time since the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format began in 2004 that Johnson won’t be eligible to win the title heading into the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I’m definitely disappointed, but that’s motor sports,” Johnson said. “It’s a very tough business. What we did over the last five years

was absolutely spectacular. Being on top for as long as we have been takes a lot of effort to maintain that.

“It just takes a lot out of you. So this will be a nice winter to unplug and relax and dissect the different areas of the race team and come back stronger.”

Nobody has been stronger the last five years - more, maybe, if you go back to 2003, when he finished second in the final points standings.

He won eight races in 2004, the first year of the Chase, and finished eight points behind

champion Kurt Busch. The next year, he went to Homestead ranked second and with leader Tony Stewart in reach, only to crash out of the race with a tire issue and finish a distant fifth in the final standings. Johnson left Homestead possessed.

“The pressure I put on myself to win a championship was so great, it was like life or death in 2006,” Johnson said. “I watched two great opportunities pass me by in ‘04 and ‘05, and I wasn’t sure I was going to get another chance at a championship. So it was really like life or death for me in ‘06. Then when I won

Grubb won’t discuss future with team CHARLOTTE: Tony Stewart’s crew chief would not speculate Tuesday on his future with the race team. Darian Grubb has led Stewart to four wins in the last nine races, and the Stewart-Haas Racing team goes into Sunday’s season finale trailing Carl Edwards by three points in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. But there’s been speculation for months about personnel within the race team as Stewart fired his competition director midway through the season. Grubb has been rumored to be both on the way out and a candidate for the competition director job.

Grubb, who left Hendrick Motorsports at the end of 2008 to join SHR as Stewart’s crew chief, was non-committal when asked if he’ll be back. “We’ll kind of leave that until after Sunday; we’ll kind of figure out what’s going to happen there,” Grubbs said. “Our goal is to win the championship, and we’ll decide everything else after that.”

Stewart goes into Homestead-Miami Speedway seeking his third NASCAR championship - his first since he became co-owner of his own team in 2009. If he succeeds, he’ll be

the first driver/owner since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 to win NASCAR’s championship. It’s been a complete turnaround for the No. 14 team, which slumped through the summer.

In August, with Stewart sliding in the standings, he said his team wasn’t worth of taking a spot in the 12-driver Chase field. And, once he made the Chase, he didn’t include himself on the list of viable title contenders.

Then Stewart won the opening two Chase races and has gone round-for-round with Edwards over the last month. Grubb said the goals never changed, even with all the uncertainty surrounding personnel.

“We’ve still got the same goals we’ve always had, that we want to go out and win the championship, and winning races is the way to do that,” Grubb said. “Obviously, what we’ve done the last nine weeks, we’ve shown we have the capability.”

In addition to competition director, Stewart also must hire a crew chief for Danica Patrick, who will run 10 Cup races for him next season as she prepares for a full 2013 schedule. —AP

one, then came trying to chill out a little bit and learn to enjoy racing and enjoy the challenges and learning how to be more confident and comfortable in my own skin.” He’s the first to admit it’s not been an easy road.

Johnson, a 35-year-old Californian, worked his entire life trying to wow sponsors into giving him the money he needed to pursue a racing career. It required him to be buttonedup, the consummate professional and constant salesman. It left him guarded, and for a long time didn’t help him get the on-track success he craved.

He was collecting a paycheck, but he didn’t start picking up wins until he signed with Hendrick Motorsports in late 2001. Even with that big break, Johnson kept a clear distinction between work and play that created the stereotype of a “plain, vanilla driver.”

Here we are now, five championships, 55 victories and more than $108 million in purse winnings, and Johnson is that guy sparring with hateful fans on Twitter and unafraid to speak his mind.

“The last five years, from a professional standpoint, the biggest thing has just been the confidence I now have in my own shoes,” he said. “The race track has always been who I am, and I spent the majority of my life as like a “B” or “C” driver. You don’t build a lot of confidence being a mid-packer.

“So being able to prove to myself, to our industry, what I’m capable of, it’s helped me gain a lot of confidence in myself, in my role in the sport and how I fit into the sport. It’s also allowed me to have a lot more fun.”

Yet it’s still a struggle sometimes, evidenced last month when Johnson said IndyCar should not be racing on ovals in the wake of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon’s death. He meant high-banked ovals, but because he wasn’t clear, and because he’s currently the face of motorsports, his words spread throughout the industry and drew heavy criticism from some racing icons. —AP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Gibson, Maddon win Managers of the Year NEW YORK: Moments after his team lost a day-night doubleheader at Yankee Stadium in late September, Joe Maddon wandered into the Tampa Bay clubhouse.

The twin defeats left the Rays in a precarious position with only a week remaining in the regular season. Rather than raise his voice, Maddon delivered a simple message.

“You guys are great,” Maddon recalled telling them, “and I know you can still do this.”

Eternally optimistic, Maddon won the AL Manager of the Year award Wednesday. He certainly clinched the honor in the last month, when Tampa Bay overcame a ninegame deficit and trumped Boston for the wild-card spot.

