19th Sep

CR IP TI ON BS SU

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Al-Qaeda threatens attacks on US diplomats

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Messaging apps show mobile Internet’s rise in Asia

Court bans spread of Kate topless pics amid probe

Ronaldo snatches 3-2 win for Real against City

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www.kuwaittimes.net

THULQADA 3, 1433 AH

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MoC enforces mobile number portability No spending cut because of investment move conspiracy theories

Going back on a detour

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

G

uys, I miss the parliament. Don’t take me seriously here. I am still living the ambience of the parliament thanks to the on-hold MPs who barrage each other with insulting statements.

Regardless if it is the opposition or the other party.

My mobile does not stop receiving different statements from on-hold MPs while waiting for the constitutional court verdict on Sept 25 whether the old parliament should go or the previous one will return. The government had asked the court to rule on a 2006 law that divided Kuwait into five constituencies. The Court will also rule on the number of votes a voter can cast, which is currently four. The opposition group which won the majority in the 2012 parliament before it was annulled by a constitutional court ruling in June, is protesting the changes to the current elections law.

Anyways, parliament or no parliament I don’t see any changes in Kuwait. One constituency, two or five constituencies, I do not think it will make a difference. Whatever number they will put we will see the same faces, the same mentality, the same behavior, disputes, grilling and mockery. The MPs are like a group of kids mocking each other.

Judging by their slogans, I feel I am in an elementary school playground.

None of them seem to realize the streets of Kuwait are dug up everywhere from before Ramadan, with detours confusing drivers everywhere and no signs to indicate dead ends. One editor left in the morning to discover that the Ghazali to Shuwaikh road was blocked for repairmen and maintenance. He did not see even a single sign until he reached his home again. Brilliant. How many months are they working on Airport Road?

Students are back and people are back from holidays. None of the MPs mention what is going on on the ground in Kuwait. We are going back on a detour.

It looks like not only the streets are detoured, but the whole situation is on a major detour and we do not know where it will take us. God bless Kuwait!

Asian workers need degree to visit UAE DUBAI: Tourists from South Asian countries that export labour to the UAE will require a university degree to get a visa as the rich Gulf state fights an illegal influx, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Electricians, pipefitters, masons, farmers, drivers, tailors and cleaners from India, Pak istan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines are now banned from obtaining a tourist visa, Gulf News daily said citing a senior immigration official. The new measure sets a university degree as a prerequisite to obtain a visa, the official said.

“The Federal Residency Department... has decided to adopt stricter regimes for tourist, visit and conference visas to curb the influx of blue-collar workers from many labour exporting countries,” said the official. “ This would help significantly reduce the risk that individuals engaged in organised crime or the trafficking of persons could gain entry to the country,” he said. Tourist visas are usually arranged through hotels or airlines and travel agents.

Tourism grew rapidly in the UAE, especially in the glitzy emirate of Dubai, where the number of tourists increased to 9.3 million in 2011, up 10 percent from the previous year. The UAE has millions of foreign workers, mostly from South Asian countries.

The expat-dominated population is estimated to have grown to around 8.2 million by the end of 2010, with UAE nationals making up only 11.47 percent. — AFP

PARIS: Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, nephew of the Saudi king, his wife Princess Amira AlTaweel (left) and Azerbaijan’s first lady Mehriban Aliyeva visit the new Department of Islamic Arts galleries during its official opening ceremony at the Louvre museum yesterday. The new Louvre department is the largest of its kind in Europe, with 3,000 artefacts on display, gathered from Spain to India and dating back to the seventh century AD. The €100 million ($131 million) project was funded by the French government and supported by endowments from Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Oman. — AFP

Max 42º Min 26º High Tide 01:17 & 14:06 Low Tide 07:39 & 19:37

KUWAIT: Minister of Communications Salem Al-Othaina yesterday issued a decision mandating telecommunication companies to allow mobile number portability between them in return for a fee that does not exceed KD 5, state news agency KUNA reported. The minister asked the three carriers operating in the state to carry out the directive within 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the finance minister said yesterday that the state would not cut down on spending as a result of a plan to invest a greater percentage of its revenues in a rainy day fund.

OPEC producer Kuwait announced plans on Monday to more than double the portion of state revenues it puts into its Future Generations Fund this fiscal year. It had previously invested 10 percent of revenues in the fund, managed by the Kuwait Investment Authority, but now wants to raise that to 25 percent. The move is thought to be aimed at investing state money more efficiently although the government has not disclosed a specific reason for the increase.

The decision “will not be at the expense of investment spending,” Finance Minister Nayef Al-Hajraf said, according to KUNA. He said he hoped the increased contribution would continue the following fiscal year. He said the move was aimed at encouraging savings and that the plan would not distract the government from dealing with problems in the economy. Kuwait booked a record budget surplus of KD 13.2 billion ($47 billion) in the fiscal year that ended in March thanks to high oil income and lower spending than planned.

A long-running political crisis has held up investment, especially in large infrastructure projects, allowing the budget surplus to grow. A KD 30 billion ($107 billion) development plan aimed at boosting and diversifying the economy has stalled.

With more than half of Kuwaiti nationals under 25, the government wants to store up money in the Future Generations Fund as a nest egg for when oil supplies diminish or for when the economy suffers other shocks. But analysts say Kuwait also needs to diversify its economy away from oil and increase private sector employment of its nationals in order to resolve fundamental economic problems. — Agencies

Romney derides Palestinians, US poor GOP hopeful rocked by secret video WASHINGTON: Republican Mitt Romney has seven weeks before the US presidential election to overcome his latest campaign stumble, a secretly made video that shows him telling wealthy donors that nearly half of Americans are dependent on government and that his role “is not to worry about those people”. More footage was released yesterday morning from the same event, with Romney saying Palestinians are “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel” and suggesting that efforts at Mideast peace under his administration would languish.

Not long after the video surfaced Monday, a tiredlooking Romney held a hastily called late -night news conference and conceded his “off the cuff ” remarks were not “elegantly stated”. The Romney campaign has not disputed the video’s authenticity.

President Barack Obama’s Mitt Romney campaign quickly seized on the video, obtained by Mother Jones magazine and posted online just as Romney’s campaign was saying it needed a change in campaign strategy to gain momentum in the still-close race.

Continued on Page 13

No justice for Sabra and Shatila massacre victims BEIRUT: Shahira Abu Ardeini lost her husband, sister and pregnant cousin in a massacre in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps 30 years ago. She and so many others are still waiting for justice to be done. “There was no moon that night, so they lit up the sky with flares,” said Abu Ardeini, aged 53, her dark eyes framed in deep wrinkles that speak volumes of her pain.

“The militiamen stormed our house with machineguns, and finished off some of my relatives with knives.

They slaughtered my cousin Amal, and then sliced open her womb.

They pulled her unborn baby out. I never thought I would survive.”

Lebanon was consumed by civil war. For three long days in 1982 Sept 16 to 18, 1982 - Christian Continued on Page 13

BEIRUT: A Palestinian refugee holds a picture of lost loved ones during a rally commemorating the 30th anniversary of Sabra and Shatila massacre yesterday. — AFP

in the

news

Saudi Arabia blocks Syrians from haj DAMASCUS: Saudi Arabia has barred Syrians from entering the country to perform the annual haj pilgrimage, Syrian state media said yesterday, marking the latest break between the two Arab nations. “The Syrian High Committee of haj has announced the halt to the pilgrimage this year, due to a failure to reach consensus with the Saudi authorities,” the official SANA news agency reported. The Syrian committee “took all necessary steps for the 2012 haj season, but the relevant ministry in Saudi Arabia did not sign the accord as it does every year,” SANA said. The haj to Makkah is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all those Muslims who are able to. A decision to suspend Syrian participation in the holy pilgrimage, which has not yet been confirmed by Saudi Arabia, would be the latest in a string of moves adopted by Riyadh against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. For its part, Damascus has repeatedly made thinly veiled accusations that “some Gulf nations” are supporting “terrorist” groups in Syria, the regime’s blanket term for the opposition.

Iran launches sub amid US navy drills in Gulf DUBAI: Iran launched a submarine and a destroyer into the Gulf from Bandar Abbas port yesterday at the same time as US and allied navies held exercises in the same waters to practice keeping oil shipping lanes open. The US, Britain, France and a number of Middle Eastern states are conducting a naval exercise in the Gulf this week, focusing on how to clear mines that Tehran or guerilla groups might deploy to disrupt tanker traffic. Iran’s refitted Tareq-901 submarine and Sahand destroyer were launched on the direct orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the official IRNA news agency reported. On the other side of the country, Khamenei visited the northern coastal city of Nowshahr yesterday to watch naval cadets practice planting mines, freeing hijacked ships, destroying enemy vessels and jumping from helicopters, his official website said. “The armed forces must reach capabilities such that no one can attack the strong fence of the country and the dear people of Iran,” Khamenei told army commanders, according to the Iranian Students News Agency.

Captain America gets new job: US president PHILADELPHIA: Captain America has a new job with perks, a spacious office and a title that others spend millions of dollars to get: Mr President. One of Marvel Entertainment’s best-known heroes since he socked Adolf Hitler in the jaw in 1941, the sentinel of liberty will trade his New York City apartment for the White House in the pages of Marvel Comics’ “The Ultimates,” a series set in the Ultimate Comics universe where the US has been torn apart by factionalism, out-ofcontrol anti-mutant hysteria and outright secession. Mark Paniccia, who edits the title, called it a challenge unlike any other. “This isn’t something superheroes do every day. Defeat a world-eating deity?

Check. Fight off an inter-dimensional invasion? Check. Stop an alien prison break? Check. Lead the country? Wha-huh?” he said. “This is new for our hero ... and new for us.”

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

LOCAL

Minister dissolves KMA board Interim panel appointed

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Salem Al-Othaina made a decision yesterday to dissolve the Kuwait Medical Association’s board and appoint five members to serve until a new board is elected within three months. The decision, however, is expected to be controversial “since Al-Othaina’s decision was made following a request from Health Minister Ali Al-Obaidi, who pushed for dissolving the KMA due to its opposition to his policies, especially when it comes to recent senior appointments at the MOH”, according to sources familiar with the issue.

Before being selected to join the Cabinet earlier this year, Al-Obaidi took part in the KMA elections but lost against those same members of the board that was dissolved yesterday. With his decision, Al-Othaina has reportedly ignored a report from the MSAL’s legal committee which found no truth behind accusations made against the KMA’s board.

In other news, Minister of Justice Jamaal Al-Shehab made a decision yesterday to reshuffle three undersecretaries within the ministry. The reshuffling will include Abdul-Aziz Al-Abdullah, who was named Undersecretary Assistant for Administrative Development and Media Affairs, while Dr. Mohammad Al-Ansari was named Undersecretary Assistant for Palace of Justice Affairs. Meanwhile, Omar Al-Sharqawi is to become Undersecretary Assistant for Information Technology and Statistics.

‘Saddam battalion’ Syrian rebels have created a battalion funded by Kuwaiti donations and named it after former Iraqi President Saddam Husain, columnist and member of the annulled 2012 parliament Nabeel Al-Fadhl said yesterday.

In his statement, Al-Fadhl mocked Islamist lawmakers by “congratulating the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood and MPs Hamaan Al-Harbash and Waleed Al-Tabtabaei on the Free Syria Army’s announcement of establishing a battalion using funds they personally delivered to Idlib, and named ‘the martyr Saddam Husain battalion’”.

“Al-Harbash had announced that Free Syria Army’s leader, Riyadh AlAs’ad, told him and Al-Tabtabai that one day they will return the favor to Kuwaitis. This is how he returns the favor”, Al-Fadhl noted.

Al-Kout stake Al-Kout Industrial Projects Company announced that one of its affiliated companies in Bahrain has purchased 40 m i l l i on s ha r e s of A l -D or r a Petroleum Services in Kuwait in a deal worth KD3 million.

The agreement, completed by AlK out I nd us t r i a l P r oj e c t s H ol d i ng Company, increases the parent company’s stake in Al-Dorra from 22.2% to 34.38%. “The purchase will have no effect on the financial status of [AlDorra company]”, Al-Kout added, in an announcement released yesterday.

Fire breaks out in Shuaiba factory car. A case was filed and sent to detectives for follow up.

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: The fire department received a report about fire in one of the factories at Shuaiba industrial area, and Mina Abdullah fire center, supported by Shuaiba industrial fire center and Mubarak Al Kabeer fire center, were sent to extinguish the blaze.

As firemen arrived, they found that fire had consumed 500 square meters in a ceramics factory, where cartons and wooden pallets were burning. Also, fire had partially set ablaze a section of the factory where insulation materials and some equipment was stored. Firemen extinguished the blaze quickly and no casualties were reported.

Soldier robbed A soldier at MOD reported to Qairawan police that an unknown person stopped him at dawn, threatened him with a knife and robbed him of his wallet, which contained KD 10, along with his iPhone. A case of theft by using force was filed.

Al Naem shooting A citizen reported that an unknown person shot a gun at his house for reasons that remain unclear. The man said in his report, filed at Al Naem police station, that he heard shooting near his house and when he looked from his window he saw a man, whose face was covered, sitting in a German car and firing a gun. The citizen further said he could not see the plate number of the car, but described it as an older model white German

School theft A number of thieves made use of the start of the academic year to rob a private school.

The school principal filed a report to Salwa police saying that the school safe was broken into. The principal told police that thieves broke into the school at dawn and stole KD 40,000 from the safe, which was located in the accounts room. School officials discovered the theft yesterday morning when they reported to work at the start of the school day. Criminal investigators have sought fingerprints, while detectives search for the thieves.

Aluminium theft Jahra governorate police have arrested a number of expats who were accused of stealing aluminum bars from an Amghara scrap yard yesterday evening.

Expats arrested Earlier, security officers were alerted to smoke coming from an industrial plot, but when arriving police were unable to gain access, the Jahra fire department was called to the scene. Officials discovered that the area was run by a number of Egyptian expats, along with ten Indian expats working with them to cut aluminum and sell it. The expats were taken to police headquarters for investigation and a case of theft was filed against them.

KUWAIT: Firefighters in action after a fire broke out in one of the factories at Shuaiba industrial area yesterday.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

local

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday, in a ceremony at Bayan Palace, the newly accredited ambassadors of Nigeria, Sudan, Malta, and The Netherlands, who presented His Highness with copies of their credentials. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Amiri Diwan Advisor Mohammad Dhaifallah Sharar, Amiri Diwan Undersecretary Ibrahim Mohammad Al-Shatti, and His Highness the Amir’s Office Director Ahmad Fahad Al-Fahad.

Majority MPs receive Qatari tweets criticizing Kuwait govt

By A Saleh KUWAIT: A number of the ‘Majority’ MPs communicated with some Qatari media figures with whom they have very strong relations and invited them to support the majority bloc’s efforts to criticize the Kuwaiti government and some ruling family members on various social networks, said informed sources.

The sources added that some wellknown Qatari media figures have already started the agreed-upon tweets using their true names while others used nicknames.

Further, the sources added that some majority bloc MPs had met the Qatari media figures, who had specialized in slamming and criticizing Saudi and UAE and were related to Al-Nahdha convention

organized in Kuwait months ago, and agreed on intensifying media war against the Kuwaiti government to make up for the lack of support they were getting from Kuwaiti media.

ICM dominates elections The Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM) students at the Faculty of Arts, Kuwait University won the majority in the faculty syndicate elections by getting 1186 votes followed by Al-Mostaqilla by 339 votes and The Democratic list by 280 votes.

Gas-filling offices Kuwait Municipality recently referred a request filed by Kuwait oil Tankers Co. to allow licensing the opening of gas-filling offices.

Kuwait residents urged to remain calm KUWAIT: A top state official has stated that it is Kuwait’s responsibility to remain calm in the light of recent reports that indicate Tehran’s decision to respond to any proposed military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, by targeting US bases located in the Gulf region. “Iran has already denied these statements, which were attributed to the country’s Revolutionary Guard,” Khalid Al-Jarallah, an undersecretary at Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said recently. “I believe that it is our responsibility to spread calm instead of further fueling current tensions.”

Al-Jarallah made these statements before

reporters during the Malaysian embassy’s National Day celebrations held on Sunday.

When quizzed about the angry reactions in some Arab and Muslim countries against the release of a low-budget movie aimed at offending the Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him), and which was produced in the United States, Al-Jarallah described t the film as, “ an unfortunate and shameful thing.” He further reiterated Kuwait’s condemnation of the movie, and its demand for the release of a resolution by the United Nations, which criminalizes such acts that insult religious figures and beliefs.

News

Opposition sees participation of 30,000 in protest march Big night on Sept 24 KUWAIT: Preparations are continuing for holding a mass demonstration next Monday, which is the eve of a Constitutional Court’s expected ruling that will determine the constitutionality of existent electoral laws. As part of these preparations, a political group affiliated to the opposition, held a meeting for overseeing necessary arrangements, which included selecting the people who will address the crowd. A source close to the opposition estimates that the number of people taking part in the demonstration has been pegged around 30,000. Meanwhile, MP Dr. Waleed AlTabtabaei revealed that the Nahj group was expected to have met yesterday i.e.Tuesday, or will meet today, “to prepare for the big night on September 24.” “The meeting featured members who have been nominated for making speeches and so far the likely choices include Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Musallam A-Barrak and Jamaan Al-Harbash,” AlTabtabaei pointed out, adding that the group will hold its final meeting on Saturday, ahead of the expected gathering next week..

Represented by the Majority Bloc, which is a coalition of 34 MPs who had secured the majority of seats in 2012’s parliament, the opposition has staged two demonstrations in the Iradah Square since August 27 as part of its campaign aimed at stepping up public pressure against any attempts by the Cabinet to individually change the electoral system.

The Cabinet has already challenged the constitutionality of the electoral law in the

Linden University Tour Visits Kuwait

in brief

Labor complaints KUWAIT: The Deputy Director of Labor Relations at SALM, Hadi Al-Enezi, said that the department will be shifting to a new location in the Behbehani Complex on next Sunday, and is adopting a new plan aimed at receiving complaints and labor disputes that will be resolved within two weeks. He pointed out that the new policy is in line with the development and automation agenda of the Ministry and will make things easier for employees and employers, as their disputes will be resolved in a shorter time span. Al-Enezi noted that the department receives around 200 complaints every day.

Emergency landing KUWAIT: A Kuwait Airways aircraft, which was heading to Paris, made a safe emergency landing, shortly after takeoff due to a defect in its landing gear. Meanwhile, KAC Public Relations and Information Director Adel Burisli said, that the captain immediately noticed after takeoff that the wheels of the aircraft did not retract into their compartments, so he decided to turn back and let the maintenance crew check the problem. He added that an alternative aircraft was used to fly the 163 passengers to their destination four hours later.

Health conference KUWAIT: Faisal Al-Dousari, the Public Relations Director at the Health Ministry has stated that a budget of only KD 1.35 million has been allocated for conferences, which have been brought down from an earlier allocation of over KD two million. He said conferences will now not only be limited to lectures and speeches by visiting doctors, but will also include a demonstration of complicated procedures by doctors that will help reduce the need for such cases to be treated abroad. Al-Dousari noted that the ministry will also encourage greater cooperation between the public and private sectors, especially in the field of sterility through the opening of several new ICU centers.

KUWAIT: Today from 6-9 pm at the Marina Hotel, the Linden University Tour will return to Kuwait to host an education event to promote US colleges and universities. Representatives from US universities will be on hand to answer questions from Kuwaiti students and their families. US embassy consular staff along with our colleagues from AMIDEAST will be present at the event to promote education in the United States, answer questions about the visa process, and provide information about testing requirements.

Recruiters from Linden Tours will provide information about admission standards, summer programs, and student life at different U.S. universities. They will represent the following American institutions: Bryant University, Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Indiana University (Bloomington), Loyola Marymont University, Portland State University, Rutgers (the State University of New Jersey), University of Denver, University of Minnesota, University of Rhode Island, University of St. Thomas, and Western Kentucky University.

Additional information about studying in the United States can be found at the website http://www.educationusa.state.gov/ and http://www.amideast.org/.

Visit us @ USEmbassyQ8 http://www.facebook.com/USEmbassyQ8 http://twitter.com/#!/USEmbassyQ8 @USEmbassyQ8 http://www.flickr.com/photos/USembassyQ8 http://www.youtube.com/USEmbassyQ8

New plans to increase number of Kuwaitis in private sector KUWAIT: The Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is looking to hear from employers across Kuwait, before it adopts a new system that will modify the required percentage of staff that each private company in Kuwait is required to allocates for Kuwaiti employees. This was revealed

by KCCI General Director Rabah AlRabah during a joint meeting between the Management and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL). “ The KCCI wants to suppor t Kuwaiti employees working in the private sector, without putting extra pressure on companies that forces them to resor t to keeping fake employment records,” the Al-Rabah said. Fake employment is a term used to describe a situation in which Kuwaitis are registered on a company ’s payroll, but are not actually

employed by that firm. Such practices are carried out by companies, who do not wish to allocate additional jobs for Kuwaiti employees, but want to avoid being penalized for failing to meet the employment percentages set by the government.

Meanwhile, MGRP ’s Assistant Secretary General Fawzi Al-Majdali indicated that Kuwaitis working in the private sector receive a minimum of KD 700 per month from the MGRP, in addition to the salary they collect from their employers. The financial support is seen as an incentive for encouraging the national labor force to work in the private sector, instead of the more profitable and less demanding public sector.

The head of the Small Projects Department at the MGRP, Fares AlEnizy, pointed out that the percentage system has helped provide 8000 job opportunities to Kuwaitis in the

private sector when the system was first enforced, and 13000 job openings in 2005. He added that 20000 job opportunities are expected to be generated through the proposed adjustment in required percentages.

Hamal Al-Dousar y, an Undersecretary Assistant for Labor Affairs at the MSAL, said that nearly 40,000 Kuwaitis have found jobs in the private sector during the last 10 years, adding that the same period also saw, “increased activity on part of residency traders, which expanded their expatriate labor force at the expense of national workers.” He added that the automated filing system adopted by the MSAL a few years ago has helped obtain addresses of members of the expatriate labor force and their sponsors, but also revealed that no address or data exists for nearly 150,000 registered workers.

Constitutional Court, which is scheduled to rule on the matter on Sept 25. If the court finds the law unconstitutional, the Cabinet will then be allowed to bring into effect an amended law via an emergency decree released after the dissolution of the 2009 parliament, and which is already expected to be the most likely step taken by the government after the verdict is passed.

The Cabinet had opted to verify the constitutionality of the electoral law, which divides Kuwait into five constituencies, in order to protect future election results from any appeals that question the outcome of the elections. The parliament elected last February was annulled by a Constitutional Court ruling last June, which also held that the law implemented for dissolving 2009’s parliament late last year was unconstitutional.

The opposition, on the other hand, strongly rejected a unilateral move by the government, which requires that a new law be released by the parliament that is elected after the 2009 parliament is dissolved.

“We are expecting a large attendance at Monday’s rally, in accordance with the crucial nature of the expected ruling,” Al-Tabtabaei told the Al-Rai last Monday.

MP Al-Barrak stated that through the Sept 24 rally, “we are seeking to assert our commitment for the protection of the constitution and people’s capabilities,” and also urged Kuwaitis to be, “alert on the eve of the ruling, that can potentially change the course of

events in the future.”

The Majority Bloc is set to meet on Saturday to evaluate the latest developments on the political front, and will discuss multiple topics as part of its agenda, including Monday’s demonstration as well as a proposal aimed at criminalizing hate speech that was announced recently.

In the meantime, the National Front for the Protection of the Constitution held a press conference on Monday where they sent messages to the Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and to the Supreme Judicial Council with regard to the Cabinet challenging electoral laws. The two messages basically focused on the front’s version of a fair electoral system, which would include a single constituency and elections by list, and the establishment of political parties, the front’s president Ahmad Al-Dayeen stated during the conference.

Constitutional expert Dr Mohammad AlMuqate’a has called for an interim electoral law that “protects the constitutional patriotism principle.” He explained that the new distribution of constituencies must not take place on the basis of sectarian or tribal divides. The Kuwait University professor made these statements during a seminar held recently, which was organized by the Arab Media Forum, and where he proclaimed that he would personally rule the current electoral system unconstitutional, if he was judging the case.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

in my view

Corruption in co-op societies

Co-ops and ‘joy of shopping’

By Faisal Al Zamal et’s get away from politics and stop for a while by discussing cooperative societies, since many citizens complain about the high prices of goods on sale in those cooperatives, compared to those markets opened more recently. But the new markets offer prices that are far better than cooperatives that are more than 40 years old-meaning that costs of their assets are zero, accounting-wise. In addition, all cooperatives receive free land for their many branches and head office, as well. It is almost a monopoly for marketing, in short , because their cost of buying is the lowest. Then why do newly founded markets offer better prices than cooperatives, in addition to better quality? I heard an answer which might not be precise: Prices are higher because of “the salary article”, which goes up after every election.

The second part concerns the role of those cooperatives in curbing consumer behavior, instead of making use of it like any other commercial company, whose aim is only profits.

Today, a person goes to make a single purchase, but comes out of the cooperative with ten items which he did not plan to buy. Though it is the methods of displaying merchandise which makes you buy and represents the ugly face of capitalism (this box is very beautiful, and that is nice, and a here is a third one for the kids). They call it the capitalism culture or “the joy of shopping,” and the result of this danger is that our behavior has been transmitted to our children, to the extent that the salaries of employees are exhausted and employees enter into a circle of deficits because of their inability to stop their extravagant shopping.

Some describe this as: “Life demands that boys and girls see their friends having different electronic equipment, belongings and clothes, and they go to cafes, which were once only for old people, and they spend, and the result is that employees fight for more money in order to burn it in the consumption “oven”, which burns the green and the dry.

Imagine that the size of this oven has been reduced by 50% through education, and instead of burning KD 1000, it burned only KD 500; resulting in pressure on society’s nerves being reduced by 50%. How much comfort that could bring to the state, and how much fighting would be reduced, as we could direct our power to real happiness if the family sat down together, talking and laughing, instead of what is going on now, where family members are busy with the electronic equipment they have bought, though you might think they all are sitting in the living room together, but their minds are busy elsewhere.

I met a Brazilian with Lebanese origins who has many shops in the city for clothes, footwear... etc. I told him, you are very famous in your city, where people shake hands with you in the market, at the hotel entrance and in the restaurants at the airport, so what is your story? He said, I have many shops and almost every family in the city buys their clothing from my shops. One year ago I announced that our prices would be reduced by 50% every month. But this reduction is available only from 6 to 8 am.

I told people in a TV program, profits are not everything for me as a merchant, but I want to change our way of life, and to learn that waking up early in the morning opens the doors for income. This statement spread between people in the city and they spoke about it and, therefore, they liked me and they shake hands with me, as you saw. Similar efforts are needed in Kuwait to correct giving in to the consumer culture, which destroys the green and dry, as well. —Al-Anbaa

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By Abdullah Buwair

hen corruption finds a suitable environment to flourish in, that environment becomes a favored destination for people looking to profit illegally. Unfortunately, this seems to be the case with the boards of co-operative societies, which are rampant with corrupt individuals stealing millions of dinars without being prosecuted.

A local daily recently published a report, which indicated that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is currently overlooking the corrupt practices being carried out by co-operative societies in order to shield some ministry officials. If that is the case indeed, it implies that the Ministry’s entire co-ops department is tainted with corruption.

Officials working in the co-ops department can benefit by virtue of their official position, especially if they have an understanding with companies who supply products to these co-ops, and can also facilitate relations between these co-ops and merchants, and while doing that overlook any violations committed in exchange for certain benefits.

A recent report pointed out that a local co-op suffered losses pegged at millions of dinars on account of violations committed by certain officials, whom the Ministry is clearly ignoring, perhaps to protect certain interests. I wasn’t surprised when I found out that the co-ops’ board of directors is connected with a political group, which enjoys considerable influence on the political scene.

I personally, am not surprised to see corruption becoming rampant as the ministry is failing to act

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kuwait digest

Opposition in deep trouble

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij he Supreme Judicial Council’s decision to start accepting applications from Kuwaiti women looking to assume posts in the judiciary is the latest contribution of judges - who are considered the protectors of the law and the constitution-towards democratic development. People have always had high hopes from the executive and legislative authorities for improving Kuwait’s democratic system and implementing its constitution properly.

However, the Cabinet has let us down with its political inflexibility, and the social backwardness of the majority of MPs elected to recent parliaments has prevented any improvements from taking place in our constitutional system, or its principles being truly implemented.

In the meantime, the judiciary has stood out yet again for its bold move in allowing the Constitutional Court to decide on what previously was seen as, ‘a matter of sovereignty and was not even allowed to be discussed’.

The court annulled 2012’s parliament and its elections procedure , after finding errors in the process of dissolution of the preceding parliament, as well as finding restrictions imposed by the government on the freedom of the public assembly, which the court decided was unconstitutional. Today, the judiciary has once

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again asserted the principles of equality and equal opportunity for all citizens, as protected by Articles 7 and 29 of the constitution, which allow Kuwaiti women to exercise their right to work in the jobs available and which they are qualified to take up.

The Constitutional Court’s ruling annulling the 2012 parliament has disorientated the opposition. Despite the ruling being seen as a quantum leap for democratic development, it hasn’t been welcomed by the opposition, since it has cost them their parliamentary membership as well as seats in a parliament where they formed a majority. The opposition then rushed to make things worse by taking a stand that was at odds with the judiciary and which has cost them a lot of their public support. The recent decision that opens the door for female citizens to work as judges will leave a huge impression on the opposition which will be even deeper than the annulment of 2012’s parliament. The decision has dealt a hard blow to their ideologies, which envision citizens being divided based on gender.

This stance will cost the opposition even more dearly as far as popularity and respect are concerned.

Moreover, the decision poses a threat to the opposition’s unity, as religious members will oppose it and civil activists, who claim to be defending the constitution, will have no other choice but to support it. — Al-Qabas

Officials working in the coops department can benefit by virtue of their official position, especially if they have an understanding with companies who supply products to these co-ops, and can also facilitate relations between these co-ops and merchants, and while doing that overlook any violations committed in exchange for certain benefits.

kuwait digest

When are we going to learn?

By Dr Sulaiman Al-Khadhari his column might sound out of tune with popular sentiment, especially given the wave of angry reactions against the low-budget movie produced in the United States that offends the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), some of which stem from good intentions while others can simply be described as an overreaction.

In short, this issue pertains to the presence of two contradictory contexts that reflect the relationship between religion and society and to the possibility of referring to religious figures inappropriately. One of these contexts exists in Arab and Muslim countries, where offending the beliefs of Muslims and religious figures of Islam to various extents is categorically forbidden, and most notable is the correlation between religion and the identity of individuals and societies.

The other context is found generally in the West, where personal freedom is of utmost importance on the scale of social values, and allows people the freedom to criticize religion, sometimes even inappropriately as it happened in the case of the recent movie. This incident also stems from the belief that religion is not the personal property of believers, but a part of the general cultural heritage that everyone has the right to express their opinion about.

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We must also admit that these two contexts are often abused. In Muslim societies, any attempts at scientific criticism of religion on the pretext of ‘protecting principles’ are strictly prohibited. . On the other hand, there are people in the West who abuse this freedom to attack religion for political reasons and mainly out of a concern for the growing influence of Islam in their societies. Freedom of expression is inappropriately used in such cases to justify insulting a specific religion, and this justification appears even weaker when people realize that these are the actions of extremists, such as rightwing Christians, for example.

What concerns me about this whole issue is the failure of intellectuals and public leaders to take a rational stand against this problem. Their position can actually contribute towards bringing about a cultural transition, while maintaining a strong Islamic identity simultaneously. I find this kind of stance missing from this whole debate, which in turn favors the expression of outrage and misuse of religion to serve extremist agendas.

Honestly, acts such as killing, creating chaos, raiding embassies and raising Al-Qaeda banners, are nothing but outdated methods aimed at registering protests, which will eventually harm all of us. When are we going to learn? — Al-Rai

against it. The worst part of it all is that corruption has started to percolate down to the administration of the co-ops. A recent report revealed that the manager of such a co-op was arrested for stealing KD 300,000.

Another form of corruption commonly seen in co-ops is fake employment. Many co-ops have hundreds of employees registered on their payrolls, but in reality, the actual number is less than half the official count.

Meanwhile, some MSAL advisors reportedly indulged in corruption, when they appointed themselves as advisors to multiple co-ops simultaneously, while still holding jobs at the Ministry.

These dishonest practices don’t stop there, co-ops even misuse shops affiliated with them to reap illegal profits. For example, boards of these co-ops offer retail space in the black market to dominant merchants that can shell out enormous rents to control the store space, leaving shareholders in the dark and without the chance to draw any benefit from these spaces.

When is the Ministry going to start taking action aimed at stopping corruption? Many investigations have been launched to examine the corrupt behavior of coop boards, but without any significant result. Last year, co-ops earned an estimated KD 500 million in profits, but failed to provide proper services to their tenants despite that.

This is why I urge the government to wrest control of co-operative societies, and appoint board members itself instead of having them elected.

kuwait digest

Protection of Constitution

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij he Supreme Judicial Council’s decision to accept women’s applications seeking to work as prosecutors is a victory for Kuwait, which can be clubbed with the victory of the Constitutional Court overruling the parliament ’s dissolution. Both cases are important victories for the democratic system and principles of constitutional rule in Kuwait.

I would like to hear what the National Front for Protection of the Constitution has to say by way of appreciating this decision.

Speaking of the constitution, we have to admit that calls for protecting the constitution have been on the upswing in recent years, or since the Liberation, to be more specific. The calls focus on protecting the public funds and the constitution. However, it is strange that these calls, especially those concerning the constitution, have been made by people known for their public stance against political and social freedom.

It should also be mentioned that the constitution that people from all around Kuwait want to protect has not even been enforced to its full extent. It has in fact been abducted politically by the government, socially by the tribal-religious coalition that currently stands

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in as the opposition. What people mean by protecting the constitution is protecting MPs’; both personally and by monitoring their duties. Meanwhile, people’s rights have always been and still are open for tampering by lawmakers, political groups and the government. Freedom of opinion is not practiced in Kuwait, nor do we enjoy freedom of expression as guaranteed by our constitution. Both freedoms are subject to regulations that limit the expression of opinion to complimentary statements, whereas criticism or any attempts to reject the current policies are regarded as an offence, punishable by law. Even the freedom of information gathering is limited by law. And when the Constitutional Court overruled that law, lawmakers and the government agreed to limit this freedom in the Iradah Square.

Freedom of religion is often applicable to only Sunni Muslims who enjoy this right and the freedom to worship the way they wish.

On the other hand, followers of other faiths struggle to even license or build a place of worship. Our personal freedoms are subject to the whims of the culture established by tribal-religious traditions and principles,

based on which regulations are enforced by tribal-religious MPs. The people in general do not have true sovereignty as stated in the constitution, since the government has suspended parliament ’s role in the ruling.

According to the constitution’s explanatory memorandum, ‘public rule’ is guaranteed by allowing public rights; which are currently either violated or ignored.

More than protection, our constitution needs to be fully enforced. It needs to be set free from the shackles imposed by both the government and the parliament. We need implementation of the constitution, and activation of Article 3 that pertains to general rights and duties. Let’s teach the constitution in our schools, enforce it in our daily lives and make it an integral part of our lives. That is the only serious way to protect it. One last note: The ‘dialogues for change’ initiative launched by youth activists is a ver y good idea.

Unfortunately however, it is yet again being misused as a platform by lawmakers and political activists to preach to and direct youngsters, instead of being utilized by youth activists to express their demands that need to be fulfilled by lawmakers. — Al-Qabas

local

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Exhibition to help cement Kuwaiti-British relations Focus on cultural field

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The British Council in partnership with the Contemporary Ar t Platform of Kuwait has announced the opening of the ‘Out of Britain’ exhibition, which was inaugurated on Monday, by the Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) at the Life Center in Shuweikh, in the presence of Britain’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Frank Baker and various British artists.

The relationship bet ween Kuwait and the UK is very close and goes back many years. “The ‘Out Of Britain’ art exhibition is expected to bring Kuwaitis closer to British cultural works. Many Kuwaitis visit Britain every year and many have established residences in the country.

We have a long historical relationship with Kuwait and art is a part of it, much more than politics.

This exhibition is about friendship, and the social and cultural relations between the two countries,” Frank Baker stated during the inaugural ceremony.

Commenting on the current situation in Syria, he noted that the problem should be resolved politically. “We are working hard with our allies in the West to put an end to the conflict in the region,” Baker stated. .

The ‘Out Of Britain’ exhibition is expected to run until Oct 25, and has on display a selection of key artworks by important 20th century British artists, which have been sourced from the British Council.

The exhibition is also being supported by a month-long public campaign titled, ‘Landscapes Expanded,’ which includes a residency programme for artists, as well as a series of public lectures that will be delivered by Art spe-

KUWAIT: The British Ambassador on a tour at the exhibition.

— Photos by Joseph Shagra

cialists from the UK and Kuwait. In addition to this, an educational programme for schools and an online art competition will also be conducted.

The exhibition will also explore the theme of British landscapes, from the urban to the rural and encircling UK’s coastline. The exhibition features over 50 artworks that examine the ways in which ar tists have engaged with the landscape and addressed timeless and fundamental questions about our place in the world.

The works on display also illustrate an individual ar tist ’s attempts to find his or her place in an ever-changing environment, and are often driven to challenge traditional ways of interpreting and framing the landscape.

The ‘Out of Britain’ exhibition and its associated activities are part of the British Council’s focus on suppor ting and developing cultural programmes, which will introduce Kuwaiti audiences to different experiences.

This is the first time that the British Council has held such an event, which is one of the largest cultural affairs organized in more than 50 years. The pictures displayed at the exhibition include a selection ranging from Lowr y ’s bustling, industrial Salford to the anonymous hinterland of industrial parks in the Midlands of David Rayson. Sculptures include a wellk nown installation by Spring Circle, another by Turner prizewinner R ichard Long, which is made of slate from Cornwall and a new installation by Conrad Shawcross that mounts a video projector atop the gunwales of a rowboat to help trace a journey through the Lea Valley.

Ministers asked to present proposals KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah mulled with economy-related officials the economic situation in the state and gave directions to ministers to present their reform proposals soon.

“HH the Amir has asked the government’s ‘economic group’ to recommend the required reforms to help the national economy boom,” Minister of Commerce and Industry Anas Al-Saleh said.

He pointed out that HH the Amir has discussed extensively with the government economic group Tuesday the situation of the national economy and the major challenges facing it.

“HH the Amir has ordered full support for small-sized enterprises and youth entrepreneurs,” Al-Saleh said.

The Commerce Minister underlined that his ministry is cooperating with all economy-related bodies to strengthen the Kuwait economy and help it back on track.

For his part, Minister of Finance and Minister of Education and Acting Minister for Higher Education Dr. Nayef Falah AlHajraf highlighted the Amir ’s instructions to the economic group. “HH the Amir has instructed the economic group to thorough study the economic situation and set well-studied proposals for reform on the short and long-terms,” Al-Hajraf revealed. He added that HH the Amir has stressed that the proposals should be comprehensive, practical and easy to apply soon.

HH the Amir has received at Bayan Palace on Tuesday the gov-

Anti-drugs panel organizes workshop KUWAIT: National Committee for Drugs Prevention will organize a workshop today for local sports federations and committees in coordination with the Kuwait Olympic committee to publicize the national anti-doping program for the sports season 2012-2013.

The committee will organizes the workshop at headquarters of the Olympic Committee to educate staff of the union and local sporting commissions about anti-doping during the current sports season and explain the mechanisms of conducting drug tests on players, the chairperson of the committee, Hana’a Al-Butti, said in remarks yesterday. The commission will inform sports federations and committees on international standards to conduct drug tests on local players.

Al-Butti stressed on importance of combined efforts of various authorities and personnel to reduce spread of banned drugs among Kuwaiti youth, due to life-threatening hazards to lives of the young people. — KUNA

Three programs in College of Technology accredited in US KUWAIT: Three training programs in the College of Technology Studies of PAAET have been accredited by the Commission for Academic Accreditation in the United States.

The president of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, Abdulrazzag Al-Nefisi, announced this yesterday that these specialized programs were approved during the annual meeting of the commission, last August.

The accreditation was officially granted without any remarks-to be valid till September 2018. It will be applied to graduates as of October 2010, Al-Nefisi added in his statement. This comes as positive results, such as encouragement of the graduates, in addition to benefits to the national labor market. It will also boost morale of the teaching staff and students. Other programs are to be presented for accreditation by the internationally-renowned agency.—KUNA

ernment economic group and senior officials of state economic bodies to discuss the proposed government measures to address local economic conditions and means to get the economy back on track. The meeting was attended by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hhumoud AlJaber Al-Sabah, Minister of Commerce and Industr y and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Anas Khalid Al-Saleh, Minister of Finance and Minister of Education and Acting Minister for Higher Education Dr. Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf, the Governer of the Central Bank of Kuwait Dr. Mohammed Yousef Al-Hashel, and Managing Director of the General Authority for Investment Bader Mohammad Al-Saad. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Ambassador Frank Baker with staff of the British Council and some artists and guests.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

LOCAL

Three-member gang rapes youth near Abdullah Port Drug addicts caught in Mahboulah KUWAIT: A search is underway for three male suspects accused of sexually assaulting a teenager, whom they had kidnapped from Al-Jahra recently. The suspects reportedly forced the boy inside their vehicle, before driving to a remote location in the Abdullah Port area, where the assault took place. The incident was reported to the Abdullah Port police station by the victim’s father, who was informed about the crime by his son. The victim has provided descriptions of all the rapists, as well as the license plate number of their car, which is currently being used to trace their whereabouts.

Car accident A female motorist was killed after her car collided with a truck.

Meanwhile, the truck driver was taken into custody following the accident, which reportedly took place on the Al-Wafra Road. The victim, an Egyptian national, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. A medical team along with the police arrived at the scene after receiving an emergency call recounting a collision between a Japanese-made car and a trailer truck. The truck’s driver, who remained unharmed, is still in police custody and waiting to be charged pending investigations aimed at determining

the circumstances behind the accident.

Stolen weapon The police are searching for a thief, accused of stealing a rifle from a car parked in South Surra recently. The investigations were initiated after the local police were approached by a Kuwaiti man, who stated that unidentified persons broke into his vehicle and stole the weapon kept inside.

US army base The Jahra police rushed to a location near a US army base early on Monday morning, after it was reported that a group of around 30 people had gathered outside the facility. Upon reaching the area, police officials discovered that the group was on a hunting expedition. No arrests were made as the group members cooperated with the police and followed instructions to leave the area.

Drug addicts caught Police officials arrested a group of drug addicts in Mahboulah on Monday morning while patrolling the area. The suspects allegedly attempted to escape once they realized that they will be arrested because they had failed to produce proper

identification when the police patrol car pulled them over.

However, they failed in their bid to escape after additional police force arrived at the scene. The police have recovered 14 hashish rolls, three syringes filled with heroin, a considerable number of pills, as well as drug paraphernalia from the group. They have been referred to the concerned authorities for being charged.

Couple arrested A male driver, who was caught while getting intimate with a woman while driving on the Second Ring Road, has been charged on several counts including reckless driving. The couple was taken into custody, along with a third man who was sitting in the passenger’s seat, after the police received multiple reports about a reckless driver sharing the driver’s seat with a woman.

The arrest took place on a stretch of road that is locally known as ‘Love Street,’ and is a popular haunt for young couples. The three persons arrested by the police have been identified as Kuwaitis in their twenties, and were taken to the nearest police station to be charged.

Reckless driver A police officer was critically wounded after he was hit by a

reckless driver on the Fifth Ring Road near Al-Surra. The highway patrol officer was standing on the road and trying to help a family whose car had run out of gas, when a speeding vehicle appeared suddenly and hit him by mistake. Traffic police officials, who were also present at the scene, arrested the suspect after preventing him from fleeing the scene. He was then taken to the Al-Surra police station to be charged. The injured officer was meanwhile rushed to the Amiri Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken pelvic bone and is also said to have sustained multiple bruises.

Motorcycle accident Investigations are continuing in a case, where a patrol officer involved in a motorcycle accident recently accused his colleague of causing the crash. The injured officer was rushed to the Al-Sabah Hospital after he fell from his motorcycle on the Al-Jaheth Road, which resulted in multiple injuries.

The officer alleged during questioning that he had lost his balance, after a patrol vehicle swerved dangerously towards his motorcycle. Detectives have managed to identify the patrol driver; who has denied running into any motorcyclists at the time of the accident.

—Al-Rai, Al-Qabas, Al-Watan

KUWAIT: Health Minister Ali Al-Obaidi visiting the Royale Hayat Hospital on Monday. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Amir’s envoy stresses Kuwait’s cultural enthusiasm PARIS: The envoy of His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said yesterday, the State of Kuwait is ever keen on actively and instrumentally supporting projects and initiatives that promote Islamic cultural contributions in Arab and other countries.

The remarks came on the sidelines of the Amir envoy’s taking part in the opening ceremony of the Islamic Artifacts Pavilion at the Louvre. “Over half a century ago, when His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was head of the ‘Information and

Awareness Department’, Kuwait took the initiative and sought to promote Islamic art and heritage through many valuable and unique publications and productions, out of its belief in the need for boosting cultural interaction among the peoples of the world.”

His Highness added that the opening of the pavilion at the Louvre is a major addition and contribution to the effort aiming at preserving and promoting awareness and appreciation of this part of human heritage and the venue is among the most important arenas for such efforts.

The initiative of His Highness the Amir to

support the establishment of the pavilion helped stress the role of Islamic culture within the whole spectrum of human development as well as reflect the unique and strong relations between the State of Kuwait and France, he noted.

The Amir’s envoy was taking part in the Louvre ceremonies upon official invitation of French President Francois Hollande.

Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak is heading a delegation of senior officials which includes the Minister of Information and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. — KUNA

Boubyan, GUST launch new program for branch managers

New sea buoys installed marking eastern Arifjan corals KUWAIT: Diving team of the Environmental Voluntary Foundation announced yesterday installment of six new sea buoys at eastern Arifjan corals at depths ranging between 11 and 16 meters.

The project officer, Faisal Al-Harban, said in a statement yesterday that this work comes within the efforts of the diving team to protect the coral reefs in Kuwait and to prevent throwing boat

anchors that break the corals. Many sailors are trying to use these buoys, he said. There are some 70 buoys placed at sea locations to the national coral islands.

Arifjan coral reefs are the closest to the Kuwait coast, with plenty of fishes and marine organisms.

He also called for intensified efforts to protect coral reefs from destruction and overfishing. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Boubyan Bank (the Fastest Growing Bank in Kuwait) launched a program for qualifying branch managers in cooperation with Gulf University for Science & Technology (GUST ) with which an Agreement has been previously signed to act as “the Exclusive Academic Partner” for Boubyan Bank in Kuwait. The program aims at developing the capabilities and enhancing the expertise of branch managers by receiving the MBA degree from GUST. The program launch was attended by Boubyan Bank’s Chairman & MD, Adel Abdul-Wahab Al-Majed, GM - Human Resources Group, Adel Al-Hammad, GM - Consumer Banking Group, Abdullah Al-Najran Al-Tuwaijri and Prof. Essam AlMaghrabi, Director of MBA Program at GUST as well as a number of the Bank’s executives and participants in the program.

In his speech at the launch of the four-month program, Adel Al-Hammad, GM - Human Resources Group stressed that the program’s objective is to develop the skills of branch managers being the basic line for contact with customers and

the public in order to reflect the true image of Boubyan Bank.

“It has become quite important to intensify this kind of programs and courses through which the Bank seeks to enhance the skills of branch managers in a way that will be positively reflected on customer service quality which is one of the priorities in its plans, and thus Boubyan becomes a pioneer institution creating highly qualified and experienced bankers able to push the Bank forward ahead of its competitors in the region,” added Al-Hammad.

Al-Hammad also explained that the mentioned Agreement includes organizing a training program for Boubyan branch managers with high-level content encompassing many technical skills they need, whether financial or technological, in addition to specialized courses in management, team leadership and teamwork under the supervision of a professional training team accredited by international institutions.