Kirk Gibson, meanwhile, took a more stern approach starting in spring training. He even brought three Navy SEALs to camp. The SEALs wrote D, W and I on a board. The letters stood for a sense of purpose, not a traffic offense: “Deal With It.” “They bought into it,” said Gibson, voted the NL Manager of the Year after guiding the Arizona Diamondbacks to a worst-tofirst finish.

Gibson was a clear choice for guiding the Diamondbacks to a runaway NL West title. A former MVP as a rough-and-tumble outfielder, he was honored in his first full season as a big league manager.

“I certainly had a vision,” Gibson said during a conference call while on vacation in northern Michigan, adding, “It’s certainly not all because of me.”

Maddon was an easy pick in winning the AL award for the second time. The Rays made the biggest September rally in baseball history for a team that claimed a playoff berth, sealing it on the final day of the regular season.

“I like to think of it as a validation of the Rays’ way of doing things,” Maddon said of the award during a conference call while visiting family and friends in Hazleton, Pa. Maddon led Tampa Bay to the playoffs for the third time in four years. After that, his name popped up in speculation about managerial openings with Boston, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis. The Cardinals have already hired Mike Matheny. “I don’t want to have to go anywhere else,” Maddon said.

The awards were announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The NL Cy Young winner will be revealed late yesterday, with Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers the leading candidate.

Gibson and the Diamondbacks went 9468, a year after he took over in midseason as Arizona went 65-97. Stressing fundamentals and details from the first day of camp, the 54year-old Gibson pushed his team into the playoffs, where it lost to Milwaukee in the 10th inning of the deciding Game 5 in the opening round.

Gibson drew 28 of the 32 first-place votes and got 152 points. He was the only manager in either league to be listed on every ballot.

Ron Roenicke of the NL Central champion Brewers was second with three first-place votes and 92 points. Tony La Russa of the World Series champion Cardinals was third with the other first-place vote and 24 points.

Voting was completed before the start of the playoffs.

Maddon added to the AL honor he won in 2008. The 57-year-old manager who likes to speak on a vast array of subjects - he mentioned Mozart, his iPad and a puppy on his conference call - never panicked during a trying year.—AP

VANCOUVER: Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Steve Montador (5) puts Vancouver Canucks center Manny Malhotra (27) into the boards during the second period of an NHL hockey game. — AP

Devils triumph, Canadiens roll BUFFALO: Patrik Elias had a goal and assist, Martin Brodeur made 29 saves, and Ilya Kovalchuk scored in his return from a groin injury in the New Jersey Devils’ 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.

Playing in his fourth game since a shoulder injury forced him to miss six, Brodeur’s best save came with 6 minutes left in the second period when he snagged Jason Pominville’s shot from point-blank range with his glove.

Brodeur has allowed 10 goals since his return. Zach Parise, Mark Fayne, and David Clarkson also scored for the Devils (9-7-1), who won for the second time in three games. New Jersey lost 4-3 at Boston on Tuesday.

Tyler Myers scored twice after a onegame benching, Jordan Leopold added a goal, and Jhonas Enroth allowed five goals on 19 shots.

Canadiens 4, Hurricanes 0 At Montreal, Carey Price made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season and P.K. Subban had a goal and an assist to lead Montreal over Carolina.

Price, who earned a secondary assist on Michael Cammalleri’s goal 7:15 in, recorded his first regular-season shutout since March 12. It was his 13th NHL blanking.

Yannick Weber and Travis Moen also scored for Montreal (8-7-3), and Tomas Plekanec had two assists. The Canadiens are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games.

Cam Ward stopped 32 shots for Carolina, which lost 5-3 to Philadelphia on Monday. The Hurricanes are 3-8-2 in their last 13 games.

Blackhawks 5, Canucks 1 At Vancouver, British Columbia, Andrew Brunette and Patrick Kane scored power-play goals midway through the second period as Chicago rallied from an early deficit to win its season-high fourth straight game.

The Canucks, who beat the Blackhawks in Chicago 6-2 earlier this month, led 1-0 before Brunette and Kane took advantage of the game’s first two power plays. Jonathan Toews scored his fifth goal in four games, Patrick Sharp added a goal 1:49 later in the third period, and Steve Montador also scored to complete the rout. Jannik Hansen scored for the Canucks against goalie Corey Crawford, who made 28 saves.

Kings 2, Ducks 1 At Los Angeles, Jonathan Quick made 23 saves before stopping six of Anaheim’s seven shootout attempts, while Justin Williams scored the winning goal in the seventh round in Los Angeles’ victory over the slumping Ducks in the season’s first Freeway Faceoff.

Mike Richards scored during a twoman advantage in the second period for the Kings, but Quick lost his bid for his 18th NHL shutout when Teemu Selanne tied it on a power-play goal with 3:25 left in regulation. Jonas Hiller made 36 saves while single-handedly keeping it close for the Ducks, who have lost 11 of 13.