“This program is basically distinguished to other programs by giving branch managers the

opportunity to obtain 55% of the MBA credits from GUST through the recently established Boubyan ITQAN Academy,” AlHammad indicated.

Branch managers qualification program is one of the programs of ITQAN Academy which was established by the Bank and started its activities last July, representing a qualitative leap in the area of administrative and professional training and development as it gives the Bank’s staff the opportunity to obtain a high-level academic degree (MBA) after successfully passing the preset curricula of training courses and programs.

This step is part of the Bank’s plan for developing its human resources as its gives special attention to the training of national labor through the academic qualification its provides to them in accordance with international standards that contribute to achieving outputs that are up to the Bank’s objectives and aspirations while being in compliance with the Islamic Shari’ah.

The Academy provides the Bank’s staff with training oppor-

Al-Majed, Al-Hammad and Al-Tuwaijri with branch managers.

tunities throughout a whole year in many fields comprising specialized training programs in financial management, financial statements analysis, business administration, communication skills, human resources development, as well as advanced, distinguished programs in customer service and professional sales of banking products.

Boubyan Bank strives to be the employer of choice for branch managers by providing a work environment that encourages the development of young capabilities and gives opportunities for career development to skilled trainees in a carefully thoughtout academic way under the supervision of a professional training team accredited by international institutions who participated in providing training courses to international companies in North America, Europe and GCC countries. In addition, ITQAN Academy programs are based on Blended Learning Approach which includes training courses, on-job training, rotation among departments, guidance and instruction, e -learning and assessment centers.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Obese inmate faces a ‘torturous’ death

Female bomber kills 12 in Kabul to avenge film Page 12

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PESHAWAR: Pakistani activists of the hard line Sunni party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) burn an effigy of US President Barack Obama during a protest against an anti-Islam movie in Peshawar yesterday. — AFP

Qaeda threatens attacks on US diplomats Hezbollah warns ‘very dangerous’ global repercussions CAIRO: Al-Qaeda’s branch in North Africa yesterday called for attacks on US diplomats and an escalation of protests against an anti-Islam video that was produced in the United States and triggered a wave of demonstrations in Muslim countries. While demonstrations have tapered off in nations including Egypt and Tunisia, a protest against the film turned violent in Indian-controlled Kashmir and small rallies were held in Indonesia.

In Kabul, the Afghan capital, a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a mini-bus carrying South African aviation workers to the airport, killing at least 12 people in an attack that a militant group said was revenge for the film “Innocence of Muslims,” which was made by an Egyptian-born American citizen. US officials describe the video as offensive, but the American government’s protection of free speech rights has clashed with the anger of Muslims abroad.

In a statement, Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb praised the killing of Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on Sept 11. The group threatened attacks in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania, and

condemned the United States for “lying to Muslims for more than 10 years, saying its war was against terrorism and not Islam.” The group urged Muslims to pull down and burn American flags at embassies, and kill or expel American diplomats to “purge our land of their filth in revenge for the honor of the Prophet.”

Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula recently issued a similar call for attacks on US diplomatic facilities. It is Al-Qaeda’s most active branch in the Middle East. An Islamist militant group, Hizb-i-Islami, claimed responsibility for the attack in Kabul.

The group is headed by 65-year-old former warlord Gubuddin Hekmatyar, a former Afghan prime minister and onetime US ally who is now listed as a terrorist by Washington. The militia has thousands of fighters and followers across the country’s north and east.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah warned of “very dangerous” global repercussions if an anti-Islam film is released in its entirety, as a fatwa was issued against the film’s producer who has gone into hiding with his family. Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah warning came as the death toll from a week of violence sparked by the movie rose to 19. An eruption of Muslim anger over a trailer

of the American-made film that appeared on the Internet has spread across the world, taking hold Monday in Afghanistan, Indonesia, the West Bank, the Philippines and Yemen.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of southern Beirut to denounce the film at Nasrallah’s request, and the head of the powerful Shiite Muslim group surprised supporters by making a rare public appearance. Nasrallah, whose Lebanese movement is blacklisted in the United States as a terrorist group, has called for a week of protests across the country over the film, describing it as the “worst attack ever on Islam”. “America must understand... the US must understand that releasing the entire film will have dangerous, very dangerous, repercussions around the world,” he told the rally.

In Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar, a strike shut down businesses and public transportation as marchers burned US flags and an effigy of President Barack Obama. When the protesters tried to march into the main business district, police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse them, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. — Agencies

Free speech, religion clash CERRITOS: While the man behind an anti-Islam movie that ignited violence across the Middle East would likely face swift punishment in his native Egypt for making the film, in America the government is in the thorny position of protecting his free speech rights and looking out for his safety even while condemning his message. It’s a paradox that makes little sense to those protesting and calling for blood. To them, the movie dialogue denigrating the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is all the evidence needed to pursue justice - vigilante or otherwise - against Nakoula Bassely Nakoula, an American citizen originally from Egypt.

In America, there’s nothing illegal about making a movie that disparages a religious figure. And that has the Obama administration walking a diplomatic tight rope less than two months before the election - how to express outrage over the movie’s treatment of Islam without compromising the most basic American freedom. “The thing that makes this particularly difficult for the United States is that ... we treat what most of us would refer to as hate speech as constitutionally protected speech and Americans don’t appreciate, I think, how unusual this position seems in the rest of the world,” said Lawrence Rosenthal, a professor at Chapman University’s School of Law in Orange, Calif.

The situation also raises vexing questions about how far the government can and should go to protect someone who exercises their First Amendment right. In the

past, for example, police have stood guard to ensure Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan could march without being attacked for their views. But Nakoula’s case invites scrutiny because the free speech he exercised with the film “Innocence of Muslims” has had such far-reaching and violent implications. If the government were to overtly protect Nakoula, it could be seen by some as tacit approval of the film, and further enflame protests.

Leaving him to fend for himself could have deadly consequences. There are examples of violence against others who have written or spoken against Muhammad.

So far, the government has acknowledged offering very limited assistance. Los Angeles County sheriff ’s deputies escorted Nakoula to an interview with federal probation officials. They did so in the dead of night and allowed Nakoula to cover his face. And early Monday, deputies answered his family’s request for help leaving the house where they’d been holed up for five days so they could reunite with the 55-year-old filmmaker. All remain in hiding. Department spokesman Steve Whitmore stressed the agency is not providing protective custody. He referred questions to federal authorities, who have declined to comment.

Jody Armour, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, said it’s “not unusual at all for the government to step in and give a citizen in distress or danger special protection, but it can’t unlimited.

They’re going to have to strike a balance.” — AP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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

Address nuke concerns, IAEA tells Tehran VIENNA: The UN nuclear agency insisted yesterday that Iran must address concerns about suspected bomb research, saying it was ready for talks and avoiding any mention of Tehran’s allegation that “terrorists” may have infiltrated the Vienna-based agency. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a statement on a meeting between IAEA chief Yukiya Amano and Iranian nuclear energy head Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani on Monday, which was held just hours after Abbasi-Davani sharply criticized the agency in a speech to its annual assembly.

Amano said it was essential for Iran to cooperate with his inspectors to clarify concerns about possible military dimensions to its nuclear program, a charge Tehran rejects. He told Abbasi-Davani that the IAEA “is committed to continued dialogue with the Islamic Republic of Iran and expressed the readiness of agency negotiators to meet with Iran’s in the near future”, the statement said. The

UN agency has been seeking to resume a long-stalled investigation into Iran’s atomic activities, but talks that began in January have made little headway.

In a sign of the depth of mistrust between Iran and the IAEA, AbbasiDavani accused the UN agency of a “cynical approach” and mismanagement in his speech on Monday. He said power lines to Iran’s Fordow underground enrichment site were blown up a month ago, and that an IAEA inspector had asked for an unannounced visit to the site a day later and that “terrorists and saboteurs might have intruded” into the agency.

Abbasi-Davani did not say who he believed was behind the attacks. Iran has often accused Israel and its Western foes of trying to damage its nuclear work.

Western diplomats privately dismissed the Iranian allegations against the IAEA as an attempt to divert attention from Tehran’s stonewalling of the agency’s inquiry. “Iran’s accusations against the IAEA are a new low.

Increasingly cornered, they are lashing out wildly,” said nuclear proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank. Fordow worries the West most as it produces uranium of 20 percent fissile purity, more than for power plants and only a short technical step from the 90 percent needed for a weapon.

The IAEA said Amano had stressed in his meeting with Abbasi-Davani the “importance of early clarification of outstanding issues” related to Iran’s nuclear program. “It is essential for Iran to extend its full cooperation to the Agency ... a structured approach to clarify all issues related to Iran’s nuclear program, including those related to possible military dimensions, needs to be agreed and implemented as soon as possible,” Amano said. “I sincerely hope we will be able to move swiftly towards concrete progress,” Amano told AbbasiDavani.—Reuters

VIENNA: Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh, gestures during a press conference at the 56th International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna. — AFP

Amid unrest, Clinton to lobby lawmakers on Middle East aid Mideast crisis could fuel domestic political debate

BURJ AL-KHASAD: Syrian Abu Baddih, commander of the Moataz Billah rebel battalion, sits in a house in Burj Al-Khasad in northwest of Syria.— AFP

Syria fighting rages DAMASCUS: Syrian troops shelled several districts in Aleppo and clashed with rebels yesterday, as Damascus ally Iran proposed a simultaneous halt to the violence and a peaceful solution to the conflict. Clashes erupted in Bustan Al-Qasr in the southwest and in nearby Izaa as both districts were shelled, residents in Syria’s second city said, also reporting fighting further south in Sukari.

Overnight, shelling killed two civilians in the rebel-held Sakhur neighborhood in the northeast, while nearby Hanano was also bombed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian forces said they had secured the flashpoint Midan district on Monday after a week of fighting, although an AFP correspondent said some parts were still unsafe for residents to return. Pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan said the army had “cleansed” Midan, which “opens the door” to nearby neighborhoods, including Bustan alBasha, Suleiman Al-Halabi and Sakhur.

But the two-month-old battle for Aleppo was very fluid, with both sides claiming gains in a guerilla war, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. Outside Aleppo, two civilians were killed in shelling on the town of Al-Bab and the town of Safira was also reportedly bombed, according to the watchdog.

The violence followed a bloody day in which 137 people - 72 civilians, 24 rebels and 41 soldiers-were killed nationwide, said the Observatory. The Britain-based group says more than 27,000 people have been killed since the uprising erupted in March 2011. The United Nations puts the toll at over 20,000.

Iran’s proposal emerged in a meeting in Cairo on Monday of the Syria “contact group” to which it Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey belong, Tehran’s official news agency IRNA

and broadcaster IRIB said. Salehi appealed for “a simultaneous halt in clashes and violence by the sides in Syria, insisted on a peaceful solution without foreign intervention and a halt to financial, military and training support for the Syrian opposition,” IRNA reported, without giving a source. He told his Egyptian and Turkish counterparts that observers from their countries, and from Saudi Arabia, could “monitor the process of stopping the violence in Syria,” IRNA added.

And he called for peace talks “to help the process of fundamental reforms and finding a democratic approach in Syria.” Last month, the United Nations withdrew its own observers after both sides failed to adhere to ceasefire to which they had committed.

‘Dramatic escalation in attacks on civilians’Iran’s strong support for Bashar al-Assad contrasts with the positions of the other three members of the contact group, who are all demanding the Syria president step down.

Tehran, which is widely suspected of providing military support to Assad’s regime, accuses Turkey and Saudi Arabia of doing the same for the rebels.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud alFaisal, said to be recovering abroad from surgery, did not attend the Cairo meeting, at which it was reportedly agreed to hold more talks in New York later this month. As the killing continues, the head of a UN commission investigating rights abuses in Syria said they had soared dramatically in recent weeks and that the UN Security Council should take “appropriate action” against war criminals.

“Gross violations of human rights have grown in number, in pace and in scale,” Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said on Monday, adding that Assad’s regime and rebels, to a lesser extent, had committed war crimes.—AFP

Netanyahu too partisan on US poll, warn Israeli critics JERUSALEM: Israeli critics are warning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone too far in what they call his “meddling” in favor of Republican candidate Mitt Romney in the US presidential campaign. “Will Barack Obama punish Israel, if he is reelected on November 6,” the Yediot Aharonot daily asked. Like other media, the top-selling tabloid says that Netanyahu has become “Obama’s opponent” and has broken a taboo by seeking to weaken the incumbent Democrat, rather than observing neutrality.

Netanyahu “interfered, grossly, vulgarly and unreservedly in the campaign” accused the left-leaning daily Haaretz. “Who do you fear more - (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad or Obama? Which regime is more important to overthrow-the one in Washington, or in Tehran,” opposition leader Shaul Mofaz taunted Netanyahu in a parliamentary debate last week. “That’s nonsense,” Netanyahu told Israeli media, in interview published ahead of this week’s Rosh Hashana Jewish New Year holiday, saying he would continue to demand the United States set clear “red lines” that Iran would not be permitted to cross in its nuclear program.

Obama does not want to lock the US into such an ultimatum and says there is still time for diplomacy and international sanctions to quash what he and Israel say are Iran’s nuclear

arms plans. Netanyahu says time is fast running out and has warned of a unilateral Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear sites, despite opposition from friendly countries such as the United States, Germany, Britain or France.

“The issue that guides me is not the elections in the United States but the centrifuges in Iran,” he has said. Defense Minister Ehud Barak is distancing himself from such public washing of dirty linen, saying that such “differences” should be confined to closed-door meetings.

For most analysts, beyond his bellicose rhetoric, Netanyahu, known to friend and foe alike by his nickname “Bibi”, wants to wring as many concessions as possible from Obama before the election, hoping to play on Israel’s support among Jewish, and many conservative Christian, voters. Any loss of the traditionally Democratic Jewish vote could be crucial if the race is as close as that when George W Bush won by a wafer-thin margin in 2000 against the Democrat Al Gore. Romney-who was warmly received by Netanyahu in Jerusalem in late July-bluntly accused his rival of having “abandoned” Israel against Iran.

Netanyahu prides himself on an intimate knowledge and understanding of the United States, where he lived for many years. He is surrounded by advisers sharing his proRepublican sentiments. —AFP

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lobby US lawmakers this week on the need to keep billions of dollars in aid flowing to Egypt and other countries caught up in a spasm of violent anti-American protests across the Muslim world. The State Department said Clinton intended to meet with Congress later this week to discuss the protests, which saw US diplomatic missions attacked and the US ambassador to Libya killed amid fury over a film produced in the United States that many saw as an insult to Islam.

Republican lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the attacks amid suspicions in Republican circles that the Democratic administration is trying to tamp down inquiries about the events as the Nov 6 presidential election looms. Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had hoped to hold a public hearing on Egypt this week. She reluctantly called it off after the Obama administration refused to send any witnesses and instead offered a private briefing for lawmakers, a congressional aide said.

Officials said Clinton’s meetings on Capitol Hill have not yet been scheduled and they gave no details about the format. But State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Clinton would be ready to answer lawmakers’ questions, both about the attacks and about the future of US policy in a region tipping further into crisis. “They will want to have a full assessment of what happened, what we know, what measures we took at the time, what measures we’re taking going forward to continue to protect our personnel and our facilities,” Nuland said of Clinton’s meetings, which are tentatively expected to take place on Thursday. Nuland said Clinton also planned to stress the importance of

continued US support, which includes $1.3 billion for Egypt’s military; proposals for up to $1 billion in debt relief for Cairo; and a further $800 million in economic assistance for other countries in the region.

SECURITY LAPSE? Republican lawmakers are calling for an investigation into last week’s attacks, the most violent of which saw the US consulate in Benghazi stormed by gun-wielding militants in an assault that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US personnel. A bill introduced

by Republican senators Jim DeMint and Bob Corker would require the Obama administration to report to Congress within 30 days on the attacks on US missions in Egypt and Yemen, and to submit proposals for beefing up security within 90 days.

US and Libyan officials are investigating the incident, with help from the FBI. Libyan officials have suggested the consulate assault was planned in advance rather than a spontaneous reaction to the US-made video. US officials have said that preliminary information did not indicate the incident was planned. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday rejected this, saying he believed the assault was a coordinated attack mounted by Al-Qaeda or its affiliates. “It points to severe lapses of security in a region where likely attacks can be anticipated,” Graham said in a statement. “The bottom line is statements by the Obama administration must be properly scrutinized, and that is the proper role of Congress.”

The explosion of anti-American anger, which saw embassies attacked in Yemen, Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt and elsewhere, has presented US President Barack Obama with an unexpected

foreign policy crisis as he heads into the final months before the November presidential election. It also looks likely to fuel debate in Congress about the future of US aid to the region, which already was being questioned as lawmakers ponder widespread cuts to deal with the ballooning federal budget deficit. Even before last week’s attacks on US diplomatic missions, Ros-Lehtinen had blocked nearly $26 million in US economic aid from being spent in Egypt and Representative Kay Granger had placed a “hold” on $18.3 million of the same funds, congressional aides said.

MAINTAINING US LEVERAGE US aid to Egypt, where the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood rose to power in elections following the ouster of strongman Hosni Mubarak, has been repeatedly caught up in politics as the United States seeks to maintain its leverage with Cairo. The Obama administration in March allowed $1.3 billion in military aid to continue despite misgivings among prominent lawmakers over the role of the country’s military in the democratic transition, and it is now finalizing a debt relief package of up to $1 billion to help the country’s new Islamist leaders stabilize their badly wounded economy.

The Obama administration also has proposed an $800 million fund for fiscal 2013, which starts in October, to help other countries swept by “Arab Spring” revolutions, many of which in recent days have seen crowds of protesters take to the streets to denounce the United States. But the House appropriations committee last spring refused to provide a separate fund for suppor ting Arab spring reforms. Final decisions for spending in fiscal 2013 have not been made.— Reuters

Jabal Akrad at forefront of the Syrian revolution SALMA: Rebels in Jabal Akrad, a mountainous hinterland above Syria’s Mediterranean por t of Latak ia, are threatening the strongholds of President Bashar Al-Assad’s Alawite allies. Bordering Turkey, Jabal Ak rad (Kurdish Mountain) is Kurdish in name only, as it was settled by Arabs in the 13th century. It offers a magnificent panorama of mountains capped by evergreen forests and orchards, cut by rocky ravines and foothills with villages nestled among them. I t is populated mostly by Sunni Arab peasants who embraced the protests against the Assad regime soon after they erupted last year, and the armed struggle that followed.

But scattered along the outskirts of the region are villages of Alawites, who belong to the same offshoot of Shiite Islam as Assad.

Some have been exercising a careful neutrality, but most are fervent supports of the regime and provide it with militia. Early on, the rebels seized the entire region, provoking a bloody fightback. In June, the army recaptured Haffeh, a strategic Sunni enclave near Latak ia surrounded by hostile Alawite territory. But in the mountains, the regime had no alternative but to withdraw its isolated forces to focus on cities, a number of higher areas and strategic axes.

“Jabal Ak rad is now almost entirely under the control of the mujahedeen,” says Dr Habib, the sole physician in a makeshift hospital set up in the basement of a building in Salma. “The army has attempted raids, but they are constantly pushed back and the rebels gained the upper hand. So the military retaliates by bombing civilians indiscriminately.” Lacking even an operating room, Habib treats up to 70 patients a day-civilians and combatants-and says he

JABAL AL-AKRAD: Rebel fighters stand on the wreckage of a Syrian army tank in Burj Al-Khasad in the northwestern Jabal Al-Akrad region of Syria. —AFP is sick and tired of this “mad regime that crushes its people under bombs.”

RISK OF MASSACRE The shelling is constant on Jabal Akrad where tracts of forest have been devastated by flames the bombing has k indled. On Wednesday, five members of one family were killed in Akko. Last week, a mother and her two children were torn apart by a rocket in Kansseba. In Salma, the main town in Jabal Akrad, almost every building bears scars of shelling.

Every day helicopters can be seen flying overhead, opening fire indiscriminately with heav y machineguns. Motorcycles have replaced cars, which are too conspicuous as targets from the air.

Fuel is expensive and there has been no electricity or running water for four months. Faced with

shortages, people who have not fled have organized. The land has been generous this season, fulfilling some of their needs. Food aid and medicines arrive from Turkey, thanks to charity and individual initiatives.

Clad in a black tracksuit, Abu Motea delivers sacks of flour and cook ing oil from morning to night. Some of the supplies come from the other side of the border, brought by his Syrian NGO “Nour al-Huda” and the Turk ish Red Crescent. This self-described “supporter of non-violence,” with his kind blue gaze, travels the winding roads of the Jabal in a rickety old minibus to distribute food to civilians and mujahedeen alike.

For among these mountaindwelling peasants in arms, the rebels have the support of all. But that help stops on the outskirts of the Alawites villages, where there

are army positions and areas controlled by the shabiha (pro-regime gunmen).

It’s too risky to go, even for a pacifist like Abu Motea. Distrust and animosity between Alawite and Sunni villages here is old, and the possibility of massacres is great. “ The risk is there. That is why we made our families leave the most exposed areas,” says Abu Baddih, a rebel commander in the Jabal. Even so, the history of these villages is intertwined. “We lived together for hundreds of years.

Informal ties still exist between our villages, and Alawites live in peace in the Jabal Akrad,” says Abu Baddih.

“The sectarian war is a trap fabricated by Bashar,” adds Dr Habib. “ The problem is not between Sunnis and Alawites, but between the people and this barbaric regime.”—AFP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

i n t e r n at i o n a l

More US citizens languish in Nicaraguan jails ‘Wrongfully convicted’ American walks free NEW YORK: When a guard at a Nicaraguan prison showed Jason Puracal the newspaper headline saying he would be freed, he tried to walk out of jail that instant, only to be sent back to his cell. A few days later, however, Puracal, the US citizen who was jailed in Nicaragua two years ago after being wrongfully convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering, walked free. “The whole process has been very surreal,” Puracal, 35, said in an interview with Reuters on Monday.

He said he had faced hunger, squalid conditions and the constant threat of violence while in prison. “It’s a very hot, dirty, crowded, insect-infested place,” he said. “I would just think of my son. He was the ray of hope that kept me going.” And Puracal says there are more like him in the prison where he was held, innocent people, some

of whom are US citizens, serving long sentences after being wrongfully convicted.

“I’ve been told there’s literally hundreds,” he said. Puracal was detained by Nicaraguan authorities in November 2010 and found guilty by a trial judge nine months later along with 10 co-defendants, all of them Nicaraguan nationals. He initially received a 22-year prison sentence but was released last week after a campaign by international rights activists to overturn his conviction. An appeals court ordered that his trial be annulled because the judge did not substantiate the reasons for his verdict and excluded evidence defense attorneys wanted to present.

Puracal said he had no idea why he was targeted by Nicaraguan authorities.

Puracal’s co-defendants, who also were released under the court order, testified

Obese inmate faces ‘torturous’ death COLUMBUS: A condemned Ohio inmate problem that would make it difficult for who weighs 480 pounds and has a histo- the execution team to find a viable vein ry of difficulty losing weight argues he for lethal injection.

Cooey, who was 5-foot-7 and would face a “torturous and lingering death” if executed in January. Ronald weighed 267 pounds, was executed Oct Post, who shot and killed a hotel clerk in 14, 2008. In 2007, it took Ohio executionnorthern Ohio almost 30 years ago, said ers about two hours to insert IVs into the his weight, vein access, scar tissue, veins of condemned inmate Christopher depression and other medical problems Newton, who weighed about 265 raise the likelihood his executioners pounds. A prison spokeswoman at the would encounter severe problems. He’s time said his size was an issue. In 1994 in also so big that the execution gurney Washington state, a federal judge might not hold him, lawyers for Post said upheld the conviction of Mitchell Rupe, but agreed with Rupe’s contention that in federal court papers filed Friday.

“Indeed, given his unique physical at more than 400 pounds, he was too heavy to hang because of and medical condition the risk of decapitation. there is a substantial risk Rupe argued that hanging that any attempt to exewould constitute cruel cute him will result in and unusual punishment. serious physical and psyAfter numerous court chological pain to him, as rulings and a third trial, well as an execution Rupe was eventually seninvolving a torturous and tenced to life in prison, lingering death,” the filing where he died in 2006. said. Post, 53, is schedOhio executes inmates uled to die Jan. 16 for the with a single dose of pen1983 shooting death of tobarbital, usually injected Helen Vantz in Elyria. A Ronald Post through the arms. Medical spokeswoman for the personnel have had a hard prisons department had no comment on the pending litigation. time inser ting IVs into Post ’s arms, Post’s attorneys also want more time to according to the court filing. Four years pursue arguments that claims of a full ago, an Ohio State University medical confession by the inmate to several peo- center nurse needed three attempts to insert an IV into Post’s left arm, the ple have been falsely exaggerated.

“Post’s case is about more than his lawyers wrote. Post has tried losing weight, and his life should be spared for weight, but knee and back problems reasons wholly unrelated to his obesity,” have made it difficult to exercise, accordhis federal public defender, Joseph ing to his court filing. Post’s request for Wilhelm, said in a statement. Inmates’ gastric bypass surgery has been denied, weight has come up previously in death he’s been encouraged not to walk penalty cases in Ohio and elsewhere. In because he’s at risk for falling, and severe 2008, federal courts rejected arguments depression has contributed to his inabiliby condemned double-killer Richard ty to limit how much he eats, his filing Cooey that he was too obese to die by said. While at the Mansfield Correctional injection. Cooey’s attorneys had argued Institution, Post “used that prison’s exerthat prison food and limited opportuni- cise bike until it broke under his weight,” ties to exercise contributed to a weight according to the filing.—AP

they had never met or worked with him, and the prosecution’s own witnesses said Puracal was innocent, according to his legal team.

Puracal became a cause cÈlËbre for human rights activists in the United States and around the world, with US lawmakers appealing to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and a former high-ranking US Drug Enforcement Administration official launching a massive petition drive on Puracal’s behalf.

His sister Janis spearheaded the earliest attempts to win his freedom. “She’s exhausted all of her resources - all of the family’s resources,” he said, adding the family had spent more than $500,000 to overturn his conviction. Puracal, a native of Washington state, became a resident of Nicaragua after serving there as a Peace

Corps volunteer in 2002. He married a Nicaraguan woman, with whom he has a son, now 5 years old. Before his arrest, he was working at a real estate office in the Nicaraguan city of San Juan del Sur, a surfing destination on the Pacific Coast.

Puracal’s supporters said he came under suspicion due to his job as a real estate agent, which gave him control over large sums of money held in escrow for property transactions. Prosecutors said Puracal used a real estate company to buy properties with drug money. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in May that Puracal was arbitrarily imprisoned and recommended he be freed. The appeals court heard Puracal’s case last month after his supporters pushed for a hearing, saying he was wrongly convicted. The supporters redoubled their efforts earlier this summer

after learning that Puracal, who had been in solitary confinement, was put on suicide watch by Nicaraguan authorities.

Puracal’s other backers include a human rights lawyer who previously worked on behalf of former Czech President Vaclav Havel and Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar and Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Even the California Innocence Project, which normally focuses on wrongfully convicted inmates in that state’s prison system, took up his cause. Puracal said he may someday return to Nicaragua to finish the community development work he was doing before he was arrested.

He also hopes to help others fight wrongful imprisonment. And he has learned this lesson: “Never stop saying I love you to the people in your life.”— Reuters

More than 130 escape from Mexican prison Coahuila govt offers reward to recapture prisoners MEXICO CITY: More than 130 inmates escaped through a tunnel from a Mexican prison on the border with the United States in one of the worst jailbreaks the country’s beleaguered penal system has suffered in recent years. Homero Ramos, attorney general of the northern state of Coahuila, said 132 inmates of the prison in the city of Piedras Negras had got out through the tunnel in an old carpentry workshop, then cut the wire surrounding the complex.

Corrupt prison officials may have helped the inmates escape, said Jorge Luis Moran, chief of public security in Coahuila, adding that US authorities had been alerted to help capture the fugitives if they try to cross the border. The jailbreak is a reminder of the challenges that await Enrique Pena Nieto, the incoming president, who has pledged to reduce crime in the country after six years of increased gang-related violence under President Felipe Calderon.

Many of Mexico’s prisons are overcrowded and struggle to counter the influence of criminal gangs that can use their financial muscle to corrupt those in charge. Ramos said that the state government of Coahuila was offering a reward of 200,000 pesos ($15,700) for information leading to the capture of each fugitive. The Piedras Negras complex housed a total of 734 inmates, and the tunnel through which the prisoners escaped was about 1.2 meters wide, 2.9 meters deep and seven meters long, Ramos said.

MASS BREAKOUTS There have been numerous mass breakouts in the last few years from Mexico’s penal system, and prison officials are frequently accused of complicity with drug cartels. At the end of 2010, more than 140 inmates escaped a prison in the border city of Nuevo Laredo. This February, at least 44 people died in a fight between rival gangs at an overcrowded prison in northern Mexico.

Pena Nieto has pledged to reform the prisons, though experts say he will struggle to make

Rushdie memoir tells of life under Iranian fatwa

an impact unless he combines this with rootand-branch reform of the justice system. Pena Nieto, 46, of the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), will take office in December. The PRI was widely accused of corruption during its long rule between 1929-2000, and he has promised to break with that checkered past. Northern Mexico has been hit particularly hard by violence stemming from brutal turf wars between drug gangs that have overshadowed Calderon’s conservative administration.

Calderon has used the military to try and crack down on the gangs, and has captured or

killed many of the top drug lords. But his efforts have come at a price. Gang-related violence has surged on Calderon’s watch, and fighting between cartels and their clashes with security forces have claimed more than 55,000 lives over the past six years. Last week the Mexican Navy captured one of the biggest kingpins active near the US-Mexican border, the leader of the Gulf Cartel, Jorge Costilla, known as “El Coss.”

Analysts forecast this would lead to an increase in criminal activity in northern Mexico as rival gangs fought for control of lucrative smuggling routes in the area.— Reuters

PIEDRAS NEGRAS: A group of Mexican federal police stand in front of the prison in Piedras Negras, Mexico. Authorities say 132 inmates have escaped from this jail in northern Mexico, sparking a search by federal police and soldiers in an area close to the US border. — AP

Fanning furor, Justice Scalia says judge ‘lied’

Anger over ‘The Satanic Verses’ echoes LONDON: British author Salman Rushdie’s memoir of more than nine years in hiding after Iran’s supreme leader issued a death sentence against him hits the shelves yesterday, ending the wait for his account of a furor that has echoes across the world today. “Joseph Anton: A Memoir” opens with the moment when Rushdie, already a member of London’s literary elite, received a call from a journalist asking for his reaction to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s 1989 fatwa, or religious edict, calling for his head.

“It doesn’t feel good” was his understated reply, but at the time he recalled thinking to himself: “I’m a dead man.”

What followed was nearly a decade of life on the run, fearing for his own safety and that of his family. The fatwa, in response to the 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses”, turned Rushdie into a household name that will forever be linked with the tussle between the right to freedom of expression and the need to respect religious sensitivities.

The topic is back in the headlines after violent protests spread across the Muslim world in response to a US-made video mocking the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH). “I always

said that what happened to me was a prologue and there will be many, many more episodes like it,” Rushdie told the Daily Telegraph at the launch of his memoir. “Clearly, (the film is) a piece of crap, is very poorly done and is malevolent. To react to it with this kind of violence is just ludicrously inappropriate. People are being attacked who had nothing to do with it and that is not right.”

On the weekend, a state-linked Iranian religious foundation increased the bounty on his head to $3.3 million. Its leader argued that had Rushdie been killed, later cases of Islam being insulted would have been avoided. English PEN, a branch of the international group promoting free expression in literature, defended Rushdie. “The film that has caused this round of unrest is an insult to everyone’s intelligence, but the means of combating that is more intelligence, not threats of reinstated fatwas and killings,” said author and campaigner Lisa Appignanesi.

IMPOSSIBLE DREAM The 633-page Joseph Anton, written in the third person singular, recalls Rushdie’s days as a student at Cambridge and his early literary career, including the day he won the coveted Booker Prize for “Midnight’s Children” in 1981.

Seven years later The Satanic Verses appeared, and for a few weeks it was, he fondly remembered, “only a novel”.

Then it was banned in India and South Africa, copies were burned in the streets of northern England, fellow authors turned against him, his first wife Clarissa received threatening calls and book stores were firebombed. Rushdie found himself at the eye of a storm which grew fiercer still on Valentine’s Day, 1989, the day the fatwa was issued, forcing on him nearly a decade of fear, frustration and guilt living under armed guard and moving from house to house.

He was asked to change his name for security reasons and Rushdie chose a combination of the first names of two of his favorite authors, Conrad and Chekhov, and, for 11 years, was known as Joseph Anton. Outside the “prisons” he inhabited with his protection officers, violent protests raged, the novel’s Japanese translator was stabbed to death and a Muslim leader in Belgium who criticized the fatwa was slain. Early reviews posted online yesterday were mixed. “Joseph Anton demonstrates Mr Rushdie’s ability as a stylist and storyteller,” wrote Michael C Moynihan in The Wall Street Journal. “It also serves as an important moral balance sheet.” But in the Guardian, Pankaj Mishra was less impressed with what he called “failures of analysis.” “A peevish righteousness comes to pervade the memoir as Rushdie routinely and often repetitively censures those who criticized or disagreed with him,” he said. — Reuters

NEW YORK: US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has escalated a war of words with a prominent appeals court judge, saying the judge lied in a recent criticism of Scalia’s judicial philosophy. Scalia, 76, the longest-serving justice and a leading conservative on the court, said Judge Richard Posner, of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, lied in a review in August of a book co-authored by Scalia. In the review, Posner accused Scalia of deviating from his own strict, textbased approach to interpreting law when he struck down a District of Columbia handgun ban in 2008 by considering the legislative history behind the law.

“To say that I used legislative history is simply, to put it bluntly, a lie,” Scalia said in an interview with Reuters Editorin-Chief Stephen Adler. Scalia and legal scholar Bryan Garner were discussing their new book, “Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts,” published by West, a unit of Thomson Reuters. The 567-page book sets out the legal philosophy, called “textual originalism,” which says judges should adhere strictly to the text of laws and give them the meaning understood by the people who adopted them.

Laws do not change in me a ning over time, they contend.

The book has sparked a heated debate in legal circles after Posner accused the authors of making flawed arguments based on sloppy research. Posner said numerous cases that the authors held up as models of text-based decisions were influenced by other factors, including judges’ personal views.

Scalia fanned that debate on Monday, saying Posner was only able to make such an assertion because he was writing in a non-legal publication, The New Republic. “You can get away with it in The New Republic, I suppose, but not to a legal audience.”

Posner declined to comment on Monday night. As an example of originalism, Scalia said the death penalty was not covered by the US Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. At the time that clause was adopted, he said, the death penalty was a standard punishment for a felony. If people want to ban it, they must amend the Constitution or vote to abolish it at the state level, he said.

When asked what happens when linguistic analysis of a law conflicts with existing court decisions, Scalia said that judges cannot reinvent the wheel, particularly if precedent has been in place for a long time. “We are textualists. We are originalists.

We are not nuts,” he said. One prominent exception to that is Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. He does not consider that binding precedent, he said, because it was wrong, remains controversial and is an issue better left to legislators than judges. What’s more, the court’s subsequent decisions on abortion are based on the judge-made theory of “substantive due process,” which guarantees certain fundamental rights like privacy. It’s “utterly idi-

otic,” Scalia said. Scalia said he accepts being frequently on the losing side of Supreme Court decisions, because that’s what it takes to follow his philosophy of sticking to the letter of the law. And he said he was happy to be out of the running for the role of chief justice, with its pressures of having to build a consensus among the nine justices. Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist had to temper his approach after being promoted to chief, he said. “He was a shin kicker. He was very, very opinionated,” Scalia said. “He changed when he became chief. I didn’t have to worry about that.” Scalia emphasized that taking a principled approach, rooted in the original meaning of the text of laws, does not necessarily lead to socially and politically conservative results, as some have argued.

“I should be the pinup of the criminal defense bar,” Scalia said, pointing out originalist opinions have strengthened defendants’ right to a trial by jury and to confront opposing witnesses. Scalia acknowledged that today’s court can be divided more easily along political lines than in the past. But he bristled at hearing the court described as political. “It really enrages me to hear people refer to it as a politicized court,” he said. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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

Putin urges soldiers to boost Russian defense MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin oversaw Russian military exercises yesterday and warned soldiers that more conflicts around the world meant they had to “keep their powder dry” and improve Russia’s defenses. Speaking to soldiers at maneuvers in the Caucasus Mountain region on the country’s southern border, near where Russian troops invaded neighboring Georgia in a five-day 2008 war, Putin said the use of military force was rising worldwide.

“You are all educated people, you see what is happening in the world.

You see unfortunately that the use of force is increasing in international affairs,” said Putin, wearing a beige jacket, flanked by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and the Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov.

“That all speaks to the fact that we should keep our powder dry and that Russia’s defenses must improve,” he said from a wooden podium, his eyes fixed on soldiers in uniform. Putin, 59, has been the primary force behind plans to revamp Russia’s fighting

forces, injecting the defense budget with 23 trillion roubles ($751.97 billion) over the next decade, at a time when Western counterparts are tightening their belts.

Ahead of the presidential election earlier this year, Putin, 59, a former KGB spy, said enemies were trying to provoke conflicts around Russia’s borders and the country’s allies, arguing that the country needed better weapons.

Putin, who returned to the presidency in May after serving as prime minister for four years, has repeatedly criticized Western intervention in Libya last year and has stymied attempts to introduce harsher United Nations sanctions on embattled Syrian ally President Bashir al-Assad.

He has said that events connected to the Arab Spring uprisings have diminished the stature of international law, making Moscow more reliant on a strong army. Monday was the first day of training exercises named Kavkaz 2012, the Russian word for the Caucasus Mountains. The troubled region has

emerged as a focus of hostilities, not only within Russia where insurgents wage near-daily violence to carve out an Islamist state, but also between Armenia and Azerbaijan, where border

skirmishes sporadically occur.

FIREFIGHTS AND WAR GAMES The firefights still flare nearly 20 years after a ceasefire stopped fighting

NOVOROSSIYSK: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin looks through binoculars as he attends military strategic command and staff exercises Caucasus2012 at a naval base near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. — AFP

between Azeri forces and ethnic Armenians over the disputed Nagorno Karabakh territory. Putin handed out medals to soldiers and watched the exercises, which will run through Sunday and involve 8,000 security personnel using air defense, artillery and some of Russia’s most powerful rockets. The war games will use dozens of aircraft and nearly 50 helicopters, simulating invasion of Russian territory.

The pro-Western ex-Soviet republic of Georgia criticized the exercises, saying they could destabilize the region.

Russia sent troops into Georgia in 2008, routing the small South Caucasus country’s military, after Georgia’s US-trained military attacked the pro-Russian rebel region of South Ossetia. The conflict also enveloped breakaway Abkhazia on the Black Sea. Moscow recognized both regions as independent countries following the war. A handful of nations have followed Russia’s lead, despite insistence from Tbilisi that the areas are part of its sovereign territory. — Reuters

William, Kate carried on thrones in Tuvalu Court bans spread of topless pics amid criminal probe

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf (left) waves as he leaves the Supreme Court in Islamabad yesterday. — AFP

Pakistan Supreme Court gains edge in graft case ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s increasingly assertive Supreme Court appeared to have gained the upper hand in a standoff with the government yesterday after the prime minister indicated he might be willing to re -open corruption cases against the president. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf told the court he would tell the law minister to withdraw a previous request to Swiss authorities to freeze corruption investigations of President Asif Ali Zardari, easing tension at least temporarily.

It was not clear whether he was stalling for time or would make a serious effort to meet the demands of the Supreme Court, which has emerged as a power centre, taking on civilian leaders as well as the country’s powerful military.

Ashraf, who could be charged with contempt of court or face disqualification if he does not comply, has until Sept. 25 to submit a draft of a letter to Swiss authorities asking them to reopen a corruption case against Zardari. “Time will tell. It’s our job to implement whatever has been directed,” Law Minister Farooq Hamid Naek said. “The letter when dispatched will also contain the reservations the federal government had.”

Legal experts were also cautious in their interpretation. “The legal effect of the letter when written should mean opening of the cases that had been closed earlier,” said lawyer Chaudhry Ramzan, a member of the Pakistan Bar Council. “But it (the case) will be reopened subject to the law of that country (Switzerland) and the international immunity available to heads of

state.” The long-running saga between the judiciary and the government has distracted leaders from tackling wideranging problems - from a fragile economy to a Taleban insurgency in Pakistan, a strategic US ally.

Supreme Court Judge Asif Saeed Khosa said Ashraf was “exempt” from taking action until Sept 25. Ashraf’s predecessor, Yusuf Raza Gilani, was declared in contempt of court in June over the same issue and disqualified from holding the post of prime minister. Zardari, the widower of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is a co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which leads the ruling coalition. Both Ashraf and his predecessor, Gilani, are senior members of the party and are thus reluctant to take steps to reopen a graft investigation involving their party leader and president.

If Ashraf is disqualified, the PPP can nominate a new prime minister since it has a comfortable majority in parliament.

Thousands of corruption cases were thrown out in 2007 by an amnesty law passed under former military president Pervez Musharraf, paving the way for a return to civilian rule. Two years later, the Supreme Court ruled that agreement illegal, and ordered the reopening of money laundering cases against Zardari that involved Swiss bank accounts. The government has refused to obey the court’s order to contact Swiss authorities to reopen the cases, arguing Zardari had immunity as head of state. The PPP will be hoping to hold on to power in the next general election, due next year. — Reuters

FUNAFUTI: A relaxed Prince William and wife Catherine were carried on thrones and dined on coconuts in remote Tuvalu yesterday as their lawyers went on the offensive in Europe over topless photos of the duchess.

“Thank you very much for your most colorful welcome,” William, wearing a floral headpiece, said as nearly half the population of 10,500 turned out to greet the future British king and his wife.

They flew in from the Solomon Islands on the last leg of their Asia-Pacific tour a day after their lawyers lodged a criminal complaint in Paris against a French magazine that published photos of Catherine sunbathing topless.

French authorities yesterday banned Closer magazine from any further distribution of pictures of Kate topless and began a criminal probe into how they were obtained.

An injunction granted by a court at Nanterre in the Paris suburbs ordered the magazine to hand over all forms of the pictures to the British royal couple within 24 hours or face a euro10,000 ($13,000) fine for every day’s delay.

The injunction also bans the glossy magazine from reusing them in print or on its website and re-selling them on pain of further euro10,000 fines for each infraction. William and Kate welcomed a verdict aides hope will act as a deterrent against future intrusions on their privacy. “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcome the judge’s ruling,” read a statement from St James’s Palace in London.

Throughout the day, ferries packed with excited people from distant atolls arrived in the Tuvalu capital Funafuti, much of which had been freshly painted for the royal visit.

When William and Catherine stepped off their private jet they were carried on multi-colored

thrones to the parliament building where they were welcomed

by Governor General Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli and Prime Minister Willy Telavi. Tuvalu residents say the visit is the biggest event since Queen Elizabeth II, William’s grandmother, arrived in the Pacific nation in 1982. “We really wanted to come here after my grandmother told me about

it,” William said, returning the compliment.

The royal couple, with Catherine wearing a yellow frock and William in a suit with his shirt unbuttoned at the top, delighted all they met on their tour of Funafuti.

William drew admiring looks as he used a machete to tap at a coconut until it cracked open,

FUNAFUTI: Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, dance during a ‘fatale’, a singing and dancing event, in Funafuti on Tuvalu yesterday. — AFP

and Catherine had a group of primary school children spellbound as she read from a local story book. After watching a traditional canoe race, where William presented the medals to the winning crew of four and Catherine presented the second-placed medals Olympic style, the royal couple were to attend a state dinner.

Their brief visit wraps up a nine-day Asia-Pacific tour marking the queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which has kept them away from the growing furore in Europe over the publication of the topless photos. The blurry images have so far appeared in the Closer, the Irish Daily Star tabloid and the Italian publication Chi. Lawyers for William and Catherine want criminal charges for an alleged breach of privacy brought against Closer and the photographer, whose identity has not been revealed. They are also seeking an injunction to prevent Closer - which is owned

by Italian former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Mondadori group - from re -selling the images.

A palace spokeswoman has hinted the royal family could also launch legal action against Chi and the Irish Daily Star. The duke and duchess touched down in Tuvalu from the Solomon Islands where they spent the night in a luxury thatched cottage on a secluded tropical island.

Tuvalu consists of six atolls and three islands that total only 25 sq km of land dotted along a 676-km-long arc near the equator. Its sparse land, most of which is no more than a meter above sea level, is threatened by the encroaching ocean with a 2011 report finding the water level was rising about five millimeters per year around Tuvalu. — AFP

ECOWAS talks focus on Mali troops deployment ABIDJAN: West African defense and foreign ministers held talks yesterday on the possible deployment of regional troops to Mali amid reports that Islamists destroyed the tomb of a Muslim saint in a region under their control. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is trying to broker an end to the political crisis in Maliwhich has been effectively sliced in two after a putsch. “We have affirmed our willingness to support and encourage Mali in its efforts towards the legitimate regaining of its territorial integrity,” Ivory Coast’s Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan said after the meeting. He described the task involved as “huge but not impossible.” The latest meeting came in the wake of a formal request earlier this month by Mali’s interim President Dioncounda Traore for ECOWAS military assistance to recover the occupied territory in the north and combat Islamist extremists there. Traore’s request for assistance made it clear that “the deployment of active military forces” would not be needed in the capital Bamako.

Mali insists that the West African troops must only provide logistics and air support and would be involved in law and order operations after the north of the country has been retaken by Bamako. “This is no longer

the time for indecision but for concerted action,” ECOWAS Commission chief Kadre Desire Ouedraogo said, adding that action must be taken against “criminals of all sorts who occupy northern Mali”. Youssoufou Bamba, Ivory Coast’s ambassador to the UN, speaking for ECOWAS, told the Security Council in New York on Monday that the West African nations need fighter jets and other international military support to beat the Islamists who seized northern Mali.

But the UN Council gave no immediate sign it would give the backing for an intervention force. “The green light from the UN is an absolute condition,” a Western diplomat in West Africa said recently, adding that not many African countries had so far volunteered to join the ECOWAS force. Senegal and Ghana have no plans to take part, while Burkina Faso President Blaire Compaore, the top mediator in Mali’s crisis, has signaled support. An international Sahel conference presided by UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon is to meet on the crisis in New York on September 26.

ECOWAS has had 3,300 regional troops on standby for months but was awaiting a formal request from the Malian authorities to seek UN Security Council approval for a military deployment. The country was consid-

ered one of the region’s stable democracies until a March coup plunged it into turmoil.

Taking advantage of the chaos, extremists allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb seized key towns in the huge arid north, an area larger than France or Texas. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Monday condemned the ongoing human rights violations in northern Mali, decrying

“serious human rights violations and possibly war crimes.”

Sources in the north said Islamists had destroyed the tomb of a Muslim saint in the region under their control. “The Islamists on Saturday destroyed the mausoleum of Cheik El-Kebir, 330 kilometers from Gao,” a local politician said on condition of anonymity.

“Twelve of them arrived at the site. They

demolished the mausoleum with hammers, picks.” The sources said the Islamist militant Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) was responsible for the destruction. Oumar Ould Gaddy, a Gao resident who is believed to be close to MUJAO, confirmed the reports, adding that “there is another mausoleum which they will also destroy soon.” — AFP

13 Bulgaria Muslims on trial PAZARDZHIK: Thirteen Muslim religious figures appeared in a Bulgarian court yesterday to stand trial on charges of preaching radical Islam. The 12 men and one womanimams, mufti Islamic scholars and teachersare charged with founding a local branch of the extremist Al Waqf-Al Islami group in the southern regions of Smolyan, Blagoevgrad and Pazardzhik. The Netherlands-based but Saudi-funded organization is suspected of links to Al-Qaeda.

Prosecutors say the 13 Bulgarians preached a radical ideology based on hardline Salafist teachings during prayers at mosques, lectures, sermons and cafe meetings between March 2008 and October

2010. The group’s alleged leader, Mohamed Kamber, has previously told AFP he is not a dangerous radical and said he opposes violence. Other defendants have also previously said they are not guilty of any wrongdoing. The charges against them specifically focus on their suspected “dissemination of anti-democratic ideology by propagating the preachings of the Salafite branch of Islam that seeks to impose a caliphate state.”