Jarret Stoll scored the first shootout goal in the third round, but captain Ryan Getzlaf answered for the Ducks. After three more scoreless rounds, Williams put a quick wrist shot over Hiller’s glove, and Quick stopped Kurtis Foster. — AP

NHL results/standings Montreal 4, Carolina 0; New Jersey 5, Buffalo 3; Chicago 5, Vancouver 1; Los Angeles 2, Anaheim 1 (So). (SO denotes shootout) Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF GA PTS Pittsburgh 11 4 3 57 43 25 NY Rangers 10 3 3 47 34 23 Philadelphia 10 4 3 65 51 23 New Jersey 9 7 1 45 48 19 NY Islanders 4 8 3 31 47 11 Northeast Division Buffalo 11 7 0 55 47 22 Toronto 10 6 2 53 61 22 Montreal 8 7 3 46 45 19 Ottawa 9 9 1 56 66 19 Boston 9 7 0 56 38 18 Southeast Division Washington 10 5 1 56 45 21 Florida 9 5 3 52 42 21 Tampa Bay 8 7 2 48 55 18 Winnipeg 6 9 3 48 60 15 Carolina 6 10 3 46 67 15 Western Conference Central Division Chicago 12 4 3 67 53 27 Nashville 9 5 3 46 43 21 Detroit 9 6 1 43 35 19 St. Louis 9 7 1 42 39 19 Columbus 3 13 1 38 64 7 Northwest Division Minnesota 10 5 3 43 38 23 Edmonton 9 6 2 39 38 20 Vancouver 9 9 1 56 56 19 Colorado 8 9 1 52 60 17 Calgary 7 9 1 36 45 15 Pacific Division Dallas 11 6 0 48 47 22 Phoenix 9 4 3 46 41 21 Los Angeles 9 6 3 43 41 21 San Jose 9 5 1 44 39 19 Anaheim 6 8 4 36 52 16 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

PALEMBANG: A Thai player (left) kicks the ball while a Malaysian player (right) tries to stop during the Sepak Takraw men’s team preliminary match at the 26th Southeast Asian Games. —AFP

Rusedski: Time for Murray to strike LONDON: The state of flux in men’s tennis could present Andy Murray with the perfect opportunity in 2012 to end Britain’s 76-year wait for a men’s grand slam champion, former British number one Greg Rusedski said.

With world number one Novak Djokovic under pressure to defend over 13,000 ranking points following his stupendous 2011 season, Rafa Nadal still reeling from six successive defeats by the Serb and Roger Federer on the wrong side of 30, the time is right for Murray to strike and become the first British male to lift a major since Fred Perry in 1936.

“Next year is going to be very important for Murray,” Rusedski told Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of the ATP World Tour Finals,

where Murray has been drawn in the same group as Djokovic.

“This year he’s had his best year at the grand slams, he got to the final in Australia (losing to Djokovic) and three semis in Paris, Wimbledon and the (U.S.) Open. That shows he’s getting consistent. “Coming up 2012 will be a very important year for him because Federer is already 30 plus so he’s in extra time. “Djokovic cannot repeat the year (he’s just had when he won 10 titles including three majors) and Rafa most likely will win the French Open but this year he’s struggled from his high standards.

“So if you look at the opening for Murray, he’s gotta win one in the next year or so if he’s going to win a major.”

Looking back at the records over the past 30 years, most multiple men’s grand slam winners had won their first major by the time they were blowing out 23 candles on their birthday cakes.

With Murray due to celebrate his quarter century next May, such statistics are unlikely to favour a player who is the only one among the top four without a grand slam title though Rusedski was more optimistic.

“The stat that is good for Murray is that he got into the top 10 before 20 years of age and there is only one player ...who has never won a major getting into top 10 before the age of 20 and that was Marcelo Rios. “The way he plays, he can beat 97 of the top 100 guys. But when it comes down to the final of a major and both

guys are playing their best tennis, the one who is going to be a little bit more aggressive is going to come through. “Murray has got the realisation of that after this year so he needs to put that practice into action.” While Murray has usually picked Flushing Meadows as the venue where he is most likely to triumph, Rusedski believes he has more chances of succeeding at the Australian Open as he might be able to catch the opposition napping just weeks into the new season. “Andy always plays great in the Australian Open and has been in the final twice,” said Rusedski. “The guys aren’t necessary sharp coming into that event so for me that’s probably he’s best chance at winning a major.” —Reuters

French team grabs top seed in ACWS racing

SAN DIEGO: An aerial view during the America’s Cup World Series, San Diego Match Racing Championship Fleet Race at San Diego Bay. — AFP

SAN DIEGO: While reigning America’s Cup champion skipper Jimmy Spithill spent a gorgeous afternoon proving he’s human, France’s Energy Team surprisingly edged two sailing powerhouses to come out on top after the opening day of the third stop of the new America’s Cup World Series.

Energy Team, skippered by Yann Guichard, finished third, fifth and first in Wednesday’s three fleet races to score 24 points and claim the top seed for the match racing championships. Emirates Team New Zealand, the overall ACWS leader coming into the San Diego regatta, was second with 23 points, while Oracle Racing-Spithill was third in the nine-boat fleet with 22.

“It’s a perfect day for us,” said Guichard, who up until now had been the syndicate’s alternate helmsman.

Energy Team, Team New Zealand and Oracle Racing - Spithill clinched the top three

seeds and moved directly into the match racing semifinals today. The other six teams begin match racing eliminations late yesterday.

It was the first America’s Cup racing in the United States since Russell Coutts and Team New Zealand lifted the Auld Mug from Dennis Conner off San Diego in 1995. Coutts is now the CEO of Oracle Racing, which is owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison.

Sailed in fast 45-foot catamarans with wing sails, the ACWS is the buildup to the 2013 America’s Cup, which will be sailed in 72-foot cats on San Francisco Bay. Dean Barker skippered Team New Zealand to finishes of second, third and fifth. Spithill, who skippered Oracle Racing to two-race sweep of Alinghi of Switzerland in 2010 to claim the America’s Cup, had a rough day on the starting line but managed finishes of fifth, fourth and second. —AP

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Intrigue abounds in Contador doping case PARIS: Like a Hollywood film noir, Alberto Contador’s devilishly complex doping case has mystery, intrigue, suspense, an as-yet-unidentified villain and a very uncertain outcome. But unlike the movies, there won’t be a satisfying ending.

To quote from a courtroom drama, the question, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is this: What exactly happened in the hours of July 20 and 21, 2010, when Contador was putting finishing touches on his third Tour de France victory? There are two certainties.

One is that clenbuterol - a banned substance sports cheats like because it helps build muscle and burn fat but isn’t cutting-edge because it has been around for decades and is readily detectable got into the rider’s system. Likely, we will never know the whole truth of exactly how.

The other certainty is that the traces in Contador’s urine were so infinitesimal they couldn’t have given him a performance boost and helped him win the Tour.

In which case, why is the World AntiDoping Agency and cycling’s governing body, the UCI, still going after him? The reason seems to have as much to do with politics as justice.

Neither body seems, at least outwardly, to be completely convinced Contador intentionally cheated. But nor do they want to be seen as negligent. They can’t afford to give the impression they’re afraid to go after the biggest champions.

Nor do they seem inclined to be forgiving of Contador’s country, Spain, with its wretched recent history of being a haven for dopers and doctors who helped them.

So WADA and the UCI are going through the motions, sticking to the letter if not the spirit of the law and pursuing Contador through to the end at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which will hear this case next week. Who knows?

Maybe they’ll come armed with knockout new evidence to make it clearer whether Contador is lying or whether, as he claims, he’s a victim of foul luck.

Or, more likely, the UCI and WADA don’t have such proof. Either way, if Contador must be absolved, it is better for them that the highest court in sports be the one to do it. No verdict is expected until January.

“All of the institutions - the anti-dop-

ing organizations, the international sports federations, everybody - is terrified of doing anything that they’ll be criticized of being soft on doping,” said sports attorney Howard Jacobs, who is not representing any party in this case.

“Their gut reaction is to be more harsh then they should. ... You see it across the board.”

Spanish officials who rallied to Contador’s side, from Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero down, didn’t help, either. The impression they gave was that Contador was always going to get a friendly hearing in Spain, even if he doped. So when Spanish cycling authorities cleared Contador in February despite having previously proposed that he serve a one-year ban, it looked as if they had caved to pressure and didn’t understand WADA’s rules and the complex science. That, in turn, put the onus on WADA and UCI to appeal the decision to the CAS in Switzerland. They might have felt less need to do so if the Spanish had done a more credible job. “I was very angry,” said Swiss attorney Rocco Taminelli, who was part of Contador’s defense team then. “That was the impression and that’s what we heard all around the world: That it was a decision made just to please Contador and to please his sponsors. ...That wasn’t true.

That was a big mistake.” So that is the intrigue. Now for the mystery: Did Contador dope?

His explanation that he consumed the drug unwittingly by eating a contaminated steak that a buddy bought in Spain and brought to him in France at the Tour has always sounded like a shaggy dog story. But it’s also a very clever story because unlike other explanations he might have furnished, the bad beef tale could get Contador off the hook entirely if his lawyers can make it stick.

Had Contador blamed a contaminated nutritional supplement, he would likely be looking at a ban of at least a year because it would have been partly his fault that he wasn’t more careful about what he consumed.

But athletes cannot be expected to be vegetarian. Nor can they not eat or pretest every morsel of food. If the CAS accepts that the likeliest explanation for Contador’s clenbuterol positive is tainted meat then it should also clear him of any fault and not punish him. —AP

PARIS: Spain’s Alberto Contador attends the presentation of the 2012 Tour de France cycling race in Paris in this Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 file photo. —AP

MELBOURNE: Jim Furyk of the US chips out of the bunker during his President’s Cup match played at the Royal Melbourne golf course. — AFP

Woods crashes but US shine at Presidents Cup MELBOURNE: The United States recovered from a stunning collapse by Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker to take a 4-2 lead in the Presidents Cup at the end of yesterday’s opening foursomes as the nervous hosts stumbled late in the day.

Woods and former caddy Steve Williams had moved to defuse tensions following the New Zealander’s recent racial slur, the pair shaking hands at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club’s first tee on the opening day of the biennial tournament.

But the former world number one and playing partner Stricker looked far from comfortable thereafter, as they crashed to a 7&6 loss to Australia’s Adam Scott and South Korean KJ Choi.