The defendants sat quietly at the start of the trial, with many of the men sporting beards and wearing Western-style suits and ties. The trial is expected to see about 40 witnesses and experts testify in hearings through September 28. The verdict is

expected a month later. The case has sparked protests from Bulgaria’s Supreme Muslim Council, the country’s top Muslim religious body, that warned against increasing “obstacles to religious tolerance in Bulgaria, created by growing Islamophobia around the world.” A number of Muslim minority researchers and human rights activists also worry the trial risks flaming tensions between Bulgaria’s religious and ethnic groups. Bulgaria has the highest native Muslim population in the European Union-about 13 percent. Krasimir Kanev, chairman of the Bulgarian branch of the Helsinki Committee human rights group, rejected the case as “absurd.” — AFP

12

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

international

Morocco’s African migrants live in hope OUJDA: Dozens of sub-Saharan Africans expelled from Morocco as immigration policy tightens somehow find their way back into the country, sheltering in makeshift camps on their quest to reach “the other side.” In these camps, located in the Sidi Maafa woods near Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, the illegal migrants-men, women and children-find themselves tantalizingly close to the narrowest stretch of water separating Africa from mainland Europe.

But the living conditions are tough, and the local authorities appear increasingly determined to frustrate their hopes. “Our leader isn’t here. He has gone to look for food. We haven’t had anything to eat for one day,” one of the camp’s residents, a Ghanaian said. In a calm voice, he tells the story of his forced expulsion across the Algerian border, and his return to

Morocco. “We don’t know what will happen to us,” he says. Moroccan authorities have in the past few weeks clamped down on illegal migrants, kicking nearly 500 of them out of the country since early September.

They are usually sent back across the Algerian border near Oujda, officially closed since 1994 but now the main entry point for African migrants coming into the country. Spain, just a short boat ride from nearby Tangier for those with the right papers, has also been at the forefront of the crackdown, with Madrid and Rabat cooperating to evict scores of migrants who had swum to a tiny Spanish islet just off Morocco. On the edge of Oujda, near Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla, the migrants subsist in improvised tents patched together from rags and pieces of plastic.

Some of them reveal wounds suffered, they say, while fleeing from

Moroccan police, claims confirmed by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF). “Many of these people were wounded as they tried to escape arrest or as they tried to jump over the border fences,” MSF’s Morocco director David Cantero said. “The majority of them had fractures to the feet.” In a small cafe outside the camp, Marie, a young Cameroonian woman, tries to connect to the Internet, to “request help” from a European NGO. For a vulnerable African immigrant so far from home, her case is particularly striking.

She is handicapped and confined to a wheel chair.

TO CROSS THIS SEA “My family in Cameroon has disowned me because of my handicap. My sister looked after me for several years but it’s difficult. She has six children,” she explains. Yet Marie is undeterred by the

extra challenges that her disability poses. “(I hope) all the same to cross this sea, and to reach the other side.”

Looking after her is fellow Cameroonian Mohamed Kalli, 16, who casually pushes the wheelchair. “Mohamed is a talented sportsman. His dream is to play in a European football team one day,” Marie adds, in a tired voice.

Other groups of sub-Saharans have settled close to a wall that runs adjacent to Oujda university, where they attempt to lead what might resemble a normal, albeit temporary life, some playing football, others selling cigarettes. Smuggling is a well-established activity in Oujda. There are humanitarian groups trying to help the migrants.

Aid workers say that, after surviving the summer heatwave, the next major concern is how they will cope with a harsh winter. “An urgent solution must be found for the immigrants before it

gets really cold, because these people are virtually living in the open air,” one of them said.

Their treatment by the authorities is also under scrutiny. The Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) recently condemned the government’s “wave of expulsions,” saying “human rights violations against immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa have become systematic in our country.” It said the state had a duty to protect them, but charged that the migrants were instead “subjected to beatings, both by the authorities and by hired thugs... feeding racism and encouraging the citizens of Morocco to turn against them.”

Government spokesman Mustapha Khalfi, when questioned by AFP, said the authorities were open to dialogue with the concerned organizations on the “challenge” of managing illegal immigration. —AFP

Female bomber kills 12 in Kabul to avenge film Blast kills 8 South Africans, 4 Afghans KABUL: A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a mini-bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport in the Afghan capital yesterday, killing at least 12 people including eight South Africans. A militant group claimed the attack aimed to avenge an anti-Islam film that ridicules the Prophet Muhammad. The powerful early morning blast was the first to target Kabul since a video clip of the film was posted on the Internet last week,

Afghanistan - and few if any women drive cars. “The anti-Islam film hurt our religious sentiments and we cannot tolerate it,” Zarghoon said. He said the 22year-old Fatima volunteered to be the suicide bomber. “There had been several young men who wanted to take revenge but Fatima also volunteered and we wanted to give a chance to a girl for the attack to tell the world we cannot ignore any anti-Islam attack.”

KABUL: A body lies on the ground at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul yesterday. —AFP sparking angry protests across the Muslim world including in Afghanistan. It was also the second and deadliest - attack in Afghanistan that militants have said they carried out as revenge strikes in response to the film.

Haroon Zarghoon, a spokesman for the Islamist militant group Hizb-i-Islami, claimed responsibility for the dawn attack in telephone call to The Associated Press. He said it was carried out by a 22year-old woman named Fatima. Suicide bombings carried out by women are extremely rare in

Zarghoon warned of more attacks against foreigners working for NATO and said the group had been seeking targets since a video clip of the film was posted on the Internet last week. The bombing was a worrisome escalation of violence in the capital, where most attacks are usually blamed on the Haqqani network - a Pakistan-based militant group affiliated with the Taleban and Al-Qaeda. “Foreign troops are fighting against Afghans and foreign civilians are tasked to spy for them. They all are our enemy and will be our target,” Zarghoon told The

AP, speaking from an unknown location.

Eight of the dead were South Africans believed to be working for an aviation company based at Rand Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa’s International Affairs Ministry spokesman Nelson Kgwete said. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that four Afghans also were killed and another 11 Afghan civilians were wounded. He said tests were under way to determine whether the suicide bomber was a woman.

Yesterday’s blast came a day after hundreds of Afghans burned cars and threw rocks at a US military base in the capital in a demonstration against the anti-Islam film. One police vehicle was burned by the mob before they finally dispersed around midday Monday.

Kabul police chief Gen Mohammad Ayub Salangi said yesterday’s explosion took place near an avenue northwest of the city center near Kabul International Airport. The blast was so powerful it hurled the mini-bus at least 50 meters. An eyewitness at the scene said he was waiting at a bus stop along the road when he saw a small white sedan ram into the mini-bus. “The explosion was so powerful and loud that I could not hear anything for 10 minutes,” said Abdullah Shah, a teacher. “It was early and there wasn’t much traffic or there would have been many more casualties. Hizb-i-Islami is headed by 65-year-old former warlord Gubuddin Hekmatyar - a former Afghan prime minister and one-time US ally who is now listed as a terrorist by Washington. The group is a radical Islamist militia with thousands of fighters and followers across the country’s north and east.

The group has recently been seeking to participate in a so-far fruitless peace and reconciliation effort led by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Its more moderate parts are thought to have close ties to the Karzai administration and offered a peace plan that called for a broad-based government. The Taleban have also threatened to increase their attacks against foreign targets as revenge for the controversial film. Taleban fighters last week attacked a large British base in southern Afghanistan, killing two US Marines and destroying six fighter jets. NATO forces killed 14 insurgents and captured another who participated in the attack. —AP

Anti-Japan protests reignite across China BEIJING: Anti-Japan protests reignited across China yesterday, the sensitive anniversary marking Tokyo’s occupation of its giant neighbor, escalating a maritime dispute which has forced major Japanese brandname firms to suspend business there. Relations between Asia’s two biggest economies have faltered badly, with emotions running high on the streets and also out at sea where two Japanese activists landed on an island at the centre of the dispute.

China reacted swiftly to the news of the landing, which risked inflaming a crisis that already ranks as China’s worst outbreak of anti-Japan sentiment in decades. Beijing described the landing as provocative, lodged a complaint with Tokyo and said it reserved the right to “take further action”. The dispute over the uninhabited group of islands in the East China Sea - known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China - led to another day of protests that were smothered by a heavy blanket of security.

Japanese businesses shut hundreds of stores and factories across China and Japan’s embassy in Beijing again came under siege by protesters hurling water bottles, waving Chinese flags, and chanting anti-Japan slogans evoking war-time enmity. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda urged Beijing again to protect Japanese citizens in China. “Today is our day of shame,” said a Beijing protester, Wei Libing, a waiter in his 40s. “Japan invaded China on this date.” “Wipe out all Japanese dogs,” read one banner held aloft by one of thousands of protesters marching on the embassy, which was

ringed by riot police standing six rows deep. Japan’s foreign ministry said some embassy windows had been smashed.

Sino-Japanese ties have long been plagued by China’s bitter memories of Japan’s military aggression in the 1930s and 1940s and present rivalry over resources - the islands are believed to be surrounded by energyrich waters. For China, yesterday marks the day Japan began its occupation of parts of mainland China in 1931.

Rowdy protests sprang up in other major cities including Shanghai, raising the risk they could get out of hand and backfire on Beijing, which has given tacit approval to them through state media. One Hong Kong newspaper said some protesters in southern Shenzhen had been detained for calling for democracy and human rights.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, visiting China to promote stronger Sino-US military ties, again called for calm and restraint. Washington has said it will not take sides. China said it wanted a peaceful outcome. “We still hope for a peaceful and negotiated solution to this issue and we hope to work together and work well with the Japanese government,” Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said after meeting Panetta.

Japan’s coast guard said three Chinese marine surveillance ships briefly entered what Japan considers its territorial waters near the disputed islets yesterday evening, the second time since Friday when six ships briefly entered the waters. Well-known Japanese firms have been targeted by protesters, with car makers Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co halt-

BEIJING: Chinese protesters march towards the Japanese Embassy in Beijing yesterday. —AFP

ing some operations after attacks on their outlets.

Other Japanese companies-from Mazda and Mitsubishi Motors to Panasonic and Fast Retailing-also shut plants and stores in China, sending Japanese share prices falling and prompting a warning from credit rating agency Fitch that the situation could hurt some auto and tech firms’ creditworthiness. Japan’s top general retailer, Seven & I Holdings said it will resume business at all its 13 Ito Yokado supermarkets and 198 “7-11” convenience stores in the cities of Beijing and Chengdu on Wednesday. Some firms recalled workers back to Japan due to the unrest. “The situation on the ground in China is not so good and I was advised by the locals not to go out.

I couldn’t get any work done,” Japanese expatriate worker Hisato Takase said on arrival at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

Japanese restaurants, a common target of protesters, barred their doors while many Japanese expatriates stayed home. Yesterday’s brief landing by two Japanese nationals on one of the disputed islands, reported by Japan’s coast guard, has raised fears of a direct clash in an area being patrolled by ships from both nations. “The unlawful landing of the Japanese rightwingers on the Chinese territory of the Diaoyu islands was a gravely provocative action violating Chinese territorial sovereignty,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement. The activists briefly landed on one of the islands, having paddled up to it in a rubber raft and swum ashore before returning to the boat, Japanese broadcaster NHK said. —Reuters

WASHINGTON: Myanmar’s Member of Parliament and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi (left) meets with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Clinton’s office at the State Department in Washington yesterday. —AP

Myanmar frees 500 prisoners in amnesty YANGON: Myanmar has pardoned more than 500 prisoners in an amnesty that included at least 80 political detainees, according to activists, a step that could strengthen the former military state’s growing bonds with Washington. An announcement on state television did not make clear if any of the 514 were political prisoners, but two activist groups who monitor dissidents jailed in Myanmar said more than 80 were given presidential pardons. Bo Kyi, secretary-general of the Thai-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), said on Tuesday 88 political prisoners were freed, possibly more.

Ba Myo Thein from the Group for Freedom of Political Prisoners put the number at 84 dissidents, including 24 Buddhist monks.

The timing of the amnesty is significant coming ahead of a US visit by Thein Sein, Myanmar’s reformist president, who will head to New York on Sept 24 to address the UN General Assembly. The State Department said US officials would meet the former junta general on the sidelines of the forum. It also coincides with a separate US trip that began on Monday by Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who spent years under house arrest in Myanmar and will receive a congressional medal.

Suu Kyi’s election to parliament in April helped to transform Myanmar’s pariah image

and convince the West to begin rolling back sanctions after a year of dramatic reforms, including the release of about 700 political prisoners in amnesties between May 2011 and July. The United States has repeatedly called for all remaining dissidents to be freed as a pre-condition for further economic rewards, including a relaxation of a ban on imports of Myanmar-made products imposed years ago in response to human rights abuses under military regimes, which ruled from 1962-2011. Ko Ko Hlaing, a presidential adviser, said Thein Sein would try convey to US officials Myanmar’s urgent need for the import ban and other restrictions to be eased.

‘OBSTACLES’ TO REFORMS “It is a good chance for him to elaborate the real situation of development in democratic transition and socio-economic reform,” Ko Ko Hlaing said. “It is certainly intended to have some relaxation of restrictions and sanctions because they happen now to be obstacles in our reform process.” The European Union lifted its import restrictions on Myanmar on Monday, allowing it to join its “Everything but Arms” preferential trade initiative, which grants poor countries access to European markets without any quotas or duties. —Reuters

NATO halts work with Afghan allies to stem ‘insider attacks’ KABUL: NATO ordered a cutback yesterday on operations with Afghan forces in response to a surge of so-called insider attacks on foreign servicemen, but said the restriction was temporary and would not derail a 2014 handover of security to Afghan forces. The order indefinitely suspending most mentoring operations was issued by the second most senior US commander in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General James Terry, and applies to all front-line missions involving units smaller than an 800-strong battalion.

But a senior NATO spokesman, US Colonel Tom Collins, said the order was only a “temporary and prudent response” to current threats of insider attacks and a week of mounting anger across the Muslim world over a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad. “It will apply only until the threat level returns to a tolerable level,” Collins said, adding that separate training missions would be unaffected and the scaling back would apply only to smaller frontline and field troops. Enabling missions, like NATO helicopter support for Afghan troops and medical evacuations by air, would also be unaffected, Collins said.

But even a limited cutback is a major turnaround for NATO’s core mission of a strong training role for the 350,000 members of the Afghan security forces who will now have to cope with reduced support from the 100,000-strong NATO-led force backing the Afghan government against Taleban insurgents. At least 51 members of the NATO force have been killed in insider attacks this year, in which Afghan police or soldiers have turned their weapons on their Western mentors. That represents a spike of

more than 40 percent on similar incidents for the whole of last year.

The order, which appeared to take several coalition members including Britain and Australia by surprise, was issued after weekend attacks by Afghan police in which six foreign soldiers were killed in the south, where the Taleban draw most support. Australian troops, based in the southern province of Uruzgan, were seeking urgent clarification on how the change would be applied, while British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond did not mention the shift in parliament on Monday.

But Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague told a parliamentary committee in London yesterday that the strategy ahead of the 2014 pullout of most Western combat troops was unaltered. “The impact on UK operations will be minimal. It doesn’t mean the way UK troops conduct operations ... is going to change. It does require the chain of command to be consulted in a different way,” Hague said. NATO commanders said that meant smaller joint operations could still be approved, but on a case-by-case basis in which junior commanders would have to set out measures to reduce the risk of attack by rogue Afghan soldiers or police.

The attacks have already prompted several coalition members, including France, to speed up or review plans to withdraw troops ahead of the 2014 timetable for most combat forces, as agreed by the government’s Western backers. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a new conference in Beijing yesterday the US government was concerned about the insider attacks but the plan to hand over security to Afghan control by 2014 remained in place. —Reuters

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

A Kashmiri Muslim protester jumps over a burning tyre set up as a road block during a protest in Srinagar yesterday, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). — AP

Egypt: Iran support for Syria hinders relations CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi warned Iran’s foreign minister yesterday that better relations between the two Mideast heavyweights are being hindered by Tehran’s support for Syria’s regime. The promise of greater rapprochement with Egypt is part of a package of incentives and efforts by Morsi to lure Iran, Syria’s staunchest regional ally, away from Damascus and find an end to the bloodshed. The two were meeting in Cairo as part of a Morsisponsored Syria peace initiative dubbed the “Islamic Quartet,” bringing together Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt all supporters of the Syrian rebellion - with Iran.

Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said that Morsi told the Iranian minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, in their meeting in Cairo that as president he cannot ignore public sentiment in Egypt, which is against the Syrian regime “that uses harsh language and violence against people.” The Egyptian leader delivered a similar message in person to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran during a meeting last month. He warned that Iran must end its support for Assad in order to prevent any chance of Western intervention in Syria. It was also the first time that an Egyptian leader had visited Iran in decades. While in Tehran, Morsi delivered a stinging rebuke of the Syrian regime during a speech at an international gathering of so-called nonaligned nations.

Tehran cut ties with Cairo following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Morsi has since moved to amend relations with Iran following his win in Egypt’s first free presidential elections over the summer. Egypt’s 2011 uprising, which ushered in those elections, helped spark Syria’s own upheaval.

It remains highly unlikely that Iran would abandon Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as long as there is a chance for him - or at least the core of his regime - to hang on. Iran counts on Syria as a strategic outlet to the Mediterranean and a conduit to its anti-Israeli proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Recently, a top commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said Tehran had sent advisers to Lebanon and Syria, the clearest indication to date of Iran’s direct assistance to Damascus. Egyptian officials close to the presidency say Morsi has offered a package of incentives for Tehran to back off of its support to Assad, including the restoration of full diplomatic ties and efforts toward reconciliation with wealthy Gulf nations - a significant diplomatic prize for the Islamic Republic, especially as it comes under mounting pressure over its disputed nuclear program.

Sentiment is strong among Egyptians against Assad, whose regime they hold primarily responsible for an 18-month conflict in which 23,000 people have been killed, according to activists. — AP

Romney derides Obama supporters...

Continued from Page 1 As Obama opens a lead in the polls, Romney has been fighting off criticism from powerful Republican voices blaming him for missing opportunities at the party’s recent national convention, on Middle East unrest and on the US economy, which is seen as the president’s weakest point. Obama’s campaign called the video, taken in May at a gathering of wealthy donors in Florida, “shocking”. “It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement.

In the video, Romney says, “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you name it.”

Romney added that 47 percent of Americans pay no income tax and said his role “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

About 46 percent of Americans owed no federal income tax in 2011, although many of them paid other forms of taxes such as sales taxes, property taxes and state and local taxes. Many were poor or in the military.

More than 16 million elderly Americans avoid federal income taxes solely because of tax breaks that apply only to the elderly, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. In the video, Romney also said his father had been born in Mexico and joked, “Had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this.”

In the seven-minute news conference late Monday, Romney did not dispute the authenticity of the video, but he called for its full release, not just the clips posted online. He sought to clarify his remarks but did not apologize. “It’s not elegantly stated, let me put it that way. I was speaking off the cuff in response to a question. And I’m sure I could state it more clearly in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that,” Romney said. “Of course I want to help all Americans. All Americans have a bright and prosperous future.”

He continued: “It’s a message which I am going to carry and continue to carry, which is that the president’s approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes, because frankly my discussion about lowering taxes isn’t as attractive to them. Therefore I’m not likely to draw them into my campaign as effectively as those in the middle.”

In the footage released yesterday, Romney criticized Obama’s foreign policy approach as “naive”. “The president’s foreign policy, in my opinion, is formed in part by a perception he has that his magnetism, and his charm, and his persuasiveness is so compelling that he can sit down with people like (Vladimir) Putin and (Hugo) Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and that they’ll find that we’re such wonderful people that they’ll go on

with us, and they’ll stop doing bad things,” Romney said.

“And it’s an extraordinarily naive perception.”

Asked at the fundraiser if the “Palestinian problem” can be solved, Romney replied that the Palestinians have “no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish”. Displaying little nuance about the attitude of different factions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, his remarks appeared to dismiss the possibility that any Palestinian leaders are willing to work towards peace with Israel.

“I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say there’s just no way,” Romney said. “You move things along the best way you can. You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem - and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it.” Romney infuriated the Palestinians in July when he endorsed Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state during a visit to Israel.

“The idea of pushing on the Israelis to give something up to get the Palestinians to act is the worst idea in the world,” he said at the May fundraiser, providing further evidence of his staunch pro-Israeli position.

Obama’s campaign, seeing an opportunity to build on its earlier efforts to cast the Republican as out of touch with average Americans, emailed a fundraising appeal to supporters and posted a video online asking voters to watch Romney’s comments and respond. “I actually felt sick to my stomach,” one woman says in the web video. Another woman says, “That’s not somebody who I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I want him as my president.’”

The private remarks are the latest comments from the multimillionaire businessman whom Democrats have criticized as out of touch. During the primary campaign for the Republican nomination, Romney insisted that he was “not concerned” about the very poor and said that his wife drove a “couple of Cadillacs”.

According to the Aug 2010 AP-GfK poll, a majority of Americans who make less than $30,000 a year are Democrats. But 27 percent identify as Republicans, and 15 percent say they’re independents.

Looking to change the subject, Romney’s campaign rolled out a television ad yesterday featuring a mother and infant, aimed at cutting into Obama’s advantage with female voters. Romney had fundraising events planned yesterday but no public appearances. Obama headed to New York yesterday for a $40,000-a-ticket fundraiser with Beyonce and Jay-Z. Voters say they believe Obama has a better understanding of their problems and concerns than Romney does. A CBS/New York Times poll showed 60 percent of likely voters said Obama understands the needs and problems of people like them, while 37 percent said he did not. For Romney, the same question found that 46 percent felt he did understand people’s needs, while 48 percent said he didn’t. — Agencies

Newsweek’s ‘Muslim Rage’ cover sparks wave of scorn PARIS: Newsweek’s front page about the deadly protests currently sweeping the Muslim world has sparked a storm of controversy and derision on Twitter as netizens mock the magazine’s headline “Muslim Rage”. “Lost nephew at the airport but can’t yell for him because his name is Jihad. #MuslimRage,” one Twitter user mocked online. “Man next to me on subway reading Quran on his Samsung Galaxy tablet just offered his seat to an older lady. #MUSLIMRAGE truly affects us all,” another netizen from New York posted on his account.

The front page shows a photo of angry Muslim protesters shouting and putting their hands in the air, under the headline “Muslim Rage” and a sub-headline “How I survived it, how we can end it.” The cover story is written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a well-known Somali-born rights activist and former Dutch lawmaker whose criticism of Islam has earned her death threats. In it, she describes her own experience of renouncing Islam as well as making a short film with Theo van Gogh about Muslim women that saw the Dutch filmmaker shot and stabbed to death.

The article comes as Muslims in at least 20 countries have staged angry demonstrations outside US embassies and other American symbols in protest against an anti-Islam film called “Innocence of Muslims”.

The crude, low-budget movie - believed to have been produced by a small group of extremist Christian Americans - mocks Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent. A trailer for the film appeared on YouTube last week, sparking the violent backlash that has seen more than 30 people killed so far.

Newsweek’s cover - and subsequent attempts on the magazine’s Twitter page to encourage netizens to comment using the hashtag #MuslimRage - have meanwhile unleashed a different kind of backlash. “Well done Newsweek, bring a well-known anti-Islam activist and get them to write your cover story titled #MuslimRage on how to stop it,” one netizen responded.

Entertainment and media blog Gawker yesterday published 13 widely retweeted photos poking fun at

“Muslim Rage”, such as a picture of teenagers blowing bubbles in a square under the caption “violent, angry Egyptians”. Another Tweeter posted a mock-up version of the magazine cover called “Anti-Muslim Rage”, with photos of crying children under the captions “Iraq War” and “Drones”.

But Newsweek responded that its cover “accurately depicts the events of the past week.” “Our covers and hashtags bring attention and spark debate around topics of major global importance and the internet is an open forum for people to continue their own discussion,” spokesman Andrew Kirk said.— AFP

No justice for Sabra and Shatila massacre...

Continued from Page 1 militiamen allied with Israel massacred between 800 and 2,000 Palestinians in the two camps, on the outskirts of Beirut. They also murdered at least 100 Lebanese and some Syrians. Israeli troops, which had invaded Lebanon in June, had sealed off the camp while the militiamen committed their killing spree, targeting unarmed civilians.

“Thirty years have gone by, but I can remember every single detail of what I saw,” said Abu Ardeini. “My youngest child was just two weeks old. The children were screaming, while the militiamen were competing to see who could kill the most people.”

Every year, activists from all over the world travel to Lebanon to join survivors of the massacre, and visit the graveyard in Shatila, where many of the victims were buried. But despite a global outcry, no one has ever been arrested, no one ever tried, no one convicted. In Israel, an official inquiry placed personal but indirect responsibility on then defence minister Ariel Sharon. It blamed Elie Hobeika, intelligence chief of the Lebanese Forces, for the killings. The LF, a rightwing Christian militia then allied to Israel, have never responded to those accusations, and maintained total silence.

“No Lebanese or international court has ever indicted any of the men behind the massacre. They all got away with impunity,” said Abu Ardeini. “We have lost all faith in the law. We Palestinians are the weakest link in the Arab world. We don’t have a state, so the killing of our people does not matter to anyone.” Abu Ardeini also lamented the conditions of life for some 280,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the majority of whom still live in squalid camps, deprived of many social and economic rights, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees. “Our relatives died quickly, whereas we die a slow death,” she said.

Samiha Abbas, a Lebanese woman married to a Palestinian resident of Sabra, cried: “That day was different from all others.” She lost three of her children and four

other relatives. “Zeinab was 16, Ali was 10, and Fahd was 20 years old.” Gripping their framed photographs to her chest, she collapsed in tears as she recalled the events. “I demand to know why they killed my children. I have lost my mind to grief!” she cried. “I am Lebanese, but one Lebanese government after another has treated me like dirt.”

Living in close quarters with Palestinians who fled to Lebanon following the creation of Israel in 1948, Lebanese survivors have fared no better than the refugees in attaining justice. Abbas lives in Sabra, where a chaotic jumble of electrical cables runs from house to house, rats scurry around poorly built homes and rain pours through ceilings in the cold winter. “I practically had to beg to raise my children,” said Abbas. “We are the victims, but successive Lebanese governments have treated us like criminals, marginalising us to make sure our voice isn’t heard.”

A group of survivors tried to launch a lawsuit in Belgium against Sharon over the massacre, but the court threw out the case in Sept 2003. “No court and no state, Arab or Western, is interested in justice for us Palestinians,” said Mohammed Surur, 50, who lost five family members to the massacre. Surur joined some 200 Lebanese, Palestinian and Western activists in Beirut yesterday to commemorate the victims. They marched through Shatila, with children waving Palestinian flags, singing patriotic songs.

“They killed my father and my three siblings, including my sister Shadia, who was 18 months old at the time,” said Surur. “My mother played dead in order to survive, and had to lie on the ground with her dead daughter’s head smashed open over her body.” To Surur, no amount of commemoration is enough to overcome the trauma he lives with to this day. “I call on the Lebanese state to open the Sabra and Shatila file, to investigate what happened, to reveal who was responsible and to bring justice to the victims,” he said. “I am sure it won’t happen, though,” he said resignedly. “But we Palestinians, we know how to get justice our own way. And one day, we will.” — AFP

14

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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Issues

S Africa’s dithering strike response spooks investors

By David Dolan and Sujata Rao ildcat strikes in South Africa’s platinum belt have entered a sixth week with no resolution in sight and investors are worried about the government’s inability to quell the unrest. Critics say Pretoria’s response to the strikes has been slow and ineffective, exposing the ruling African National Congress and President Jacob Zuma as ill-equipped to handle crisis and lifting the chances of a credit downgrade. The rand has tumbled, insurance against default on South African debt has risen and foreign investors have sold shares in mining companies. “The lack of government appearance or intervention is one of the most concerning things. What’s that saying about any crises that we have in this country? It doesn’t appear that there’s anyone to pull it all together,” said Nic Norman-Smith, a fund manager at Lentus Asset Management in Johannesburg.

Violence at Lonmin Plc’s Marikana mine last month left more than 40 people dead, 34 of them striking miners shot by police in the bloodiest security incident since the end of apartheid in 1994. The killings shocked South Africa and the world but Zuma and his government have done little to show they were on top of the unrest, started by miners demanding higher wages. “I think they’ve been particularly poor in addressing it, in addressing the country as a whole,” said Mohammed Nalla, an analyst with Nedbank Capital in Johannesburg.

For weeks after the Marikana shootings, Zuma mostly avoided the subject while dispatching cabinet ministers to the region for what was seen as symbolic shows of sympathy. Government arbitrators pushed for a “peace accord” to calm the situation, which stoked anger among the strikers who said they wanted to discuss money before anything else. After weeks of criticism, Zuma’s government said on Friday it would clamp down on “illegal gatherings” and police seized weapons from striking miners over the weekend. Some investors fear this will just anger the strikers further. “What you have in South Africa is a weak economy and scary politics,” said James Syme, a senior fund manager at JO Hambro Capital Management Group in London, who helps manage 500 million pounds in emerging market equities and is underweight on South African assets. “The policy environment makes no one happy, neither the electorate nor the corporate.”

The rand slumped as much as 3.3 percent last week, and credit default swaps - insurance against debt default on government bonds rose. Foreign equity investors have cut stakes in mining companies, although some of those positions have been taken up by South African investors, said Rajat Kohli, global head of mining and metals at Standard Bank in London. “There is a possibility that production could fall if the mining strike continues, which is another factor to raise the country risk,” said Genzo Kimura, a bond fund manager at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management in Tokyo.

Partially led by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the strikes have swept across the platinum belt, home to nearly 80 percent of the world’s reserves and companies including Lonmin and top producer Anglo American Platinum. AMCU is challenging the dominance of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), whose leaders have grown rich and powerful from an alliance with Zuma’s ANC, which has relied on organised labour for votes. Striking workers say that politicians and union leaders are out of touch and corrupt.

Eighteen years after the end of apartheid, the government has failed to provide basic services such as running water to millions of South Africans, the official unemployment rate stands at 25 percent and protests against squalid living conditions have increased. While the strikers are looking for a huge base pay increase of 12,500 rand ($1,500) a month, their demands also reflect impatience with the pace of change under the ANC. “It’s less about getting a 12,500 rand salary than it is around having a higher quality of living,” said Nalla.

After the Aug 16 Marikana killings, Zuma made a lowkey appearance at the site, surrounded by suited aides and bodyguards who shielded him from the sun with a parasol. He spoke to executives and then left to dance at an ANC event despite declaring a week of mourning.

Critics said this showed him more beholden to special interest groups than to poor South Africans. Zuma’s government should “be visible, and be visible where people are,” said Terence Craig, chief investment officer at Element Investment Managers in Cape Town. — Reuters

W

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Anti-Islam film diverts gaze from Syria

By Elizabeth A Kennedy or the embattled Syrian regime, the crudely produced film mocking Islam that has unleashed fury across the Muslim world could not have come at a better time. Images of furious protesters targeting Western diplomatic sites in Libya, Egypt, Pakistan and elsewhere have diverted the world’s gaze from the bloodstained streets of Syria, where President Bashar Assad is trying to crush an 18-month-old uprising. The crisis over the film also has reinvigorated militant rhetoric that US and Israel are the real enemies of Muslims, taking the heat off of both Assad and his loyal and powerful ally in neighboring Lebanon, the militant group Hezbollah.

Yesterday, Syria’s Cabinet condemned the movie, titled “Innocence of Muslims”. In its first official reaction, the Cabinet said the film about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is “cheap and provocative,” adding that it’s “part of a Western project that aims to infringe upon the nation’s heritage and symbols ... as a prelude to control its potentials and wealth.” It remains to be seen whether the controversy will result in any lasting gains for Syria or for Hezbollah, whose reputation has suffered severely for

F

siding with the Assad regime even after supporting revolts in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Bahrain.

The demonstrations over the film, while fervent, were relatively small to begin with, and they appear to be tapering off in the Arab world. Still, Hezbollah is determined to keep them going, which serves the interests of the Shiite militant group as well as Assad. Assad’s fall would be a nightmare scenario for Hezbollah. Any new regime led by Syria’s majority Sunni Muslims would likely be far less friendly - or even outright hostile - to Shiite Hezbollah. Iran remains the group’s most important patron, but Syria is a crucial supply route. Without it, Hezbollah will struggle to get money and weapons as easily.

The Syrian conflict has descended into a civil war, with neither side able to strike a definitive blow against the other. The result is a murderous stalemate, with a growing sense of worldwide horror over violence that activists believe is responsible for killing 23,000 people. The film, however, has exposed a well of deep anger and frustration directed far beyond Syria’s borders - and Syria and its allies are seizing on it. In his first public appearance since 2011, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told tens of thousands of rapturous

supporters Monday that there must be sustained demonstrations against the film.

There are four more rallies planned this week in Lebanon, starting today, as Hezbollah tries to redirect popular rage against the US, describing the film - which is amateurish and intentionally provocative - as an unprecedented attack on Islam. “The world should know that our anger is not a passing thing. ... This is the start of a serious campaign that must continue all over the Muslim world in defense of the Prophet (PBUH) of God,” said Nasrallah, who rarely appears in public for fear of assassination. “As long as there’s blood in us,” he added, “we will not remain silent over insults against our Prophet (PBUH).”

Nasrallah has said he considers the film the worst insult to Islam mainly because it is available online and anyone can access it. “I think that this level of offense is very big, very grave and unprecedented,” he said in a televised speech recently. He said the film is more of an insult than the 2005 publication by a Danish newspaper of cartoons depicting the Prophet (PBUH), which unleashed a wave of violent protests by Muslims; and British author Salman Rushdie’s 1988 novel, “The Satanic Verses”, inspired in part by the life of Muhammad (PBUH). Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah

Khomeini issued a religious edict in 1989 calling for Rushdie’s death, leading the writer to live in hiding for a decade.

Hezbollah is harnessing the outrage over the film, an apparent attempt to keep the issue alive and to bolster its standing a defender of Muslim dignity and a moral force in the Arab world. Many in the crowd Monday wore headbands of green and yellow - the colors of Hezbollah; others hoisted Syrian flags to show their allegiance to Assad, a sign of the strong links between Syria and Hezbollah. But the group also appeared to be trying to ensure the gatherings don’t descend into violence, planning them only in areas where Hezbollah has control. None of the rallies targets the heavily fortified US Embassy in the hills outside Beirut.

Protesters have directed their anger at the US government, insisting it should do something to stop it, although the film was privately produced. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized it as “an awful Internet video that we had nothing to do with”. For the moment, the masses who have risen up against Assad appear to be drowned out by those chanting against more familiar enemies the United States and Israel. “Death to America!” the crowds shouted Monday in Beirut. “America is the great Satan!” —AP

In Africa’s warm heart, cold welcome for Chinese

By Ed Cropley and Michael Martina alawians bill their country as the “Warm Heart of Africa” and pride themselves on a reputation for friendliness. But Jaffa Shaibu, a burly 32-year-old merchant in a clothes market in Salima, a dusty town near the shores of Lake Malawi, feels less than welcoming to the Chinese traders who have moved in over the past four years. “The way it looks, one day there will be a big fight with them,” Shaibu said. “One day there will be blood.” Echoing a grievance heard across Africa, Shaibu and his colleagues in this town of of 40,000 complain of Chinese businessmen with better access to cheap imports of clothes, shoes and electronics, and deeper pockets that allow them to reduce their margins.

That sentiment is part of a grass-roots backlash against Beijing’s increasing diplomatic and commercial clout in Africa. In many ways, the relationship between the two has never been stronger. Bilateral trade has almost doubled over the past three years, to $166 billion in 2011 from $91 billion in 2009. In July, Chinese President Hu Jintao offered Africa $20 billion in cheap loans over the next three years. China, he said, would forever be a “good friend, a good partner and a good brother” to Africa.

But a growing number of Africa’s billion people are less enthusiastic. Last November, four Chinese in rural South Africa were burnt alive in an arson attack on their home. In Zambia last month, miners in a dispute over pay crushed a Chinese supervisor to death with a coal truck. In Ghana, armed Chinese informal miners have clashed with gangs of local youths, triggering a government crackdown. In Angola a few weeks ago, 37 Chinese men were deported on suspicion of running a criminal gang that burnt its victims with gasoline before burying them alive, according to China’s Xinhua state news agency. And from Senegal in the west to Kenya in the east, traders are up in arms about what they see as unfair competition from private Chinese merchants surfing into Africa on the back of a wave of big investments.

M

Slow-Slow The backlash has reached parts of Malawi, a nation of 13 million people, where antiChinese protests in the northern town of Karonga in late June prompted the government to dust off a decades-old law that con-

fines foreign retailers to big cities. So far, the government has not forced the issue. Salima’s high street is a tatty strip of tarmac flanked by dusty sidewalks and 200 m of shop-houses, including nine owned by Chinese traders.

There, the end of July deadline to move on came and went without a flicker.

Fuxing Trading, Peng Heng Shop and the other Chinese outlets continue to offer their wares as before, feeding a belief the government will not act against anything even vaguely connected to Beijing. Chinese construction firms have just completed a huge hotel and conference centre in the capital Lilongwe and are busy building schools and upgrading the main road to Tanzania. “The government is slow-slow,” said Noel Zenengeya, a portly 48-year-old Salima merchant in a dazzling Hawaiian shirt. “If they don’t do anything, we will have to fight for it.”

The authorities acknowledge the bad blood and insist Chinese merchants - an estimated 140 businesses across the country - will be moved to the three biggest cities as stipulated by law. The Chinese embassy says it does not oppose the move. Ambassador Pan Hejun has appealed to Chinese businesses to move to designated areas “to respect principles guiding the development of China-Malawi relations”. At the same time, Malawian officials sense they can only go so far before annoying their giant benefactor. “It’s a very big issue and politically sensitive because the Chinese have been very helpful to Malawi. It’s becoming tricky how we treat their nationals,” Salima District Commissioner Ali Phiri told Reuters.

“But we anticipate a lot of conflict if they don’t move.”

Trade Imbalance As trade has soared almost 20-fold in the last decade, the basic nature of the exchange has not changed: raw African materials - oil, ore, timber - flow east, while manufactured goods flow west. Malawi’s case is typical. It sent $46 million of tobacco, coffee, spices and other agricultural goods to China last year, and in return bought $112 million of textiles, machinery and high-tech goods. Even South Africa, far and away the continent’s biggest and most industrialised economy, as well as a major coal and iron ore producer, faces an imbalance. In Beijing in July, President Jacob Zuma said the trade relationship was “unsustainable in the long term”.

Faced with an official unemployment rate of 25 percent, South Africa’s ruling ANC talks

incessantly about the need to boost domestic industry. In particular it would like to see its minerals processed at home. But the problem runs deeper: parts of South Africa’s manufacturing sector, nearly 20 percent of the economy, are in direct competition with China, and in many cases are losing the battle against a much cheaper producer. According to a recent study by economists at Britain’s University of East Anglia, South Africa lost 78,000 manufacturing jobs to Chinese imports between 2001 and 2010.

Goods of Chinese origin accounted for about 18 percent of South Africa’s imports of manufactured goods in 2010, up from 2 percent in 1995, the study said. Labour-intensive industries such as textiles, clothing, footwear and furniture, have been the hardest hit, with more than 40 percent of footwear and knitted fabrics purchased in South Africa coming from China. Chinese imports have also cut into South African exports to other African countries. “ The economy hasn’t been able to absorb the labour force, and of course the manufacturing sector, far from absorbing labour, is expelling labour,” said Rhys Jenkins, one of the authors of the British study.

One Cigarette at a Time Like consumers around the globe, Africans have an insatiable appetite for cheap goods, and China supplies them like no other. Africa has enjoyed average economic growth of 5 percent in the last five years, and this year contains five of the 10 fastest-growing economies according to the International Monetary Fund: Sierra Leone, Niger, Angola, Liberia and Ghana. But disposable income levels remain very low, defining the way many Africans buy things. Hawkers selling individual cigarettes are a common sight at bus-stops throughout the continent; many people can only afford to buy one at a time. It’s a similar story with clothes or shoes: where the cheap Chinese option beats out locally-produced goods irrespective of the quality. “In the past, I used to buy from the local market, but now with the prices in the Chinese shops, I buy from them,” said Enifa Mbeleko, a 35-year-old Malawian mother of six who took a 50 km (31 mile) bus ride to shop for a blouse. “I’ve never had a problem with the quality.”

Shifting to Africa Africa’s growing power as a consumer market has registered 11,000 km away at the other end of the supply chain, where there’s new

recognition that the continent is one of the few bright spots in a gloomy world. In the eastern Chinese province of Henan, Shao Yali sits in her office at Kaifeng Tianyi Garments sketching out various commercial strategies on her computers. The euro zone crisis has hammered exports to Europe, the clothing factory’s biggest market until last year, and she is worried about generating enough sales to keep the 100-employee operation running.

Africa now accounts for 70 percent of revenue.

“The Africa market is extremely important to us,” Shao said. “When orders for Europe dropped, we had to look for ways to push down prices and ship items to Africa. We are doing all we can to boost orders from South Africa.” She’s not the only one. Services firms such as Asia Inspection, which runs supply chain audits and quality checks on Chinese manufacturers, are also busy cashing in on strong demand. Chief executive Sebastien Breteau said European business has declined but a new office in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, will help take up the slack.

“Europe is flat to declining. We see Africa growing big time,” Breteau said. “It’s all over Africa, but especially in Nigeria. We believe in the growth there, and the Chinese are very close to the Nigerian market.”

‘Stemming the Tide’ Africa’s growth means Chinese officials are unlikely to stop their people heading to the continent to make their fortune. At the official level, Beijing and its foreign envoys insist that Chinese nationals and businesses should comply with domestic laws in each African country. “If Chinese traders engage in activities that violate your laws, we would not seek to shield them. We would not protect Chinese citizens’ illegal behavior,” said Zhong Jianhua, China’s Special Representative on African Affairs. “We just hope the relevant parties can handle the situation justly.”

But the small private Chinese merchants flocking to Africa from areas such as Fujian, a traditional source of migrant labour, are not high on Beijing’s list of priorities. “There’s a disconnect between the official Chinese, who are frequently from Beijing, and the likes of the Fujianese,” said Yoon Jung Park, a China-Africa researcher affiliated to Australia’s Monash University. “Quite frankly they are embarrassed by them, but there’s nothing they can do to stem the tide when the word gets out that there are opportunities and money to be made.”— Reuters

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

sp orts Serbia want to shift World Cup qualifier

Pietersen out of India tour LONDON: England will tour India next month without Kevin Pietersen after the brilliant but controversial middle-order batsman was left out of the squad despite attempts to heal a rift between the management and the player. Pietersen, who averages nearly 50 from 88 test matches, was dropped last month after admitting to sending controversial text messages to members of the opposing South Africa side.

Reacting to the news via a statement on his behalf, Pietersen said he was “disappointed.” Explaining the decision, Hugh Morris, the managing director of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said: “Both ECB and England team management have had meetings with Kevin Pietersen to address the issues which led to his omission from the final Investec Test match against South Africa. “These discussions remain private and confidential and, as there are issues still to be resolved, Kevin has not been considered for selection for the India tour.” The England squad includes uncapped batsmen Nick Compton and Joe Root. Three spin bowlers, Graeme Swann, Monty Panesar and Samit Patel, have been selected for the tour which begins next month and includes four test matches.

A tour to India will be a stern test for Alastair Cook, who replaced Andrew Strauss after the former captain announced his retirement from the sport after England lost their world number one test ranking to South Africa.—Reuters

BELGRADE: Serbia will try to move their next World Cup home qualifier against Belgium on Oct. 12 to the northern city of Novi Sad to avoid a hostile reception by home fans in Belgrade, coach Sinisa Mihajlovic said yesterday.

Serbia were supported by a frenetic 15,000 crowd in Novi Sad in their 6-1 rout of Wales last week and Mihajlovic is optimistic that UEFA and the Belgian Football Association will allow a change of venue. “It’s up to the Belgians to accept the change and UEFA to approve it and if they do we will play in Novi Sad, if not we will have no choice but to stick to Belgrade as originally scheduled,” the 43-year old told Belgrade media.

“The players and I have asked our own FA to move the fixture to Novi Sad because we are fed up of being jeered and insulted in Belgrade, where visiting teams feel more at home than we do.

“I don’t want our rivals to have that advantage on our own turf because we don’t have that privilege when we are away.”

Serbia have been given a torrid time by their fans in Belgrade, either in Red Star’s Marakana stadium or Partizan’s nearby ground, throughout their dreadful Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

Partizan goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic has been especially targeted

by Red Star fans during the national team’s games, after joining the Serbian champions in 2010 having played for their cross-town rivals in the early stages of his career. —Reuters

Bhupathi slams ban decision MUMBAI: India doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi, who was handed a two-year ban last week, accused the country’s tennis association yesterday of carrying out “a personal vendetta” against him. Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna refused to partner Leander Paes in this year’s London Olympics which escalated into an ugly row and forced the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to change their original decision to field Paes and Bhupathi as a pair. Paes eventually partnered rookie Vishnu Vardhan while India had a second pair in Bhupathi and Bopanna but none returned with a medal from London.

Bhupathi, 38, said he was considering legal options but believes that he has played his last match for India. “I am not here to list my achievements,” Bhupathi read from a prepared statement, adding that 2013 would be his last year on the professional tour.

“Rather, I am here to detail episodes of the personal vendetta the AITA and its dictatorial rule have carried out against me over the last decade. “It has got to the point where nothing they do or say surprises me anymore. As far as that establishment goes I have become thick skinned.”

Paes and Bhupathi joined forces in a formidable partnership in the late 1990s, winning three grand slams, but the ageing duo are not even on speaking terms after a second acrimonious split last year.

Bhupathi blamed AITA president Anil Khanna for the deteriorating relation with his former friend Paes. “Anil Khanna has enjoyed the rift between Leander and me as no other,” Bhupathi said. —Reuters

Braves sink Marlins MIAMI: Dan Uggla hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Martin Prado tied a career best with four hits and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 7-5 on Monday night.

Tim Hudson (15-6) allowed a season-high 10 hits in five innings but still beat the Marlins for the fifth straight time. Atlanta, which swept a three-game series from Washington last weekend, moved within five games of the first-place Nationals in the NL East.

Miami was without right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, out because of muscle soreness in his rib cage. Chipper Jones got the night off for Atlanta and Prado went 4 for 4 playing third base in his place, including an RBI single in the eighth.

Craig Kimbrel earned his 37th save in 40 chances. The Braves wasted little time against Marlins starter Wade LeBlanc (2-5), getting four hits and four runs in the first.

CHICAGO: Detroit Tigers second baseman Omar Infante is upended trying to complete the double play by Chicago White Sox’s Alex Rios during the fifth inning of a baseball game. —AP

White Sox tame Tigers CHICAGO: Omar Infante’s throwing error on a potential double play helped Chicago score two runs in the fifth inning Monday and the White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 in a pivotal makeup game.

Chicago increased its lead in the AL Central to three games. Nate Jones (8-0) pitched 2 2-3 innings of one-hit relief and the White Sox won their fourth straight. The game had been postponed by rain last Thursday and Monday’s makeup was the final meeting of the season between the two front runners in the division.

Addison Reed, the last of three relievers in the ninth, got the final out for his 27th save in 31 chances. Trailing 4-3, the White Sox loaded the bases for a third straight inning in the fifth, driving out Detroit starter Doug Fister (9-9).

When Dayan Viciedo hit a one-out grounder to short, the Tigers tried to turn the inning-ending double play, but Alex Rios slid hard into second baseman Infante and forced an errant throw that got by Prince Fielder as two runs scored, giving Chicago the lead.

Orioles 10, Mariners 4 In Seattle, Nate McLouth gave Baltimore a quick start with a leadoff home run and the Orioles beat Seattle to tighten the AL East race.

Matt Wieters hit a two-run shot and Adam Jones scored four times for the Orioles, who moved within a half-game of the first-place New York Yankees.

Baltimore also opened a three-game cushion over the Los Angeles Angels for

the second AL wild-card spot. Chris Tillman (8-2) allowed one run and three hits over six innings, supported by Baltimore’s 15 hits. He is 4-0 with a 0.98 ERA in four career starts against his former club and 11-17 with a 5.44 ERA against everyone else.

McLouth, Wieters and Jones each had three hits. Mark Reynolds added two RBIs. Michael Saunders, Eric Thames and John Jaso homered for the Mariners.

Hector Noesi (2-12) gave up seven runs six earned - and eight hits in 1 1-3 innings.

Red Sox 5, Rays 2 In St. Petersburg, Jacoby Ellsbury homered and drove in three runs, Aaron Cook stopped his five-game losing streak and Boston beat Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay, coming off a 1-5 road trip to Baltimore and New York, fell 51/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees. The Rays started play four games back of the Orioles - who were at Seattle later Monday night - for the second AL wild-card spot.

Ellsbury hit a two-run homer in the sixth and added an RBI single during a three-run seventh for the Red Sox, who were eliminated from playoff contention Sunday.

Cook (4-10) allowed one run and five hits over six innings in his first win since Aug. 6.

Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb (9-9) allowed one baserunner - a two-out walk in the second to Jarrod Saltalamacchia - through five innings. The right-hander made a nice defensive play to end the second, grabbing a hard grounder by Ryan Lavarnway and throwing the catcher out at first. —AP

MLB results/standings Chicago White Sox 5, Detroit 4; Boston 5, Tampa Bay 2; Atlanta 7, Miami 5; Philadelphia 3, NY Mets 1; Pittsburgh 3, Chicago Cubs 0; Baltimore 10, Seattle 4; San Francisco 2, Colorado 1.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT NY Yankees 83 63 .568 Baltimore 83 64 .565 Tampa Bay 78 69 .531 Toronto 66 79 .455 Boston 67 81 .453 Central Division Chicago White Sox 80 66 Detroit 77 69 Kansas City 66 80 Cleveland 61 86 Minnesota 60 87

GB 0.5 5.5 16.5 17

.548 .527 3 .452 14 .415 19.5 .408 20.5

Western Division Texas 87 59 .596 Oakland 84 62 .575 3 LA Angels 80 67 .544 7.5 Seattle 70 78 .473 18

National League Eastern Division Washington 89 57 Atlanta 85 63 Philadelphia 74 74 NY Mets 66 81 Miami 65 83 Central Division Cincinnati 88 59 St. Louis 77 70 Milwaukee 74 72 Pittsburgh 74 72 Chicago Cubs 58 89 Houston 48 99

.610 .574 5 .500 16 .449 23.5 .439 25 .599 .524 11 .507 13.5 .507 13.5 .395 30 .327 40

Western Division San Francisco 84 63 .571 LA Dodgers 76 71 .517 8 Arizona 72 74 .493 11.5 San Diego 71 76 .483 13 Colorado 58 88 .397 25.5

Pirates 3, Cubs 0 In Chicago, Kevin Correia pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Starling Marte hit a two-run triple to lead Pittsburgh past Chicago in a game that was delayed more than 31/2 hours by rain.

With the Pirates still in playoff contention, the teams waited out two storms at Wrigley Field that pushed back the start for 3 hours, 37 minutes. The first pitch was thrown at 10:42 p.m. CDT, and Joel Hanrahan delivered the final one at 1:28 a.m. yesterday.

Pittsburgh tied Milwaukee for third place in the NL Central at 74-72. Both teams are 21/2 games behind division rival St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot, with the Los Angeles Dodgers also in their path.

Correia (11-9) walked one and struck out six. Jason Grilli worked a hitless eighth and Hanrahan got three outs for his 36th save in 39 chances, completing the two-hitter.

The Pirates touched up Cubs starter Travis Wood for three runs in the third inning, including Marte’s key triple. Jose Tabata drove in Marte with a double to deep center. Wood (6-12) worked 5 2-3 innings, giving up four hits. He struck out a career-high nine.

Phillies 3, Mets 1 In New York, Cliff Lee struck out 10 while

outdueling Cy Young contender R.A. Dickey, and Philadelphia regained its winning touch by beating New York.

Jimmy Rollins homered with the help of video replay and Domonic Brown also hit a solo shot off Dickey (18-6). The Phillies pulled within 31/2 games of idle St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot, though other teams are also in their path.

Philadelphia had lost three of four at lastplace Houston before arriving at Citi Field,

and has lost two decisions in a row for the first time this year.

Giants 2, Rockies 1 In San Francisco, Brandon Crawford tripled, doubled and scored on a passed ball, and Hunter Pence singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning to lead San Francisco.

Madison Bumgarner (15-10) allowed one run and four hits in six innings while walk-

MIAMI: Atlanta Braves’ Martin Prado watches his ball after hitting a single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins. —AP where visiting teams have feasted. The Mets have dropped nine of 10 overall, and fell to 4-22 at home since the All-Star break.

Lee (6-7) turned in his fifth straight sharp start, allowing seven hits over eight innings.

He has gone 14 consecutive starts with no more than one free pass.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 35th save in 39 chances. New York has scored three runs or fewer in a teamrecord 14 straight home games. Dickey missed a chance to tie Washington’s Gio Gonzalez for the major league lead in wins,

ing a career-high five. He struck out six and helped extend the Giants’ lead over the idle Dodgers in the NL West to eight games.

Pence’s RBI single off reliever Guillermo Moscoso (3-2) handed Colorado its 10th loss in 12 games. Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin gave up five hits and a run in five innings. He doubled and scored on Josh Rutledge’s triple in the fifth. Four relievers held Colorado scoreless before Sergio Romo struck out pinch-hitter Jason Giambi for his 12th save in 13 chances. San Francisco won for the fifth time in six games. —AP

Owners gambling lockout will bring new riches TORONTO: The National Hockey League (NHL) and its players are gambling once again that a work stoppage will not harm relationships with sponsors or rattle fan loyalty in a still-challenging economic environment. The NHL locked out players over the weekend after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement before the old pact expired, plunging the league into its fourth work stoppage in 20 years and making Friday’s start to the preseason unlikely.

So instead of fans getting excited for the start of the NHL regular season next month, many were left downcast on Monday and wondering when, or if, they will see their favourite teams back on the ice this year. Confronted with yet another showdown between millionaire athletes and billionaire owners, the NHL and its players will again roll the dice and test the loyalty of sponsors, business partners and fans suffering from lockout fatigue.

With memories of the labor dispute that wiped out the entire 2004-05 NHL season still fresh in their minds, fans have started looking for other ways to spend their entertainment budget while players search for work in foreign leagues and networks scramble to find alternate programming. As negotiations drag on the grim impact of the lockout will hit home as the league and teams begin to announce layoffs while those who earn their living around the sport selling beer in arenas and supervising parking lots, will try to find ways to survive in a still sluggish economy.

“There is a lockout fatigue going on and no one is a winner in those situations,” Jason Maloni, a sports crisis com-

munications expert and a senior vicepresident of Levick told Reuters. “It’s always good to have goodwill with the public. “But this isn’t a time in North America when anyone is going to be sensitive to somebody already getting vast sums demanding much more.”

With teams drowning in red ink, the NHL sacrificed the entire 2004-05 sea-

the annual outdoor game played on New Year’s Day have raised NHL’s profile and helped secure a new 10-year $2 billion television deal with NBC. But after watching owners from the National Basketball Association and National Football League secure a bigger slice of their respective revenue pies after locking out their players last

RALEIGH: Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal leaves the locker room after the NHL hockey team’s informal workout in this file photo. — son to get the salary cap hailed as the answer to its financial woes.

Players and league officials also used the previous lockout to rework the game and returned with a more entertaining product that has been embraced by fans and sponsors.

In the seven-years since the deal was signed the NHL has seen revenues surge from to $3.3 billion from $2.1 billion along with record attendance and television ratings.

Innovative marketing ideas such as

year, NHL owners want the same.

The NHL initially wanted players to cut their share of hockey-related revenue to 43 percent from 57 percent but have amended that to a six-year deal that starts at 49 percent and drops to 47 percent. The proposal from the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) is tied to projected future revenues with players willing to take a smaller slice of the pie as the league grows. The union’s offer opens with players getting 54.3 percent of revenues and dipping to 52.7 per-

cent. The lockout represents a massive gamble on the part of the owners, who could have the brakes slammed on their momentum, particularly in the United States where they have started to emerge as a major player on the sporting landscape. There are also other dangers lurking given the originally scheduled Oct. 11 start to the regular season also in peril.

The NHLPA has so far negotiated within the framework of the previous labor deal but union chief Donald Fehr has hinted that if talks drag on, the players might be prepared to challenge the issue of a salary cap. “While the NHL is on stronger financial footing it is actually a bad time to have a lockout,” said Maloni. “At a time when the league is gaining momentum, it’s stronger now in terms of its balance sheet, its casual fan base. Are they going to lose fans?

“The people who follow hockey are always going to follow hockey and wait patiently until it returns. “But success or failure sometimes depends on how many of the new eyeballs you bring to the table. Those are the ones who will fade out and you’re not going to get those fans back.” With no new talks scheduled the public relations battle has begun, players and owners placing the blame for the lockout and any the damage it might cause to the game at each other’s feet.

The NHLPA has posted a video lamenting the lockout insisting all they want is to play hockey while owners have retreated back into their other businesses letting league commissioner Gary Bettman handle negotiations. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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Elmayan still going strong at age 95 BUENOS AIRES: Artin Elmayan is hard to keep pace with as he heads for the locker rooms at River Plate. “I’ve got to get my rackets,” he says under the shadow of the Monumental, the giant stadium which is home to one of the world’s great soccer clubs where members enjoy a variety of sports.

Armenian-born Elmayan’s choice is tennis, a sport he took up at the age of 39. Now, aged 95, he is the world’s oldest-ranked player.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ranks Elmayan 26th among men over 85, a list headed by Italian Angelo Sala who will be 86 in December.

There are only 39 men in the ITF’s over-85 rank ing, three of them Argentines, and Elmayan is the only

one born before 1920. The next oldest are Eugeniusz Czerepaniak of Poland who is 91 and ranked one place above Elmayan, and 90-year-old Australian Neville Halligan, the number eight.

Elmayan does not compete internationally so he is likely to meet only fellow-Argentines Guillermo Garcia or Jose Otero, both in their 80s, in competitions.

“Eighty-five plus, because there isn’t anyone who’s 90, much less 95. So I have to play against 85-year- olds,” Elmayan told Reuters in an interview.

“I do all right, sometimes I take second place. Last year I won second place twice. It depends on the state of my opponent, and my own. There are no enigmas here,” he said after a 20-

minute knockup with one of the club’s coaches.

The sprightly Elmayan enjoys a routine that keeps him slim and happy, travelling by train into the capital to River Plate from the suburbs three times a week.

“If my body and feet allow it, I’m not going to sit still. As far as stretching, I take the train and walk from the station to here. When I get here I’ve already loosened up,” he said.

Elmayan said that if he had to play three sets, he was able to cope and recalled having recently played and lost against G arcia, seven years younger than him, and then suggesting they go for a run. “Are you crazy, now you want to run?” Elmayan, laugh-

ing, recalled Garcia as saying.

Elmayan, who emigrated to Argentina from Europe when it was on the verge of war in 1938 at the age of 21, said he took up tennis as a hobby and has never looked back.

He is part of a large Armenian community in Argentina that includes leading professional and former world number three David Nalbandian.

Elmayan said he had never had a tennis lesson, taking his cue from playing “paleta”, a sport with a wooden paddle-like racket and rubber ball that he played when he was younger.

“No one told me how to hold a racket, I copied it from paleta and went on from there,” he said. Elmayan’s whole family plays or played tennis, his wife

now 88, daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren.

He lost a grandson, who represented the club at tennis, at the age of 21 from cancer, a shock that may have added to his fierce grip on life.

“First there is eating and then comes tennis. It is part of my life to stay in shape in ever y way,” said Elmayan from behind his goggle-like sunglasses on a bright late winter’s day in Buenos Aires.

“Tennis makes you breathe oxygen, keeps your body in shape, keeps you from getting a belly, or getting fat, helps fight cholesterol problems and everything,” he said. “Now, if you stop coming, if I go two months without playing, I’ll get a belly.”—Reuters

Mendis spins Sri Lanka to crushing opening win

COLOMBO: Afghanistan’s cricket team members attend a practice session ahead of their ICC Twenty20 World Cup match against India.—AP

Afghanistan team seek to boost war-torn homeland COLOMBO: Rising from the ruins of war to challenge the world’s cricketing establishment, Afghanistan’s rag-tag team hope to inspire the conflict-ravaged nation with a strong showing at the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan take on the might of India in their first group match in Colombo today, having qualified for their second successive T20 World Cup. The team’s success against the odds, with many of its players born during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation and knowing little of peace in their home nation, has drawn legions of Afghan youth to take up the game in recent years, according to captain Nawroz Mangal.

Mangal said some 70,000 youngsters had started playing cricket after his team’s breakthrough qualification for the 2010 T20 World Cup in West Indies.

“Right now it is more than 500,000,” Mangal said, referring to the country’s cricket-playing population. “After participating in this World Cup, if we do better I expect 30 to 40 percent of the population to start playing cricket.”

Mangal led the team to a 51-run victory against a Sri Lanka ‘A’ team on Saturday, with vice captain Mohammad Nabi scoring a 22-ball half-century with five sixes and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad compiling a similarly quickfire 48.

Born in a refugee camp in the Pakistani frontier city of Peshawar, all rounder Nabi started playing cricket aged 10. “I played a lot of school cricket there as well as street cricket and everywhere with a tennis ball in Peshawar,” 27-year- old Nabi told Reuters.

He made his first-class debut with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 2007, having caught former England captain Mike Gatting’s eye by scoring a century against the team during a tour of India. “ There is a lot of improvement in Afghanistan cricket,” said Nabi, who played

a leading role in securing the national team’s berth at the 2010 T20 World Cup. “Everyone likes cricket. There are a lot of fans now. In sha’Allah (God willing), we will try hard in this tournament to do something for our nation and we want to win one match and go to the super eight (round).”

Despite lacking basic infrastructure and having to play international matches in neighbouring Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, the team are feeling the burden of expectation from hopeful home fans, according to wicketkeeper Shahzad.

“The people want us to win everything in the World Cup, because people can’t understand cricket,” said Shahzad, who plays for Nangarhar Cricket Club in the eastern city of Jalalabad, where one of the country’s two main cricket grounds is located.

Afghanistan were eliminated from the 2010 tournament in the first round after losing both of their group matches to India and South Africa.

They face another uphill battle to break into the ‘Super Eight’ second round in Sri Lank a, with defending champions England the third member of their Group A. Afghanistan face England on Friday.

Shahzad said their team had worked out the weaknesses in both their of the both opponents. “England struggle a little bit against spinners. India have a very good batting line up, but they don’t have a good bowling (attack),” he said. “India every time go for part-time bowlers.”

With violence at its worst levels since U.S.-backed forces ousted the Islamist Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan sk ipper Mangal said he hoped his team could help bring stability to the war-torn country.

“This would be a positive sign to bring the youth into sports instead of them having wrong influences,” he said. “I would say this could be a positive step towards bring peace to the country as well.”—Reuters

HAMBANTOTA: Spinner Ajantha Mendis took a record six wickets for just eight runs as hosts Sri Lanka humbled Zimbabwe in the opening match of the World Twenty20 yesterday.

Mendis, 27, marked his international return after an eight-month injury lay-off with the devastating haul to wreck Zimbabwe for 100 in 17.3 overs in the Group C match in Hambantota.

Zimbabwe could never cope with Mendis’s unreadable deliveries and they collapsed like a pack of cards in pursuit of the daunting target of 183 set by Sri Lanka at Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium.

Sri Lanka, who lost the toss and were sent into bat, owed their total of 182-4 to Kumar Sangakkara (44) and Jeevan Mendis (43 not out), who shared a 94-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Ajantha Mendis struck two blows in his first over, removing Vusi Sibanda (11) and Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor (0) off successive deliveries. He next had Zimbabwe’s top-scorer Hamilton Masakadza (20). He returned for his second spell and took four more wickets to end any lingering Zimbabwean hopes-and improve his own international Twenty20 record figures of 6-16, set against Australia at Pallekele last year.

Jeevan Mendis took 3-24 to cap an allround performance. Sangakkara, the newly crowned ICC player of the year, hit a 26-ball 44, studded with a six and two boundaries, while Jeevan Mendis smashed four boundaries and a six during his unbeaten 43 off 30 balls.

Both the left-handers lifted Sri Lanka from 82-3 after they were put into bat. Tillakaratne Dilshan hit five boundaries during his rapid 39 before he fell caught behind by Taylor off legspinner Graeme Cremer. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene was run out for 13 while debutant Dilshan Munaweera made 17.

Twelve teams competing in the event are divided in four groups, with the top two teams advancing to the Super Eight stage, which will decide the four semi-finalists.

Australia take on Ireland in Group B while former champions India face Afghanistan in Group A-both matches in Colombo- today.

Sri Lanka are bidding to end their 16-year wait for a second major title after winning the 50-over World Cup in 1996.—AFP

HAMBANTOTA: Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara (right) removes the bails to dismiss Zimbabwe’s captain Brendan Taylor (left) during the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup match.—AP

SCOREBOARD HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Final scoreboard in the opening match of the World Twenty20 between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Hambantota yesterday: Sri Lanka: D. Munaweera run out 17 T. Dilshan c Taylor b Cremer 39 M. Jayawardene run out 13 K. Sangakkara run out 44 J. Mendis not out 43 T. Perera not out 6 Extras: (b4, lb6, nb3, w7) 20 Total: (for four wickets) 182 Fall of wickets: 1-54 (Munaweera), 2-75 (Dilshan), 3-82 (Jayawardene), 4-176 (Sangakkara) Bowling: Jarvis 4-0-31-0 (w1, nb1), Vitori 3-0-270 (w3, nb1), Utseya 4-0-25-0 (w2), Mpofu 4-0-490, Cremer 4-0-27-1 (nb1), Chigumbura 1-0-13-0 (w1) Overs: 20 Zimbabwe: H. Masakadza b A. Mendis V. Sibanda b A. Mendis

Chinese miss Japan Open as diplomatic row rages

Party atmosphere as World Twenty20 lifts off HAMBANTOTA: Tight security and empty seats failed to dampen a party atmosphere yesterday as cricket’s World Twenty20 began under a cacophony of vuvuzela horns in Sri Lanka.

Fans blowing the plastic trumpets and wearing lion head-dresses greeted the players as the hosts went into bat in the opening game in Hambantota, the president’s home town and future site of a major new port.

Roads leading to the far-flung Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium-named after the president-were jammed with fans, as hundreds of police formed a security cordon. Sri Lanka was beset by four decades of ethnic conflict until 2009. Mohammad Sajid, among a group of 20 students who travelled from the nearby town of Tissamaharama, said the three-week tournament in Hambantota, Pallekele and Colombo would shift perceptions of Sri Lanka.

“We have formed a group of 20 to suit Twenty20 cricket,” said Sajid. “It is befitting that Sri Lanka is the first Asian country to host the World Twenty20 and we hope that it will help lift our country’s image.”

Unlike some tournaments, there was no glitzy opening ceremony or parade,

just the national anthems and handshakes from dignitaries, as Sri Lanka’s biggest ever sports event got under way.

And at the star t of the match, the 35,000-capacity stadium was not even half-full. Organisers were expected to open the gates to non ticket-holders later in the evening to fill up the ground.

“At last year ’s World Cup, they arranged pick and drop for the fans because it is tough to come with the nearest town Suriyawewa 10 kilometers (six miles) away from here,” said Ranith Waliya, a factory worker. The tournament hosts hope it will be a sell-out when Sri Lanka face South Africa in the last Group C match in Hambantota on Saturday.

And those inside the stadium, many daubed in face paint or wearing traditional dress, did not hide their excitement as the first ball of the tournament was dispatched for a boundary by debutant Dilshan Munaweera. “It is electrifying,” said Sujita Fernando, a hotel receptionist who came along with her husband and ten-year old son. “We are planning to go to Colombo to see the final with a hope that Sri Lanka is one of the teams there.” The final is scheduled for Colombo on October 7.—AFP

20 11

B. Taylor st Sangakkara b A. Mendis 0 E. Chigumbura b A. Mendis 19 C. Ervine st Sangakkara b J. Mendis 10 M. Waller lbw b J. Mendis 0 G. Cremer b J. Mendis 17 P. Utseya c Jayawardene b A. Mendis 1 K. Jarvis lbw b A. Mendis 0 B. Vitori not out 7 C. Mpofu c sub (Chandimal) b Malinga 0 Extras: (lb9, w6) 15 Total: 100 Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Sibanda), 2-37 (Taylor), 343 (Masakadza), 4-58 (Ervine), 5-58 (Waller), 6-80 (Chigumbura), 7-87 (Utseya), 8-87 (Jarvis), 9-93 (Cremer) Bowling: Kulasekara 3-0-16-0 (w1), Malinga 2.30-20-1, A. Mendis 4-2-8-6, Mathews 2-0-7-0 (w1), Perera 2-0-16-0, J. Mendis 4-0-24-3 (w4) Overs: 17.3 Result: Sri Lanka win by 82 runs

VALKENBURG: Linda Melanie Villumsen from New Zealand competes during the Women’s Elite Time Trial at the UCI Road World Championships. Villumsen won bronze.—AFP

JAPAN: China has withdrawn its badminton players from this week’s Japan Open and a Japanese cycling team has been kicked out of a race in China amid a worsening political crisis over disputed islands. Yoshio Sekine, vice-chairman of the Japan Badminton Association, confirmed yesterday that the players from China had pulled out of the tournament.

“Chinese athletes cancelled their appearance in this tournament, which is unfortunate,” he said at a Japan Open news conference, without discussing the motives for their withdrawal.

“However, there are still a lot of good athletes in this tournament and I am sure they will put on a good performance.”

Another official at the event said that while he had not heard any specific reason for their absence “some sort of political reason could be suspected”.

A long-standing dispute over an uninhabited group of islands in the East China Sea-known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China-took a fresh twist yesterday after two Japanese activists landed on one of the islands.

Beijing described the landing as provocative, lodged a complaint with Tokyo and said it reserved the right to “take further action”.

As anti-Japan protests flared across China, cycling’s governing body (UCI) expressed concern for Japanese riders taking part in races there.

“What matters is everyone’s safety and it is true that the situation can become worr ying,” the UCI’s Global Cycling Promotion director Alain Rumpf told Reuters.

“For the moment, we are being told that the Japanese interests in China can be threatened ”. A UCI official told Reuters that Japanese team Aisan had been kicked out of the Tour of China and that there were fears a similar move could be made at the Oct. 9-13 Tour of Beijing.

“I t is true that Japanese were expelled,” UCI President Pat McQuaid told Reuters. I t was unclear whether a Japanese rider from a Malaysian team had also been kicked out.

Li Yongbo, the general coach of China’s badminton team, was reported as saying the cancellation was due to the team’s tiredness after playing at the Olympics, the Badminton Super League and the Masters Super Series in a row.

Li could not be reached by a Reuters reporter. An employee of the Table Tennis & Badminton Management Center at General Administration of Sport of China said the decision to miss the tournament in Japan had been made in the past two days, but she would not say why.

Brief profiles of the leading Chinese players still appeared on the tournament’s website yesterday in a section hig hlig hting favorites for v ic tor y.

Japanese player Sho Sasaki was disappointed the Chinese would not be taking part. “Honestly speaking, I enjoy playing against opponents from China,” he said.

“It is one of the things I look forward to, and without their presence in this tournament, there is something that seems lacking.” Their absence opens the door for Malaysia’s world number two Lee Chong Wei to reclaim the title, having suffered a shock defeat to China’s Chen Long in last year’s title match.

“It’s unfortunate that China have withdrawn as it will certainly dilute the level of competition,” Malaysia’s singles coach Rashid Sidek said. “Chong Wei is our trump card.”

With the Chinese out of the men’s draw, Lee Chong Wei is seeded first seed, Denmark’s Peter Gade second, Simon Santoso of Indonesia third and Japan’s Sho seeded fourth.

The women’s draw is headed by Dane Tine Baun, South Korea’s Ji Hyun-sung, R atchanok I ntanon of Thailand, and South Korean Yeon Ju-bae.—Reuters

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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Pressure on league over refs after long night MIAMI: The NFL is facing pressure to reach a swift agreement in the dispute with its referees after the officiating by replacements in Monday night’s televised game was widely criticised.

The league is playing with replacement referees after failing to reach a new deal on pay and pensions with the referees’ association which was formally locked out in June.

The stand-in officials come from the lower divisions of college football, high school and semi-professional leagues and not surprisingly they have struggled with the complex rules and highpace of action in the NFL. While the week one refereeing was deemed just about acceptable by many observers, the second round of games involved plenty of confusion

and brought criticism. The worst of it came after the Monday night game between the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons in which several calls were overturned, there were lengthy delays and a chaotic scuffle as officials looked on.

Even the ESPN television commentators, not normally ones to ‘talk down’ a game, expressed frustration at the lengthy delays, during a first quarter that lasted around an hour, and confusion which ruined a potentially entertaining contest.

“Honestly. It’s embarrassing. The command and control of this game is gone,” Mike Tirico said on air while his partner, ex-NFL coach Jon Gruden, said the game, which finished after midnight, was “hard to watch”.

The worst spell came at the end of the first quarter when Denver ’s Knowshon Moreno fumbled and after a scramble, a Broncos player emerged with the ball only to find the officials had prematurely given an Atlanta recovery. A scuffle ensued with the officials struggling to impose order and there was only a penalty given at the end of it. The former Vice-President of Officiating for the NFL, Mike Pereira, who now works an analysis for Fox Sports, took to twitter to vent his feelings. “This is not the NFL I worked for.

Don’t care whose fault it is,” he said.

Sunday’s games had drawn plenty of similar criticism from those on the field and the sidelines. Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan, whose side lost 31-28 to the St.Louis Rams, said he had

been worried about the game descending into serious trouble.

“I’ve never been in a situation where you feel that there is going to be an explosion on the field. You’re hoping that doesn’t happen. It was very close to losing control,” he told reporters. After a chaotic and, at times, tetchy game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco told the New York Post that the replacement officials were “affecting the integrity of the game”. The criticism of Sunday’s officiating from various quarters led the league to release a statement before Monday’s game supporting the refs.

“Officiating is never perfect. The current officials have made great strides and are performing admirably under

unprecedented scrutiny and great pressure,” it said.

“As we do every season, we will work to improve officiating and are confident that the game officials will show continued improvement.”

But Monday’s messy officiating, in a high-profile game, will surely increase the pressure on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to get back to talks with the regular refs.

According to a referees’ association internal memo, published by the Baltimore Sun, the two sides have not met face-to-face for talks since Sept.

1. Another week of fans and pundits complaining about over-long and chaotic games and the pressure to end that stalemate will intensify further. —Reuters

Falcons soar over Broncos

Jim Furyk

FedExCup uncertainty for Furyk at East Lake ATLANTA: Jim Furyk knows what it is like to clinch FedExCup honors but even he is not certain what he needs to do to repeat his 2010 triumph at this week’s Tour Championship.

An elite field of 30 players will tee off in Thursday’s opening round at East Lake Golf Club where the lucrative PGA Tour event is on the line along with a staggering $10 million bonus for securing the season-long playoff title.

Furyk landed both honors two years ago but this week he lies 18th in the FedExCup points standings and would need a lot of help from higher-ranked players to pull off a repeat double.

“Nope, I have no idea,” the American told reporters yesterday when asked if he was fully versed in what he needed to do to emulate his 2010 FedExCup success. “I know I would have to win (the Tour Championship), and a lot of (other) things would have to happen. But I’m never really worried about that. “I had two or three friends try to text me, ‘do you know what you have to do?’ No. It’s hard enough winning a golf tournament.

I can’t control the rest.”

For Furyk to complete the ‘double’ this week, he would need to win the Tour Championship and, among several other requirements, top-ranked Rory McIlroy would have to finish 12th or worse and second-ranked Tiger Woods fifth or worse. “Two years ago I was (ranked) 11th (going into the Tour Championship) and needed a little work,” added Furyk, who triumphed by one shot at East Lake in 2010. “But (this week) those top 10 to 12 guys probably have a really good opportunity. “Then past that, it’s going to take a lot of help because the guys that

are up there at the top have been playing very well.”

Any of the top five players in the standings would secure FedExCup honours by winning this week’s Tour Championship - and that quintet comprises Northern Irishman McIlroy and Americans Woods, Nick Watney, Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker.

“It’s hard to imagine Rory not being in contention this week as well as he’s been playing,” Furyk said of the world number one who has claimed the last two playoff events. “All we can do is really worry about our game and try to get ourselves in position to try to win a golf tournament this week.”

McIlroy has never previously competed at East Lake but the game’s leading player is oozing confidence after winning three times in his last four starts.

“I’m confident in my ability and confident with the shots that I’m hitting and confident on the greens,” the 23-year-old said after triumphing by two shots at the BMW Championship in Carmel, Indiana, nine days ago. “I’m making the right decisions out there, and everything is really just going to plan at the minute. It’s a nice run to be on, and I want to try and keep it going for as long as possible. “The last four weeks, five weeks have been incredible, some of the best golf that I’ve ever played.”

Only 30 players have qualified for the last of the four playoff events after 125 started out at the Barclays tournament won by Watney at Bethpage Black last month. Each of those 30 has a mathematical chance of winning the FedExCup, with the points having been reset since the BMW Championship. — Reuters

KUWAIT: Jordan;s Al-Wehdat club player Mohammad Al-Dmeiri (right) challenges Fahad Al-Eneze of Kuwait’s Al-Kuwait Club during their AFC Cup quaterfinals football match. —Photo by Yasser Zayyat

ATLANTA: Peyton Manning knew there would be some stumbles along the way. There had to be after four neck surgeries, a year away from the field, and the transition to a new team. But even at his most pessimistic, Manning surely never envisioned a quarter like this. One pick. Then another. Then a third.

All before he made it through the opening period Monday night.

Manning’s three interceptions in the first 8 minutes helped the Atlanta Falcons build a big lead, and they held off the Denver Broncos for a 27-21 victory.

“Just a really tough start,” Manning said. “I won’t make any excuses for it. We made poor decisions. We have to eliminate those mistakes.” Matt Ryan threw the 100th touchdown pass of his career, Roddy White had 102 yards receiving and the Falcons (2-0) made an early 20-0 lead stand up, if just barely. Denver (1-1) rallied for a couple of touchdowns in the fourth quarter and were a defensive stop away from getting one last chance to pull it out. Still, the feel-good optimism from Week 1, when Manning deftly guided the Broncos to an impressive win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in his Mile High debut, was largely erased at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons, of course, had a grand ol’ time against Manning.

“I watched him growing up, and it was good to go out and play against him,” said Falcons safety William Moore, who had the first of the picks against Manning, setting up a quick touchdown. “I hope he remembers No. 25.” Maybe in his nightmares.

Thomas DeCoud and Robert McClain also had interceptions as new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan kept mixing up his formations and moving players around the field, confusing Manning enough to put the Falcons in position to pick off passes that seemed a bit wobbly and lacking the zip he had during his glory days in Indianapolis.

“Each turnover has its own story that no one really wants to hear,” Manning said. “I’ve just got to take care of the ball better.”

He finished 24 of 37 for 241 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas just before halftime. Willis McGahee rushed for 113 yards and scored on a pair of 2yard runs in the final 12 minutes. Ryan was much more efficient than the four-time MVP, completing 24 of 36 for 219 yards. He hooked up with Tony Gonzalez for a 1-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, then went to White on a 4-yard score in the third period.

Matt Bryant kicked two field goals for the Falcons, and Michael Turner scored Atlanta’s first TD on a 1-yard run, the play set up by the first of Manning’s picks. Hours later, Turner was arrested on charges of drunken driving and speeding.

Turner was released on bail after spending barely two hours in jail. The team said it was aware of the arrest but did not have any immediate comment. Atlanta appeared to be solidly in control heading to the fourth quarter, up 27-7 after Ryan hooked up with White on consecutive passes of 21 and 20 yards, then went to him again for the touchdown.

The Broncos at least made a game of it.

Manning completed 7 of 11 for 89 yards in the final period, but two sacks helped stifle the comeback. “I thought we could find a little momentum there, find some rhythm, which we did,” he said. “We had a chance to win that game. I think we will learn from it and we’ll be better for it.” The only other time Manning was picked off three times in the opening quarter was with the Colts in a 2007 game at San Diego. The Broncos, in fact, had turnovers on four on their first five possessions.

On the third play from scrimmage, Manning threw into triple coverage looking to connect with Jacob Tamme. Instead, Moore stepped in front of the tight end for the interception and ran down the sideline 33 yards before he was tackled at the 1. Turner took it in from there.

The Broncos ran two plays before Manning faked a play-action handoff and threw down the right seam to Eric Decker. This time, DeCoud picked him off and brought it back 15 yards. After Julio Jones dropped what would have been a touchdown pass from Ryan in the left corner of the end zone, Bryant followed with a 37-yard field goal to make it 10-0. Manning’s third pick went to Robert McClain, a reserve cornerback who was taking his first snap because Asante Samuel injured his neck on the previous play.

On Sunday, Manning’s younger brother, Eli, threw three interceptions in the first half. But he rallied the New York Giants to a 41-34 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. No such luck for big brother.

On the next-to-last snap of the first quarter, Atlanta linebacker Stephen Nicholas forced a fumble by Knowshon Moreno near the

ATLANTA: Falcons wide receiver Roddy White (84) celebrates a touchdown against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an NFL football game. —AP

NFL standings American Football Conference AFC East W L T OTL PF PA PCT NY Jets 1 1 0 0 58 55 .500 New England 1 1 0 0 52 33 .500 Buffalo 1 1 0 0 63 65 .500 Miami 1 1 0 0 45 43 .500 AFC North Baltimore 1 1 0 0 67 37 .500 1 1 0 0 47 71 .500 Cincinnati Pittsburgh 1 1 0 0 46 41 .500 Cleveland 0 2 0 0 43 51 0 AFC South Houston 2 0 0 0 57 171.000 Indianapolis 1 1 0 0 44 61 .500 Jacksonville 0 2 0 1 30 53 0 Tennessee 0 2 0 0 23 72 0 AFC West San Diego 2 0 0 0 60 241.000 1 1 0 0 52 46 .500 Denver Oakland 0 2 0 0 27 57 0 Kansas City 0 2 0 0 41 75 0

National Football Conference NFC East Philadelphia 2 0 0 0 41 391.000 1 1 0 0 31 44 .500 Dallas Washington 1 1 0 0 68 63 .500 NY Giants 1 1 0 0 58 58 .500 NFC North Green Bay 1 1 0 0 45 40 .500 1 1 0 0 51 44 .500 Chicago Detroit 1 1 0 0 46 50 .500 Minnesota 1 1 0 0 46 46 .500 NFC South Atlanta 2 0 0 0 67 451.000 Tampa Bay 1 1 0 0 50 51 .500 Carolina 1 1 0 0 45 43 .500 New Orleans 0 2 0 0 59 75 0 NFC West San Francisco 2 0 0 0 57 411.000 2 0 0 0 40 341.000 Arizona Seattle 1 1 0 0 43 27 .500 St. Louis 1 1 0 0 54 55 .500

ATLANTA: Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Stokley (14) makes a catch under the defense of Atlanta Falcons strong safety William Moore (25) during the second half of an NFL football game. —AP Denver sideline and Sean Weatherspoon recovered for Atlanta. The Falcons ran 10 plays before Bryant kicked a 42-yard field goal for a 13-0 lead. Then, it was Ryan finding Gonzalez all alone in the back of the end zone. The tight end who has caught the second-most passes in NFL history was freed up by his quarterback’s nifty play fake that made it 20-0, punctuated by Gonzalez’s dunk over the goal posts. The Broncos finally got on the board with 6 seconds left in the half, though it took the replacement officials a second look to get it right. They initially ruled Thomas had been pushed out of bounds without getting both feet down. The replay clearly showed otherwise. Broncos coach John Fox challenged the call and it was reversed. Another time, the replacements had to huddle just to make sure they knew where to place the ball after a defensive holding penalty on Denver’s Champ Bailey, drawing boos from the crowd as the

game dragged on for nearly 31/2 hours.

The Falcons snapped a six-game losing streak on Mondays, including 0-3 under coach Mike Smith. Their last Monday win came over New Orleans on Dec. 12, 2005.

“It was a big game,” White said. “We wanted to come out here and win one of these games and prove to everybody that we’re a good football team.” NOTES: Manning’s career record in Monday night games dropped to 11-4. ... Atlanta had another tough game running the ball. Turner totaled only 42 yards on 17 carries - and 15 of those came on his final run. ... Samuel was able to get back on the field, but CB Chris Owens went out with a head injury and didn’t return. That further depleted the depth in the secondary, which lost Brent Grimes to a season-ending injury in Week 1. ... Thomas, who played at nearby Georgia Tech, finished with eight catches for 78 yards. —AP

18

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

sp orts

Preview

United aim to avoid repeat of early exit

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Sergio Busquet (left) and Lionel Messi from Argentina attend a training session at the Camp Nou. Barcelona will play against Spartak Moscow in a Group G Champions League soccer match today. —AP

Vilanova stamping his authority at Barcelona MADRID: Tito Vilanova is quietly stamping his authority on the Barcelona team and they head into their Champions League Group G opener at home to Spartak Moscow today with La Liga’s only perfect record. It was a daunting task to step up from assistant to replace Pep Guardiola in the Nou Camp hot seat, taking over from a fans’ idol who won a record 14 trophies in his four years in charge.

Vilanova, who turned 44 on Monday, did not command the instant respect that the former Spain international Guardiola had accrued, but he has quickly shown he is not afraid to plough his own furrow. At Getafe on Saturday, Vilanova rested World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and Brazil international Dani Alves for a fixture Barca have often struggled with, and at a venue where champions Real Madrid fell 2-1 last month.

The side were also shorn of Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba and Alexis Sanchez, and during the Guardiola era often struggled with the so called ‘FIFA virus’ after breaks for internationals.

It had been a year since Messi was last rested for a league game and after Barca were held 2-2 at Real Sociedad, Guardiola never left him out again.

Vilanova’s side, however, came through with 4-1 victory at Getafe, displaying the zip and hunger that had at times been missing towards the end of Guardiola’s reign.

“The philosophy and method of working is basically pretty similar, but we have a new coach, a new form of doing things and we are very happy about him being with us,” Iniesta told www.uefa.com.

“He knows us very well and I am confident things will go well.” Cesc Fabregas played in Messi’s ‘false nine’ role and he helped set up the first goal for Adriano, before Messi entered the fray in the second half to bag a quick double, and another substitute David Villa notched the fourth.

Barca have a doubt over defender Alba who missed Saturday’s game with a virus, and forward Alexis who is recovering from a muscle problem.

Captain Carles Puyol joined Iniesta on the injury list when he suffered a twisted knee ligament in the Getafe game, that has put him out for up to six weeks.

Vilanova’s opposite number Unai Emery is having a tougher time settling in at Spartak, Russia’s most popular and successful club with nine domestic titles between 1992-2001.

They have only taken one point from their last three league matches after being held to a 2-2 draw at unfancied Kuban Krasnodar on Saturday.

“Crisis? I don’t think so,” said the former Valencia boss Emery, who joined the Moscow club in May. “We’re working hard as a team but we are still a long way from a finished product. We’re still trying to find the best way of organizing our attack.” After missing Europe’s premier club competition last season, Spartak qualified for the group stage by beating Turkey’s Fenerbahce in last month’s playoffs. The Muscovites will be without injured captain Sergei Parshivlyuk (knee), Brazilian striker Welliton (thigh) and Argentina defender Nicolas Pareja (calf ), while Dutch midfielder Demy de Zeeuw is suspended. —Reuters

Celtic plot Benfica ambush GLASGOW: Goalkeeper Fraser Forster says the Celtic players are ready to make their mark in the Champions League ahead of their Group G opener against Portuguese league leaders Benfica yesterday. The Scottish champions won all four of their qualifying matches to make it through to the group stages of the competition for the first time since 2008.

However, last Saturday’s humiliating 2-1 loss to St Johnstone hardly supports Forster’s confidence against a top class side that beat better sides than Celtic in last season’s competition and came close to knocking eventual champions Chelsea out. However, Forster feels the Parkhead squad will be up to the challenge having matured together and will have benefited from playing in the Europa League last term.

“The squad has progressed towards this point. We have a young team and we have brought in a few additions in the summer which can only benefit us,” Forster said. “We have grown up together and it’s just been a natural progression.

“We won all four qualifiers and that’s really positive. That shows the mentality of the squad. The atmosphere within the squad is the best it has been since I came here. Everyone is just in a good place at the minute. “I don’t think anyone is setting any targets. It’s one of those situations where we are delighted to have got through the qualifying rounds and to be in the group stage.

“It’s about going out and enjoying the games and appreciating the occasions.

“Obviously we are in a tough group but I think everyone is delighted with that. We all wanted the toughest group possible and we are really going to test ourselves in these matches. “The quality of the players we face will be a big step up but we just have to go out and do our best

and hopefully that will help the squad develop and move forward.” The St Johnstone result ended Celtic’s unbeaten start to the season and leaves Neil Lennon’s side with just two wins from their opening five Scottish Premier League matches to drop to fifth place in the table. Celtic winger James Forrest played in the game and knows his side will have to play much better when the Portuguese side, who currently sit top of their championship after three games, come calling at Parkhead today. —AP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) UEFA Champions League Lille v BATE Aljazeera Sport +7

21:45

Chelsea v Juventus Aljazeera Sport +4

21:45

LONDON: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson vowed there would be no repeat of last season’s early Champions League exit as he prepared for today’s opening Group H fixture at home to Galatasaray. The triple European champions failed to progress from the group stage in 2011-12 after suffering a shock 2-1 defeat by Swiss club Basel in their final fixture. “We’ve lost two finals to Barcelona and won two other finals in the last decade or so but we want to do better,” Ferguson told the club’s website (www.manutd.com). “Certainly we’ll do better than last year no question about that.

“The European Cup is incredible. There’s an atmosphere in the build-up to a European final and great charisma about it.

“Also, without question, it elevates your status within the game like the Real Madrids and AC Milans. We want to be up there in terms of the number of trophies won in European football.” Starting with their defeat

by Barcelona in the 2011 final, United have won just three European matches out of 11 and have lost four of their last five.

Ferguson’s side, playing in the competition for a record 18th time, will be without longterm injury victim Wayne Rooney on Wednesday but on the plus side they have a redhot Robin van Persie ready to make his first European start for the club.

Van Persie has been in good

LONDON: Manchester United’s Robin Van Persie (foreground) and Paul Scholes seen during a training session, at Carrington Training Ground. Manchester United are set to kick off their 2012 Champions League campaign against Galatasary at Old Trafford today. —AP “ When I first came on it form since leaving arch-rivals Arsenal in the close season and scared me a little bit because I’m is already the joint top scorer in only used to 5,000 people now the Premier League with four and then,” said the 18-year-old goals, alongside Swansea City’s midfielder. “But it’s a great Michu. The Dutch international atmosphere and the fans were was left out of the starting line- great. “I learn every day especialup on Saturday before coming ly from the midfielders Paul on as a second-half substitute to Scholes, Michael Carrick, Ryan help United crush Wigan Giggs. They’ve all been through it and won trophies and that’s Athletic 4-0 in the league.

Fellow substitute Nick Powell what I want to do.”

Galatasaray are making their capped his United debut with a superb long-range goal against first appearance in the Wigan and the former Crewe Champions League for six years.

Alexandra player said he had The Turkish club have not won some nervy moments when he any of their seven away games entered the fray in front of a against English teams but can count creditable draws against 75,142 crowd at Old Trafford.

21:45

Celtic v Benfica Aljazeera Sport +8

21:45

Sporting v Cluj Aljazeera Sport +9

21:45

MUNICH: Bayern Munich will begin its Champions League campaign against Valencia today full of confidence after its best start to a season in 12 years - when it went on to win the European title against the Spanish team.

Bayern’s dramatic loss on penalties to Chelsea in the Champions League final May prompted the German powerhouse to embark on a spending spree. It then won its first five competitive matches of the season with a club record 12 goals from its opening three Bundesliga games.

“It was a game that you never forget, it stays with you a lifetime,” Bayern defender Holger Badstuber said of the match against Chelsea. “It was a heavy blow but we’ve coped with it. Every player took his own conclusions from it. It should spur us on and not hamper us. It’s a new season now. We have new targets to aim for.” Bayern last won the Champions League in 2001, when Mauricio Pellegrino - now Valencia coach - missed the decisive spot kick in the final to give the Germans their fourth title.

“It was a huge disappointment from a sporting point of view, absolutely,” the 40-year-old Pellegrino told Kicker magazine ahead of his European debut as coach. “But it’s also a good memory, because I was there for one of Valencia’s biggest nights.” French side Lille hosts Belarusian champion BATE Borisov in Group F’s other match.

Bayern defeated Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup to end its two-year trophy drought in August, and then enjoyed a 40 win over Jahn Regensburg in the German Cup before getting its league campaign off to a perfect start. “It can go on like that. It should go on like that,” Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said.

Bayern’s last - and only - loss at home to a Spanish team in the competition came 10 years ago, when Deportivo La Coruna recorded a 3-2 win. The Bavarian team has 13 wins to show from 19 home games with Spanish sides.

Valencia has only won once in 11 games in Germany, five years ago against Schalke. But no Bayern player is underes-

timating Valencia, most likely the Germans’ chief rival to top the group.

“They’re a very good team, not Madrid or Barcelona, but not very far off,” said Arjen Robben, who looks to have overcome a troublesome lower back injury to play. Franck Ribery, who also missed Bayern’s 3-1 Bundesliga win over Mainz on Saturday, is also likely to play after overcoming muscular problems.

“They trained well and completed the whole workload. I think they’re able to play,” Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said after Tuesday’s training session.

However, Mario Gomez, who last season scored 13 Champions League goals, is still out after undergoing surgery on his left angle. Defenders David Alaba, Rafinha and Diego Contento are also ruled out. Offseason signing Mario Mandzukic is proving himself an able deputy for Gomez, contributing six goals in the five games while the Germany striker is absent. Peru striker Claudio Pizarro can also step up if needed.

Bastian Schweinsteiger played his second straight full league game on Saturday and seems to have put his injury worries behind him, while recordsigning Javi Martinez came on with 15 minutes remaining against Mainz to set up Bayern’s third goal.

“I think he could play (against Valencia). He’s improving from day to day and has (gained) the acceptance of the other players,” Heynckes said.

Pellegrino has bigger injury worries than Heynckes, with defender David Albelda, midfielder Fernando Gago and winger Pablo Piatti all out.

After drawing at Real Madrid in its opening game, Valencia earned a muchneeded first victory in the Spanish league on Saturday when it beat promoted Celta Vigo 2-1. “The team arrives in good form to today’s game in Munich,” Pellegrino said. “We have to take the smallest chances up front and stay fully concentrated at the back. Above all, we have to pace ourselves for the whole game.” Lille and BATE Borisov are meeting for the first time and the French side hopes it can improve its defense after a lackluster start to the league. — AP

Shakhtar v Nordsjaelland - 21:45 Aljazeera Sport +6 Bayern v Valencia Aljazeera Sport +1

Probable teams: Manchester United: 1-David De Gea, 2-Rafael, 15-Nemanja Vidic, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 3-Patrice Evra; 7-Antonio Valencia, 16Michael Carrick, 23-Tom Cleverley, 17-Nani; 20-Robin van Persie, 26-Shinji Kagawa.

Galatasaray: 25-Fernando Muslera, 27-Emmanuel Eboue, 3-Cris, 26-Semih Kaya, 22-Hakan Balta; 10-Felipe Melo, 8-Selcuk Inan, 7-Aydin Yilmaz, 53-Nordin Amrabat; 9-Johan Elmander, 19Umut Bulut. —Reuters

Confident Bayern happy to meet Valencia again

Man United v Galatasaray 21:45 Aljazeera Sport +5 Barcelona v Spartak Aljazeera Sport +2

Manchester United, Liverpool and Leeds United in their record.

Galatasaray are leading their domestic league, having won three games out of four this season, but coach Fatih Terim knows they are going into the match at Old Trafford as underdogs.