The US made light of the pair’s struggles, however, and it was their opponents who crumbled in front of packed galleries when the heat was on.

Having led in five of the six groups, the Australian-stacked Internationals faltered late in their rounds as their traditional weakness in foursomes came back to haunt them.

Their team trailing 3 1/2 points to 1 1/2, the final all-Australian pairing of Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day blew the chance to take the last point against Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar.

Baddeley burned the rim on a short putt that would have sealed the win on 17, then duffed his tee-shot into the right rough on the last as the nerves set in. Johnson calmly sank a six-footer to steal a half-point for the defending champions.

“Sometimes I know I feel probably worse than Aaron feels, because you know how he feels,” Internationals captain Greg Norman told reporters.

“He hit one bad shot in 18 holes. If he looks back over it, all of the great putts he made and all of the great shots he hit, take all of those away from the day, don’t take away that poor tee shot on 18.” The pairing of Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy and Charl Schwartzel were almost as profligate, surrendering a two-up lead in the last four holes to halve their match with Bill Haas and Nick Watney.

“Well, obviously, point-wise, we are more excited than we were an hour and a half before the day ended,” US captain Fred Couples said.

“But that’s happened before, and our guys fought hard.”

Couples paid tribute to the grit his players displayed late in the day but would also have been delighted with the performance of his first pair, Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson.

The Presidents Cup debutants were a model of composure as they hauled in Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa to give the United States a 1-0 lead.

The Americans quelled early jitters to come back from two-down after the first four holes and post an emphatic 4&2 win when Els conceded the match after missing a long birdie putt.

“I woke up this morning because I knew I was so nervous,” 26-year-old Simpson said. “To be honest I was just thinking about the story of David and Goliath out there.”

Woods and Stricker, who became the first pairing to win all four of their matches at the 2009 edition in San Francisco, were the sixth and final group out but trudged back to the clubhouse with four matches still to finish.

Both players struggled off the tee and on the fairways as Scott and Choi combined sublimely to slam the door on the 12th hole following a masterclass of putting and bunker play.

“We were just slightly off. On a golf course like this, it doesn’t take much,” said Woods after suffering his worst Presidents Cup loss in seven campaigns.

“They partnered up well, shot four-under on us, and we just couldn’t get any kind of pressure on them.” Couples has split the pairing for Friday’s four-ball matches, with Woods to partner Johnson against Day and Baddeley. Stricker teams up with Kuchar for South Korea’s YE Yang and Australian Robert Allenby.

Hunter Mahan and David Toms were almost as ruthless as Scott and Choi as they handed hapless Yang and his compatriot Kim Kyung-tae a bruising 6&5 thrashing.

Phil Mickelson also enjoyed a lopsided 4&3 victory, his first Presidents Cup win outside North America, as he and Jim Furyk prevailed in a battle of veterans against South African Retief Goosen and Allenby. —Reuters

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

India crush Windies despite Bravo ton

JOHANNESBURGH: South Africa’s batsman AB de Villiers (right) plays a shot as Australia’s wicketkeeper Brad Haddin (left) watches during the first day of the second Test cricket match. —AP

Australia rips through South Africa after tea JOHANNESBURG: Australia ripped out South Africa’s last six batsmen for 25 runs to bowl the hosts out for 266 by stumps on the first day of the second test at Wanderers, taking control of a match the tourists have to win to level the series.

The Aussies took 4-4 in a three-over spell in the final session, sending the Proteas on their way to a dramatic collapse reminiscent of Australia’s infamous second innings slump in the first test at Cape Town.

While Peter Siddle took 3-69, offspinner Nathan Lyon began the slide with 2-52 and captain Michael Clarke mopped up the tail with 2-6 as Australia responded convincingly to half-centuries by Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince. The Australians also responded convincingly to questions about their mental state after falling to their lowest total in more than 100 years in the first test to throw away a game they had controlled. The players failed to return to the pitch at Wanderers after South Africa’s first innings ended late in the day, and stumps was called by the umpires with the light fading. De Villiers top-scored with 64, sharing a 112-run partnership with Prince (50) to save South Africa from an initial period of pressure at 129-4 soon after lunch after having opted to bat first. But the Aussies - who lost medium-pacer Shane Watson with a right hamstring problem - turned the game in 44 minutes and just over 10 overs in the late afternoon.

After its shattering eight-wicket defeat at Newlands, Australia has to win to save its proud record in South Africa. It has not lost a test series here since 1970. Lyon broke the De Villiers-Prince stand when Prince fell for 50 off 89 balls and Siddle removed De Villiers five balls later to a brilliant running, diving catch at mid-on by debutant Pat Cummins, who took the ball with his back to the batsman. — AP

Scoreboard JOHANNESBURG: Scores at the close of the first day of the second and final Test between South Africa and Australia at the Wanderers Stadium yesterday: South Africa, first innings J. Rudolph c Haddin b Watson 30 G. Smith c Clarke b Johnson 11 H. Amla c Ponting b Cummins 19 J. Kallis c Khawaja b Siddle 54 A. de Villiers c Cummins b Siddle 64 A. Prince c Johnson b Lyon 50 M. Boucher c Lyon b Siddle 3 V. Philander lbw b Lyon 0 D. Steyn not out 15 M. Morkel c Watson b Clarke 6 Imran Tahir c Hughes b Clarke 0 Extras (b9, lb2, nb1, w2) 14 Total (71 overs) 266 Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Smith), 2-43 (Rudolph), 3-123 (Kallis), 4-129 (Amla), 5-241 (Prince), 6-243 (De Villiers), 7-243 (Philander), 8-245 (Boucher), 9-258 (Morkel) Bowling: Johnson 16.1-1-67-1 (1nb), Cummins 15-3-38-1, Siddle 15-4-69-3, Watson 3.5-1-13-1, Lyon 13-2-52-2, Hussey 4-0-10-0 (2w), Clarke 4-1-6-2 Australia: Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin (wkt), Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Patrick Cummins, Nathan Lyon

KOLKATA: Darren Bravo’s stylish 136 failed to save West Indies from a heavy defeat as India completed a series-clinching victory eight minutes before tea on the fourth day of the second test at Eden Gardens yesterday.

Paceman Umesh Yadav took four wickets while Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin added two apiece to help the hosts dismiss West Indies for 463 to win the match by an innings and 15 runs and claim an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

The second innings was a stark contrast to the meek surrender in the first when the tourists were skittled out for 153 in response to India’s 631 for seven declared and had to follow-on.

“It was a long fielding session. We got them out comfortably in the first innings but saw the track was getting flatter and there was nothing in it for the bowlers,” India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni told reporters.

“The bowlers are hunting in a pack, (it) doesn’t matter who is taking the wickets. I think the first innings was perfect, after that it was a game of patience.”

Left-hander Bravo made his second test hundred and added 132 for the fifth wicket with Marlon Samuels (84). The 22year-old centurion had earlier put on 108 for the fourth wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (47) who chopped Yadav on to his stumps four overs after the new ball was taken in the morning.

“I’d like to commend the guys in the second innings and if we put two innings together we can pose a challenge to other teams,” said West Indies skipper Darren Sammy.

“It was a good fight in the second innings. India showed us how to bat on this track and it called for application.”

Bravo survived an easy run-out chance on 54 and a strong bat-pad catch appeal on 119 before he edged left-arm spinner Ojha to lone slip Rahul Dravid.

He hit 16 fours and four sixes and reached three figures with two boundaries in one Yadav over, the first an elegant cover drive and the second a late steer to third man. Bravo, who also scored a hundred against Bangladesh last month, ran down the pitch with his bat and helmet raised to celebrate the milestone as a sparse crowd at Eden Gardens applauded.

His dismissal sparked a collapse that saw the final six wickets falling for 62 runs.

The spinners claimed four of the victims while Yadav dismissed the last two in consecutive deliveries.

Sammy briefly raised hopes of making India bat again with a 32-run cameo, during which he hit one four and three huge sixes, but was cleaned up by Yadav while attempting another extravagant swipe.

Samuels, who started with three streaky boundaries, grew in confidence and collected 13 fours and a six before he was out lbw to off-spinner Ashwin.

India started the day with their spinners on but found no help from a low and slow track, prompting Dhoni to take the second new ball as soon as it became available. Yadav responded by removing Chanderpaul to earn India’s only success in the morning session.

The third and final test in Mumbai starts on Tuesday. —Reuters

KOLKATA: West Indies Darren Bravo acknowledges the crowd after scoring a century against India during fourth day of their second cricket Test match. —AP

Scoreboard KOLKATA: Complete scoreboard on the fourth day of the second Test between India and the West Indies at Eden Gardens yesterday: India 1st innings 631-7 decl (V. Laxman 176 not out, MS Dhoni 144, R. Dravid 119, G. Gambhir 65; K. Roach 2-106, D. Sammy 2-132) West Indies 1st innings 153 (D. Bravo 30; P. Ojha 4-64, U. Yadav 3-23) West Indies 2nd innings (overnight 195-3): A. Barath c Laxman b Sharma 62 K. Brathwaite c Dhoni b Yadav 9 K. Edwards lbw b Sharma 60 D. Bravo c Dravid b Ojha 136 S. Chanderpaul b Yadav 47 M. Samuels lbw b Ashwin 84 C. Baugh c Dravid b Ojha 3 D. Sammy b Yadav 32 K. Roach b Ashwin 1 F. Edwards not out 15 D. Bishoo b Yadav 0 Extras (b9, lb4, w1) 14 Total (for all out; 126.3 overs) 463 Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Brathwaite), 2-116 (Barath), 3-161 (K. Edwards), 4-269 (Chanderpaul), 5-401 (Bravo), 6-411 (Baugh), 7-417 (Samuels), 8-421 (Roach), 9-463 (Sammy), 10-463 (Bishoo).

Bowling: Yadav 17.3-1-80-4, Sharma 25-4-95-2, Ojha 32-5-104-2, Ashwin 40-4-137-2, Yuvraj 3-0-14-0, Sehwag 9-2-20-0 (w1).