“We will be playing against one of the best clubs in the world,” he said. “Can anyone deny they are more likely to win? “We will try our best, we will never give in. We may lose but we’re not afraid to lose. My players and I are experienced enough to know we will have to put up a better fight there than we do in the domestic league.”

Galatasaray are without injured central defender Tomas Ujfalusi and right back Sabri Sarioglu. Umut Bulut, who has scored five goals in four league games this season, is set to partner former Bolton Wanderers forward Johan Elmander in attack.

21:45 MUNICH: Valencia’s players warm up during a practice session. Valencia will play Bayern Munich in the Champions League Group F match today. —AP

LONDON: Juventus’ Gianluigi Buffon catches a ball during a training session at Stamford Bridge stadium. Juventus will face Chelsea in a Champions League Group E soccer match today. —AP

Chelsea title thirst remains unquenched — Di Matteo LONDON: Chelsea begin their quest to become the first team to win back-to-back Champions League titles today when they entertain a Juventus side still getting used to match days without their coach. The Londoners ended a long wait to become kings of Europe for the first time by beating Bayern Munich on penalties on a memorable night in the German club’s Allianz Arena in May but manager Roberto Di Matteo said their thirst for trophies remained unquenched.

“The owner (Roman Abramovich) has never lost his ambition,” Di Matteo said ahead of the Group E opener at Stamford Bridge. “He always wants to win with this club and continue to drive for excellence. “As long as he is at the helm his ambition to win will never diminish.”

Chelsea have made a good start to their domestic season and are riding high at the top of the Premier League with three wins and one draw from their opening four games.

However, they have failed to win their last two matches, suffering an embarrassing 4-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the European Super Cup in Monaco and being held to a 0-0 draw at neighbors Queens Park Rangers in a feisty Premier League encounter on Saturday.

‘Handshake-gate’ took centre stage at Loftus Road, with QPR defender Anton Ferdinand refusing to acknowledge Chelsea pair John Terry and Ashley Cole before kickoff, but it was also apparent that the European champions were some way short of their best.

The performance of Fernando Torres was also a cause for concern for Chelsea fans as he spent most of the match arguing with the officials over perceived refereeing injustices. The Spain striker was replaced by Daniel Sturridge with 10 minutes to go and prompted several raised eyebrows when he ran straight down the tunnel.

Di Matteo said he understood why Torres was so disappointed. “Players are generally not happy to come off,” said the Chelsea manager. “He showed a bit of frustration but it’s not a problem for us.

“He had a chance to score in the first half and a halfdecent chance in the second half as well. He played his part in the game. “We can’t put too much pressure on one player. We are a team and everybody has responsibility and we are looking for other players to score goals as well,” added Di Matteo. Juventus coach Antonio Conte will be absent from the bench because of a 10month ban for his role in not reporting match-fixing while boss of Siena last year. Conte, who has strenuously denied the allegations, is appealing against the suspension. Assistant coach Massimo Carrera is covering for Conte on the bench and a row has broken out in Italy over what the ban actually means and whether

19

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

SPORTS

Anderlecht frustrate Milan

ATHENS: Olympiakos’ David Fuster (left) challenges for the ball with Schalke’s Benedikt Howendes during a Group B Champions League soccer match.—AP

Schalke edge Olympiakos PIRAEUS: Benedikt Hoewedes and KlaasJan Huntelaar scored yesterday to give Schalke a 2-1 win against Olympiakos in the group stage opener of the Champions League.

Hoewedes headed in a corner from Jefferson Farfan in the 41st minute. That came only moments after Schalke’s Greek defender, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, had a similar goal disallowed for a foul on goalkeeper Balazs Megyer.

“I’m very happy with the goal and the result. We took our chances,” Hoewedes said. “It was great to get this against such a team and such a home crowd.”

Papadopoulos played a vital role in holding off Olympiakos early in the first half, clearing a goal-bound shot from Paulo Machado in the fifth minute.

In the second half, Djamel Abdoun leveled for Olympiakos in the 58th after finishing off a move started by fellow Algerian Rafik Djebbour, who slipped in front of

goal. But the Greek crowd was abruptly silenced a minute later when Huntelaar fired in pass from Lewis Holtby. Huntelaar missed a penalty in the 61st minute, striking the post.

“We kept our heads and that was the important thing — it won us the game,” Schalke coach Huub Stevens said. “Even when they leveled, we stayed cool. So overall, I think the result was fair ... we went for it, and by the end of the game we could have had more goals.”

Olympiakos defender Yiannis Maniatis said his team had to make “many improvements” before their next game against Arsenal in London next month. Arsenal won 2-1 at Montpellier on Tuesday to join Schalke at the top of Group B. “We definitely could have done more.

But we didn’t take our chances,” he said.

“Their second goal came so quickly after ours and it really threw us off. We lost our concentration.”—AP

Malaga off to a flier MALAGA: Aided by Argentina veteran Javier Saviola, Spain’s Malaga made a winning start to their maiden Champions League campaign on Tuesday, beating Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg 3-0 at their Rosaleda stadium.

Malaga are a new force on the Spanish scene having qualified for the competition for the first time after coming fourth in La Liga but been beset by financial difficulties in recent months and lost several stars such as Santiago Cazorla, who joined Arsenal.

However, on Tuesday, all of those recent tribulations were set aside as they raced into an early two-goal lead in their Group C encounter.

With just three minutes on the clock, local boy and Spain under-23 international Alarcon Isco strode into the area before unleashing a curling right-footed effort into the corner of the net as Malaga made a rip-roaring start.

Former Barcelona star Saviola, who joined from Benfica in the summer at the age of 31, netted the second ten minutes later, the Argentine wizard firing home after Jesus Gamez found him with a cross from the right.

In between the two goals, Zenit suffered a dose of misfortune when recent big money signing Brazilian international Hulk blasted a 20-yarder against the crossbar after five minutes.

Malaga, coached by Manuel Pelegrini,

had to reshuffle the pack with French midfielder Jeremy Toulalan missing through a thigh injury, while Zenit were without their new signing, 40-million-euro man Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel.

The Spanish nevertheless came into the game buoyed by good league form which has brought three wins and a draw for their best start to a top flight season, leaving them second behind Barcelona. Two down at the break, Luciano Spalletti’s Zenit had little choice other than to go on the attack thereafter but they spurned a fine chance to reduce the arrears in the first minute of the second period.

Hulk’s striking partner Aleksandr Kerzhakov found himself clear inside the box but snatched at his effort and sent it wide. At the other end Vyacheslav Malafeev had to be alert in the Russian goal to deny Eliseu before Saviola gave way to Paraguayan veteran forward Roque Santa Cruz on the hour, the Argentine earning a warm ovation from the home crowd.

With 15 minutes remaining Isco had a goal chalked off for offside by English referee Mark Clattenburg but made amends with a rasping third as Malaga rounded things off in some style. Hulk compounded his own miserable evening with a last-gasp booking for simulation as Zenit suffered a further blow to add to their weekend home reverse to domestic table-toppers Terek Grozny.—AFP

MILAN: Group C whipping boys Anderlecht held seven-time champions AC Milan to a scoreless draw in a Champions League opener that will heap further pressure on the hosts’ coach Massimiliano Allegri.

After two home defeats and one away win in three Serie A games, the pressure was on Allegri to deliver a win that would get Milan’s European campaign up and running.

But it was whistles that rang out around a less than half-empty San Siro stadium at the end of a match in which the hosts failed to take by the scruff of the neck having been dominated in the early exchanges. Towering Brazilian forward Kanu’s second minute header and defender Bram Nuytinck’s shot in the third minute kept Christian Abbiati alert in the Milan goal.

And further efforts from the impressive Dieudonne Mbokani and American midfielder Sacha Kljestan were a reminder that Anderlecht had come to upstage the underperforming Italians. It took until the quarter hour for the hosts to find their stride.

Defender Luca Antonini’s glancing header from Emanuelson’s corner went wide and when Antonio Nocerino sent a superb cross in for Pazzini it inched just over the striker’s head.

Their best chance of the half fell to Mathieu Flamini, who latched onto defender Mattia De Sciglio’s ball in the 18th minute to hit an angled shot from close range which Silvio Proto did well to block.

At the other end, defender Guillaume Gillet saw his angled shot from close in parried by

ITALY: AC Milan French midfielder Mathieu Flamini (top right) tries to score as Anderlecht goalkeeper Silvio Proto stops the ball during a Champions League Group C soccer match.—AP Abbiati. Kevin Prince Boateng was then on target with an angled shot from the left of goal after being given space, but Proto got low to block.

Impressive midfielder Nocerino’s long ball then found Urby Emanuelson running between two defenders but the Dutch midfielder’s superb firsttime effort was stopped by Proto.

Anderlecht came fighting back and it took a good block from French defender Philippe Mexes, making his return to the team, to stop Massimo Bruno’s shot. After the ball was sent back in Mbokani sent his bicycle kick effort well wide of the post. On the stroke of

half time Boateng forced Proto into action before the ball was bundled to safety.

Two minutes after the restart Nocerino’s close-range header from Boateng’s flighted cross inched wide of Proto’s goal, but was ruled offside.

Anderlecht then spurned a great chance when Lucas Biglia broke on the right only to send an angled shot from close in high over Abbiati’s bar.

Milan enjoyed a brief period of domination and Boateng was unlucky to lose momentum just as he connected with Pazzini’s lay-off to send the ball wide of Proto’s goal.

The Ghanaian was replaced by Stephan El Sharaway on the hour mark, and while the Italy under21 striker added verve to Milan’s attack it also added to their frustrations.

After Pazzini had agonisingly failed to connect with a low cross on 66 minutes following a wellworked counter-attack launched

by El Sharaway, Emanuelson ran across goal and turned to send his angled effort high.

El Sharaway then sent a right foot volley from a high cross over the bar, and in the closing minutes Pazzini ran into Anderlecht traffic on the edge of the area after El Sharaway’s lay-off.—AFP

Late Lewandowski strike helps Dortmund beat Ajax DORTMUND: Robert Lewandowski’s late goal gave Borussia Dortmund a crucial 1-0 victory at home over Ajax Amsterdam in their Group D opener of the Champions League group phase.

After Ajax goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer had stopped Mats Hummels’ spot kick in the 58th minute, Lewandowsi provided the German champions with the winner in the 87th minute.

Dortmund could hardly afford a slip-up with the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid waiting to be played while Amsterdam would have been happy with gaining an away point.

It was the fifth time that the 1997 Champions League winners Dortmund were facing Dutch opposition at home and the Germans finally won. Among their losses were Ajax winning both legs in the 1995-96 quarter-finals - a team which included current Amsterdam coach Frank de Boer.

Knowing he needed a victory at home against Ajax, Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp started both offensive midfielders Mario Gotze and Marco Reus in his 4-23-1 line-up. And de Boer placed new acquisition Ryan Babel automatically in his 4-3-3 system.

Dortmund controlled the ball in the early going but nearly paid for a mistake as Dutch striker Babel snatched the ball from Ilay Gundogan and fed Christian

Erikson, whose shot was parried away in the 12th minute. The Germans struggled to find a way through the Ajax defence but had a chance in the 31st minute when Champions League debutant Reus feeding Marcel Schmelzer, who forced Vermeer into a fine save.

Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller was forced to come well outside his box to block away a through ball to Derk Boerrigter in the 35th minute.

Weidenfeller again saved his team three minutes after the restart, stopping a blast from Siem de Jong from 11 yards out.

Dortmund’s top chance came just a minute later but Lewandowski shot well over the bar after turning and gaining space for an attempt. And Vermeer did a good job saving Reus’s counter attack shot in the 52nd minute and Gundogan’s blast in the 56th.

The Germans missed a golden chance to take the lead in the 58th minute but Dortmund defender Hummels watched Vermeer dive to his left to collect the poorly-taken penalty after Gotze was felled by Ricardo van Rhijn in the box. Dortmund remained the more offensive team and finally broke through with three minutes left.

Gundogan played a high ball to Lukasz Piszczek for a header to his fellow Polish international Lewandowski, who chested the ball down and then finally beat Vermeer.—AFP

GERMANY: Dortmund’s Mario Goetze jumps for the ball against Ajax’ Tobias Sana during the Champions League Group D soccer match against Ajax Amsterdam.—AP

PSG enjoy easy win on return to CL

SPAIN: Zenit St Petersburg’s Alexander Anyukov from Russia, is tackled by Malaga’s Eliseu Pereira from Portugal, during their Group C Champions League soccer match.—AP

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain’s return to the Champions League after an absence of eight years went better than their Qatari owners could have imagined yesterday, with goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Alex and Javier Pastore helping see off Dynamo Kiev 4-1 here.

Ibrahimovic gave the French capital outfit the lead from the penalty spot in the 19th minute of this Group A encounter, and Thiago Silva then marked his long-anticipated debut with a goal just before the half-hour mark.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side put the game to bed before the interval thanks to a thumping effort from their other Brazilian centre-back Alex, although Miguel Veloso pulled one back for Dynamo late on.

But there was still time for Pastore to add a fourth and underlining PSG’s status as favourites to win a group that is, on paper, one of the easiest in the competition.

PSG had not appeared in Europe’s top club competition since making a feeble group-stage exit in 2004, and in the intervening period they had even flirted with relega-

tion until being bought out by the Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) group last year.

The new owners want their team to win the Champions League in the not too distant future, hence their massive investment on star names such as Ibrahimovic and Silva.

Silva finally made his debut in the heart of the back four after struggling with injury since his summer move from AC Milan, and he could surely not have asked for a more serene start to life at his new club.

Yuri Semin’s Dynamo, who have made a habit of coming off second best to Shakhtar Donetsk in their domestic league in recent times, arrived here with very little ambition, happy as they were to sit back and pack the midfield. Save for an early Pastore strike that Maxym Koval turned around the post, that strategy restricted the hosts initially.

However, PSG were handed a glorious opportunity to get their noses in front when Jeremy Menez was brought down by Dynamo captain Taras Mikhalik inside the area.

There could be few complaints about referee Bjoern Kuipers’ decision to award the

penalty, and Ibrahimovic stepped up to score his 29th Champions League goal.

Forced to change their game after the opening goal, Dynamo became vulnerable to counter-attacks from the home side, and both Ibrahimovic and Pastore were denied by Koval from one such move.

And from the corner that followed, Dynamo failed to clear their lines, allowing Silva to slot home at the back post while fellow Brazilian Alex added another with a thumping volley from 12 yards following another corner three minutes later.

The second period was almost akin to a training exercise, although Pastore came within a whisker of adding another 15 minutes from the end before a Veloso cross-cumshot from the right found its way into the net.

And the game was into injury time when substitute Nene picked out Pastore, whose shot squeezed under Koval to seal the win.

PSG are sure to face a tougher test when they travel to Portugal to face Porto in their next outing at the start of October, while Dynamo Kiev entertain Dinamo Zagreb next.—AFP

Mendis spins Sri Lanka to crushing opening win

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Anderlecht frustrate Milan

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

19

United aim to avoid repeat of early exit

Page 18

MADRID: Real Madrid’s German midfielder Mesut Ozil (right) vies with Manchester City’s Serbian defender Matija Nastasic during the UEFA Champions League football match. —AFP

Five-goal thriller breaks City hearts Last-minute Ronaldo strike sinks English Champions MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo struck a lastminute winner as Real Madrid beat Manchester City 3-2 in a thrilling Champions League clash that saw all the goals come in a nerve-wracking final 22 minutes.

Real came back twice through Marcelo and Karim Benzema to level the game after substitutes Edin Dzeko and Alexsandar Kolarov had put City ahead.

And then up stepped Ronaldo to give the home side a deserved three points to kick start their Champions League Group D campaign.

Real coach Jose Mourinho decided on a number of changes in the face of growing criticism in the Spanish capital after a disappointing start to his team’s league season.

The Portuguese coach left out Sergio Ramos and Mesut Ozil from the side that lost 1-0 at Sevilla on Saturday, handing a debut to Michael Essien and a first game of the season to French youngster Raphael Varane.

There was also a surprise in City’s line up with 19 year-old Matija Nastastic mak-

ing his debut at centre-half after a summer move from Fiorentina, with both Maicon and Javi Garcia also starting after making their club debuts on Saturday.

Real took the initiative from the start as City took their time to adjust to their surroundings.

A blistering counter-attack by Real after eight minutes saw Gonzalo Higuain pick out Ronaldo who drew the first save of the evening from English international Joe Hart.

Four minutes later and Hart denied Higuain, this time with an acrobatic dive after the Argentine striker glanced a Ronaldo cross goalbound. Next it was Alvaro Arbeloa cutting in from the left who tried his luck and it was all the home side.

Hart was then out quick to block Higuain and Sami Khedira shot over in the ensuing chaos as the Premier League side struggled to hold on.

On 32 minutes Hart got down well to save a Marcelo drive and the home crowd, strangely subdued at kick-off, for a fleeting moment smelt blood and

upped the volume.

Yet the visitors gradually began to dispute more possession and but for a half chance for Higuain and an Angel Di Maria curled shot the interval arrived goalless.

City had yet to trouble the home defence and had also lost Sami Nasri who limped from the pitch on 35 minutes to be replaced by Kolarov.

A speculative shot from Yaya Toure earned City a corner on 53 minutes and the first action for their noisy travelling support to cheer, while Marcelo saw a thunderous drive go just at the other end.

On the hour the Spanish World Cup winner David Silva received a standing ovation from the home crowd on leaving the field as Mancini shuffled his pack and brought on Dzeko.

Mourinho immediately reacted bringing on Ozil to replace Essien and Marcelo saw another shot drift high. It looked like the match would drift to a close with both teams happy with a point until Toure intercepted a short pass in his own

half and made a wonderfully leggy sprint before playing in Dzeko who put City ahead.

The game burst into life and it was the English side who were enjoying the better chances. Dzeko and Toure went close as Luka Modric and Benzema were called from the bench for the hosts.

The changes had an immediate effect as Real levelled on 75 minutes when Marcelo, who had previously favored his left, moved onto his right foot to curl a shot in from 25 yards.

City were now attacking at will and Kolarov took advantage to hit what looked like the winner on 84 minutes from a free-kick wide on the right that evaded Iker Casillas in the Madrid goal.

Their lead, however, was short lived during a crazy final five minutes. It was another substitute in Benzema who turned well before shooting to level on 86 minutes.

And then Ronaldo, who had started the game on fire, finished it off with the last minute winner to break English hearts.—AFP

Arsenal fight back to defeat Montpellier MONTPELLIER: Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 in an end-to-end game at Champions League debutants Montpellier yesterday, as Arsene Wenger’s side made a winning start to their Group B campaign. Younes Belhanda stunned the visitors with a ninth-minute Panenka penalty but Arsenal hit back through quick-fire goals from Lukas Podolski and Gervinho to secure only their sixth win in their last 16 group-phase away games.

“It was difficult,” said Arsenal assistant coach Steve Bould, who took charge of the team due to Wenger’s touchline ban. “In the first half, I thought we were excellent and kept the crowd really quiet. The second half was tough and we looked a bit tired physically.

“It was hot and humid. The crowd got right behind them and it’s quite an intimidating place to play, so we were pleased to get the result.”

Remy Cabella hit the bar for Montpellier, who gave Arsenal several uneasy moments, and despite the result, the hosts’ display belied a difficult start to their Ligue 1 title defence that has seen them beaten three times already.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have now recorded three straight wins after Premier League successes over Liverpool and Southampton, although Olivier Giroud is still without a goal after failing to score on his return to his former club.

Montpellier coach Rene Girard had called on the club’s fans to make Stade de la Mosson “hell” for the visitors but there was a nervousness in the hosts’ ranks until Belhanda’s penalty

brought the stadium roaring to life.

The penalty award appeared harsh but replays vindicated referee Carlos Velasco Carballo’s decision to penalise Thomas Vermaelen for a robust challenge on Belhanda, who beat Vito Mannone with a nonchalant chipped spot-kick.

It was a better start than Montpellier’s fans could have hoped for on their team’s first ever appearance in the competition, but within only nine minutes the French champions found themselves behind.

Giroud had received a warm reception from the supporters of his former club but he created the equaliser in the 16th minute with a prodded through ball for fellow summer signing Podolski that the German guided past Geoffrey Jourdren.

Montpellier barely had time to gather their senses before Arsenal struck again, as Gervinho ghosted into the six-yard area to convert Carl Jenkinson’s low cross from the right.

In response, Cabella drew a save from Mannone with a low drive, while Giroud threatened to open his Arsenal account just before half-time with a volley from a Kieran Gibbs cross that flew wide. Montpellier began to pin Arsenal back in the second period, with a succession of chances early in the half serving to raise the volume in the stadium.

Garry Bocaly and Anthony Mounier both shot off-target, while Cabella fired over after dispossessing the dallying Abou Diaby and then saw a carefully weighted chip from 20 yards come back off the bar.

Champions League table PARIS: Champions League tables after opening round of group matches yesterday (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Group A FC Porto Paris SG Dinamo Zagreb Dynamo Kiev

1 1 1 1

1 1 0 0

0 0 0 0

0 0 1 1

2 4 0 1

0 1 2 4

3 3 0 0

Group B Arsenal Schalke 04 Montpellier Olympiakos

1 1 1 1

1 1 0 0

0 0 0 0

0 0 1 1

2 2 1 1

1 1 2 2

3 3 0 0

Group C Malaga AC Milan Anderlecht Zenit

1 1 1 1

1 0 0 0

0 1 1 0

0 0 0 1

3 0 0 0

0 0 0 3

3 1 1 0

Group D Dortmund Real Madrid Ajax Man City

1 1 1 1

1 1 0 0

0 0 0 0

0 0 1 1

1 3 0 2

0 2 1 3

3 3 0 0

Porto blank Dinamo Zagreb

FRANCE: Arsenal’s French midfielder Abou Diaby (right) challenges for the ball with Montpellier’s French midfielder Jamel Saihi, during the Champions League Group B soccer match.—AP Back in the Arsenal team after injury, Diaby looked ponderous at times, but in the 57th minute he drove forward and released Santi Cazorla for a shot that Jourdren had to beat away.

Belhanda’s promptings were at the heart of much of Montpellier’s best football, but he

spurned a glorious chance to bring his side level in the 80th minute.

After tip-toeing around the prone Per Mertesacker, the Moroccan playmaker found himself with a clear sight of goal, but from 10 yards out he could only shoot straight at Mannone.—AFP

ZAGREB: Lucho Gonzales and Steven Defour scored late in each half to give Porto a 2-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb yesterday for a winning start in the Champions League.

This was the seventh consecutive loss for Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, after being beaten all six matches in the group stage of the competition last season.

Dinamo Zagreb was dispossessed by Porto early, but there were not many opportunities to score in the first half. Gonzales gave his team the lead in his 50th Champions League game with an easy finish in the 41st minute after Dinamo goalkeeper Ivan Kelava had deflected a cross from Alex Sandro into his path.

Dinamo was more aggressive in the second half and had two great chances to level. Goalkeeper Helton saved the first instinctively in the 63rd minute from Tonel’s bicycle kick.

Helton saved an even better chance for Dinamo in the 78th, stopping a header from Chilean winger Bryan Carrasco.

Porto had a few opportunities from counterattacks before Defour made the game safe in injury time after Christian Atsu had dribbled down the left flank.—AP

Gulf markets slip, weak global shares weigh Page 22

Spain seeks aid, Greece needs more time to pay Page 23

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

FedEx lowers 2013 profit view, plans air cost cuts Page 24

Indian truck, bus drivers to strike over diesel price Page 24

RIO DE JANEIRO: A man leaves after using an automated teller machines (ATMs) at the branch of a bank closed due to a nationwide strike by bank workers who demand higher pay, in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, yesterday. — AFP

Ex-Elf chief charged over fraud probe Togo’s former minister also charged LOME: The former head of French oil giant Elf, Loik Le Floch-Prigent, has appeared in a Togolese court and was charged with being an accessory to fraud in the West African nation, his lawyer said yesterday.

The former Elf CEO was questioned by a Togolese judge for about three hours Monday, following his lightning-fast extradition from Ivory Coast over the weekend. His legal team had condemned the international transfer, which came the day after his arrest in Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan on Friday as he tried to board an Air France flight to Paris.

The Togolese hearing was expected to resume at a later date. Floch-Prigent did not immediately enter a plea but one

of his lawyers, Rustico Lawson-Bankou, says his client is innocent.

The probe involves a complaint from an Emirati businessman who alleges he was the victim of a $48-million (37-million-euro) fraud. The purported victim, Abbas Al Yousef, claims Le Floch-Prigent was acting as his personal adviser at the time. The case involves accusations that a network claimed to have access to $275 million in a Togolese account left by former Ivorian military ruler Robert Guei, who was killed in 2002.

Al Yousef, who manages investments, including in the oil and gas industry, alleges the $48 million was embezzled from him in the affair. Togo’s former minister of territorial administration, Pascal Bodjona, has also been charged in the

case, as well as Togolese businessman Bertin Sow Agba.

Following Le Floch-Prigent’s extradition Saturday, another of his lawyers Patrick Klugman denounced the move, saying extradition procedures did not appear to have been respected.

He had earlier condemned the transfer as a “kidnapping” but later backtracked from the remark. An Ivorian prosecutor however said the transfer was an operation between two police forces in line with Interpol rules.

Klugman also claimed his client was caught up in an internal Togolese political affair. He said he feared for the health of Le Floch-Prigent, who turns 69 this month and has a medical appointment in France on September 26.

Le Floch-Prigent, currently an oil industry consultant, has already served jail terms in France for corruption which dated from his time as head of Elf from 1989 to 1993.

Several Elf senior managers were jailed after a corruption scandal that broke in the 1990s. The company was taken over by French oil giant Total in 2000. Togo, a nation of six million people under French control prior to independence in 1960, has been run by the same family for more than four decades.

The military installed President Faure Gnassingbe in power after the 2005 death of his father Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had ruled the west African nation with an iron fist for 38 years. He has since won elections in 2005 and 2010. —AFP

Banks, miners lead retreat on UK bourse Saudi’s Mobily positions for telecom liberalisation plan RIYADH/DUBAI: Saudi Arabian telecom group Mobily has signed agreements with several third-party operators, aiming to secure market share ahead of a planned market liberalisation that will intensify competition in an already saturated sector.

Like its rivals Saudi Telecom Co (STC) and Zain Saudi, Mobily - formally known as Etihad Etisalat needs to link up with one of the so-called mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) which will be licensed to operate under a regulatory change set out last December.

Such MVNOs lease excess capacity from conventional operators to offer telecom services, looking to win customers to their own brand but whose business contributes to the underlying network provider.

“We signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with a number of MVNOs,” Mobily Chief Executive Khalid al-Kaf told reporters on the sidelines of a company event. Kaf said he expected the Kingdom’s three operators to each sign up an MVNO by year-end, meeting the regulator’s timeline.

Saudi Arabia’s mobile penetration is already the fourth highest in the world at 191 percent, or nearly two subscriptions for every resident, according to the International Telecommunication Union, so MVNOs will likely have to woo customers from other operators rather than bringing in new subscribers to the sector. The attraction for host operators is that they can count the MVNO sub-

scribers as their own, while an MVNO can also help the host target different customer groups outside of its core market. Mobily - the kingdom’s No.2 operator by market value - and sector leader STC have largely focused on wealthier customers, so their MVNO partners could aim at lower-income groups.

That would heap pressure on third operator Zain Saudi, which has struggled to compete against its betterresourced rivals. Zain Saudi, an affiliate of Kuwait’s Zain, is a distant third in terms of market share, according to data from Informa Telecoms and Media, but the operator is now putting up a better fight, in part by targeting lower-income residents.

Its market share was 16.4 percent at June -end, up from 14.8 percent in March. “Zain Saudi has become quite innovative with its packages as well as continuing to be aggressive on pricing,” said Matthew Reed, a senior analyst at Informa in Dubai. “Mobily and STC could host MVNOs that will target the lower end of the market, which is where Zain Saudi is.”

Mobily’s Kaf also said the operator an affiliate of Etisalat, former monopoly operator in the United Arab Emirates does not require any new financing following the signing of a 10 billion riyals ($2.7 billion) sharia-compliant loan in February. “That was good enough for the time being. If the business required another financing, we will do so,” said Kaf. —Reuters

LONDON: Britain’s top share index eased for a second day yesterday, retreating further off recent six-month highs on uncertainty over whether steps taken by the US and Europe will be enough to kick-start the global economy.

In UK’s top trading partner the euro zone, a big hurdle is Spain.

Madrid’s reluctance to make a formal request for help, which is needed to activate the European Central Bank’s bond buying plan, has pushed up Spanish bond yields and increased risk aversion.

“The markets are uncertain what’s going on in Spain,” said Max Bascombe, institutional sales trader at Merchant Securities. “Nothing goes up in a straight line, there is still a lot of money out there but opportunities will have to be very good to get people to part with their cash ... People are saying that now I’ve made a bit of money, I will take a bit of profit.”

The FTSE 100 closed down 25.36 points, or 0.4 percent, at 5,868.16, led lower by miners and banks, the stars of the recent rally fuelled by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s third round of quantitative easing and the ECB’s bond buying plan.

The rally has pushed the FTSE to six month highs and has left some companies’ valuations look ing stretched, putting analysts on the downgrade path. Aviva was the latest victim, downgraded on Tuesday by Nomura and Bank of America Merrill

Lynch, with the latter saying it looks “fully valued”.

Insurers and banks shaved around 15 points off the FTSE 100. The star per formers, on the flip side, were defensive sectors like tobacco, which do well in tough economic times but had lagged during the rally.

Strategists said that based on historic responses to stimulus and on the relatively light positioning in equities after months of risk aversion, the rally could run further, with the current retreat more likely a pause than a reversal.

Investec Asset Management is sticking to a “firmly risk on” stance adopted in August, said portfolio manager Max King. “The earnings stories are turning around slowly. The market is going to run and fundamentals are going to follow,” he said, naming gold miners as a top pick for riskseekers.

Investors wishing to bet on a continued rally could buy December 2012 call options on the FTSE, which would profit if it moves above 6,000 points, said UBS derivatives strategists.

The FTSE should benefit from the rally thanks to its relatively high exposure to basic resources, which do well at times of rising risk appetite, and because it has lagged other European indexes so far this year, UBS said.

In the short-term, though, technical strategists said the UK index could ease to 5,775-5,800 points before the rally resumes. — Reuters

Apple rallies past $700 NEW YORK: Apple shares traded above $700 for the first time on Wall Street yesterday, amid optimism on the tech giant as it launches its new iPhone 5. Apple rose as high as $701.44 in early trade, a day after the Silicon Valley firm said it received more than two million orders for its new iPhone 5 in just 24 hours.

The stock later dipped slightly to $699.34. The company’s market value based on its stock price has surged above $655 billion, extending Apple’s lead as the world’s most valuable corporation.

Apple unveiled the new version of its iconic smartphone last Wednesday and opened up pre-orders on Friday. The company said the hot item would be available in 100 countries around the world by year’s end. Shaw Wu, analyst at Sterne Agee, has set an Apple price target of $840.

“We continue to believe many underestimate iPhone 5 in that it is a significant update and will drive a powerful product cycle,” Wu said in a note to clients, adding that the only thing holding Apple back may be “supply constraints.”

Some analysts say Apple could sell 10 million iPhones in the opening days and 50 million before the end of 2012. — AFP

NEW YORK: Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Alan Mulally, right, and broadcaster Ryan Seacrest appear on stage together during an event to promote the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid, yesterday in New York’s Times Square. — AP

22

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

BUSINESS

Gulf markets slip, weak global shares weigh Kuwait’s index gains 0.6% DUBAI: Most Gulf markets finished lower yesterday as investors cut risk following recent gains amid weak global markets that slipped on global growth concerns. Saudi Arabia’s measure lost 0.6 percent, down for a third session since Saturday’s 18-week high. Investors are looking at global cues amid a lack of local news flow, ahead of third-quarter earnings season, which starts in early-October.

European shares and the euro slipped yesterday, leading a broader drop in risk assets as investors turned their attention from central bank stimulus to slowing global growth and doubts about Spain’s desire for an international aid package.

Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical stocks dropped with Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world’s largest chemicals producer slipping 0.8 percent.

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical lost 1.8 percent and Yanbu National Petrochemical shed 1.1 percent.

Banks and insurance stocks also declined.

Global growth concerns affect local investor sentiment in petrochemical stocks that cater to demand from China and Europe. In the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s bourse extended declines from Sunday’s six-month peak, which was near major technical resistance, but Dubai’s bourse edged up to a higher close.

Abu Dhabi’s index slipped 0.6 percent, trimming year-to-date gains to 8.7 percent. It faces chart resistance at 2,643 points, this year’s high, which was hit in early March and was then tested unsuccessfully later that month.

Property stocks dragged, with Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate down 2.3

and 1.6 percent respectively. Dubai’s index added 0.2 percent, up for a fifth session in the last six. Emirates NBD and logistics operator Aramex climbed 0.7 and 2.1 percent; Emaar Properties ended flat.

Local markets rallied on Sunday after the US Federal Reserve launched a fresh round of money printing to stimulate the economy.

Partly because of this, investors are generally bullish on the United Arab Emirates’ two stock markets for the rest of the year, with companies expected to post growth in third-quarter earnings.

“Earnings in the UAE are starting to reflect strength this year, after weakness in the last two years - this bodes well for our markets,” said Amer Khan, fund manager at Shuaa Asset Management.

“For people with a longer-term horizon, any pull-back is a good buying opportunity given the economic situation.”

In Qatar, the index shed 0.3 percent, slipping from Monday’s four-month high.

Heavyweight Industries Qatar slipped 1.4 percent and Commercial Bank of Qatar dropped 1.6 percent.

“The uptrend remains in place with the index now heading for the next resistance zone from around 8,697 to 8,715. Important support is at 8,436.25,” said Bruce Powers, head of research and analysis at Trust Securities.

Elsewhere, Oman’s measure ended 0.2 percent lower, down for a second session from Sunday’s 12-week high.

Kuwait’s index gained 0.6 percent, up for a third session in the last nine as bargain hunters returned. Small caps rallied with Gulf

Finance House gaining 1.3 percent and Al Madina for Finance and Investment Co up 3 percent. Heavyweight telco Zain adding 1.5 percent.

YESTERDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS SAUDI ARABIA The measure fell 0.6 percent to 7,106 points.

ABU DHABI The benchmark declined 0.6 percent to 2,612 points.

DUBAI The index gained 0.2 percent to 1,592 points.

QATAR The benchmark slipped 0.3 percent to 8,587 points.

KUWAIT The measure climbed 0.6 percent to 5,834 points.

OMAN The index dipped 0.2 percent to 5,606 points.

EGYPT The index eased 0.08 percent to 5,891 points.

BAHRAIN The measure slipped 0.05 percent to 1,076 points. — Reuters

Banks can afford political risk of suing Dubai DUBAI: Foreign lenders are threatening Dubai with a fresh debt headache. The UK’s Royal Bank of Scotland, South Africa’s Standard Bank and Germany’s Commerzbank have launched a lawsuit against Dubai Group, an entity owned by the emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed. The move threatens to derail a twoyear effort between 40-odd creditors to agree terms to restructure $10 billion of debt. But the banks playing hardball might be able to afford the political fallout.

Dubai Group has been left hung out to dry by the government, a contrast to the billions of dollars in financial support extended to Dubai World in 2009. Dubai Group’s diverse assets include minority stakes in banks around the world and German shopping centres, but are not strategically important to the emirate.

Dubai may also be keen to reserve spare cash for a second

er. Either way, the move by a small group of lenders to initiate lengthy legal proceedings will put pressure on Dubai to find a compromise, or risk major delays for everyone. It’s not clear if the rebel banks will see the Londonbased legal proceedings through to the end if Dubai Group refuses to budge.

On the other hand, few observers originally thought the banks would dare to go this far.

In any case, the banks will end up with no worse than the current terms. That puts the ball firmly in Dubai’s court. Three banks have launched legal proceedings in London against Dubai Group, an investment vehicle owned by the emirate’s ruler which is trying to agree a wider restructuring for debt of $10 billion.

The UK’s Royal Bank of Scotland said on Sept. 12 that it had launched legal action along with South Africa’s Standard Bank and Commerzbank of

restructuring of Dubai World, which may become necessary in 2015.

It wouldn’t make sense for a bank that wants to grow its business with Dubai to pursue legal action against the sovereign, especially in a region where such relationships drive business. Yet Dubai is no longer as active as other sovereigns like Qatar or Abu Dhabi.

Of the three banks, understood to be collectively owed less than $500 million, RBS has the largest presence in the region. The part-nationalised UK bank has already sold its local retail operation and doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to extend its loan book to the emirate.

Dubai has limited leverage over the creditors that have decided they have little to lose.

The current deal on the table offers to repay loans over 12 years. But the three banks want an attractive option to exit soon-

Germany. Dubai Group is a unit of Dubai Holding, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

“We do however want to make clear that our preference was always to conclude an agreement without formal legal proceedings and we therefore remain open to such an outcome if an acceptable commercial resolution is forthcoming”, RBS said in a statement.

Dubai Group missed interest payments on two loan facilities in 2010 and has since been in talks with its lenders to extend repayment deadlines.

“Over 35 banks are working towards an agreement and a global term sheet is now being considered by bank credit committees, a number of which have indicated their support”, Dubai Group said in a statement. “We believe that we can reach a consensual agreement with our creditors.” — Reuters

WUHAN: Workers protest in front of the Japanese company Meiko Electronics (Wuhan) Limited against Japan’s “nationalizing” of Diaoyu Islands, also called Senkaku in Japan, in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, yesterday. Firms ranging from electronics giants Sony and Panasonic to Japan’s three big carmakers — Toyota, Honda and Nissan — temporarily halted production at some or all of their China-based plants as anger erupted over a disputed island chain claimed by Tokyo and Beijing. — AFP

Value of existing Sukuk in world reaches $210.8bn KUWAIT: KFH-Research stated in a study that was discussed during the Global Islamic Finance Forum that is currently being held in Malaysia about the developments of the global Sukuk market in the past few years, that the global Sukuk market witnessed a significant boom during the past six years.

Sukuk grew by 28.3% to reach a total value of Sukuk issuance worldwide during the First Half of this year $210.8 billion. The year 2013 is expected to witness further development.

The sukuk industry has emerged as one of the main components of the Islamic financial system. Over the years, the sukuk market has grown by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.3% between 2006 and 1H12 to reach USD210.8 billion and contributed 13.4% of the global Islamic finance assets in 2011, said KFH report.

Malaysia remains the largest issuer to date with more than USD 234.1 billion issued within the domicile until the end1H12. Meanwhile, GCC sukuk total USD92.4 billion in issuances to date. On the primary sukuk market, Malaysia represented 71.6% of new sukuk issuances in 2011, followed by Qatar (10.9%), the UAE (4.8%), and Saudi Arabia (3.2%). As at end-1H12, Malaysia’s market share was 68.2%, followed by Saudi Arabia (11.1%), the UAE (6.4%) and Indonesia (5.9%), said the report. The sectors driving sukuk issuances during the 1H12 include both government and transportation, accounting for 54.7% and 22.1%, respectively, while there have been a considerable number of issuances in the GCC and Malaysia from the power and utilities sector. Sovereign issuers maintain the bulk share of primary market issuances over the past few years as governments increase their local currency programmes. New jurisdictions have also played their part in the rising number of

sovereign papers, such as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, by which the international sukuk market grows to attract new investors. Despite the growth in funds being raised through sukuk issuances, the amount issued in US dollars remains stagnant compared to the growth in other currencies. The underlying reason being that international sukuk are driven by sovereigns who tend to concentrate on local liquidity levels while foreign currency transactions require a greater deal of preparation and face exposure to currency rate risks. During the 1H12, the Malaysian ringgit continued to be the most significant currency, constituting 70.0% of all issuances.

Global outstanding sukuk reached $210.8 billion as at end-1H12, up 18.3% from the USD178.2 billion at end-2011.

The total amount outstanding has continuously advanced, even during the financial crisis, and in recent years growth has accelerated due to the influx of new issuers and the growing amounts issued by sovereigns and central banks.

Between 2006 and 2011, the secondary market has grown at a CAGR of 28.1%.

Sukuk yields during the 1H12 continued their steady decline by a further 50 basis points to 3.437%. The major leaders of this decline include the likes of Dar AlArkan Sukuk (-532 bps), Emaar Properties Sukuk (-225 bps), Dubai DOF Sukuk (-202 bps), DP World Sukuk (-146 bps), Al Hilal Sukuk (-126 bps) and Kuveyt Turk 10/16 Sukuk (-122 bps).

In terms of sukuk total return performance, the HSBC/Nasdaq SKBI Total Return Index, which tracks the return of an emerging sukuk portfolio consisting of 33 USD/GBP/JPY/EUR-denominated fixed/floating rate vanilla issuances, returned 5.12% during the 1H12. This is slightly lower than the 1H11 which returned 5.19% and lower than 1Q10’s 5.64%. — KUNA

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds

.2740000 .4500000 .3620000 .2980000 .2830000 .2900000 .0040000 .0020000 .0759460 .7399160 .3870000 .0720000 .7253550 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2797500 GB Pound/KD .4544120 Euro .3665560 Swiss francs .3015850 Canadian dollars .2870110 Danish Kroner .0491630 Swedish Kroner .0424370 Australian dlr .2926600 Hong Kong dlr .0360850 Singapore dlr .2283670 Japanese yen .0035560 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0761950 Bahraini dinars .7423380 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0746200 Omani riyals .7269070 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Malaysian Ringgit

3.595 5.192 2.968 2.127 3.427 230.070 36.277 3.425 6.742 9.098 91.879

.2860000 .4600000 .3710000 .3040000 .2950000 .2990000 .0058500 .0035000 .0767090 .7473520 .4100000 .0780000 .7326450 .0510000 .2818500 .4578230 .3693080 .3038490 .2891660 .0495320 .0427560 .2948570 .0363560 .2300820 .0035820 .0052220 .0021380 .0029920 .0034630 .0767670 .7479100 .3986560 .0751800 .7323630 .0068060

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.977 77.254 730.280 746.780 76.560

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.950 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.101 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.312 Tunisian Dinar 181.270 Jordanian Dinar 397.160 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.887 Syrian Lier 4.906 Morocco Dirham 33.752 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 281.150 Euro 369.430 Sterling Pound 457.710 Canadian dollar 289.250 Turkish lire 155.890 Swiss Franc 304.110 US Dollar Buying 279.950 GOLD 328.000 166.000 84.250

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria

SELL CASH

299.000 747.300 3.680 292.000 551.900 45.800 50.500 167.800 48.010 373.200 36.910 5.380 0.032 0.161 0.234 3.680 398.210 0.190 94.560 45.700 4.320 236.100 1.820

50.600 729.910 3.060 6.990 77.730 75.030 231.380 36.290 2.677 460.300 43.900 307.000 4.300 9.440 198.263 76.610 281.400 1.350

10 Tola

GOLD 1,853.600

Sterling Pound US Dollar

729.730 2.975 6.777 77.300 75.030 231.380 36.290 2.125 458.300 305.500 4.300 9.330 76.510 281.000

COUNTRY

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 458.300 281.000

SELL DRAFT

297.500 747.300 3.428 290.500

231.400 46.109 371.700 36.760 5.200 0.031

SELL DRAFT

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

297.53 292.49 308.03 370.67 280.55 459.15 3.65 3.434 5.181 2.129 3.256 2.975 76.45 747.01 46.12 399.70 730.16 77.47 75.02

SELL CASH

299.000 292.000 307.000 370.500 281.700 458.000 3.690 3.560 5.400 2.290 3.530 3.150 77.000 746.500 47.800 398.500 735.000 78.000 75.300

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 398.180 0.189 94.560 3.280 234.800

Rate for Transfer

Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro

280.900 288.297 456.909 368.280

Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

294.707 743.669 76.457 77.104 74.871 395.968 46.067 2.125 5.178 2.967 3.433 6.733 689.046 4.581 9.025 4.356 3.248 89.546

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Currency

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

280.900 2.968 5.190 2.130 3.427 6.770 76.580 75.065 746.800 46.125 461.800 2.990 1.550 373.700 294.200 3.200

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

280.600 370.350 458.200 290.400 3.600 5.202 46.130 2.124 3.428 6.735 2.972 747.200 76.440 74.950

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

BUSINESS

Auto giant Fiat’s future plans put Italy on edge MILAN: Fiat’s boss painted a bleak picture of the Italian auto market but said the historic brand will stay in the country, amid union warnings that Italy’s top private sector employer is set to shed jobs.

Sergio Marchionne, who also heads up US auto giant Chrysler, was responding to rising concern in Italy after Fiat last week said it would not stick to its previous investment targets and would unveil a new strategic plan next month.

“Fiat has accumulated losses of 700 million euros ($916 million) in Europe and is supporting these losses thanks to success in the United States and emerging markets,” Marchionne said in an interview with La Repubblica daily.

Of the 3.5 billion euros in operating profit Fiat expects this year, none of it will come from Italy, where there has been a collapse in sales, he said. Asked

if he saw any light at the end of the tunnel, Marchionne responded: “I don’t see anything until 2014. That’s why investing in 2012 would be lethal.”

“I am trying to profit from the recovery of the American market, exploit it to the maximum, to attain the financial security that would allow me to protect the presence of Fiat in Italy and in Europe at this dramatic moment,” he said.

Social Welfare Minister Elsa Fornero earlier said she had requested “urgent talks” with Marchionne, a divisive figure in charge since 2004 at the company that once symbolised Italy’s postwar economic boom.

Marchionne over the past few years has forged a partnership with oncetroubled US giant Chrysler, which is now propping up Fiat’s results. But the chief executive’s orientation towards the United States and his repeated

barbs against Italy have sparked anger in Fiat’s heartland.

Fornero told La Repubblica that Fiat had “a duty” to explain itself, adding that Marchionne “owes this not so much to the government or the shareholders but to Fiat workers and to the thousands of families that depend on it.” Fiat employs a total of 197,000 people, including around 80,000 in Italy.

“Fiat has done so much for Italy but it also has responsibilities towards this country. We would like it to bear that in mind,” Fornero said.

But she cautioned that “the government cannot impose its choices on a private company”-unlike the French government which has raised its hackles at Peugeot’s plan to close a landmark plant near Paris and shed 8,000 jobs.

The crisis in the country’s auto market has proved worse than expected,

with car sales in Italy plunging by 20.2 percent in August on a 12-month comparison. Trade union leaders are already warning that Fiat could be preparing to announce the closure of one or more of its five plants in Italy, which are currently only producing at 50 percent capacity due to the slump in demand.

Fiat’s history has reflected the downs as well as the ups of Italian industry and it became an important hub of trade union militancy and violent protests in the 1970s and 1980s-a period that some fear could be returning. The company, which was founded in 1899, is most closely associated internationally with its late veteran chairman Gianni Agnelli-a playboy and shrewd tycoon who engineered a massive reform of the company’s management and international expansions. Marchionne meanwhile has

come under growing criticism from his peers, with fashion billionaire Diego Della Valle on Friday criticising his “bad decisions” which go against “the interests and the needs of the country.”

Italy “has given a lot to Fiat-maybe too much,” Della Valle said. Giorgio Squinzi, head of the Italian employers’ federation Confindustria, also chimed in, saying Italy could not afford to lose its auto industry.

“We should not forget that behind the auto industry there is a huge business for many companies that keeps the sector competitive,” he said.

Antonio Di Pietro, a populist politician and leader of the Italy of Values party, said he was saddened that “people like Marchionne take money and resources from the country and do what they want with them.” “Italy needs industrial giants like the Fiat of yesteryear,” he said. — AFP

Spain seeks aid, Greece needs more time to pay Urges EU/IMF to extend aid plan

MOSCOW: Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (4th R), accompanied by Viktor Vekselberg (front), businessman and President of the Skolkovo Foundation, visits the Skolkovo Hypercube, the first constructed building of the Skolkovo Innovation Center, to attend a meeting on the development of medical industry in Moscow, yesterday. — AFP

Investors flock to Russia’s $5bn Sberbank stake sale MOSCOW: Russia’s sale of a $5 billion stake in Sberbank has attracted strong demand from investors drawn by the lender’s dominant position in a growing domestic market and potential to expand across emerging European economies.