Result: India win by an innings and 15 runs

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High-flying Newcastle braced for City clash

GERMANY: In this Jan. 28, 2011 file photo Leverkusen’s Michael Ballack claps his hands during the German first division Bundesliga soccer match. Former Germany captain Ballack expects this to be his last season with Bayer Leverkusen, although he’s not yet thinking of retirement. —AP

Dortmund plot ambush for Bayern BERLIN: Reigning champions Borussia Dortmund are confident they can take a bite out of Bayern Munich’s five-point Bundesliga lead when the top two clash tomorrow.

Dortmund have climbed the table to second place after rediscovering their championship-winning form with five wins and a draw in their last six league games.

The reason for Dortmund’s rich vein of form was that the players were hungrier for the ball, coach Juergen Klopp told a group of amateur league coaches this week.

“When we started studying our system it was more a case of a Swan Lake. Now we always want to grab the ball like piranhas,” Klopp said.

His players have responded to his orders in the last six games, scoring 19 goals to move up to 23 pointsfive behind Bayern. They are also one of the fastest and most effective teams on the break.

“We just have to show no fear,” said Germany defender Mats Hummels. “We have to push our own game through and then Bayern will not be invincible any more.”

Dortmund could be without defender Marcel Schmelzer, who missed Germany’s friendlies this week with a muscle injury. For their part, Bayern know victory against the champions would give them more breathing in the title race.

“Dortmund are the toughest of all our rivals,” said midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a shoulder injury.

“It will be a tight game but I am sure that we will throw everything we have into this game and win, because then we will have taken a huge step forward.”

Bayern are also hoping they will make amends for last season’s 3-1 defeat in Munich that all but sealed Dortmund’s title.

“A lot has changed since then,” Schweinsteiger told reporters after watching a Bayern Munich basketball game late on Wednesday. “We have more quality this season and we are more compact than in the past few seasons.”

Bayern winger Arjen Robben, who returned to training last week after undergoing groin surgery in October, could make his comeback on Saturday, though it is unlikely he will be on the pitch from the start.

Third-placed Werder Bremen, also on 23 points, will have their work cut when they travel to surprise package Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are fourth on goal difference and have yet to lose at home this season. —Reuters

LONDON: Newcastle United’s owner Mike Ashley’s bitter-sweet relationship with fans suffered another low last week with his stadium renaming plans, but his waning popularity could improve if the unbeaten team halt the Manchester City juggernaut tomorrow.

The Eastlands clash pits the only two remaining unbeaten sides in the Premier League against each other with leaders City already five points clear of second-placed Manchester United after 11 games.

Newcastle have provided the surprise storyline of the season by sitting third on 25 points with seven wins and four draws. Their resurgence under manager Alan Pardew has been a rare highlight since Ashley’s turbulent reign began in 2007.

He has overseen the return and then resignation of club hero Kevin Keegan among a succession of managers, the on-off sale of the club as well as relegation from and then promotion back to the Premier League.

Newcastle’s impressive start had diverted some of the attention away from Ashley, who found himself squarely back in the firing line when he announced his intention to rename their St James’ Park stadium, their home since 1892, with his sporting goods brand.

The ‘Toon Army’ fans packing the away end on Saturday are certain to voice their disapproval, although the shouts of discontent against Ashley will die down if Pardew can find a way to quell free-scoring City’s fire.

It is the first in a series of three big tests for Newcastle, who follow the City clash with a visit to face Manchester United at Old Trafford the following week before hosting Chelsea in early December.

Tomorrow’s game is a battle between the Premier League’s top

scorers-City have hit 39 — and the division’s stingiest defence-Newcastle have conceded just eight times.

While Manchester United will hope Newcastle can take at least a point at City, Alex Ferguson’s side head for Wales to face a Swansea City (1730) team adapting well to the top flight.

Swansea, nicely placed in mid-table in their first season back with the elite since 1983, are proving tough customers at the Liberty stadium, unbeaten in five games and conceding just once.

Fourth-placed Chelsea welcome sixth-placed Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher poised to

Uruguay in a crushing World Cup qualifying win over Chile before being charged by the FA with making alleged racist remarks to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said Suarez had the potential to be one of the best in the world. “To see Luis day in, day out has been a real eye-opener for me,” Gerrard told LFC magazine. “I knew he was a good player.”

Resurgent Arsenal visit Norwich City in the Saturday lunchtime kickoff.

After a patchy start Arsene Wenger’s side have won their last four league games since losing to Tottenham Hotspur in early October, and have

Alex Ferguson return after missing two games with a minor calf injury.

Chelsea, who lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool last season, will need to nullify the threat of in-form striker Luis Suarez who has experienced a mixed week. He scored all four goals for

surged up to seventh place on 19 points. The league’s bottom two clubs meet at the DW Stadium where Wigan Athletic, rooted to the foot of the standings on five points, host Blackburn Rovers, just one point better off. — Reuters

Valencia fly flag for La Liga resistance MADRID: Valencia have the chance to prove La Liga is more than just a battle between Real Madrid and Barcelona when Jose Mourinho’s juggernaut heads to the Mestalla tomorrow.

Mourinho’s Real have been irresistible in racking up 10 consecutive wins in all competitions and have opened a three-point lead over second-placed Barcelona with three matches to go before the pair meet in the ‘clasico’ at the Bernabeu on Dec. 10.