Marker sources said yesterday the banks in charge of selling the 7.6 percent stake in Europe’s third-biggest lender by equity value were quoting a price of 9294 roubles per share, and the offering was two times oversubscribed at that level. While below the government’s original hopes for 100 roubles per share, it is up from the 91 roubles that Sberbank set as the minimum bid, and indicates strong demand from investors. “We like Russia,” said one investor, which holds a small stake in Sberbank and aims to buy more.

“Just on simple valuations it is one of the cheapest markets in the world. In investing there, we are trying to be more exposed to the domestic consumer.”

Russia’s economy is growing at around 4 percent, providing a healthy backdrop for Sberbank compared with most European lenders, although growth has been slowing as the euro zone debt crisis saps demand for oil and gas.

Having delayed a sale due to volatile financial markets, the Russian central bank has seized on a market rally prompted by stimulus measures from the US and European central banks to cut its 57.6 percent stake in Sberbank through a placement of shares in Moscow and global depositary shares (GDS) in London.

It will retain majority control with a stake of 50 percent plus one share.

Sberbank plans to close the order book at 1330 GMT yesterday, one source close to the deal said. The GDSs could start trading in London as early as today.

The pricing guidance indicates a discount of 3-5 percent to Sberbank’s 97.05 rouble close on Friday, and values the 1.71 billion shares being sold at $5.14$5.26 billion. Sberbank’s shares were down 0.1 pct at 95.5 roubles yesterday.

The discount is less than the approximate 10 percent seen on the government’s sale of a stake in Russia’s No.2 bank VTB last year. The long-awaited Sberbank offering has revived hopes for Russia’s stalled privatisation programme.

It will also clear a share ‘overhang’ and allow investors to focus on Sberbank’s underlying value, chief executive German Gref told Reuters on Monday. Gref has been courting Asian asset managers to back the deal, while local reports say US private equity group TPG, already an investor in VTB, may buy Sberbank stock.

Sberbank yesterday met more than 40 investors in Moscow to explain its strategy and take questions, according to one investor present. It will do similar meetings in London and New York during the day. “Sberbank’s retail network has a huge advantage, it attracts huge deposits compared with other banks in Russia and that is a big advantage in terms of margins,” said Bruce Bower, a portfolio manager at Moscow-based fund manager Verno Capital.

“Sberbank has the best footprint and the presentations (today) confirmed that too,” added Bower, whose fund is already a Sberbank shareholder and was waiting to hear how much stock it would be allocated in the offering.

The former Soviet state savings bank enjoys cheap funding through controlling 46 percent of Russian household deposits and has the implicit backing of a sovereign with low debts and the world’s fourth-largest gold and foreign currency reserves.

It has net interest margins of over 6 percent and a return on equity of 26 percent - one of the highest on the world. It has also snapped up cheap foreign banking assets, most recently buying Turkey’s Denizbank for $3.6 billion, although it has said it is not pursuing any further takeovers abroad for now, after criticism from analysts that it was taking its eye off the ball in Russia. —Reuters

Despite crisis, booming Ikea to speed up store openings STOCKHOLM: Swedish furniture giant Ikea has robust finances despite the economic crisis and will more than double the pace of its new store openings, company officials told a Swedish newspaper yesterday.

“Thanks to our very strong finances, we have the possibility to invest the significant sums that are needed, even when times are tough in general,” Goeran Grosskopf, chairman of the Ingka Holding parent company that comprises all of the Ikea businesses, told financial daily Dagens Industri.

“By 2020 we aim to have almost doubled Ikea’s size,” he added. According to Dagens Industri, Ikea plans to build 20 to 25 new stores per year by 2020 compared to the current rate of six to 10 per year.

That is also expected to create tens of thousands of jobs worldwide.

“As we see it, our voyage has just begun. We see a huge potential for

growth, both on existing markets and new ones,” Ikea chief executive Mikael Ohlsson told the newspaper.

“We have grown faster than expected and are consistently gaining market share,” he added. “Our figures (for the 2011-2012 fiscal year) are not yet completely ready, but on a preliminary basis our sales rose by about 7.0 percent,” Ohlsson said.

Contacted by AFP, Ikea did not want to provide any detailed figures. “We’ll get back to you in January when we’re finished counting,” company spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said.

According to Dagens Industri’s own calculations, sales for the fiscal year September 2011 to August 2012 should tick in around 26.4 billion euros ($34.6 billion).

Ikea has 297 stores in 26 countries, with some 655 million customers each year. Some 211 million copies of its catalogue are printed in 29 languages. — AFP

BEIJING: Greece should get cheaper rates on its 130 billion euro aid deal and at least two more years from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to repay them, the chief negotiator of the country’s private sector creditors said yesterday.

But better terms could only come after Athens delivers on commitments it has made to fiscal reform, Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), told a news conference while on a trip to Beijing.

“Once that has been done, and I am confident it will be done, Europe and the IMF should move quickly to extend the adjustment period for at least two years and provide the modest additional financial support for that extension to be effective,” Dallara said.

“Only some 15-20 billion euros is needed.

This can easily be realised in part by reducing interest rates on the loans which Europe and the IMF made to Greece on more concessional terms,” he continued, adding that responses to the Greek debt crisis placed too much emphasis on short-term austerity and not enough on improving the country’s longerterm competitiveness.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, leading a country in its fifth year of recession at a time of rising discontent at home, earlier said he wants two more years to implement economic reforms tied to the aid package to soften their impact.

Athens, where Europe’s debt crisis began nearly three years ago, has been boosted by a decision to give Portugal - also the recipient of an international loan package - more time to meet fiscal targets as recession saps Lisbon’s ability to deliver.

Under the revised targets, Portugal has until 2014 to bring its budget deficit down to the EU limit of 3 percent, ministers said in a statement on Friday. Previously, the 78 billion euro package required a deficit of 3 percent in 2013. Inspectors from the so-called troika of the IMF, European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) are evaluating Greek progress on agreed targets before releasing the next, 32 billion euro ($41.3 billion) tranche from the giant aid package.

Cash-strapped Greece must come up with nearly 12 billion euros of extra cuts for the next two years to get the money, and it has fallen behind in reforms.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said last week that lenders may agree to some sort of extension. But Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said in a newspaper interview released on Sunday that Athens would get “a few weeks” more time to meet terms of its international rescue. The idea of having a year or two was dead and no extra money was on the table, she said.

Greece’s second loan deal envisages

Athens returning to international markets by 2015, but with two consecutive parliamentary elections in May and June after political parties struggled to form a coalition, the country lost ground on its reform agenda. Deepening recession has also made the debt targets less attainable.

Dallara welcomed the ECB’s commitment this month to launch a potentially unlimited bond-buying programme to lower the borrowing costs of struggling euro zone countries in a bid to end the debt crisis, but said it

Spanish bonds, but big borrowing needs before the year-end and a deepening recession mean most analysts and policymakers believe it is only a matter of time before it will require help.

Madrid’s pledge is seen by EU diplomats as a precursor to a request that pre-empts any euro zone calls for further reforms in an attempt to limit a political backlash at home.

The new reform programme will be made public along with the 2013 budget on Sept.

28, the day Madrid will also publish the results

ATHENS: European Commission director, Matthias Morse, arrives for a meeting between Greece’s finance minister Yannis Stournaras and the debt inspectors from the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund, known as the troika at Greece’s Finance ministry in Athens, yesterday. — AP was at risk of failure. “The announcement by the ECB was very bold on the one hand, but it will come to naught, nothing, unless Spain or Italy ask for EU/IMF endorsement of an economic programme,” Dallara said.

“In the absence of a governmental negotiation of a reform programme that is endorsed by the European Commission, the massive potential support by the ECB will remain just potential and will not materialise,” he said.

Spain told euro zone finance ministers last week it would set clear deadlines for structural reforms by the end of the month, in a move European diplomats said would pave the way for an aid request before long to help it tackle its debt pile.

Madrid’s borrowing costs have fallen sharply since the ECB said it was ready to buy

of a final stress test of the country’s banking sector.

Euro zone officials have speculated Spain could apply in time for a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Oct. 8.

Madrid has so far resisted austerity conditions that go beyond the EU policy recommendations it is already implementing, while north European creditors led by Germany are adamant that any aid would come on tougher terms. Such frictions were damaging to the future of the single currency bloc, Dallara said. “Europe has the potential to move past this crisis, but only if there is a greater consensus among the 17 countries that they want a unified future, not a fragmented future which pulls apart the euro zone at its very roots.” —Reuters

Philippines predicts $15bn from call centres MANILA: The Philippines expects to boost its revenues from call centres to nearly $15 billion by 2016, sustaining its three-year lead over rival India, industry leaders said yesterday. The archipelago, which already hosts global giants Accenture, Convergys, IBM, NT T Docomo and Hinduja, is attracting more and more likeminded companies, Contact Center Association of the Philippines head Benedict Hernandez said.

“The reality is we have established ourselves as the pre-eminent brand in call centres,” he told reporters at the sidelines of an industry conference.

The sector passed India in revenue terms in 2009 and in manpower terms in 2010, according to industry figures.

Revenues this year are projected at $8.4 billion with 493,000 people employed, Hernandez said, with turnover expected to rise to $14.7 billion by 2016, employing 862,000 people, he added.

Hernandez said that even the sharp appreciation of the Philippine peso against the Indian rupee in recent months, as well as attractive tax incentives offered by other countries, is not expected to dampen interest. Philippine call centres were also expanding their market from being predominantly English-speaking to other languages including Spanish, Japanese, German, Mandarin, French, Korean, Bahasa and Thai, he added. — AFP

PARIS: Daniel Joutard, director and founder of Ainy holds nuts of Sacha Inchi plant from Amazonia in Paris, Thursday, Sept, 13, 2012. Joutard wants to hire more employees for his growing, innovative skin-care products company, but can’t take the risk in large part because of France’s inflexible workplace protections. The 37-year-old is among thousands of small- and medium-size business owners who will be crucial to help France — like other countries in Europe — reduce a double-digit jobless rate. — AP

24

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

business

FedEx lowers profit, plans air cost cuts Electronics makers shifting to ocean shipments from air NEW YORK: FedEx Corp lowered its fiscal 2013 profit target yesterday, saying earnings could slide as much as 6 percent for the year, as a weakening world economy prompts customers to shift toward lower-priced and slower shipping options.

The world’s second-largest package delivery company said makers of electronics and mobile phones had begun to move more of their cargo on ships as pressure on their selling prices makes the cost of air freight harder to bear.

“A lot of traffic is moving onto the water because moving goods by air is very energy-intensive,” Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith told investors on a conference call. “You can’t have jet fuel going up to close to $4 a gallon on occasion without it having a big effect on the choices people make.”

The Memphis, Tennessee-based company plans to take a “significant amount of cost” out of its express air freight operation, Smith said. It will provide details at an October investor meeting, but does not plan layoffs or “draconian steps,” he added. Smith founded the company in 1971 as an air shipper, but today

it moves a large amount of goods by truck. FedEx said it expected a profit of $6.20 to $6.60 per share for its fiscal year, which ends in May. That is below both its prior forecast of $6.90 to $7.40 and Wall Street’s estimate of $7.03.

FedEx’s larger rival, United Parcel Service Inc, had cut its 2012 profit forecast in July, but the midpoint of the revised range would still represent roughly 9 percent growth.

FedEx’s shares fell 1.7 percent to $87.78 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Profit in the just-ended first quarter was heavily weighted by FedEx’s express segment, which handles overnight package delivery by aircraft. Operating earnings in the segment fell 28 percent, and U.S. package deliveries were down 5 percent.

Most of that decline reflected the decision of one customer a phone company that FedEx did not nameto shift from express shipments to ground, said Executive Vice President Mike Glenn. Such shifts are common in weak economic times, when FedEx’s corporate customers are looking for ways to cut costs, analysts said.

“The downward revision reflects what has been a very difficult macroeconomic environment in general and a specifically weak environment for air express services,” said Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Benjamin Hartford. “This has been ... more acute recently as corporations face decelerating growth and focus on managing costs.”

Net income fell 1 percent to $459 million, or $1.45 per share, in the first quarter ended on Aug. 31 from $464 million, or $1.46 per share, a year earlier. That latest figure is well below the analysts’ average estimate of $1.56 a share before the company’s profit warning early this month, but above Wall Street’s revised target of $1.40, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 3 percent to $10.79 billion. FedEx said its average shipping rates would increase 3.9 percent in the United States starting Jan 7.

At Monday’s close, FedEx shares had risen about 17 percent over the past 12 months, lagging the 20 percent climb of the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index but ahead of the 11 percent rise of UPS. — Reuters

Asian markets slip after Wall Street losses HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly fell yesterday following losses on Wall Street and as profittakers moved in after last week’s huge gains sparked by the US Federal Reserve stimulus plan.

Anti-Japan protests across China also hit shares in both countries, with three of Japan’s biggest car makers saying they had closed their factories or cut production in China as a result.

Tokyo closed 0.39 percent, or 35.62 points, lower at 9,123.77 and Sydney fell 0.18 percent, or 7.8 points, to 4,394.7 while Seoul edged up 0.13 percent, or 2.61 points, to close at 2,004.96. Hong Kong shed 0.27 percent, or 56.18 points, to 20,601.93 while Shanghai fell 0.91 percent, or 18.96 points, to 2,059.54.

Investors were taking a step back after the Fed on Thursday said it would start a third round of bond-buying, known as quantitative easing (QE3), in a bid to jumpstart the US economy. The announcement, which followed a European Central Bank plan to buy the debt of under-pressure eurozone nations, had injected global markets with some much-needed risk appetite on Friday.

But profit-taking on Wall Street Monday was fuelled by data showing the Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index for the New York region fell for a second straight month in September. The Dow fell 0.30 percent, the S&P 500 slid 0.31 percent and the Nasdaq shed 0.17 percent. “The big question was how long the exuberance of QE3 was going to last. Not very long it seems,” Tim Waterer, senior trader at CMC Markets in Sydney, told Dow Jones Newswires.

On currency markets the dollar was changing hands at 78.64 yen in early European trade, compared with 78.70 yen in New York late

Monday. The euro fetched $1.3085 and 102.96 yen, down from $1.3114 and 103.22 yen.

With the Fed and ECB action unveiled, eyes are now on a twoday policy meeting of the central Bank of Japan that started yesterday, while China is due to release manufacturing activity figures for September tomorrow. Tokyo and Beijing are locked in a political stand-off over a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea that have seen violent protests across China which have hit shares.

Honda Motor said it had temporarily closed all five of its China plants, while Nissan shut two of three factories and Toyota said it had scaled back some production without elaborating.

The decisions came after Panasonic said it suspended operations at some of its facilities in China and Fast Retailing temporarily closed seven of its 145 Uniqlo stores in the country. In Tokyo, Nissan slumped 5.01 percent, Toyota closed 0.62 percent lower and Honda was off 2.5 percent.

Panasonic eased 0.7 percent and Fast Retailing tumbled 6.97 percent.

Kenichi Hirano, market analyst at Tachibana Securities, said the islands are like “clouds hanging low in the sky”, adding some retailers who had outlets in China could be negatively affected.

Oil prices also eased, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, losing 31 cents to $96.30 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for November delivery losing 73 cents to $113.97 06.

Gold was at $1,756.35 at 1050 GMT compared with $1,770.20 on Monday.

In other markets: Taipei dropped 0.36 percent, or

27.96 points, to 7,734.26. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co shed 0.92 percent to Tw$85.7 while Hon Hai Precision was 1.44 percent lower at Tw$96.1.

Manila closed 0.37 percent lower, dipping 19.77 points to 5,331.13. Bank of the Philippine Islands dropped 1.98 percent to 76.90 pesos and Metropolitan Bank and Trust was down 1.18 percent to 91.90 pesos. Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 0.90 percent to 2,864 pesos.

Wellington fell 0.33 percent, or 12.76 points, to 3,804.48. Fletcher Building fell 0.9 percent to NZ$6.88 and Telecom was down 0.6 percent at NZ$2.49.

Jakarta fell 0.74 percent, or 31.39 points, at 4,223.89. Timah fell 3.71 percent to 1,560 rupiah, Astra Agro Lestari lost 1.98 percent to 22,300 rupiah, while Telkom rose 1.6 percent to 9,400 rupiah.

Singapore slid 0.35 percent, or 10.74 points, to 3,067.98. DBS Group fell 1.16 percent to Sg$14.45 and CapitaLand shed 0.62 percent to Sg$3.21. Kuala Lumpur stocks lost 2.62 points, or 0.16 percent, to end at 1,640.33.

AirAsia fell 4.2 percent to 2.97 ringgit and Petronas Dagangan was down 1.7 percent at 22.40.

Tradewinds Corp surged 17 percent to 1.01 ringgit.

Bangkok dropped 0.44 percent or 5.68 points to 1,272.86. Coal producer Banpu fell 3.04 percent to 446.00 baht, while PTT lost 1.17 percent to 338.00 baht.

Mumbai slid 0.25 percent, or 46.3 points, to 18,496.01.

Software exporter Wipro fell 3.79 percent to 369.6 rupees while rival TCS dropped 3.02 percent to 1,300.4 rupees. India’s largest private firm energy giant Reliance Industries slid 2.11 percent to 855.2 rupees.—AFP

NEW DELHI: A coolie, or a laborer who carries heavy loads, walks through a market looking for work in New Delhi, India, yesterday. India agreed Friday to open its huge market to foreign retailers such as Wal-Mart as part of a flurry of economic reforms aimed at sparking new growth in the country’s sputtering economy. —AP

Indian truck, bus drivers to strike over diesel price NEW DELHI: Tens of thousands of Indian truck and bus drivers are to go on strike tomorrow after the country ’s top transport union announced a stoppage to protest a recent hike in the price of diesel.

The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which represents about 11.5 million truckers, transporters and bus operators, also threatened an indefinite strike if its demand for a rollback of the price hike is not met.

“We are going on a one-day strike starting from the midnight on Wednesday. We want to let the country know what this govern-

ment has done to us by raising the prices,” Gurinder Pal Singh, a senior AIMTC member, told AFP. “We will wait and watch for the next five to 10 days. If there is no rollback, we will go on an indefinite strike,” he said. Singh expected nearly 75 percent of all cargo and passenger transport workers to take part in the protest tomorrow.

The Indian government hiked the price of diesel by 12 percent last week despite protests from the opposition and its own coalition allies, saying it was a tough decision that had to be taken.

India buys in around 80 percent of its oil and the import bill has risen dramatically because of high global prices and a plunging rupee.

The high cost of impor ted fuel has been partly blamed for the worsening of India’s public finances. I n addition to the transport strike the government faces the prospect of a nationwide shutdown on Thursday, called for by opposition parties and some prominent trade unions opposed to the opening up of the retail sector to foreign supermarkets. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

BUSINESS

Dubai unveils 2013 Cadillac XTS First launch outside US

By Ben Garcia DUBAI: A remarkable vehicle that will set a new technology standard will hit the road in the Middle East, Kuwait included, in October. Cadillac XTS 2013 was launched at the Pavilion Downtown Dubai, a stone throw away from the famous Burj Al-Khalifa, on September 10, 2012. Cadillac XTS, dubbed as the most technologically advanced production car in the brand’s history, of all-new luxury sedan has expanded and elevated Cadillac’s portfolio, delivering not just more advanced technology, but enhanced Haldex all-wheel-drive system with electronically controlled limited-slip differential. Cadillac XTS will ‘bring anyone to a superior driving experience’ at once as the new Cadillac XTS delivers the space, elegance and dramatic presence that are Cadillac signatures, but with entirely new and technically advanced methods tuned for a new generation of luxury customers.

Cadillac XTS was launched in Dubai, the first location outside of the United States. Speaking to the Kuwait Times after the launch, Dan Butler, Cadillac Vice President for Marketing said, XTS will be arriving in the Middle East starting October, to deliver the wishes of its customers in the Middle East. “There is a hunger for a large luxury Cadillac in the Middle East. We know how this vehicle has been put together in terms of the attention to details, the authentic materials, real leather, wood, metal, that are appealing to customers that are looking for something different. The amount of technology that we used here is very compelling,” he said. “XTS for us marks the continued redefinition of the Cadillac brand. We are now focusing in the next evolution of modern design, so, instead of just more ingenious, crisp and tailored but with still dramatic presence from the stand points of performance, a powerful V-6 engine, a more lighter vehicle, compared to the old sedan,” he said. Butler noted Cadillac XTS performance are surprisingly capable/confident but more importantly XTS represents a new statement in terms of technology. “We have absolutely the great products from product standpoint. For the customers of Cadillac brand, beginning with the XTS, we will be introducing 10 new Cadillac within the next three years. It begins with the XTS which is a new modern definition of large luxury, something that we know very well about Cadillac. You say it, exciting, dramatic, incredible, confident yes really appealing design and performances.”

Technology that redefines future Butler said, the most important part in the Cadillac XTS, is the satisfaction of end users. Cadillac XTS can be summed up as ‘technology that redefines future’. Cadillac XTS interacts the vehicle’s owner as the XTS has a touch screen interface similar to an iPad. “Cadillac sets standards for the world to follow. The technology will be used in the subsequent vehicles that we are going to introduce,” he said.

Kuwait according to Butler registered a double digit sales growth in recent years. “After Saudi Arabia, Kuwait is the second biggest market in terms of sales. Obviously a very promising place for the luxury brand like Cadillac,” he said. XTS marks the debut of CUE, Cadillac’s breakthrough in-vehicle user experience for control and connectivity. It merges intuitive design with auto industry-first controls for information and media control. Initially the price set for Cadillac XTS in Saudi Arabia has a price tag of SAR275,000 or KD21,000 (about US$74,000). The XTS is only offered in the Middle East with a fully equipped Platinum collection which represents the highest level of technology and luxury, including a unique front appearance, wheels and interior colors, materials and trim.

XTS is the only luxury sedan with standard Magnetic Ride Control - the world’s fastest-reacting suspension - while the advanced all-wheel-drive system uses Haldex technology with an electronic limited slip differential to transfer power front-to-back, and side-to-side along the rear axle.

The XTS is also the most spacious Cadillac sedan, tailored to provide roominess in a more efficiently sized package. It offers more interior space than midsize luxury cars and is comparable to full-size sedans, particularly in the rear seat area, where it has 1,016 mm of rear legroom. And when it comes to trunk space, the XTS is in a league of its own, with 509 Liter, exceeding both midsize and full-size competitors. For XTS customers, the cargo advantage means room for five or more suitcases.

CUE details Cadillac CUE is standard. It is the highly customizable user interface that exemplifies XTS’s blend of advanced technology and artistic design. The heart of CUE, which stands for Cadillac User Experience, is the standard eightinch (203 mm) screen in the center stack, the faceplate below the screen and the steering wheel controls. CUE features several industry firsts, including capacitive-touch control with proximity sensing and haptic feedback. Capacitive

touch is the technology featured on many of the best tablets and smartphones.

Available exclusively on the XTS is a 12.3-inch (312 mm) reconfigurable instrument cluster. It features vibrant graphic displays showcased among four driver-selectable themes, ranging from minimal to extensive information. And while it is the prominent element in the XTS’s technological character, CUE is part of a more comprehensive and layered approach to the car’s design, capabilities and performance.

A new CUE iPad Application, which replicates the center screen that is the hub of the system, is being used to famil-

• • •

Adaptive Forward Lighting LED backup and center high-mounted rear stop lamps Heated outside mirrors with auto-dimming feature, turn-signal indicators and puddle lamps Rainsense automatic windshield Twenty-inch aluminum wheels with polished finish and chrome inserts Eight exterior color choices: Radiant Silver Metallic, Black Raven, Crystal Red Tintcoat, White Diamond Tricoat, Graphite Metallic, Black Diamond Tricoat, Silver Coast Metallic and Sapphire Blue Metallic.

XTS driving experience A layered approach to the driving experience relies on new and established technologies - all rooted in a stiff structure. The body is infused with strategically placed, ultrahigh-strength steel for strength and crash protection, and serves as the foundation for the advanced chassis system.

A smart all-wheel-drive system with Haldex technology with an electronic limited-slip differential that splits torque between the rear wheels - complements an advanced HiPer Strut front suspension and standard Magnetic Ride Control real-time damping to give the XTS sure-footed, confident

iarize dealers with the experience, as well as provide videos and information. This App is now opened to the public via the App Store.

XTS interior features Like the exterior, the XTS’s cabin extolls a multidimensional philosophy in a bold, elegant design that is also very efficient in the ways it encompasses passengers and cargo.

It represents Cadillac’s new expression of luxury at Cadillac also in its use of authentic materials and unprecedented connectivity. XTS Platinum feature a fully wrapped leather interior with micro-fiber sueded headliner, as well as premium wood trim on the steering wheel, console, center stack, instrument panel and door panels.

Seating trim is offered with Opus full leather with perforated detailing. Heated and ventilated seats are also offered.

and comfortable ride and handling traits. A linked H-arm design with “air springs” comprises the rear suspension.

HiPer Strut is based on the MacPherson strut front suspension design and features dual-path top mountings that separate the transfer of spring and damper loads to the body structure. It improves ride-and-handling characteristics in four significant ways: • Provides more linear and communicative steering through improved camber control • Improves impact isolation on bumps and rough surfaces • Reduces torque steer • Improves vehicle sensitivity to tire irregularities and wheel imbalance Magnetic Ride Control delivers precise body motion control - “reading” the road every millisecond and changing damping in just five milliseconds. It replaces conventional mechanical-valve shocks with electronically controlled shocks filled with a magneto-rheological fluid containing minute iron particles. Under the presence of magnetic charge, the iron particles align to provide damping resistance almost instantly.

StabiliTrak electronic stability control is standard, along with variable-effort steering and four-wheel disc brakes (front Brembo brakes) with four-channel antilock brakes - all features that add important layers of control to the driving experience. Like Magnetic Ride Control, XTS borrows the Brembo braking technology from Cadillac’s V-Series of highperformance models.

XTS design and exterior features XTS’s hardware and spatial dimensions are the foundational layers that support a new level of surface detail.

Multidimensional elements, including the grille, headlamps and new use of accent lighting, coalesce to give the XTS a presence and attention to detail unlike any Cadillac that has come before it.

The XTS’s surface details also convey a more-nuanced design philosophy, with elements that support the long, sleek proportion that is a welcome return to Cadillac. They bring forward more beauty and elegance with refined, graceful forms and surfaces working harmoniously with established Cadillac linear forms. It is a car that conveys the next step in Cadillac form and surface vocabulary.

Additional features include: • Premium chrome/satin-chrome grille finish • Illuminating door handles • Capless fuel-filling system that automatically locks with the door locks • Xenon high-intensity discharge headlamps with Twilight Sentinel

• • •

XTS powertrain Power for the XTS comes from an advanced 3.6L V-6 known by its “LFX” engine code. It is rated at 304 horsepower and 355 Nm of torque. Lightweight features help reduce overall weight for greater efficiency and a more favorable front-to-rear weight balance. Examples include a composite intake manifold that saves approximately 2.5 kg over the weight of a comparable aluminum intake and an integrated cylinder head/exhaust manifold design that saves approximately 6 kg per engine.

The LFX engine is matched with the Hydra-Matic 6T70 six-speed automatic transmission with tap-shift control.

Other features • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Standard Magnetic Ride Control, rear air suspension, HiPer Strut front suspension and Brembo brakes Direct-injected 3.6L V-6 with lightweight features, including integrated cylinder heads/exhaust manifolds Capless fuel tank filler for easier, cleaner refueling Industry-exclusive Safety Alert Seat Advanced safety systems that enhance driver vision and help avoid collisions, including Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Automatic Front and Rear Braking Standard 20-inch wheels Direct-injected 3.6L V-6 with lightweight features, including integrated cylinder heads/exhaust manifolds Advanced all-wheel-drive system with electronically controlled limited-slip differential Magnetic Ride Control, rear air suspension, HiPer Strut front suspension and Brembo brakes - all standard Standard 20-inch wheels Capless fuel tank filler for easier, cleaner refueling Folding rear-seat head restraints that enhance rear visibility Safety Alert Seat that vibrates to alert the driver Intervening braking system that lessens or avoids potential collisions Short- and long-range radar systems that support adaptive cruise control, front/rear automatic brakes and Rear Cross Traffic Alert

XTS safety The XTS’s technology fundamentally supports a range of advanced safety features, based on a “control and alert” strategy that extends the vision around the vehicle. It helps drivers identify potential crash situations and even intervenes when a crash threat appears more imminent, employing visual, audible and tactile (vibration) alerts, depending on the feature.

The alerts are designed to identify obstacles with sufficient warning to give the driver time to react and make changes - including the Safety Alert Seat feature, which vibrates either the left or right side of the driver’s seat cushion, depending on the location of the impending concern.

The intervening features, including Automatic Collision Preparation and front and rear automatic brakes, take over if the threat appears more immediate or the driver does not react to previous alerts.

The Driver Awareness Package is standard on the XTS Platinum.

26

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

BUSINESS

Warba Bank’s ‘La T7aty’ campaign offers 12 Mini Cooper KUWAIT: Warba Bank, the most recently opened Islamic bank in Kuwait, yesterday announced the launch of its ‘La T7aty’ campaign for customers transferring their salaries to Warba Bank.

Customers will be eligible to avail a chance to win one of 12 brand new Mini Cooper cars.

Commenting on the campaign, Adnan Salman Al Salem, Chief Retail Banking Officer of Warba Bank, said, “Given its keenness on presenting quality products and services for all its customers, Warba Bank is offering its customers 12 chances to win a new Mini Cooper among other wide-ranging incentives. Customers can make use of

the promotion simply by transferring their salaries to Warba, which also entitles them to enjoy the bank’s unique and swift services.”

The campaign aims to encourage more employees to transfer their salaries to the bank’s ‘Shabab Warba’ account, or ‘Lamar’ account for ladies, or ‘Safwa’ account which qualifies its holders to receive two chances to win a car and enjoy the elite services offered by such accounts. Applying for a salary account transfer during the campaign period will automatically qualify the applicant’s account number for the draw and hence create a chance or two to win a car.

‘La T7aty’ starts on September 23, 2012 and will run until December 23, 2012. The bank will officially announce the date of the draw and the winners during a special event organized for this purpose.

The bank is positioning itself in the market as a prime Islamic institution that offers an array of quality products and services to its customers, which are compliant with the principles of the Islamic Sharia.

Al Salem added, “The campaign reflects our main goal of giving our customers added value and privileges, while sparing no effort to serve their needs efficiently and transparently.”

Since its launch, Warba Bank has introduced a range of new products and services, including its Murabaha service with tenures from 6 months to 15 years. Murabaha provides finance for house construction, and goods such as marine equipment, furniture, electronic appliances, cars and more.

The bank has also introduced nine banking cards including the standard debit cards, Lamar card for ladies, Shabab Warba card, Safwa card for the affluent, and Tala card for children, as well as three types of credit cards; Classic, Gold, and Platinum, plus the pre-paid card Warba Bank is also the first to offer

the ‘My Box’ service from Posta Plus, which provides two local delivery addresses in the US and UK for all online purchases and regular mails.

As for customer service, the bank has launched its call center to receive customers’ calls and provide information 24/7. The center’s highly trained officers have achieved the International Certificate of Specialized Call Center Programs from ‘CariZma Company,’ which is approved by its strategic partner ‘The Call Center School’ in the USA. Customers can learn more about ‘La T7aty’and the bank’s multiple services by visiting Warba Bank or calling 1825555.

Wataniya announces third weekly winner

Nissan unveils all-new 2013 Altima at Dubai motor event ‘Innovation and excitement for everyone’ DUBAI: At an exclusive and unique event last night, Nissan unveiled the ‘class above’ all-new 2013 Nissan Altima, which breaks new ground for the mid-size sedan segment. More than 100 media, VIP guests and senior Nissan representatives from across the Middle East attended the event held at Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex, Dubai. The superb backdrop of the Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex was embellished with all-new Altima inspired attractions. Featuring 3D projections, interactive displays and, of course, the all-new Nissan Altima itself, the exhibits were as spectacular as the setting itself.

“The same bold approach was taken with this exceptional unveiling as was applied during the development of the all-new 2013 Altima,” explained Atsuo Kosaka, Managing Director, Nissan Middle East. “The safe thing to do would be to follow other automakers’ paths, conservatively evolving the Altima so as not to upset the existing owner base. But that would not be in keeping with Nissan’s new brand philosophy of ‘Innovation and Excitement for Everyone’. Innovation is what we do! Human centric, accessible, purposeful. Excitement is the customer’s experience! Engaging, intuitive, energizing’. “We took one of our most successful model, kept its DNA and changed nearly everything - the visual appeal, the driving experience and, of course, the technology. The new Altima is hands-down the most engaging vehicle in its class,” said Kosaka. “If you liked the previous Altima, you’ll love this one even more.

And if you’ve never driven an Altima before, get ready to have your notion of a mid-size sedan redefined.”

The result is a modern and charismatic vehicle over delivering on the fundamentals earned over four generations and two decades, for quality and reliability and adds new levels of innovation, fuel-efficiency, dynamic performance and premium style.

“The all-new 2013 Nissan Altima offers the

whole package - stylish design inside and out, outstanding ride, handling, acceleration and fuel economy, and thoughtful technology solutions not currently found in the segment,” concluded Kosaka. “For people who enjoy experiencing life to the fullest, we have the new premium mid-size sedan just for them.”

The new Altima offers numerous segment defining attributes that enhance the ownership experience and provide real customer value, including: ● Upscale interior rivalling premium luxury sedans, including best-in-class seat comfort inspired by zero-gravity research, an Advanced Drive-Assist(tm) Display

● Next-generation Safety Shield Technologies, including Blind Spot Warning (BSW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Moving Object Detection (MOD) systems, Rear view camera ● First in class Remote Engine Start for comfort as soon as you enter the cabin ● Power-train efficiency: equipped with either 2.5-litre or 3.5-litre engines and the new generation CVT providing better performance and an increased fuel efficiency of 18% vs current Altima ● An attractive multimedia package including Bluetooth(r) Hands-Free Phone System and Streaming Audio, 7 inch colour touch display, Navigation and BOSE(r) Premium Audio 9 speaker System

Five well-equipped models The all-new 2013 Nissan Altima is offered in three 2.5-litre engine equipped models, 2.5 S, 2.5 SV and 2.5 SL, along with two 3.5-litre V6 equipped models, 3.5 SV and 3.5 SL. The Altima 2.5 S includes: 2.5-litre DOHC 16valve 4-cylinder engine, Next Generation Xtronic CVT(r) (Continuously Variable Transmission), Active Trace Control (ATC), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), Traction Control System (TCS), 4wheel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Remote keyless

entry with Push Button Ignition, AM/FM/CD audio system with Aux-in with 2 speakers, steering wheel mounted meter display control, air conditioning with rear vents, 60/40 split folddown including best-in-class seat comfort inspired by zero-gravity research, Nissan Advanced Air Bag System (AABS) with driver and passenger single-stage supplemental front impact airbags (2 airbags).

Altima 2.5 SV (in addition to S features): Nissan Intelligent Key, Steering wheel mounted Audio & Cruise Control buttons, , 6 speakers, Auto on/off Head lamp (enhanced type), Cruise control, Parking sensors (2 Front & 2 Rear), Foglamp, Bodycolor outside mirror, Chrome front cup holder, Console & interior door handle piano black trim, 215/55 R17 Tires, 17”Aluminium wheel, 5 inch LCD display for audio, Bluetooth(r) hands free phone with steering wheel mounted buttons, Mic in roof console, USB port with iPod connectivity, Rear view camera. Altima 2.5 SL (in addition to Altima 2.5 SV features): Auto dimming Inside mirror, Power window with One-touch autoup/down for passenger, Driver 6-way power seat, Dual zone auto A/C, Vanity mirror with illumination and rod extension, Side cargo net, Compass, Side turn lamp in Outside mirror, Mood lamp in roof console, Side & Curtain airbag, Leather wrapped Steering, Remote engine start system Altima 3.5 SV (in addition to 2.5 SV features): 3.5L V6, Paddle Shift on Column w/ manual mode, AT with Ds Mode. Altima 3.5 SL (in addition to 3.5 SV features): Leather seat and trim with double stitch, Driver’s 8-way power seat, Power lumbar support, Leather wrapped shift knob, Bose audio & 9 speakers, Xenon head lamps, Dual zone auto A/C, Auto dimming Inside mirror, Normal sunroof, Leather wrapped steering, Side cargo net, Compass, Remote Engine Starter, Side turn lamp in Outside mirror, Power window with One-touch auto-up/down for pass, Vanity mirror with illumination and rod extension, Side & Curtain airbag, Rear 2 independent type headrest, LED tail lamp, Premium interior trim (wooden with beige colour/metal with black colour) Options Packages Navigation pack (Altima SV & Altima 2.5 SL) Navigation system 7-inch colour touch display Bose audio and 9-speaker system (upgrading from standard 6-speaker system) Technology pack (Altima 3.5 SL only) Navigation system 7-inch colour touch display Next-generation Safety Shield Technologies, including Blind Spot Warning (BSW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Moving Object Detection (MOD) systems Other Remote engine start option for S and SV grades

IKEA Kuwait offers 30-day exchange and return policy KUWAIT: IKEA Kuwait is now offering a new and improved Exchange and Return policy to ensure complete customer satisfaction. If a customer is not entirely satisfied with their purchase, they can simply return the unassembled item within 30 days for either an exchange or a full refund. The only mandate while returning the item, is to make sure that it is still in its original packaging state, unassembled, and the sales receipt is in hand. The previous Exchange and Return policy was valid for 14 days.

Return on cut fabric, used blinds or curtains, plants, used beddings such as mat-

tresses, mattress pads, quilts, quilt covers, pillows and products from the AS-IS area or goods ordered to customers specifica-

tions, such as custom-made worktops and so on, cannot be accepted under ‘It is Ok to change your Mind’ policy, however, the respective quality guarantees, if applicable, would stand valid on products purchased.

In an effort to guarantee the ultimate convenience and unlike any other in the country, IKEA Kuwait chose to modify its existing policy to provide its visitors with more than before. The brand maintains its utmost efforts in assuring its loyal customers the choice of different services inline with its diverse product portfolio.

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

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

tomer and stated “Winners are overwhelmed and so existed with this amazing prize every week. We would like to congratulate Binod Kumar Basant winning the prize of KD 10,000 this week. We wish all our prepaid customers the very best for the upcoming draws.”

Wataniya added “The series of draws will continue for the upcoming weeks. This exclusive draw is considered to be the first of its kind in Kuwait offering valuable cash prizes to customers. Wataniya looks forward to engaging its customers with many more exciting campaigns and surprises in the near future.” All prepaid customers are eligible to enter the draw and win KD 10,000 by simply recharging their lines starting at KD 1 only. The more they recharge their line, the more chances they can get in the draws. Furthermore the chances collected by the customer are valid for all the remaining draws and the customer can check the total chances by dialing *555#.

(From left): Mohan Nambiar, Chief Executive Officer of MEC MENA; Joseph Ghossoub, Chairman and CEO of the MENACOM Group; and Fredrik Haren, bestselling author and entrepreneur, at the tenth anniversary celebration of MEC MENA in Dubai.

MEC MENA expands regional operations KUWAIT: MEC MENA, the region’s leading media specialist firm and a member of the MENACOM Group, highlighted its ongoing growth in the Middle East and North Africa, including especially significant expansion in Egypt and Qatar. Underlining its growing business partnerships in the region, MEC MENA had recently won the prestigious Nestle Middle East account for media buying, planning and digital engagement services.

The Chief Executive Officer of MEC MENA, Mohan Nambiar, speaking at the firm’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Dubai, said that his firm has appointed a new General Manager for Egypt, Wassim Hmaidan, and for Qatar, Pradeep Menon, who is also overseeing MEC’s operations in Bahrain. In addition to those senior appointments, MEC is growing its overall staff strength across the 17 markets it serves through 13 offices in the wider MENA region.

“A decade after the founding of MEC MENA, the firm has never been more strongly positioned for future growth,” said Joseph Ghossoub, Chairman and CEO of the MENACOM Group. “An innovative company, focused on active engagement with its clients, partners and the media, MEC continues to increase its range of specialist services, its total staff size and its ability to stay ahead of market trends, especially in the area of digital media.”

Reflecting MEC’s focus on creativity, bestselling author and entrepreneur Fredrik Haren provided the keynote address at the firm’s 10th anniversary celebrations, bringing to life the key insights from his latest book, The Developing World. More than 300 industry professionals attended the event, which took place over two days, at the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre.

MEC’s Nambiar said that his firm recognised the enormous importance of hiring, training and retaining young staff in the MENA region, where new media continues to rapidly transform the communications landscape.

“Here in the Arab world, where 200 million people are under the age of 25, we cannot succeed as a firm if we do not understand the hopes, fears and aspirations of our largest demographic,” Nambiar said. “That’s why we are focused on identifying the next generation of leaders at MEC - including recruiting them directly from universities here in the UAE and across the Middle East.

“We are also focused on providing training to our existing staff, with special attention to digital media,” he said. “In the past year alone, we have invested more than 1,000 man hours training many of our over 240 staff, highlighting our commitment in this area.”

The tenth anniversary celebratory event of MEC MENA was sponsored by Choueiri Group and Yahoo! Maktoob.

MEC was founded a decade ago, following the first-ever merger in WPP’s history of two of the industry’s most innovative independent businesses: The Media Edge and CIA. In 2005, MEC claimed the active engagement space before anyone dared to put their name to it and stole a march over its peers. In 2007, MEC MENA launched its digital specialist unit MEC Interaction; the following year, MEC introduced the region’s only specialised TV planning division and launched MEC Access, a unit specialising in Sports, Sponsorship and Cause marketing services.

In 2010, the agenc y led the way again by integrating its specialist Analytics and Insight groups. The move was critical in being able to address the future needs of clients, providing bigger and better cross-over opportunities by holistically approaching digital and traditional media in the purchase pathway. MEC is also an industry leader in exploring digital platforms. The pathbreaking MEC Interaction Academy, its digital acceleration programme, is being rolled out across the company’s operations in Asia, North and South America.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

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

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

most common semiconductor in solar panels today.

For example, a startup called Alta Devices makes flexible sheets of solar cells out of a highly efficient material called gallium arsenide. Semprius also uses gallium arsenide, which is better than silicon at turning light into electricity (the record efficiency measured in a silicon solar panel is about 23 percent). But gallium arsenide is also far more expensive, so Semprius is trying to make up for the cost in several ways. One is by shrinking its solar cells, the individual light absorbers in a solar panel, to just 600 micrometers wide, 600 micrometers long, and 10 micrometers thick. Its manufacturing process is built on research by cofounder John

Rogers, a professor of chemistry and engineering at the University of Illinois, who figured out a way to grow the small cells on a gallium arsenide wafer, lift them off quickly, and then reuse the wafer to make more cells.

Once the cells are laid down, Semprius maximizes their power production by putting them under glass lenses that concentrate sunlight about 1,100 times. Concentrating sunlight on solar panels is not new, but with larger silicon cells, a cooling system typically must be used to conduct away the heat that this generates. Semprius’s small cells produce so little heat that they don’t require cooling, which further brings down the cost. Scott Burroughs, Semprius’s vice president

of technology, says utilities that use its system should be able to produce electricity at around eight cents per kilowatt-hour in a few years. That’s less than the US average retail price for electricity, which was about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2011, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Semprius’s advantages are tempered by the limitations of using lenses to concentrate light: the system works best when the cells receive direct sunlight under a cloudless sky, and energy production drops significantly under any other conditions. Even so, it could be suitable for large, utility-scale projects in places such as the American Southwest.

First, however, Semprius has to

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

The company hopes to expand that to 30 megawatts by the end of 2013, but to do so it must raise an undisclosed amount of money in an atmosphere that is no longer kind to capital-?intensive energy startups. All the while, Semprius will also have to reduce its manufacturing costs fast enough to compete with conventional silicon panels, whose prices fell by more than half in 2011 alone. —MCT

Messaging apps show rise of mobile Internet in Asia Challenge to popularity of online hangouts

SEOUL: Park Jong-Seok, head of LG’s mobile unit, and South Korean models show the company’s new smartphone “Optimus G” during a launch ceremony in Seoul yesterday. LG Electronics launched its new flagship smartphone aimed to capture a bigger stake in the global market amid a recent flurry of new products from rivals including Apple and Samsung Electronics. —AFP

LG unveils new flagship smartphone SEOUL: LG Electronics will launch the Optimus G smartphone next week in South Korea, pinning high hopes on the new Android device to help revive its loss-making mobile business.

LG said yesterday that the Optimus G will go on sale in Japan next month and in the US in November. That would put LG’s new device, which costs $894 without subsidies from operators in South Korea in competition with Apple’s iPhone 5 and Samsung’s Galaxy Note II smartphones during the fall and the winter holidays. Previous Optimus smartphones have failed to make a mark in the fastestgrowing segment of the mobile phone market. Underperforming smartphone sales cost LG’s mobile division a loss of nearly 1 trillion won, or $895 million, in 2010 and 2011 combined. LG’s mobile chief said the company hopes G smartphone will help accelerate the division’s turnaround.

“The Optimus G is our flagship phone with a competitive edge,” Park Jong-seok, LG’s mobile business president, told reporters at a media event. “We are trying to make phones differentiated from our rivals.”

Before being overtaken by Apple in the high-end market and China-based ZTE Corp. in the low-end, LG Electronics Inc. had claimed the world’s third-largest handset maker during its heyday in part thanks to its Chocolate brand.

Analysts said LG remained focused on

making handsets primarily for voice calls and text messaging, which delayed its response when Apple’s iPhone took the mobile market by storm. The Seoul-based company has reduced its reliance on the rudimentary phones to bank on advanced gadgets using Google’s technology. But its efforts have not paid off so far. LG’s mobile communications division reported 57 billion won of quarterly operating loss in the second quarter.

International Data Corporation puts LG at No. 5 among global mobile-phone makers after Samsung Electronics, Nokia, Apple and ZTE in the three months ending in June.

As LG’s struggles with mobile phones continue, various affiliates at LG Group, a major industrial group in South Korea, joined forces to create the G smartphone.

LG Display, which supplies screens for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, manufactured 4.7inch displays for the G, while other LG affiliates made a battery and a 13-megapixel camera. The G smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s quad-core processor and supports an access to the faster wireless network.

Hoping to share the buzz from a string of new gadgets, LG added new video-related features. The G can dim the video in a translucent layer, allowing users to send text messages or write emails while watching the show in the background. It also allows users to zoom into a scene while playing the video using a two-finger gesture. —AP

Zynga buys social game maker A Bit Lucky SAN FRANCISCO: Social games maker Zynga yesterday announced that it bought California-based A Bit Lucky and is adding the members of the small studio to its San Francisco team.

Zynga’s Bill Jackson said the acquisition was part of a move to expand into new categories of play with “mid-core, multi-platform” games. A multi-player “Solstice Arena” title being worked on by A Bit Lucky will launch as a Zynga offering.

A Bit Lucky was founded by Frederic Descamps and Jordan Maynard, and the studio’s staff of slightly more than 20 people includes veterans of game companies such as Trion Worlds and Xfire.

“After exploring various options and talking to a lot of interested partners, Jordan and I are convinced Zynga is the best choice for us,” Descamps said in an email.

“At Zynga we met people like us: passion-

ate, hardcore game developers animated by a strong entrepreneurial spirit,” he continued.

“It was a true meeting of the minds.”

Developing richer, more sophisticated games for the array of Internet-connected devices is part of a move by Zynga to be less dependent on Facebook, where it rose to stardom with hits such as “FarmVille” and “Poker.” Zynga recently hired “Mortal Kombat” series co-creator John Tobias to be part of its San Diego studio.

Industry veteran Soren Johnson, who has worked on titles such as “Spore” and “Civilization IV” working on a stealth project in Zynga’s studio in Baltimore. Zynga in March launched its own online playground at zynga.com.

Zynga shares were down three percent at $3.08 at the close of trading Monday on the Nasdaq exchange. Zynga went public in December at $10 per share. —AFP

Philippines to deport 400 over online, phone scam MANILA: The Philippines said yesterday that it will deport nearly 400 illegal immigrants from Taiwan and China accused of running a multimillion dollar online and phone scam.

Members of the criminal gang allegedly made calls or sent emails posing as police officers or state prosecutors to dupe victims back home into believing their bank accounts were being used by terrorists.

The scam targeted elderly citizens and involved persuading victims to transfer their savings into another bank account controlled by the gang. Philippines investigators were tipped off about the scam by Taiwanese and Chinese authorities in July. Twenty homes across Manila were subsequently raided by police last month to arrest those involved.

The 288 Taiwanese will be deported on Wednesday while a further two will remain in detention for separate charges of assault.

The 86 Chinese, along with a New Zealander also caught in last month’s raids, will be sent home at a later date. Immigration bureau spokeswoman Antonette Mangrobang said the group would face criminal prosecution in their home countries. The Taiwanese embassy in Manila on Monday called on the Philippines to send home its citizens due to the poor detention conditions.

At least one Taiwanese detainee has died and dozens have fallen ill due to poor conditions at the gymnasium where they have been held since their arrest. In February last year the Philippines mistakenly deported 14 Taiwanese suspects to China who they believed to have swindled US$20 million from mainland Chinese victims. A furious Taiwan denounced the mistake as a blow to economic and cultural ties. China returned the 14 suspects home to Taiwan nearly four months later. — AFP

SEOUL: A handful of smartphone apps that began as basic instant messaging services have amassed several hundred million users in Asia in just a couple of years, mounting a challenge to the popularity of online hangouts such as Facebook as they branch into games, e-commerce, celebrity news and other areas. Among them is Line, which has grown to 60 million users, mostly in Asia including at least 29 million in Japan. Its developer estimates the number of users will reach 100 million by the end of this year. Also popular is Kakao Talk with 60 million users, more than half in South Korea where it originates. Other successful messengers are Nimbuzz made by an India-based firm which has amassed 100 million users including 31 million in Asia, and WeChat by China-based Tencent, which is nearing 200 million users.

The rapid growth of such applications underlines that people are increasingly going online using mobile phones and other wireless devices.

It is a trend that has proved problematic for the world’s most popular social networking site.

Facebook has lost more than $50 billion of its market value since its initial public offering largely due to doubts about its ability to successfully insert advertising into the mobile version that a large and growing number of its 955 million users access from smartphones.

“Japan, Korea and to a lesser extent China are leading the way in terms of mobile messagingcentric apps that move into diverse and potentially very profitable new service areas like gaming, affiliate marketing, next-generation emoticons,” said analyst Mark Ranson at research firm Ovum. “Offering a free, high quality messaging service is a good way of building a large and loyal user base which can later be introduced to more readily monetizeable services.”

Instant messaging, also known as IM, was first popularized on desktop computers with applica-

tions such as Microsoft Messenger that evolved from text-based chatting and sharing files to the voice calls and video conferencing that Skype is known for. The advent of smartphones took IM back to basics with services such as WhatsApp and Blackberry Messenger that allowed for realtime chatting, swapping photos and not much else. The new instant messaging apps such as Line have evolved into online destinations in their own right.

“I use Line messenger every day, about every hour ... instead of text messages or emails,” Supinda Toochinda, a 31-year-old interior designer in Bangkok, said in an email. She said Line was the only mobile application she’d spent money with, buying elaborate emoticons called stickers that can be sent to friends while chatting. Part of the appeal of the applications is the ability to create an unlimited number of group chats and the ease with which connections can be made - the apps automatically create a contacts list by harvesting the contacts list saved in the phone. At the same time, managing privacy is simpler than on a social networking site.

Analysts say these mobile messengers are showing more nimble and promising moves in the efforts to make such mobile services profitable without relying solely on advertising.

“Kakao Talk and Line are seeing opportunities as Facebook isn’t making money from users of its mobile website and app,” said Ryu Han-seok, director of the Technology, Labor and Culture Institute, a consulting company, in Seoul. “In the mobile markets in Asia, they are ahead of the game.”

“It is probably tough to compete with Facebook in the US or Europe. But in Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, they have a good chance of beating Facebook,” said Ryu. While Line messenger is expanding to photo

editing and sharing, social games and Twitterlike features that allow users to follow corporate brands or celebrities, its windfall came from sales of virtual goods. Sales of stickers — a $1.99 bundle of cute pictures of cartoon characters or animals — have been its biggest revenue generator. In August, users spent about $3 million to send the elaborate emoticons when they chat with friends.

Kakao Talk, which is only accessible on mobile devices, says it is trying to develop a business model that isn’t dependent on advertising. Since its launch in 2010, it has added a free voice calling service, a gift shop to send Starbucks drink coupons to friends, and options for receiving weather and news, discount vouchers and music videos.

“We are not interested in displaying mobile banner ads just to make money,” Kakao Inc. CEO Sirgoo Lee said in an interview.

The app has been wildly popular in South Korea. Even a small disruption in service makes news and it has entered the local lexicon with the phrase “let’s do ka talk.” South Koreans are typically connected to multiple group chats on Kakao Talk, holding conversations in separate chat rooms with family, a group of close friends, co-workers and other circles.

According to Appsooni.com, which compiles data on Android applications, South Koreans used Kakao Talk for 62 minutes a day on average in August, compared with 17 minutes on Facebook’s Android application.

In a move seen as bringing the three-year-old startup close to generating a profit, Kakao introduced mobile games to its users in July.

“Giving gifts or sending emoticons are business models that Facebook doesn’t have.

Facebook simply displays ads so its model is different from ours. (Facebook’s) profit models are not tailored for mobile users,” Lee said. —AP

Deals, ordeals for Chinese tech giant Huawei HONG KONG: Chinese telecom giant Huawei is perplexed at its treatment in the West, with the United States fearful it is a Trojan horse for cyber warfare even as Europe eagerly courts its business.

The contrast was stark last week when the private company’s elusive founder and chief executive officer, Ren Zhengfei, appeared alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron at the signing of a $2 billion investment deal in London. The following day in Washington, US lawmakers grilled a Huawei executive over their suspicions that the Shenzhen-based company’s communications infrastructure is a platform for Chinese espionage and, potentially, sabotage. The House Intelligence Committee hauled the executive in for questioning at the start of a September 13 hearing into “security threats” posed by Huawei and another Chinese firm, ZTE, as part of a probe launched last year.

Charles Ding, a corporate senior vice president of Huawei, told the panel: “Our customers throughout the world trust Huawei. We will never do anything that undermines that trust.” He added: “Let me be clearHuawei has not and will not jeopardise our global commercial success nor the integrity of our customers’ networks for any third party, government or otherwise. Ever.”

But after some at times testy exchanges with the Chinese executives, committee chairman Mike Rogers said he remained unconvinced. “I was hoping for more transparency, more directness in some of the answers,” Rogers said.

The fear in the United States and other countries is that Huawei, the second largest provider of carrier network infrastructure in the world, will allow its platforms to be manipulated by the Chinese government.

Whether through the use of “back door” security loopholes or via the direct supply of sensitive information at Beijing’s behest, many in the United States believe Huawei’s systems pose a potential threat to national security.

SINGAPORE: In this file picture taken on June 19, 2012, visitors gather at the Huawei both during the CommunicAsia telecom expo and conference in Singapore. Chinese telecom giant Huawei is perplexed at its treatment in the West, with the United States fearful it is a Trojan horse for cyber warfare even as Europe eagerly courts its business. —AFP

The firm has been forced to back away from several North American investments amid pressure from Washington, while Australia earlier this year blocked it from bidding for contracts on a huge national broadband network.

European governments share these concerns, but have found ways to do business anyway. British officials, for example, scrutinise the company’s source code to make sure its equipment is operating securely.

Huawei signed its first European contract in 2005 and now works alongside all major telecoms operators and broadband Internet providers in Britain as well as many other countries in Europe, where its sales grew 27 percent last year.

“The investment announced by Huawei... demonstrates once again that the UK is open for business,” Cameron said on Sept 12 as he announced Huawei’s latest deal

alongside Ren. “The British government values the important relationship with China, both countries have much to offer each other and the business environment we are creating in the UK allows us to maximise this potential.” Ren has never given an interview to the media and his statement to the press in London-where he praised the UK as a “a centre of innovation”-is part of broader efforts to enhance Huawei’s image around the world.

“We take a really long-term view as an investor, both in Europe and in the US. Maybe in the past we haven’t explained ourselves well enough,” Huawei’s vice president for international media affairs, Roland Sladek, said. “We are grateful about the investment conditions in the UK and being able to grow in Europe, and we would welcome similar conditions everywhere else.” Despite Huawei’s

new transparency drive, its leader declined an AFP request for an interview for this article. “He focuses on customer needs and innovation, so he has never given any interviews,” Sladek explained.

The former People’s Liberation Army soldier founded Huawei in 1987 with a few thousands dollars, and has turned it into a $32-billion company second only to Sweden’s Ericsson in its field.

The 67-year-old now provides strategic vision while leaving day-today operations to his board, Sladek said, describing his boss as a “pure entrepreneur”. In a letter published in April with Huawei’s annual reportitself a new exercise in openness-Ren likened the company’s year-old system of rotating chief executives to the rise and fall of Chinese dynasties.

“Even if we fail, we will not regret our choice because we have blazed a new trail,” he wrote. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

he a lt h & s c ie n c e

World’s first mum-to-daughter uterine transplants STOCKHOLM: Two Swedish women received new uteruses at the weekend in the world’s first mother-todaughter uterine transplants aimed at helping them have babies, Gothenburg University announced yesterday. Uterine transplants are new, with the first successful one conducted in Turkey in 2011. “One of the women had previously had her own uterus removed

after undergoing treatment for cervical cancer. The other woman was born without a uterus. Both women are in their 30s,” a statement from Gothenburg University and Sahlgrenska University Hospital said.

“More than 10 surgeons took part in the operations, which were conducted without any complications. The women who received the uteruses are

doing well but are tired after the surgery,” said Mats Braennstroem, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the university and the leader of the research team. “The mothers who donated their uteruses are already up and walking and are going to be able to go home within a few days,” he added. In a short film clip released with the statement, Braennstroem explained

that the young women would have to wait one year before undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) with their own frozen embryos. The names of the patients were not revealed. Details of the procedure disclosed at a press conference later yesterday. The research team, comprising some 20 scientists, doctors and specialists, has been working on the project since 1999. — AFP

Orangutan’s cancer treatment similar to humans They are the youngest of six orangutans at Jungle Island and a hit with park visitors. Both are highly intelligent and have been taught to use sign language and an iPad to communicate with their trainers, but they have distinct personalities.

Peanut is welcoming and demanding, offering her doctor a twig in return for his water bottle.

Pumpkin is quiet and her hair hangs low over her forehead. Pumpkin has not been diagnosed with the disease.

Rosenblatt said doctors chose a plan for treatment that has been most effective in humans, adding that they are treating Peanut’s lymphoma with slightly reduced doses in an effort not to overshoot. The process that might take four to five hours in a human takes about three hours in Peanut, who will get six doses - 21 days apart unless her body can’t handle it.

Peanut’s doctors caution against raising expectations about her future and how effective the treatments will be. “They work very well in human beings, but we don’t know if they will work as well in this setting,” Rosenblatt said. Unlike humans, Peanut must be sedated for her treatments at an animal clinic in Miami. And although doctors know anesthesia causes nausea in animals, it is not clear if that or the chemo caused Peanut to vomit after her first treatment. She stays indoors out of sight of park visitors soon after the treatments and comes outside into an enclosure only when she feels up to it.

Her caretakers say explaining cancer to a human is difficult, but explaining it to a highly intelligent animal such as Peanut who communicates with her trainers and park visitors is nearly impossible. “That is one part of cancer we do not have to deal with,” said veterinarian Jason Chatfield, Jungle Island’s general curator. “We made it a point not to even talk about the cancer in front of her because she may not comprehend cancer, disease, lymphoma and all these fancy words. She absolutely knows something is wrong, something is different with her.” He said the team wants to keep a positive attitude around her.

Born in captivity, Peanut and Pumpkin came to the zoo when they were 6 months old. “I have been with her since she was born,” said Linda Jacobs, Peanut’s trainer, holding back tears. “So I really am very sensitive to her needs and her moods.” Jacobs said Peanut is fatigued but hasn’t lost much of her reddish-orange hair “a n d s h e s t i l l h a s t h a t t w i n k l e i n h e r e ye.”

Despite possible complications and an uncertain outcome, Rosenblatt said Peanut is still a MIAMI: File photo shows Jungle Island volunteer Linda Jacobs comforts Peanut, one of the orangutans from a model patient “and God willing, she will be a private zoo, following her R-CHOP therapy, a combination of drugs used in chemotherapy to treat her aggressive cancer survivor.” — AP

MIAMI: Peanut is an 8-year-old orangutan and a star attraction at Miami’s Jungle Island. These days she’s also got a team of cancer doctors huddling around her, watching as the chemo drip flows into her veins. Peanut, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is not the first great ape to be treated for cancer like a human.

An orangutan with advanced stage cancer at the National Zoo in Washington had surger y to remove a cancerous intestinal tumor in 2000. In 2009, two female gorillas at the North Carolina Zoo underwent radiation therapy. All three cases involved much older apes, in their 30s or 40s, and all had to be euthanized.

But while other animals are treated with chemotherapy, it’s not common among orangutans. Dr Ryan DeVoe, senior veterinarian at the North Carolina Zoo where the two female gorillas lived, said he has found no record of other great apes being treated with chemo. But he also noted that many cases involving great apes with cancer are not reported or documented.

DeVoe said another unique aspect of Peanut’s case is that, unlike the older apes, she has age on her side for either being cured or at least experiencing remission and living normally and com-

fortably for a long period of time. The orangutan has been undergoing chemotherapy to treat the aggressive lymphoma since August.

Peanut’s diagnosis came by chance when her veterinar y team found she had an intestinal obstruction and further testing revealed the cancer. The private zoo had no board certified veterinar y oncologist on staff and turned to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. A team there, along with UM’s Division of Comparative Pathology, which specializes in wildlife, confirmed the diagnosis and is now providing guidance for Peanut’s treatment.

“I’ve never had the same combination of fear and enthusiasm in one patient before,” said Dr. Joseph Rosenblatt, one of the doctors treating Peanut. “We don’t know what to expect and yet we’re intensely curious and potentially hopeful that we can help the animal.” Working on an orangutan is a first for Rosenblatt, who has never worked on an animal larger than a mouse.

“When the animal looks at you in the eye, it’s both a sympathetic as well as a look that radiates intelligence,” he said. Peanut has a fraternal twin named Pumpkin, a rarity in the animal kingdom.

non-Hodgkin lymphoma.—AP

Study: Military drinking ‘culture’ now a ‘crisis’ WASHINGTON: Abusing alcohol and drugs has been part of military culture historically: troops do it for fun, to ease the stresses of war or to be part of the brotherhood. But a new report says substance use and misuse among troops and their families has become a “public health crisis” and that Pentagon methods for dealing with it are out-of-date. In a study requested by the Defense Department, the Institute of Medicine report Monday said: About 20 percent of active-duty service members reported they engaged in heavy drinking in 2008, the latest year for which data was available. (Heavy drinking was defined as five or more drinks a day as a regular practice.)

Binge-drinking increased from 35 percent in 1998 to 47 percent in 2008.

(That’s five or more drinks at a sitting for men, four or more for women, but done perhaps just once or twice a month as opposed to each week).

While rates of both illicit and prescription drug abuse are low, the rate of medication misuse is rising. Just 2 percent of active-duty personnel reported misusing prescription drugs in 2002 compared with 11 percent in 2008.

The armed forces’ programs and policies have not evolved to effectively address medication misuse and abuse.

“Better care for service members and their families is hampered by inadequate prevention strategies, staffing shortages, lack of coverage for services that are proved to work, and stigma associated with these disorders,” said Charles P. O’Brien of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Studies of Addiction and chairman of the study committee. Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said officials Monday were analyzing the report.

“We want to do the right thing for the service member,” Smith said. “If there are areas in need of improvement, then we will work to improve those areas.”

Substance abuse has “long been a concern for the US population and for its military in particular,” the report noted.

“Dating as far back as the Revolutionary War, Dr Benjamin Rush detailed the effects of alcohol on the troops. During the Civil War, addiction to opium prescribed for pain became known as the ‘soldier’s disease.’”

Today, the military’s approach to treating substance abuse “tends to be oldfashioned,” O’Brien said, noting the example of the military’s reluctance to use medications that can combat cravings and in other ways help treat addiction, he said. “Modern treatment of substance abuse does involve medications. There are FDA-approved, effective medications that could be used and should be used much more than they are,” he said.

Another problem is an overreliance on hospitalization and in-patient rehabilitation facilities, rather than the outpatient care that characterizes most civilian addiction treatment. “Addiction tends to be chronic,” O’Brien explained.

“The basic pathology of the addiction has a memory. It doesn’t go away that quickly.”

Military counselors also need better training. “We reviewed the training materials the U.S. Navy uses for counselor training. Those materials are based on guidelines originally written in 1984.

They haven’t updated them,” said Dr Dennis McCarty, a professor of public health and preventive medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University.

“We think there’s a substantial opportunity to enhance the training for the counselors” who work with active-duty military personnel. To reduce the stigma attached to getting help - and thus drawing more troops into its programs the military should integrate prevention and treatment efforts more into primary health care and do more to preserve confidentiality for those seeking help, the report said. — AP

FLORIDA: This photo provided by NASA shows space shuttle Endeavour atop NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday, in Cape Canaveral. — AP

Space shuttle Endeavour stuck at home in Florida CAPE CANAVERAL: Space shuttle Endeavour apparently doesn’t want to leave home. NASA’s youngest shuttle was supposed to depart Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday for its permanent museum home in Los Angeles. But stormy weather along the Gulf of Mexico nixed the travel plans until Wednesday morning.

The shuttle will be bolted to the top of a modified jumbo jet when it leaves Florida. Endeavour will stop off in Houston, home to Mission Control, and fly low over NASA facilities en route. After a stop at Edwards Air Force Base in California, it will arrive at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, a day later than planned. Endeavour, which retired last year, will go on display at the California Science Center. — AP

Amazon’s flying water vapor rivers bring rain to Brazil BRASILIA: As devastating drought spreads across much of the globe, British-born pilot Gerard Moss flies above the Amazon rainforest to show how its “flying rivers”-humid air currents-bring rain to Brazil and South America.

Aboard his single-engine Embraer 721 aircraft, Moss, a naturalized Brazilian, was on a 45minute flight from Brasilia to Goiania, capital of the central state of Goias.

“Climate change is taking its toll. The United States is going through its worst drought in half a century, Russia is also reeling from drought and in India monsoon rains have for years been irregular,” he told AFP. “Brazil is less affected because we have the world’s biggest tropical forest, which helps regulate the climate.”

Deforestation is also a factor. With logging and agriculture shrinking Brazil’s rainforests, there are fewer trees to release the water vapor that creates these flying rivers.

The flying rivers travel from the Amazon toward the Andes, which act as a natural barrier and redirect huge vapor masses toward the center-west, southeast and south of Brazil as well as to the north of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname. “Peru also receives some of that water, but were it not for the Cordillera, it would surely receive it all,” Moss said.

During the Goiania-bound flight, Moss monitored an indicator that measures air humidity and helps locate the flying rivers. “Very few people realize that apart from CO2 capturing, a single tree is capable of sending in the atmosphere more than 1,000 liters a day,” he said. “The entire Amazon basin is a supplier of fresh water for many other parts of Brazil and the northern parts of Argentina, so it is important for the climate and economy of Brazil,” he added.

Amazon rainforest cleans the planet’s air He has spent five years trying to spread the message that the Amazon rainforest not only cleans the planet’s air but also guarantees humidity and rain in Brazil and part of South America, a huge food producing and exporting region. Moss, who grew up in Switzerland, arrived in Brazil in the 1980’s to work on soybean exports. A decade later, he changed course and decided to devote himself to the environment

along with his Kenyan-born wife. In 2003, they launched their first project to protect Brazil’s waters, which provide 12 percent of the planet’s fresh water supply. For one year they flew a small seaplane to collect more than 1,000 samples from the country’s most remote rivers and lakes.

“We noticed that 85 percent of the water is clean, which shows that Brazil has a great wealth, but also that in inhabitated areas, the water quality is poor,” he said. He once flew eight days above a flying river from the Amazon city of Belem to Pantanal, in the center-west, and Sao Paulo in the south. “It was a huge mass of water vapor equivalent to what Sao Paulo consumes in 115 days. It was great to publicize our results,” he said.

With these results, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) does daily tracking of Amazon humidity currents across the whole of Brazil. Moss is now busy publicizing the results to further his goal of saving the Amazon. “The Amazon for many people, for a taxi driver in Sao

Paulo, is very far, far away, something that makes no difference. And we want to show that it does make a difference,” he told AFP. “When we lose certain areas of the Amazon through land expansion, maybe cattle, maybe soybean, we have to realize that we are losing ecoservices that will cost us dearly in the future,” he said with passion. “It is a question of trying to change the mentality of the people, we want to save the Amazon basin, we want to save every single tree there.” Scientists believe nearly 20 percent of the Amazon has been destroyed and some fear a point of no return if destruction reaches 35 to 40 percent. Large-scale deforestation has made Brazil one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters, but the government has vowed to curb it and has made significant strides in the past decade. Brazilian authorities confirmed earlier this year that deforestation fell to a record low of 6,418 square kilometers (2,478 square miles) in 2011, down from a peak of 27,000 square kilometers (10,000 square miles) in 2004. — AFP

BRAZIL: Swiss-Brazilian environmentalist and explorer Gerard Moss talks to children during an exhibition of his ‘Rios Voadores’ (Flying Rivers) project in Goiania, Goias State. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

he a lt h & s c ie n c e

US, Russian space trio lands in Kazakhstan KAZAKHSTAN: An international three-man crew onboard a Russian-made Soyuz capsule touched down successfully on the cloudless central Kazakhstan steppe Monday morning after 123 days at the International Space Station. A fleet of Russian Mi-8 helicopters deployed from towns near the landing site ahead of the capsule’s arrival early Monday morning to ensure swift interception. NASA’s Joe Acaba and Russian colleagues Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin undocked from the orbiting laboratory somewhere over Nairobi, Kenya, some 3 1/2 hours before touchdown. The Soyuz craft remains the only means for international astronauts to reach the space station since the decommissioning of the US Shuttle fleet in 2011.The size of the three-person complement currently at the space station will be doubled when they are joined next month by US astronaut Kevin Ford and Russians Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin. NASA’s Sunita Williams took over command at the station Saturday from Padalka, becoming the second woman in history to do so. Williams, veteran Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide of Japan are due to return to Earth in the middle of November.

Padalka, who piloted the Soyuz craft back to Earth, was the first to be pulled out of the capsule,

which rolled onto its side after coming down softly in the flat Kazakh countryside some 85 kilometers (50 miles) north of the town of Arkalyk. Upon their return, astronauts are typically lifted onto reclining chairs to ensure comfortable acclimatization after months of living in gravity-free conditions.

Looking relaxed and smiling broadly while sipping a mug of tea and basking in the mild sunny conditions, Padalka waved at cameras that descended on the site soon almost immediately after landing.

“We honestly could not have asked for better weather out here today. The temperature’s really good (and) the crew is obviously enjoying this weather,” NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said in an online link-up from the landing site. “I have never seen the amount of clarity we had today.” With this mission complete, Padalka becomes the fourth most seasoned space traveler, having spent 711 days in space over four missions. “I feel great,” Padalka told attending recovery staff, before thanking colleagues for their assistance in his mission.

Acaba, who followed Revin out of the prone Soyuz capsule, gave the thumbs up sign as he was being lifted to his reclining chair and said: “It’s good to be home.” In an uncustomary gesture, the astronauts signed their names on the capsule, which is

due to be displayed at the Tsiolkovsky Museum in the town of Kaluga, southwest of Moscow. The precision of the landing enabled a Russian recovery crew in all-terrain vehicles to reach the capsule within seconds of touchdown. Astronauts were given immediate medical attention and then shortly afterward transported by helicopter to a forward base in the Kazakh city of Kostanai, from where they were to begin their trip home.

Russia has suffered a series of blows to its space prestige in recent months with a string of failed launches, provoking some anxiety about what some observers believe to be excess US reliance on the Soyuz program. In August, a Russian booster rocket failed to place two communications satellites into target orbits, stranding the Russian Express MD-2 and Indonesia’s Telkom-3 satellites in a low orbit where they could not be recovered. A Russian robotic probe designed to study a moon of Mars got stranded in Earth’s orbit after its launch in November and eventually came crashing down in January. A few months before, a Soyuz booster rocket similar to those ferrying crews and cargo to the International Space Station failed, prompting officials to consider leaving the space outpost unmanned. — AP

KAZAKHSTAN: The International Space Station (ISS) crew members US astronaut Joseph Acaba, left, Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, center, and Sergei Revin sit inside the Soyuz TMA-04M capsule shortly after landing near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan. — AP

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

WHAT’S ON

Kottayam Association Kuwait celebrates Onam SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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Kuwait Cricket to organize open tourney for schools uwait Cricket, the apex body of cricket in Kuwait would like to invite school cricket teams to participate in their tournaments which are planned to be to be held at the turf ground at Sulaibiya. Kuwait Cricket intends to conduct two cricket tournaments for U-15 and U-18 school children who should have valid Kuwait residence and be a student of their respective school. The tournaments will be played on Saturdays at Sulaibiya grounds and the matches will be 30 overs.

Kuwait Cricket’s principal aim is to provide quality cricket to the young school cricketers in Kuwait and guide them to face international exposure which will nurture and develop their sporting skills. Moreover, Kuwait Cricket also aims to make use of sports to strengthen friendship and to bridge the gap between cultures and communities. Kuwait U-16 & U-19 teams have made various successful international tours to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Nepal and Pakistan. Participation of school cricket teams will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of the open cricket tournament and we look forward to your confirmation of attendance. A meeting of school representatives will be arranged shortly.

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Study in Canada exhibition

ottayam Association celebrated its 14th Onam Celebrations “Onam 2012” with its full spirit and fervor on Friday at United Indian School. The meeting was presided over by Somu Mathew, chairman of Kottayam Association.

Joy Mundakatt, Chairman KUDA, (Kerala United Districs Association) Kuwait, inaugurated the celebration.

Distinguished guests Mr. Ommen George, President Pathanamthitta Association ,Mr. Kumar, President Palakad District Association and Vina Sabu (Chairperson Vanitha wing of Kottayam Association) felicitated the occasion.

General Secretary Raju Zacharias extended Onam greetings and welcomed the audience and Treasurer M.P. Sen proposed the vote of thanks.

The colourful “Pookalam” intricate flower carpet laid under the supervision of Artist Jacob,Vanitha Wing chairperson Vina Sabu, General Secretary Lila Mohan, Lija Ranjith, Elssy Somu, Secretary Shiny Ambi, Manju Tharakan, Reshmi Rajan,

Lulu Regional Director meets Malaysian Ambassador

Kessiya Sunny has added beauty to the celebrations.

Various cultural Programme were organized under the leadership of Jomon, the Program convener , Ranjith and Joy Kuriakose. The enchanting Thiruvathira kali cinematic dance, solo,and Fusion dance are the highlights of the cultural programme. The reception of Mahabeli in its traditional style with thalapoli, chendamela, muthukuda witnessed its golden era during the reign of King Mahabeli.

The Jury of Kottayam Association declared Mathew Tharakan as Kottayam Mannan 2012 and Litty Jacob Kavalam as Kottayam Manka..

A traditional sumptuous Onasadya was served under the leadership of Raju Karunakaram, , Mohan Maliekal, MathewTharakan, Manoj Kuriakose, Sudhin Abraham, Sunny Nokia, Jiju Chacko, Sabu George, George Varkey, Thomas Varghese, Thampan Mani and Tony mathew.

he Malaysian Ambassador to Kuwait, HE Dato’ Adnan Haji Othman was felicitated by Mohamed Haris, Regional Director of Lulu Hypermarket, the region’s leading hypermarket group, on the occasion of Malaysia Day 2012. The grand reception, which was hosted by the Malaysian Embassy in Kuwait at the Regency Hotel on Sunday, 16th Sept, was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, government officials, dignitaries and large gathering of well-wishers.

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IMA Kuwait invites Urdu public program ndian Muslim Association - Kuwait cordially invites you with family & friends for a public program in Urdu. Public program (Urdu) Theme: Verily your possessions and your children are trail and with Allah is great reward (64:15) Date: Thursday, 27th Sept. 2012 Timing: Soon After Isha Prayer Venue: Jamiyatul Islah Auditorium, Rawda, Hawally Adjacent to highway 40 Separate Seating Arrangement for ladies. Dinner packets will be distributed after the program.

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rganized by the Embassy of Canada, the seventh annual Middle East Education Initiative (MEEI) will be visiting Kuwait from Oct 2 to 4, 2012. Representatives of 20 leading Canadian universities and colleges will be available to meet students, parents, teachers and guidance counsellors to present the advantages of studying in Canada.

On Wednesday, Oct 3, 2012 a Study in Canada exhibition will be held at the Marina Hotel, Salmiya from 6:00 - 9:00 pm for potential students and their parents to attend. The Canadian institutions will also be visiting local schools to speak to interested students about opportunities to study in Canada

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Expat Mums’ Autumn Bazaar xpat Mums in Kuwait will hold its autumn bazaar on Saturday, September 29th by 10:00 am - 1:00 pm at Rumaithiya Block 9, Street 96, House 1, Basement. Free entry! This autumn we’re excited to support our members who hand make crafts, who have home business and who provide services to the expat community in Kuwait. Expat Mums in Kuwait is a group of nearly 400 mums from over 42 countries around the world. We meet online and in person and provide friendship, information, advice, reviews, support and networking opportunities to fellow expat mothers.

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Vanitha vedi Onam anita vedi, Kuwait will be celebrating the Onam festival this year as titled Ragothsavam-2012 on Friday 28th September 2012 at Kaithan Indian Community school. This is a full day program. Prof.

Omanakutty the famous classical musician will be the chief guest. A classical music recitation ‘Sangeethakacheri’ by Prof Omanakutty will be showcased. Shanta R Nair (Program convener) Dr Vasanthy S Nair, Minerva Ramesh (Joint conveners) Sumathi Babu, Sajitha Scaria, Shobha Suresh, Presanna Ramabhadran, Rema Ajith, Valsa Stanley and Valsa Sam are selected for various committees. Sam Pynummoodu is the patron of Ragothsavam-2012.

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Winter 2012 AMIE examination

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he AMIE Winter 2012 examinations will be held between Dec 01-07, 2012 as follows:

Section A (Diploma) - December 1-4, 2012 Section A (Non-Diploma) - December 1-7, 2012 Section B - December 1-7, 2012 The last date for submission of examination application forms are given hereunder: Candidates not appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Aug 21 - Sept 21, 2012 Candidates appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Sept 21 - Oct 19, 2012.

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

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

IES pays tribute to Hindi, marks Hindi Divas he act of expressing a thought is part and parcel of the thinking itself. Language is the vehicle of thought. Hence, a country’s cultural heritage and its languages are inextricably intertwined . Bhavanites celebrated the occasion of ‘Hindi Divas’ on 16 Sept by paying tributes to Hindi, the national language of India by organizing a splendid cultural fete and an interschool Nukkad Natak (street play)competition for the students of Indian schools across the state of Kuwait.

The program started with the prayer which was specially recited in Hindi to honour the language. The special guests of the program were Shalini Shah and Reena Deb, the judges for the Nukkad Natak contest. The teachers and students from visiting schools also were a part of the audience. Swarna Saini, Head of the Hindi Department welcomed the gathering.

A cultural program filled to the brim with grandeur

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presented by the primary wing included songs and quotations teeming with patriotic fervour. The highlight of the day was the inter-school Nukkad Natak competition.

The theme “The influence of the West on Indian culture” sparked a new fire of patriotism and educed an earnest desire to conserve the glorious Indian heritage in the minds of the onlookers. The six teams that took part excelled in presenting the influences of western culture on the behaviour, food, language and culture and ideals upheld by Indians.

A plethora of dance and music staged by the students of IES added wonders to the extravagant fiesta. As the hearts of the competitors grew to beat faster, FAIPS was declared the winner of the Nukkad Natak Contest by the eminent judges. The judges were truly impressed by the performance of the budding dramatists. IES was crowned the first runner-up and the Indian Public School was

declared the second runner-up. The trophies and certificates were presented to the winners and runners up by the judges.

Principal T Premkumar handed out mementos as a token of gratitude to the Judging panel. He extolled the student community and the organizers of ‘Hindi Divas Celebrations’ for putting up thought provoking shows and extended his gratitude to all the principals of the various schools for the whole hearted cooperation rendered in making the Hindi Day a grand one at IES. He also emphasised on the importance of learning Hindi , the main lingua franca that connects Indians from different states of India. The stupendous events of the day concluded with the Indian national anthem. The spectacular show reaffirmed the fact that Hindi is not merely a language but a strong emotion that binds the hearts of Indians together amid cultural and regional differences.

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WHAT’S ON

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday.

Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF ARGENTINE The Embassy of Argentina requests all Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in order to register or update contact information. The embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the embassy.

The registration process helps the Argentinean Government to contact and assist Argentineans living abroad in case of any emergency.

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UK, Ireland graduates honored he National Union of Kuwait Students (NUKS) United Kingdom and Ireland branch hosted a ceremony to celebrate Kuwaiti graduates of British and Irish universities. The event was held under the patronage of Sheikh Mubarak Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-

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Sabah and attended by NUKS officials including President Mohammad AlAzmi and Secretary Abdullah Al-Thufairi, as well as Head of the Political Section at the UK Embassy Tom Shepherd.

The event opened with a speech by Sheikh Mubarak in which he first

recalled the lessons he learned during his experience as a college student in the UK. He then urged the new graduates to give back to Kuwait “which is eager to benefit from your experiences, and demands that you don’t hesitate to follow your dreams”. Sheikh Mubarak’s

speech was followed with speeches by Thufairi, Azmi and Shepherd, after which he personally honored students individually before their families in attendance.

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

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

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

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

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EMBASSY OF FRANCE The Embassy would like to inform that starting September 2nd, 2012, visa demands for France will be handled by the outsourcing company “Capago - MENA Company”. Capago - MENA’S Call Center will be operational starting Sunday August 26 for setting appointments beginning September 2nd (+965 22270555).

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EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com.

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EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, Al-Salaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com.

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EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk.

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EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” - (+ 965) 972-79-206.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 I’m Alive 01:35 Untamed & Uncut 02:25 Shark Fight 03:15 Animal Airport 03:40 Animal Airport 04:05 New Breed Vets With Steve Irwin 04:55 Cheetah Kingdom 05:20 Shamwari: A Wild Life 05:45 Wild Africa Rescue 06:10 Wild Africa Rescue 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Baboons With Bill Bailey 07:25 Corwin’s Quest 08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Baby Planet 10:05 How Not To Become Shark Bait 11:00 Wildlife SOS 11:25 Bondi Vet 11:55 Animal Cops Houston 12:50 RSPCA: Have You Got What It Takes?

13:15 RSPCA: Have You Got What It Takes?

13:45 Animal Precinct 14:40 How Not To Become Shark Bait 15:30 Baboons With Bill Bailey 16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 16:30 The Really Wild Show 16:55 The Really Wild Show 17:25 America’s Cutest...

18:20 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Bondi Vet 20:10 Cheetah Kingdom 20:35 Shamwari: A Wild Life 21:05 Air Jaws Apocalypse 22:00 Mutant Planet 22:55 Monster Bug Wars 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 00:20 Holmes On Homes 01:10 Antiques Roadshow 02:05 To Build Or Not To Build?

02:30 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 03:00 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 03:25 Living In The Sun 04:20 MasterChef 04:45 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 05:15 Living In The Sun 06:10 MasterChef 06:40 MasterChef Australia 07:25 MasterChef Australia 09:00 To Build Or Not To Build?

09:25 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 10:15 Bargain Hunt 11:00 Antiques Roadshow 11:55 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 13:15 What Not To Wear 14:10 What Not To Wear 15:00 Bargain Hunt 15:45 Antiques Roadshow 16:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:00 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 18:30 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 18:55 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 19:20 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 19:45 James Martin’s Champagne 20:10 Come Dine With Me 21:00 To Build Or Not To Build?

21:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Edition 00:15 01:10 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 Junior 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 14:35 15:05 16:00 Junior 16:55 17:20 18:15 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Deadliest Catch Eyewitness Life On A Wire Finding Bigfoot Moonshiners Border Security Auction Hunters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Deadliest Catch American Chopper: Senior vs Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Auction Hunters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Life On A Wire Finding Bigfoot Raging Nature Border Security Auction Hunters Ultimate Survival American Chopper: Senior vs Wheeler Dealers Deadliest Catch Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Border Security Auction Hunters Deconstruction Superhuman Showdown Mythbusters Mythbusters

23:20 Surviving Disaster 00:35 Mighty Ships 01:25 The Future Of...

02:15 Stuck With Hackett 02:40 Stuck With Hackett 03:05 The Gadget Show 03:35 Smash Lab 04:25 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 05:15 Mighty Ships 06:05 The Future Of...

07:00 Catch It Keep It 07:50 Head Rush 07:53 Weird Connections 08:20 How Does That Work?

08:50 Prototype This 09:40 Smash Lab 10:30 The Gadget Show 10:55 The Gadget Show 11:20 Mighty Ships 12:10 Catch It Keep It 13:00 Scrapheap Challenge 13:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:45 Smash Lab 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Weird Connections 16:30 How Does That Work?

17:00 Nextworld 17:50 Prototype This 18:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman

19:30 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40

Race To Mars Meteorite Men The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Race To Mars Meteorite Men Prototype This

20:20 Bang Goes The Theory 00:15 Little Einsteins 00:40 Jungle Junction 00:55 Jungle Junction 01:10 Little Einsteins 01:30 Special Agent Oso 01:45 Special Agent Oso 02:00 Lazytown 02:25 Little Einsteins 02:50 Jungle Junction 03:05 Jungle Junction 03:20 Little Einsteins 03:40 Special Agent Oso 03:55 Special Agent Oso 04:10 Lazytown 04:35 Little Einsteins 05:00 Jungle Junction 05:15 Jungle Junction 05:30 Little Einsteins 05:50 Special Agent Oso 06:00 Special Agent Oso 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Jungle Junction 06:45 Handy Manny 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Lazytown 07:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:10 The Hive 08:20 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 08:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 08:50 Handy Manny 09:05 The Hive 09:15 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:20 Mouk 09:35 Mouk 09:45 The Hive 09:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 10:20 Lazytown 10:45 Art Attack 11:10 Imagination Movers 11:35 Lazytown 12:00 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 12:05 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 12:10 Handy Manny 12:25 Jungle Junction 12:40 Imagination Movers 13:05 The Hive 13:15 Special Agent Oso 13:30 Lazytown 13:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 14:20 The Hive 14:30 Handy Manny 14:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 15:00 Mouk 15:15 The Hive 15:25 101 Dalmatians 15:40 101 Dalmatians 15:55 Imagination Movers 16:20 Lazytown 16:45 Art Attack 17:10 Handy Manny 17:25 Handy Manny 17:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 17:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 18:10 Little Einsteins 18:35 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 19:00 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 19:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:25 101 Dalmatians 19:40 Mouk 19:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:05 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:20 The Hive 20:30 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:35 A Poem Is...

20:40 Animated Stories 20:45 Mouk 21:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 21:25 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:40 Special Agent Oso 21:55 Little Einsteins 22:20 Timmy Time 22:30 Jungle Junction 22:45 Handy Manny 22:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 23:20 Special Agent Oso 23:35 Special Agent Oso 23:50 Lazytown Lazytown23:50 Lazytn 00:25 00:50 01:20 02:15 03:10 04:05 04:30 05:00 05:55 07:00 07:25 07:55 08:50 09:15 09:45 10:40 11:05 11:35 12:30 13:25 14:20 15:15 15:40 16:10 17:05 17:30 18:00 18:55 19:50 20:45 21:40 22:05 22:35 23:30

Wrestling With Reality Wrestling With Reality Pro Bull Riders 2010 World Combat League TNA: Greatest Matches The Cool Guy Files The Cool Guy Files M1 Challenge Pro Bull Riders 2010 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 Alli Presents Best Of The Streets Best Of The Streets Blood, Sweat And Gears Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Pro Bull Riders 2010 Danger Men Carpocalypse World Combat League Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Alli Presents Best Of The Streets Best Of The Streets Danger Men Pro Bull Riders 2010 Carpocalypse World Combat League The Cool Guy Files The Cool Guy Files TNA: Greatest Matches M1 Challenge

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:05 05:30 06:10

Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Guy’s Big Bite Guy’s Big Bite Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Grill It! With Bobby Flay Grill It! With Bobby Flay Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Guy’s Big Bite Outrageous Food Unique Eats Chopped Barefoot Contessa

06:35 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Iron Chef America 07:50 Barefoot Contessa 08:15 Barefoot Contessa 08:40 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:05 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:30 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 09:55 Cooking For Real 10:20 Cooking For Real 10:45 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 11:10 Kelsey’s Essentials 11:35 Hungry Girl 12:00 Chopped 12:50 Guy’s Big Bite 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Barefoot Contessa 14:30 Kid In A Candy Store 14:55 Kid In A Candy Store 15:20 Unique Sweets 15:45 Food Network Challenge 16:35 Barefoot Contessa 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Guy’s Big Bite 18:40 Unique Sweets 19:05 Unique Sweets 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Unique Sweets 21:35 Unique Sweets 22:00 Unique Eats 22:25 Unique Eats 22:50 Food(Ography) 23:40 Guy’s Big Bite 23:40 Guy’s Big BiteBite 00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 Jones 11:10 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 Jones 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 Jones 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40 23:40

Ghost Lab A Haunting Fatal Encounters Killer Kids Extreme Forensics Ghost Lab A Haunting Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Street Patrol Street Patrol Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Stalked: Someone’s Watching Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Behind Mansion Walls American Greed Dr G: Medical Examiner Scorned: Crimes Of Passion

00:00 Nomads 01:00 Travel Oz 01:30 Travel Oz 02:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 02:30 One Man & His Campervan 03:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 03:30 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 04:00 Wheel2Wheel 04:30 Wheel2Wheel 05:00 Graham’s World 05:30 Market Values 06:00 Nomads 07:00 Travel Oz 07:30 Travel Oz 08:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 08:30 One Man & His Campervan 09:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 09:30 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 10:00 Wheel2Wheel 10:30 Wheel2Wheel 11:00 Graham’s World 11:30 Market Values 12:00 Nomads 13:00 Travel Oz 13:30 Travel Oz 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 One Man & His Campervan 15:00 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 15:30 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 16:00 Wheel2Wheel 16:30 Wheel2Wheel 17:00 Graham’s World 17:30 Market Values 18:00 Nomads 19:00 Bondi Rescue: Bali 19:30 Bondi Rescue: Bali 20:00 Kimchi Chronicles 20:30 Kimchi Chronicles 21:00 Food School 21:30 Food School 22:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 23:00 Bondi Rescue 23:30 Bondi Rescue 23:00 Naked Science 00:00 01:00 01:55 02:50 03:45 04:40 05:35 06:30 07:25 08:20 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:00

Philly Undercover Hooked The Living Edens Animal Superpowers Crocodile King Shane Untamed World’s Weirdest The Living Edens Animal Superpowers Crocodile King Bug Attack Bug Attack Hunter Hunted Hooked The Living Edens Animal Superpowers Crocs Of Katuma Animal Underworld Animal Underworld Hunter Hunted The Living Edens Animal Superpowers Crocodile King Bug Attack Bug Attack Hunter Hunted

00:00 Splinter-18 02:00 Hustle And Flow-18 04:00 Jackie Chan’s Who Am I?-PG15

06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:15 16:00 18:00 20:15 22:15 20:00 22:00

Malibu Shark Attack-18 Wild Bill-PG15 Ticking Clock-PG15 Hidalgo-PG15 Wild Bill-PG15 Takers-PG15 Hidalgo-PG15 Fade To Black-18 The Godfather II-18 Fighting-PG15 Homecoming-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 The League 02:30 Hot In Cleveland 03:00 30 Rock 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 30 Rock 09:30 The Cleveland Show 10:00 The Office 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 14:00 Community 14:30 The Office 15:00 The Cleveland Show 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 30 Rock 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The League 23:00 Hot In Cleveland 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00 23:00

The Glades Perception Homeland Greek One Tree Hill One Tree Hill The Glades Emmerdale Coronation Street The Closer The Ellen DeGeneres Show One Tree Hill One Tree Hill Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Closer The Glades Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Closer Bunheads Franklin & Bash Combat Hospital Supernatural Greek Greek

Kalifornia-18 Jackie Chan’s Who Am I?-PG15 Fighting-PG15 Fantastic Four-PG15 Tremors-PG15 Fighting-PG15 Ladder 49-PG15 Tremors-PG15 Aeon Flux-PG15 The Running Man-18 D.E.B.S-18 Open Graves-18 The Speak-18 Luste

00:00 Made In Dagenham-PG15 02:00 Open Season 3-FAM 04:00 The Lightkeepers-PG15 06:00 Love And Mary-PG15 08:00 Open Season 3-FAM 10:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 12:00 A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song-PG 14:00 Wayne’s World-PG15 16:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 18:00 My Last Five Girlfriends-PG15 20:00 Below The Beltway-PG15 22:00 Cyrus-18

01:15 03:00 05:45 07:30 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 PG15 18:45 21:00 23:00 23:30

Talhotblond-18 The Insider-PG15 Manolete-18 My Enemy’s Enemy-PG15 Chasing 3000-PG15 The 19th Wife-PG15 Eight Below-PG Chasing 3000-PG15 Ike: Countdown To D-DayWalk The Line-PG15 Charlie St. Cloud-PG15 Chico & Rita-18 Square Grouper-18

01:00 The Insider-PG15 03:45 On Strike For Christmas-PG15 05:15 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid-PG 07:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG 09:00 Gulliver’s Travels-PG 10:30 War Horse-PG15 13:00 Unanswered Prayers-PG15 14:30 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps-PG15 17:00 Gulliver’s Travels-PG 19:00 Glee: The Concert Movie-PG15 21:00 Cedar Rapids-18 23:00 Super 8-PG15

00:00 Quest For Zhu-PG 02:00 Micropolis-FAM 04:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 06:00 The Ugly Duckling In Tales Of Mystery-PG15 08:00 Toyz Goin’Wild-PG 10:00 Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas-FAM 11:45 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 14:00 Cher Ami-PG 16:00 Turandot-PG 18:00 Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas-FAM 20:00 Shrek Forever After-FAM 22:00 Cher Ami-PG 20:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 22:00 The Ugly Duckling In Tales Of Mystery-PG15

KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TILL TODAY (13/09/2012 TO 19/09/2012) SHARQIA-1 STOLEN (2D-Digital TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-3 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

SHARQIA-2 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

SHARQIA-3 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-4 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO THU (13/09/2012) Special Show“LAWLESS (2D-Digital)”for Ms. Rowan Al Ansari THU (13/09/2012) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

MUHALAB-1 STOLEN (2D-Digital) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

MUHALAB-3 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 12:30 PM FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) 2:30 PM FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) 4:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 6:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 8:30 PM TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) 10:30 PM RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 12:45 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-1 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

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

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

FANAR-4 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION TOTAL RECALL (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MARINA-3 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

AVENUES-5 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO THU (13/09/2012) Special Show“BRAVE (2D-Digital)” for Ms. Rowan Aeryfan THU (13/09/2012) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED 2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

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

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM

7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

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

AVENUES-8 STOLEN (2D-Digital) 1:15 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 3:30 PM GRABBERS (2D-Digital) 6:45 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 9:00 PM GRABBERS (2D-Digital) 12:15 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-9 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-10 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) AVENUES-11 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 1 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

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

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

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

5:15 PM

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

1:00 AM

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

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:30 PM 1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

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

360 º- 2 THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 1:30 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 4:45 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 8:00 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 11:15 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 3 TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS 12:30 PM TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS 2:45 PM TINKER BELL: SECRET OF THE WINGS 5:00 PM LAWLESS (2D-Digital) 7:15 PM NO FRI (14/09/2012) Special Show “BRAVE (2D-Digital)” for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. 7:30 PM FRI (14/09/2012) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) 9:45 PM LAWLESS (2D-Digital) 12:15 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

360 º- 11 TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) 360 º- 12 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO FRI (14/09/2012) Special Show“BRAVE (2D-Digital)” for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. FRI (14/09/2012) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

360 º- 13 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 14 INTERVIEW WITH A HITMAN GRABBERS (2D-Digital) INTERVIEW WITH A HITMAN GRABBERS (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) INTERVIEW WITH A HITMAN NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 15 BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) FRI+SAT BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED AL-KOUT.1 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED AL-KOUT.2 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) SUN+TUE+WED THE BOURNE LEGACY (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) LAWLESS (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED AL-KOUT.3 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) GRABBERS (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:30 PM 11:30 PM

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

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

1:30 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 10:45 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.4 THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 12:30 PM THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) 3:30 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 5:30 PM THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) 7:30 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 9:45 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 11:45 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BAIRAQ-3 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 7 THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital)

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

PLAZA STOLEN (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital)

BAIRAQ-1 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

BAIRAQ-2 THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) 2:15 PM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-Digital) 4:45 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 8:00 PM THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) 10:15 PM STOLEN (2D-Digital) 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR QTR KAC THY JZR DHX JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC QTR FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY GFA QTR FDB IRA ETD BAB GFA UAE MEA JZR MSR IRM VTF JZR IRC CLX KNE MSR RJA GFA KAC FDB JZR QTR KAC SVA JZR KAC QTR KAC ETD IYE UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY KAC QTR BAB KAC KAC FDB KNE MSR RBG JZR KAC KAC JAI KAC KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK KAC JZR KLM UAE JZR BBC ETD ABY QTR JZR AIC FDB GFA UAL JZR DLH MSR THY

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 19/9/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 1541 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 6130 DOHA 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 344 CHENNAI 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 223 BAHRAIN 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 871 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 606 LUXOR 5066 MASHAD 302 AL MAKTOUM 561 SOHAG 6791 MASHAD 792 LUXEMBOURG 472 JEDDAH 610 CAIRO 640 AMMAN 219 BAHRAIN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 535 CAIRO 140 DOHA 790 MEDINAH 500 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 538 SHARM EL SHEIKH 303 ABU DHABI 824 SANAA 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 542 CAIRO 144 DOHA 438 BAHRAIN 166 PARIS 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 460 MEDINAH 620 ASSIUT 3553 ALEXANDRIA 787 RIYADH 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 102 NEW YORK 774 RIYADH 393 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 229 COLOMBO 514 TEHRAN 481 SABIHA 417 AMSTERDAM 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 43 DHAKA 307 ABU DHABI 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 539 CAIRO 975 CHENNAI 59 DUBAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 614 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL

Time 0:15 0:20 0:50 1:45 2:20 2:25 2:30 3:10 3:20 3:25 4:10 4:35 4:55 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:40 7:15 7:30 7:45 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:20 8:25 8:30 8:40 9:00 9:20 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:00 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:10 11:55 12:00 12:25 13:15 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:00 15:05 15:15 16:10 16:35 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:55 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 20:55 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:10 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:35 23:40

Airlines AIC UAL DLH MSR ETD PIA THY ETH UAE FDB ETD QTR QTR JZR JZR GFA THY JZR KAC KAC BAW FDB KAC JZR ABY QTR KAC GFA UAE KAC KAC QTR FDB ETD BAB IRA GFA KAC MEA MSR JZR UAE KAC KAC JZR JZR IRM KNE IRC GFA FDB MSR RJA CLX KAC JZR KAC SVA JZR VTF QTR KAC KAC ETD JZR IYE QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY UAL SVA JZR QTR FDB BAB KNE RBG MSR JZR KAC KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC GFA JZR DHX ALK KLM JZR ABY ETD KAC UAE QTR KAC KAC JZR BBC AXB QTR FDB GFA JZR KAC

Depature Flights on Wednesday 19/9/2012 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 934 ABU DHABI 206 LAHORE 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 534 CAIRO 545 ALEXANDRIA 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 175 FRANKFURT 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 6131 DOHA 671 DUBAI 224 BAHRAIN 856 DUBAI 789 MADINAH 117 NEW YORK 133 DOHA 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 437 BAHRAIN 602 SHIRAZ 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 405 BEIRUT 619 ASSIUT 776 JEDDAH 872 DUBAI 103 LONDON 785 JEDDAH 480 ISTANBUL 176 DUBAI 5065 MASHHAD 461 MADINAH 6792 MASHHAD 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 641 AMMAN 792 GIALAM 673 DUBAI 538 CAIRO 617 DOHA 503 MADINAH 786 RIYADH 300 KANDAHAR 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 513 TEHRAN 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 824 SANAA 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 982 BAHRAIN 511 RIYADH 266 BEIRUT 145 DOHA 64 DUBAI 439 BAHRAIN 477 JEDDAH 3554 ALEXANDRIA 621 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 361 COLOMBO 1533 ISTANBUL 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 331 TRIVANDRUM 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 502 LUXOR 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 417 DAMMAM 1540 CAIRO 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 381 DELHI 860 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 554 ALEXANDRIA 44 DHAKA 394 KOCHI 147 DOHA 60 DUBAI 218 BAHRAIN 528 ASSIUT 415 KUALA LUMPUR

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 0:35 1:25 2:15 2:45 3:45 3:50 4:05 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:55 7:05 7:10 7:30 8:10 8:20 8:25 8:25 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:25 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:25 10:45 11:30 11:55 12:10 12:15 12:20 12:30 13:10 13:15 13:20 13:25 14:10 14:15 14:25 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:45 15:05 15:10 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:00 16:15 16:25 16:25 17:20 17:30 17:35 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:45 19:55 20:05 20:15 20:20 20:30 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:50 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

SITUATION VACANT

FOR SALE Subaru outback model 2005, metallic color, mileage 2,12,000. Passing up to May 2013, good interior & exterior for only KD 600. Tel: 22493358.