The clashes between the world’s two richest clubs by income are generally the key to the league title but thirdplaced Valencia are one of the few clubs that could have a say in the championship.

Unai Emery’s team have finished third the last two seasons, albeit over 20 points short of second place, and are four points adrift of Real after 11 matches.

They held champions Barca to a 2-2 draw at the Mestalla in September and have a point to prove after being humiliated 6-3 at home by Real last season.

“It will be a difficult game to win because they are a team who have taken on board their coach’s ideas even more from last time,” Valencia stalwart David Albelda told reporters. “We could be facing the strongest Madrid side of the Mourinho era ... but good runs have to end some day.”

Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo, fresh from helping

Portugal qualify for Euro 2012, emphasised the importance of keeping Barca at arm’s length.

“If we don’t beat Valencia or Atletico Madrid (next week) we aren’t going to be able to play Barca safe in the knowledge that we have a cushion in case we lose,” he told sports daily AS. “We are doing well, we are better than last year, we are maturing and we want to continue this way.” Ronaldo and Alvaro Arbeloa returned from international duty with minor problems but coach Mourinho could give new signing Nuri Sahin more game time after the Turkey midfielder made his injury-delayed debut in a 7-1 hammering of Osasuna last time out.

Unbeaten Barca are at home to 16th-placed Real Zaragoza on Saturday (1900) and after a draw at Athletic Bilbao two weeks ago the champions are in the unfamiliar position of having to hang on the coat-tails of their arch rivals.

Pep Guardiola’s side have lacked spark in some of their recent games and have appeared reliant on La Liga’s leading scorer Lionel Messi to lift them.

The World Player of the Year, who is still only 24, will take to the Nou Camp eight years and three days after making his first-team debut for Barca at Porto in a friendly. —Reuters

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www.kuwaittimes.net

‘Blatter must go’ FIFA boss makes latest gaffe about racism

LONDON: In a file picture taken on Oct 15, 2011 Liverpool’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez (left) exchanges words with Manchester Unite’s French defender Patrice Evra (right) during the English Premier League football match.

— AP

LONDON: Britain’s sports minister led calls for FIFA president Sepp Blatter to resign yesterday after the global football supremo played down the extent of racism in the sport.

Hugh Robertson said Blatter’s position as head of world football was no longer tenable after he said in a television interview that disputes on the pitch involving racist abuse should be resolved by a handshake.

“Sepp Blatter’s comments are completely unacceptable,” Robertson said. “This is the latest episode that calls into question whether this man should be the head of world football.

“For the sake of the game, he should go. We have been consistent in our calls for improved governance at FIFA and this underlines the need for that once more.” The head of England’s Professional Footballers Association, Gordon Taylor, also said Blatter should quit. “He is the leader of world football, he has to be a leader in anti-racism,” Taylor told Sky News. “Racism is divisive and for him to say the player on the receiving end should forget about it at the end of the game and shake hands... We are going backwards... It is not good enough, it’s embarrassing. “It is time for him to go.”

Herman Ouseley, a member of the House of Lords who chairs the anti-racism Kick It Out group, said Blatter had no “understanding of what racism is”. “Enlightened leadership at this level is needed. Minor matters on the field often can be resolved with a handshake. Racism is not a minor matter,” he said.

Blatter’s comments were greeted with incredulity by the British media, a long-time critic of the Swiss administrator’s stewardship of FIFA. The Sun tabloid led the condemnation with a front page story headlined “Blind as a Blatt”, while the paper’s editorial said it was time for the veteran Swiss official to step down. “Blatter has long been a serious embarrassment to the game,” the paper said. “Now we know he thinks racism is no big deal. What a toad he is.”

Blatter’s comments came as Liverpool’s Uruguayan international Luis Suarez was charged by the English Football Association for allegedly racially abusing Manchester United’s French international Patrice Evra. England captain John Terry is also facing a police and FA investigation over allegations he hurled racist abuse at QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. The Daily Telegraph’s football correspondent Henry Winter, meanwhile, said Blatter’s position at the summit of the sport was untenable.

“Any politician who had uttered similarly offensive comments would have been sacked or resigned,” Winter wrote.

“Yet Tyrannosaurus Sepp carries on, an embarrassment to a wonderful sport, an affront to common decency.” In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Blatter said the sport did not have a problem with racism.

“I would deny it. There is no racism, there is maybe one of the players towards another, he has a word or a gesture which is not the correct one,” he said. “But also the one who is affected by that, he should say that this is a game. We are in a game, and at the end of the game, we shake hands, and this can happen, because we have worked so hard against racism and discrimination.” Blatter later issued a statement clarifying his remarks. “My comments have been misunderstood. What I wanted to express is that, as football players, during a match, you have ‘battles’ with your opponents, and sometimes things are done which are wrong,” he said. But former England captain Rio Ferdinand addressed Blatter directly via Twitter: “Your comments on racism are so condescending it’s almost laughable. If fans shout racist chants but shake our hands is that ok?”

Blatter yesterday reiterated FIFA’s “proud record” of fighting discrimination in a post on Twitter. — AFP