Toyota Camry model 2011 GL silver color, 8,600 km done, excellent condition, price KD 4,350. Contact: 66839506. (C 4138)

Lady Chartered Accountant seeking suitable placement.

Phone: 97572174. (C 4137) 16-9-2012 Wanted full time maid/nanny in Salwa.

OямАering KD 120 salar y.

Must speak English and be good with small children.

Call 9768-7172.

12-9-2012

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

Prayer timings Fajr:

04:15

Duhr:

11:42

Asr:

15:10

Maghrib:

17:49

Isha:

19:05

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw

Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

34

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

s ta rs CROSSWORD 801

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Your ambition is dominant this morning and you have the enthusiasm to accomplish much. You may run into severe opposition from others, if you push too hard—careful. How you handle the circumstances happening now will determine whether you use this time to your benefit.

Make sure other projects are completed before going ahead with new ones. Take great pains to respect others and you should be able to achieve your objectives.

You have an interest in new or novel forms of architecture, food and domestic products and services. This afternoon is a time of greater emotional sensitivity as unconscious memories are stimulated. You may develop strong psychic ties with the family. A family member might enjoy reviewing old family recipes.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Greater political or professional security is possible now.

Important issues concerning public credibility, corporate ethics, product safety and secret or sensitive information come to your attention. You may want to improve or remake the power structure and strategies of your profession. You may have increased dealings with corporate business and matters related to joint finances, corporate money, shares and taxes. You will be achieving clear communications in how you want to proceed. You can present important ideas today without the fear of being misunderstood. As such, presentations, lectures and teaching contracts are favorable. It is good you can decipher a problem quickly as you will need your quick thinking talents.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Gully or streambed in North Africa and the Middle East that remains dry except during rainy season.

5. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

9. The compass point that is one point north of northwest.

13. Similar or related in quality or character.

14. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

15. (used especially of vegetation) Having lost all moisture.

16. Any of several herbs of the genus Dipsacus native to the Old World having flower heads surrounded by spiny bracts.

17. A port city in southwestern Turkey on the Gulf of Antalya.

19. The month following August and preceding October.

20. (British) A waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric.

22. Duck of the northern hemisphere much valued for the fine soft down of the females.

23. A region of Malaysia in northeastern Borneo.

25. An anxiety disorder characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety and such symptoms as tension or sweating or trembling of light-headedness or irritability etc that has lasted for more than six months.

26. A Japanese shrub that resembles members of the genus Spiraea.

31. Someone who is morally reprehensible.

34. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

36. Send out rays or waves.

38. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

41. A narrative song with a recurrent refrain.

42. A linear unit (1/6 inch) used in printing.

44. Norwegian mathematician (1802-1829).

46. The compass point that is one point east (clockwise) of due north.

48. 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. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).

54. (prefix) Opposite or opposing or neutralizing.

57. The cry made by sheep.

58. A rapid bustling commotion.

59. In a foreign country.

61. A cgs unit of work or energy.

62. The habitation of wild animals.

63. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

64. A nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix.

DOWN 1. Telephone line (Wide Area Telephone Service).

2. Widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions for its fragrant flowers and colorful fruits.

3. Reptile having a pair of openings in the skull behind each eye.

4. An insect or other arthropod between molts.

5. Chiefly tropical trees and shrubs and vines usually having a tall columnar trunk bearing a crown of very large leaves.

6. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

7. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

8. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

9. An anti-inflammatory drug that does not contain steroids.

10. European mignonette cultivated as a source of yellow dye.

11. Soft creamy white cheese.

12. Not far distant in time or space or degree or circumstances.

18. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part.

21. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

24. French novelist.

27. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

28. A deep prolonged sound (as of thunder or large bells).

29. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

30. A vehicle mounted on runners and pulled by horses or dogs.

32. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

33. Of a pale purple color.

35. A promontory in northern Morocco opposite the Rock of Gibraltar.

37. A light touch or stroke.

39. A segment of DNA containing adjacent genes including structural genes and an operator gene and a regulatory gene.

40. A decree that prohibits something.

43. A seaport in northwestern Italy.

45. Dwell (archaic).

47. A lyric poet.

49. In bed.

50. An outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals.

51. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

53. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

55. A label made of cardboard or plastic or metal.

56. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

60. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) New ideas come easily to you now. Can you turn some of these into moneymaking opportunities? Do not aggravate others unnecessarily, especially with your own enthusiasm just now. Apply your mental effort to studies or constructive talk. Attend to any long needed car repairs. You may desire greater social prestige now. You are inclined to be more ambitious for material wealth and status. Technical or experimental matters are highlighted. There are activities coming up with groups and organizations, or entertainment with friends. You may volunteer some of your time for a political cause or an ideal. Avoid extravagance or overextending yourself financially.

Suddenly it seems your dreams are materializing.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Expect your emotions to be deep and powerfully felt this morning. You will not like the superficiality; going with the flow may take effort. You will be digging for truth and seeking root causes, especially in your profession. You have great opportunities for leadership without unpleasant duties or responsibilities. You can develop a more independent lifestyle. Selfimprovement and the influence of those around you can go along educational, religious, philosophical or cultural lines. You may schedule in some travel for this week or do business over a distance. A recent dream may require careful analysis.

Consider purchasing a good dream guide and use your own flawless intuition to make sense of the messages you might uncover.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You may be temporarily inclined to all work and no play. You will avoid idle chatter now, as you focus only on communications that matter. This is a good time to organize or to seek council from someone wiser on issues of importance. There needs to be a balance between your need to be yourself and your desire to relate to others. Worry will incline you to be serious about your finances. Through hard work and prudent organization, you will gradually build up your savings and wealth. For now, the energies are not strong enough to bring about a new romantic relationship if one does not already exist.

However, this day favors all creative endeavors, especially those that have some physical component, such as dancing, acting and making music.

Yesterday’s Solution Virgo (August 23-September 22) Activities today may include finding the time to catch up on your own personal paperwork. You may also have an opportunity to guide or instruct a young person in banking or other business transactions.

You may share in some confidential matter today. It is a good time for membership in clubs, groups and organizations. You can expand your sense of social belonging. You may be surprised at the acceptance of your ideas and ideals, particularly along technical, experimental, intellectual or humanitarian lines. Personal magnetism is at a high point. This is a favorable time for public relations and you could find an interest in helping with the elderly in your community. Perhaps you will climb on board the activities for community improvement.

Libra (September 23-October 22) This is a day of increased work responsibility. You may have to struggle to complete the day’s agenda but you will be successful as you are determined. One secret is to find someone to share your work and you in turn help them. Two can work faster and by the time the day is over you may find that two of you have completed the work of two with swiftness and less stress than usual. This is not the usual case, but just such an occasion will help to build good friends. As you each develop more patience, persistence, skill, efficiency and organization in your work, you will find opportunities to advance, therefore, find a new environment. What you have to ask yourself now is if the climb is worth the effort you will need to put forth.

Yesterday’s Solution

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You combine energy and courage with ambition and selfcontrol. You can accomplish much toward your goals through careful, hard work. Officials and people in authority give you their support and you can deal effectively with any business and professional affairs that come your way today. You can make progress in managerial and administrative areas. You have ideas for making money and insuring security. Now is a good time for financial planning and correspondence. Send a card to a person who you know that may not get much mail. A teen or preteen youngster may be interested in your ideas on financial gain and may join you in seeking ways to invest the small allowance or wages made around the home: good beginnings.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) This morning is a time for daydreams. Your imagination will be focused on how things ought to be, rather than on reality as it is. You may tend to purchase or sell art and luxury items. You may want comforts that are more physical and seek to improve your material security through financial or business agreements. There may be some talk among co-workers about goals and changes in the order of work. You will spend a considerable amount of time and effort to improve finances, principally through physical or manual activity. The desire for material success and considerable monetary gain is great—talk of a raise is also in the air! An early evening drive with your loved one is enjoyable and may be beneficial to you both.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Emphasize your personality, skill or productivity—not your foolishness or reckless daring. You have a good chance to improve your level of education and your communications or foreign language skills. Your place of business will be willing to help you complete or continue your educational plans. You should make every effort, however, to find out what paybacks are necessary. Your access to ideas, information, goods and services improves. Letters and short trips can be immensely enjoyable and rewarding now. The time is favorable for studying, teaching, lecturing, writing and publishing. Avoid intellectual prejudices concerning personal religious, philosophical, cultural or educational views. Consider travel ideas.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) There may be romantic or marital opportunities through work. This also may be some opportunity to help a co-worker with his or her plans to marry. This afternoon you will find yourself in the middle of productive work. You are successful at your job and others appreciate your attention to your work. On the way home this afternoon you may find errands and chores fill up your time. You are sympathetic and well-disposed to loved ones and think of them fondly when shopping for gifts or visits. Try to keep a measure of objectivity; we all need to learn and this is also a gift you can give . . . to quietly watch and wait and help when needed. This evening promises to offer exciting and creative times between partners!

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You feel very good about yourself today and others tend to support your self-confidence. If you enjoy your work, this is a good day to expand your horizons. If you consider your job little more than drudgery, this is a good time to begin a vacation, experience new pleasures or change your routine. The planetary energies encourage you toward warmth and affection—you attract others. Although it is easy for you to make good impressions today—when meeting new people, you should greet them eye-to-eye. In existing relationships, your natural affection could be put to good use in order to undo tensions with friends or loved ones. In addition to the personal aspects, financial arrangements, especially negotiations for attaining funds are favorable.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

ST TAT TE OF KUW K WA AIT

Te el.: 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GENE GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIA V ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours BY Y DA AY:

Hot with light to moderate north westerly wind, with speed of 12 - 35 km/h with a chance for dust later on

BY Y NIGHT:

Fair with light to moderate north westerly wind, with speed of 12 - 35 km/h with a chance for suspended dust

No Current Warnings arnin a

WA ARNING MIN. REC.

KUW WAIT A CITY

42 °C

30 °C

22451082

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

42 °C

26 °C

Al-Mirqab

22456536

NUW WAISEEB A

43 °C

27 °C

Sharq

22465401

WAFRA A

43 °C

25 °C

SALMI

Salmiya

25746401

41 °C

24 °C

ABDAL LY

43 °C

24 °C

Jabriya

25316254

JAL ALIY YA AH

43 °C

26 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FAILAKA A

43 °C

27 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

41 °C

31 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

38 °C

32 °C

W.Hawally

22630786

WARBA A A - BUBY YAN A

42 °C

21 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

West Jahra

ST TATION T

24575755

Wednesday e

19/09

24772608

Thursday

20/09

Friday

21/09

Saturday

22/09

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

WEA AT THER

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

26 °C

NW

12 - 35 km/h

25 °C

NW-NE

08 - 28 km/h

41 °C

25 °C

NW-VRB

06 - 28 km/h

42 °C

27 °C

NW

12 - 35 km/h

MAX.

MIN.

hot

42 °C

hot

40 °C

hot hot PRA RA AYER Y TIMES

Al-Ardhiya

18/09/2012 0000 UTC

Temperatures DA AT TE

24775066

SFC. CHART

4 DA AY YS FORECAST DA AY

South Jahra

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

MAX. EXP P.

New Jahra

2627 - 2630 Ext.: 262

Fax: 24348714

AY AT KUW WA RECORDED YESTERDA AIT AIRPORT

Fajr

04:15

MAX. Temp.

43 °C

Sunrise

05:34

MIN. Temp.

23 °C

Zuhr

11:42

MAX. RH

17 %

Asr

15:11

MIN. RH

Sunset

17:50

MAX. Wind i

Isha

19:07

TOT TA AL L RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

03 % NW 50 km/h 00 mm

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Eva Longoria isn’t ready to return to TV he 37-year-old actress is busier than ever since her eight-year stint on ‘Desperate Housewives’ came to an end and though she wants to go back to working on the small screen eventually, she is enjoying her break. She said: “What I probably miss most about the show is the routine and the work. But I think I am busier now that the show is over. “I would love to go back to TV. Not now, because I just got out after an eight-year relationship. So not in the immediate future, but in the long-run.” Eva - who played Gabrielle Solis on the show - admits the final day of filming was “horrible” for herself and her co-stars, who include Felicity Huffman, Teri Hatcher and Marcia Cross. She added in an interview with The Sun newspaper: “The last day was horrible. We were all excited to move on and close this chapter. But it was a big part of all our lives. The final scene was really emotional. “We just sat there and talked, cried and laughed about all the moments.”

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Jerry Hall: My long-distance relationship erry Hall finds her long-distance relationship “quite difficult”. The 56-year-old model - who was previously married to Sir Mick Jagger - lives in London, while her partner, millionaire Warwick Hemsley, lives in his native Australia, and she admits it can be tough on both of them. She said: “It’s quite difficult because 12,000 miles is a long way. But he’s a lovely man.” However, Jerry - who was born in Texas - does enjoy spending time by herself in her London home gardening. Speaking on UK TV show ‘Lorraine’, she said: “I’m quite a home girl. I’ve been living here 27 years so this is my home, all my children are here. I love gardening, the English are so into it.” Despite previously stating she would not get married again, sources recently claimed Jerry is now considering the idea. An insider said: “When one of her friends made a remark about how they could see her marrying again, Jerry would always laugh it off. “But recently she’s stopped being so coy. In fact, she’s been saying quite openly that she likes the idea.” Jerry is currently appearing on British ballroom dancing show ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.

J Reid needs ‘professional help’ to save relationship lex Reid thinks he and Chantelle Houghton need “professional help” to make their relationship work. The cage fighter was dumped by reality TV star Chantelle with whom he has three-month-old daughter Dolly - on twitter just two days after he was arrested trying to force entry into their home in Brentwood, Essex, South East England, on September 5. But he thinks they can save their romance if they see a counselor. He told Now magazine: “We both need help.

Professional help. Even if we’re not going to be together romantically, we’ve got a little girl. But Chantelle doesn’t think of any of this as her problem. “Even now, I’m positive. I’m willing to work at something and will never say die. I’ve offered to go to counseling with her, but she’s not interested.” While Alex, 37, remains positive about being able to repair their relationship, Chantelle, 29, is adamant they will not get back together.

She wrote in her New! magazine column: “It’s been a difficult week, as I’m sure people will understand. “It’s only been a matter of days since Alex and I split so it’s still very raw and I am really, really upset. “I tried everything in my power to make my relationship work. I have been trying to keep busy with Dolly - after all, she is the most important one in all of this.”

Alex also admits he’s not ready to speak with Chantelle yet, as he is hurting too much over her decision to dump him. He added: “Even now I don’t want to speak to her because it hurts so much. She calls me a lot wanting to speak to me. She said, ‘I can’t believe you’re not fighting for me.’ I was like, ‘Hang on, I was arrested and you split up with me on twitter!’ “

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Spears throws birthday Silverstone isn’t ‘Clueless’ licia Silverstone struggled to be taken seriously after starring in ‘Clueless’. The actress shot to worldwide fame playing ditzy blonde Cher Horowitz in the 1995 chick flick, and although she is grateful for the role she admits it was difficult to convince people she was not the same as her airhead character afterwards. Speaking in an interview with Bullett Magazine, she said: “I remember doing interviews in London for some movie at the time, and the interviewers would want to talk about the movie, of course, but all I wanted to talk about was murder. “They probably expected me to be like the ‘Clueless’ character, but instead I was sitting there saying stuff like, ‘And then they anally electrocute!’ I pretty much bummed everyone out.” ‘Clueless’ director Amy Heckerling joined Alicia, 35, for the interview, and revealed she cast the actress for the part because she had a Marilyn Monroe-type quality needed for the film. Amy said: “When I was writing the script for ‘Clueless’, I had a vague notion in my head of Cher as a pretty, sweet blonde, who, in spite of being the American ideal, people still really like. “You had that Marilyn Monroe thing, which is that other women love you, too.” The pair reunited for upcoming motion picture ‘Vamps’, which sees Alicia playing a vampire in modern day New York City. The film is released in October.

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party for boys ritney Spears threw a huge joint birthday party for her sons on Saturday.

The singer’s boys both had birthdays last week - with Jayden James turning six on Wednesday and Sean Preston turning seven on Friday - so she hired the Sky High arcade and trampoline park in Calabasas, California, to celebrate. Around 20 of the boys’ friends were at the party, as well as Britney, her fiance Jason Trawick and father Jamie Spears. It is not known if the children’s father, Kevin Federline, was at the bash. The group enjoyed playing games and cake, but presents were all opened back at home. A source told E! news: “Britney was smiling ear-to-ear during the whole party and enjoyed watching her kids play with their friends. It was a really lovely occasion; everyone was in a good mood and in the spirit of the birthday. She looked overjoyed and at one point was singing happy birthday to them.” “Jason and Britney were beaming and couldn’t have been more proud of Jayden James and Sean Preston.” Britney - who is a judge on ‘The X Factor’ USA was said to be originally planning to marry Jason this year, but has since put the wedding date off until she knows what type of ceremony she wants. A source said: “She just isn’t ready to commit to concrete plans, because she’s not sure what the right thing to do is. She’s confused. This is her third wedding, so she doesn’t know whether she should go really big and make a huge statement or just do it super toned down.” Britney was previously married to childhood sweetheart Jason Alexander, although their marriage was annulled after just 55 hours in January 2004. She was then wed to dancer Kevin between 2004 and 2006.

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Bynes locks self in changing room manda Bynes locked herself in a store changing room for nearly two hours and refused to come out. The troubled actress - who recently had her car impounded and her driving licence suspended - caused concern to shopkeepers at the Kin store in West Hollywood who thought she was “doing drugs” when she refused to come out for a considerable amount of time yesterday afternoon. A clerk told a source: “I was so worried about her. I didn’t know what she was doing in the dressing room. I didn’t know if she was overdosing or doing drugs or what.”

According to TMZ.com, Amanda made a banging noise on the inside of the changing room every 10 minutes for one hour and 45 minutes. When they asked her to come out, she refused, telling them she needed “more time”. She eventually exited and purchased a pair of stilettos and some sunglasses, but as she was going to leave she realized she had not paid for a bathing suit under her dress, which she forgot was on and bought while still wearing. Amanda eventually left when those in the shop called a taxi for her, as she is currently banned from driving. —Bang Showbiz

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Schwarzenegger’s

Diaz and Paltrow

20-year-old honey

gatecrashed wedding show

rnold Schwarzenegger told estranged wife Maria Shriver he was going to start a relationship with a “20-year-old honey”. The 65-year-old actor reportedly refused to attend marriage counseling and told his neighbor that he could live without Maria, who he split from in May 2011 when she discovered he had fathered a child, who is now 14 years old, with their housekeeper Mildred Patricia Baena. According to Newsweek magazine, Schwarzenegger told his neighbor: “I think things will work out OK with Maria, but if they don’t, I’m getting me a 20year-old honey.” The ‘Expendables 2’ star is said to have told his wife of 25 years to leave their Californian mansion, which forced her to live in a hotel while Arnold remained in the property, and when she asked for a divorce he insisted that he would be the one who still has friends when they separate. He said: “I have the money, the power, and the plane, and I will have the friends.” According to the publication, the ‘Expendables 2’ star “could not understand” why Maria - who has four children with the actor didn’t forgive him. The piece states: “Arnold is a very different kind of person [to Maria]. Anything that posed emotional pain or difficulty, he was out of there. “He could not understand why Maria could not just forgive and get on with things, and when Maria said she needed a trial separation and told Arnold to move out, family and friends say that he refused. It was his house, and he wasn’t budging...”

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he two actresses were staying at the Sir Christopher Wren Hotel in Windsor, Southern England, over the weekend and when they found out The Windsor Wedding Show was being held there on Sunday they couldn’t resist having a look. Single Cameron and Gwyneth - who is married to Coldplay singer Chris Martin - had a look at all the displays and spent time staring at the bridal gowns. A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “The girls were chatting away and they wandered in. They perused the cakes, photography exhibitions and bridal wear. They were giggling and aahing at all the displays.” After seeing the show, the pair - who became close friends after the death of Gwyneth’s TV producer father Bruce Paltrow in October 2002 - then spent the rest of the afternoon together and were even spotted on a hired boat on the Thames. Cameron has previously insisted she isn’t too bothered about ever tying the knot, saying: “I’m not sitting there going, ‘Oh my god, when am I going to get married?’” The ‘Bad Teacher’ star is currently in the UK to film Ridley Scott’s thriller ‘The Counselor’ with Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Penelope Cruz, while 39-year-old Gwyneth lives in London with her husband Chris and their two children, Apple, eight, and son Moses, six. Cameron has dated a string of famous men over the years, including New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez, Justin Timberlake and Jared Leto. She was recently spotted cosying up to newly single Tom Cruise after the 50-year-old actor was spotted at Cameron’s 40th birthday party earlier this month.

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37

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

Randy Newman writes new satirical, political song andy Newman is weighing in on the presidential election, and he’s playing the race card through a song he wrote called “I’m Dreaming.” The piano tune features the refrain: “I’m dreaming of a white president.” It is full of satirical, sarcastic - and signature - Newman anecdotes about someone who votes for the president because he is white.

Newman, who is white, is openly supporting President Barack Obama. He says he wants the public to find comedic relief in the song, but to also know he’s serious about his thoughts that racism is well and alive in the world - and in the current presidential race. He called racism “the great issue of this country.”

“I felt that that sentiment exists in the country,” Newman said in an interview Monday. “I don’t know how many people you can get to admit it. I think maybe zero.” The song will be released as a free download and Newman is encouraging listeners to donate to the United Negro College Fund.

Newman, 68, has won multiple Academy Awards, Grammys and Emmys for composing music for movies such as “Cars,” “Monsters, Inc.,” the “Toy Story” franchise and

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Maya Rudolph arrives at the 2012 Creative Arts Emmys at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. —AP photos

Amy Poehler from “Parks and Recreation” arrives for the NBC network upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall, in New York.

Nominees offer prescriptions for

Emmy-day nerves ttending the Emmy Awards as a nominee is the kind of heady experience that sends even veteran actors’ and show-runners’ tummies aflutter. But, of course, the show must go on. Stars say they turn to booze, tunes and deep breaths to

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Jesse Tyler Ferguson arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of the play “8” in Los Angeles. prepare for such moments. Here’s what some of this year’s nominees would prescribe for a case of Emmy-day nerves: “Oh, you mean pharmaceutically? Hmm. Baby aspirin. Baby aspirin and maybe just

like a small children’s pool of sangria.” Amy Poehler of “Parks and Recreation.”

“Music. Music. I’m going to vote for either Adele’s ‘21’ or Decemberists’ ‘The King is Dead.’

Music soothes the savage beast.” Mayim Bialik of “The Big Bang Theory.”

“You know, I’m not picky. I’m really not picky. I say ... My mother always taught me that any drink gets better over ice. And when you’re (drinking) it in large quantities, it’s not a bad thing to water it down.” - Julie Bowen of “Modern Family.” “You know, actors, the thing is, we’re used to getting nervous. That’s sort of our thing. You get nervous and you know how to get through it. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to go on stage or shoot. So, I think we’re pretty good at dealing with nerves. I would say if I’m nervous, I would just drink a glass of water and take a deep breath.” - Zooey Deschanel of “New Girl.”

“A really dry, I mean a really buttery, oaky Chardonnay. And some more mascara.” - Jean Smart nominated for her gueststarring role in “Harry’s Law.” “A case of presence. Yes. Not ‘presents.’

Presence. Yes, we want to bring ourselves into the present moment and say, ‘Hey! Look at this. Look what’s happening. Let’s be grateful for this moment and take it all in.’ You know what I mean?” - Max Greenfield, nominated for “New Girl.” —AP

“American Idol” Season 12 judge Mariah Carey arrives for day one auditions at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012 in New York. —AP

Mariah Carey: No feuding with Minaj on ‘Idol’ yet ariah Carey says there’s no feud between her and fellow new “American Idol” judge Nicki Minaj at the moment. Judges Carey, Minaj, Keith Urban and Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest attended a press conference in New York on Monday after auditioning singers for the Fox music reality TV series. Fox announced Sunday that Minaj and Urban would join Carey and Jackson as judges on “Idol” following Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler’s exits in July. Carey tried to quell rumors about her quarreling with Minaj by saying they’ve only been together two days and “a feud takes a little longer to happen.”

All the judges burst into laughter.

Minaj says the new “Idol” judges are “getting along wonderfully, darling.” Minaj and Carey collaborated on a remix of Carey’s song “Up Out My Face” in 2010.

Carey confessed she’s “never been a fan” of singing competition shows. “I’ll be completely honest,” she said. “But I realize what this show has done for such talented artists and truly giving them careers.”

When asked why TV watchers should

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view “Idol” versus another Fox show, “X Factor,” which boasts Britney Spears and Demi Lovato as judges, Carey simply pointed her fingers to herself. “Did I do that? I didn’t mean that as a final gesture,” she said with a smile. “I’m sorry.”

Then the 42-year-old multiple Grammy Award-winner said she wants to help those who dream of careers in music even if they don’t get to move on to the next round on the show. “(What) I’m bringing to the table is years of experience, writing songs, performing,” she said. Minaj, who has had multiple hits on the Billboard charts and two platinum albums, said she’s been through a lot since she came on the scene in 2009 and she wants to give the contestants a real perspective of the music industry. “I would love to be able to tell the contestants honestly and truthfully what they can really expect, and sometimes you have to tell people, ‘Hey, you really might not want to be in this,’” she said. The 12th season of “Idol” airs in January. —AP

the TV series “Monk.” He often writes songs from the perspective of a character not like himself.

“Short People,” the 1977 No. 2 Billboard hit, attacked short peo-

“I’m Dreaming” features lyrics like: “He won’t be the brightest, perhaps, but he’ll be the whitest, and I’ll vote for that.” He said as he wrote the song the lyrics “didn’t

but I wanted to get it right as best I could,” said Newman, who added that he’s always worried there may be some backlash following the release of a song like this one.

Newman believes Obama will be re-elected in November and feels that Republican contender Mitt Romney isn’t a “serious candidate for president.”

Newman said he’s proud of how America has progressed, though, but adds that “there’s a long way to go.” “No European country would have elected a black man,” he said. “I can’t believe it happened. I think it’s fantastic, like a step on the moon.” The Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee said some friends told him to save the track - which he wrote a couple weeks ago - for an upcoming album, but he says releasing it now is perfect timing. “I think it’s for the moment,” he said. “It’s not going to live forever.” —AP

File photo shows composer Randy Newman posing backstage with the Oscar for best original song for “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3” at the 83rd Academy Awards in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. —AP ple. And “Sail Away” is a come on from a slave trader to a potential slave.

come that easy.” “It’s delicate enough that I’m not going to offend people every which way,

Country newcomer Kip Moore revels in long-sought success ip Moore arrived in Nashville on New Year’s Day in 2004, with a guitar and a suitcase. Appropriately enough, he was driving a truck. Eight years later, his first No. 1 hit was called “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck.” The single has sold more than 1 million copies. Moore’s first album, “Up All Night,” debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard country album charts in April. It has since sold almost 200,000copies. It’s all pretty heady stuff for someone who has quicklybecome one of the biggest up-and-coming country music acts. “Every time I step on that stage, I’m loving it. Now that I’ve had some success, I’m even more fearful of losing it,” Moore told Reuters.

The newly minted Nashville star has just joined country music sensation Eric Church on Church’s “The Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour.” “I’m depressed when I don’t get to do music,” Moore said in an interview. “Having to go back to doing something I don’t like and am not passionate about would be a tough thing.” Though he appears to have hit it big quickly, the 32-yearold Moore built his career steadily. He started in small clubs near his hometown of Tifton, Georgia, and then moved on to Hawaii, where he started to hone his craft before he realized he had to go to the heart of country music to learn the business.

Once settled in Nashville, Moore immersed himself in the songwriting community, but it took two years to work up enough nerve to share his songs with other songwriters. Once he did, observers began to see a range of influences in his music. Moore, however, can remember the song that made him want to be a songwriter. “I could name so many, but I have to say it was ‘All Good Things’ by Jackson Browne. So many of those songs I was listening to when I was five, six, seven years old was because my dad was listening to them, and I listened

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because I thought he was cool,” he said.

“I loved Bob Dylan, who today would be a country songwriter and singer. Songs like ‘Against the Wind’ by Bob Seger. I can specifically remember riding on a fishing trip with my dad and listening to that song.” The youngster listening to his father’s music wasn’t old enough to understand what the lyrics were about, yet he was drawn to the stories in the songs,

Kip Moore whether they were country, rock or pop.

Church, 35, who received five Country Music Association award nominations this month, gave Moore high marks for his authenticity as well as his vocal style. “I like the grit in his

music,” Church told Reuters. “There’s a lot of integrity in the kind of songs that he writes and the way he sings them and the way they’re recorded, so I’m looking forward to get on the road with him.”

Make way for the cap acts Moore is being hailed by critics as a country act who could broaden the genre’s fan base.

Some critics are even dubbing this new baseball-cap-wearing group of young country musicians, which includes Church, the “Cap Acts” vs. the “Hat Acts.” Moore shakes his head at such labels. “People will try to give this new generation a hard time, but music is always evolving,” Moore said. “When Webb Pierce was out, that was what was going on then, but then Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash came, and they were doing music that was so different from Webb.

Then Garth (Brooks) came around after Cash and those guys, and it was like ‘Wait a minute. This isn’t country.’ You are always fighting that battle in music, no matter what genre you are in.”

The songs on Moore’s album have garnered comparisons to artists as wide ranging as Bruce Springsteen and Kris Kristofferson. Moore’s voice lends itself to the sexiness of “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck” or “Up All Night,” but has no trouble going straight into “Reckless,” a rocking tune that begs the listener to be patient with the singer and the mistakes he makes through the process of growing up.

“I’ve been playing the many styles of music I do for a long time,” Moore said. “I try not to focus on what people say too much because there’s nothing I can do about it. All I can do is focus on staying true to the style of music I write and sing because that is the only way it’s going to come off as honest.” —Reuters

‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ powers to top in N America ci-fi action-thriller “Resident Evil: Retribution” topped the North American weekend box office, holding off the 3D version of “Finding Nemo,” final figures showed Monday. Both films were making their debut but the former, starring Milla Jovovich, took $21.1 million in receipts, ahead of animated feature “Finding Nemo,” which earned $16.7 million, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations. Last week’s number one, “The Possession,” a supernatural thriller starring Kyra Sedgwick, was knocked into third, well off the pace with just $5.8 million in weekend receipts.

Depression-era gangster tale “Lawless” fell from second place last week to fourth earning $4.3 million.

Action romp “The Expendables 2,” starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, continued its drop, finishing fifth on $3.14 million.

“ParaNorman,” an animated movie about a boy who can speak to the dead, moved down to the sixth spot, earning $3.09 million. “The Words,” a literary drama about an author who earns fame by stealing another writer’s work, was in seventh place, with $2.86 million in sales, just ahead of thriller “The Bourne Legacy” which earned $2.85 million. In ninth place, quirky fantasy-comedy “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” brought in $2.6 million. And rounding out the top 10 was political spoof “The Campaign,” starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, which took in $2.4 million. —AFP

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Red Carpet Actors Jake Gyllenhaal, writer/director David Ayer and actors Natalie Martinez, Michael Pena, Frank Grillo and America Ferrera arrive at the premiere of Open Road Films’ “End of Watch” at Regal Cinemas LA Live on September 17, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. —AFP

S Korea ‘Gangnam Style’ tops 200mln YouTube views outh Korean pop sensation Park Jae-Sang posted another landmark Tuesday, when the video of his global-hit “Gangnam Style” notched 200 million views on YouTube, days after topping the US iTunes chart. “Got 200 million views!!! Thx everybody!!!” Park, better known by his stage name “Psy”, wrote on his Twitter account @psy_oppa.

The video, featuring Psy performing his signature “horse riding dance”, went viral shortly after being posted on the video-sharing site in mid-July, turning the chubby, 34-year-old singer into an interna-

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tional star. Recent appearances at the MTV awards in Los Angeles and on numerous prime-time US talk shows have boosted his profile even higher, pushing “Gangnam Style” to the top of the US iTunes Chart on Saturday.

Psy has also signed a contract with Justin Bieber’s management agency, although he has some way to go to topple Bieber from the top of YouTube’s all-time, most-viewed chart. The teenage heart-throb’s “Baby” video is currently closing in on 800 million views. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

lifestyle F a s h i o n

Models display designs from Burberry Prorsum’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection, in Kensington, west London, during London Fashion Week, Monday.—AP/AFP photos

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British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue Anna Wintour

British actor Dev Patel arrives to attend the Burberry Prorsum.

US burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese

uxury British label Burberry dazzled a star-studded crowd with colourful metalics, corsets and capes at the most anticipated show of London Fashion Weekdespite a gloomy profit warning. Set in Kensington Gardens, the huge greenhouse-like tent which housed the show led by Christopher Bailey was plunged into darkness.

A backdrop showed Burberry’s new flagship store lit up against silhouettes of iconic London buildings and monuments-Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral and Nelson’s Column.

Models rolled out Burberry’s latest spring-summer collection on Monday under the expectant gaze of burlesque style icon Dita von Teese, American Vogue editor Anna Wintour, tennis star Andy Murray and actor Dev Patel.

First up is a long white cloak. Next, tailored jackets worn over swimsuits in pleated satin, followed by dresses and tops with fitted corsets. A cropped cape covering the shoulders often completes the look, setting off a feather dress in midnight blue or purple hotpants. Burberry’s colour palette for the season ranges from dusky pinks and flesh colours, suggestive of lingerie, to green lace dresses and trench coats in red and fuschia. The clothes take on an increasingly aluminium hue, until a grand finale of rainbow-coloured metallic raincoats. “It was an explosion of colour, it was really surprising,” enthused British fashion editor Hilary Alexander who said she was “electrified” by the show. The event overshadowed the group’s warning last week that it was expecting full-year profits to be at the lower end of market expectations after sales slowed in the second quarter.

The announcement by Burberry, which obtains 37 percent of its revenue from Asia, sent its shares tumbling and created shock waves among other global players in the sector amid fears of a Chinese slowdown. The show also comes not long after the opening of the biggest of Burberry’s 200 boutiques around the world, on London’s busy Regent Street. The flagship store stretches across 2,500m2 of trading space spread over four floors in a building dating back to 1820, restored by creative director Bailey.

The grandiose London shop, with its ornate ceilings and marble and oak floors, recalls the heritage of a brand formed in 1856, highlighted by vintage pieces such as a beige leather ladies coat from 1912, or a 1934 tweed over-

Peter Pilotto

Christopher Kane coat. But it turns also to the latest technologies, notably allowing customers to see items of clothing on screens from every angle. Day four of London Fashion Week also featured a show by duo Peter Pilotto, who remained faithful to their creed of colorful, computer-generated prints.

On a podium covered in geometric patterns, under a neon light, black silhouettes exploded into a vibrant spectrum of cobalt blue, scarlet red, and fluorescent yellow.

And just as colors were splashed together, so too were materials: netting juxtaposed with silk, sometimes covered with beading or mirror fragments. Some designs evoked the Op-art of French Hungarian Victor Vasarely, others took on an African theme. Also showing on Day Four were Christopher Kane, Erdem and Peter Pilotto. London Fashion week closed yesterday, when Mulberry-another star brand in Asia-takes centre stage. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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A picture taken on September 17, 2012 at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, shows a Shrunken head Tsantsa from the Shuar tribe in Equator (19th century)displayed during the exhibition. — AFP photos

hat do Louis XIV, the Kanaks of New Caledonia and the punk generation have in common? For starters, all paid a great deal of care to their hair, subject of a major new show at Paris’ museum of tribal arts. Forget the cliche of the wild-haired caveman: “Humans have cut, arranged and coiffed their hair since at least 21,000 BC,” explains Yves Le Fur, curator of the 10-month show dubbed “Cheveux Cheris” (Dear Hair), opening on September 18. From jewels, wigs and headdresses, to talismans, mummies-or human scalps the Quai Branly Museum’s treasure trove of artefacts from Africa, Oceania or Latin America provide the backbone of the exhibit.

But the show takes the millennia-old history of hair in its stride, from the way a hairstyle defines us, to its shifting fashions and codes, why people grow or shave it, and what happens when we lose it. To set the scene, a gallery of busts in marble and bronze from the 16th to 19th centuries depicts the European greats of the day, opposite no less gloriouslycoiffed figures from Africa or China. Chosen pieces from the Western canon capture the poetry of hair, from a 14th-century statue of Mary Magdalene, locks flowing to her ankles, to a 1900 stone naiad, “L’Aurore”, smiling at daybreak behind a veil of parted curls.

Cut to the 20th-century, where giant portraits of Brigitte Bardot and Ava Gardner recall the iconic blondes, brunettes and redheads of the screen age-their impeccable curls more than matched by the “Bouffant Belles”, an all-female Texan running team from the 1960s. Captured in the glossy blonde chignons at a 1924 Parisian coiffure evening, the Western ideal is set opposite the looped and tressed hairstyles of Mahafaly women from Madagascar, in a shot taken 15 years later.

Likewise, hair-as-rebellion is spotlighted in a video installation featuring punk Mohicans and edgy catwalk looks-alternating with similar hairstyles worn perfectly seriously in traditional societies.

But beyond the to and fro between Western and nonWestern cultures, the show makes a broader point. Under the Carolingian kings in mediaeval times, long hair was a sign of royalty. Elsewhere long hair stood for religious devotion, for mourning or hippie rebellion.

Soldiers, monks and skin-heads have in common their shaved skull. “Hair does not have a fixed meaning. It’s like a conduit for social codes,” explained Le Fur. These codes are on full display in part two, which explores what happens when we lose our hair-wilfully or not. Three blonde curls, fastened

A visitor looks at paintings displayed during the exhibition entitled ‘The art of Hair frivolities and trophies’ (Cheveux Cheris, frivolites et trophees). with a bow into a poignant relic, are all that remains of “Emma”, who cut off her hair to enter a Carmelite nunnery in 1900. From Gabon, Guinea, Japan or Brazil, video archives from the 1950s to 1980s highlight the initiation ceremonies where shaving the head is a rite of passage.

But the dramatic keynote comes from photo and video footage dated August 1944, showing French women, one of them with babe in arms, paraded before a hateful crowd, their heads shaved as punishment for cavorting with German troops. For Helene Fulgence, the museum’s director of exhibitions, the cruel images get to the heart of the matter. “These women weren’t injured, hair grows back. And yet this is truly an act of torture and humiliation. It is extreme evidence of the fact that hair is one of the seats of human dignity.” Dignity is also at stake in the melancholy room devoted to extreme old age featuring a shot of a nearly-bald William S. Burroughs in 1995, two years before the Beat Generation writer died.

Which leads into the final section, displaying decorative and ritual objects made of human hair, with toucan feathers on a hairpiece from Ecuador, or matted on the macabre “shrunken heads” created as trophies by Amazonian tribes.

“Each one of these objects contained-at a given moment-the energy of a human being,” said Le Fur. “Because hair doesn’t rot, it provides a gateway between the living and the dead.”

Nowhere is this truer than in New Caledonia, where Kanak mourner-priests let their hair grow for three years, to create giant domes of hair mounted upon wood-and-feather masks.

“They believe the hair connects them to their ancestors like a cable,” said Fulgence. “Which just goes to to show hair is about much more than looks.”—AFP

A mummy of the Chancay civilization in Peru (10001450).

A Shrunken head Tsantsa from the Shuar tribe in Equator (19th century) displayed.

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ophia Saverese attended her first day of Kindergarten last week wearing a delicate floral print dress, ballet flats and a bow in her hair, no thanks to the displays at the mall promoting glittery mini-skirts, wedge sandals and one-shouldered tank tops in kiddie sizes. “She did see the other stuff, and she picked it out and said she liked it,” said Nicole Saverese, the Glen Ellyn, Ill, mother-of-three, who, with her mother-in-law’s help, steered Sophia away from the adult styles during a recent shopping trip.

“I know girls who dress their 6-month-old babies in mock leather pants, and in those shoes that look like they have a stiletto,” Saverese said. “But I just feel that she’s 5. Why would I want to dress her older when she’s going to get older already?” The age-old question has taken on new meaning in an era of bikinis for babies and skinny jeans for 6-year-olds channeling Suri Cruise. Across the US, mommy bloggers, educators and parents say the mature designs for little girls are hard to avoid these days, with even stores like Forever 21 offering to dress their darling daughters.

“What a challenge it is for a parent to hold your ground,” said Cynthia Kalogeropoulos, principal of Grove Elementary School in Barrington, Ill. “I don’t even know if parents have a choice. You’re not going to find a pair of Bermudas.” Retail experts confirm parents aren’t imagining the trend. While many adult clothing makers entered the children’s apparel industry between 2002 and 2006 offering trend-setting designs not seen before for that age group, the economic downturn put growth of the market on hold. That momentum has picked up again as the economy bounces back, prompting pint-sized designer duds at boutiques and trendy knock-offs at discount stores, according to Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for the NPD Group in New York.

And sociologists monitoring the trend say fashion for young girls has never been more provocative. In a study released last year, Kenyon College researchers found that a third of the clothing at 15 popular stores in the US had “sexualizing” characteristics, revealing or emphasizing body parts and sexiness, according to Sarah K Murnen, who co-wrote the study. “You can walk into any teen/adult retailer and you begin to see how they’re taking it younger and younger,” Cohen said. “I shake myself in disbelief and say, ‘Did I just see that?’ It’s a 4-year-old dressing like she should be at a college bar.”

Seven years ago, trend watchers at Synclaire Brands in New York noticed an untapped market in children’s apparel. Company officials were convinced that as technology and media exposed children to more than ever before, buyers would jump at the chance to buy little girl shoes bearing the names and designs of high profile women’s design-

ers Michael Kors, Stuart Weitzman and Cole Haan.

“I have an 8 and a 10 year old. They know things that I’m shocked that they know,” said Evan Cagner, president of Synclaire Brands. “I think it’s just how information moves, quite honestly, and they’re just more aware of what they’re wearing.” The company’s new venture took off-Synclaire Brands now offers dozens of women’s inspired shoes in sizes newborn to 11 — and was soon joined by a rush of other companies eager to cash in as well, Cagner said.

Shoppers encouraged the growth by spending money on their children instead of themselves, another trend that surfaced during the recession, said Cohen, the retail analyst, who noted that shoppers spent $12 billion on clothing for 5 to 10 year olds in the last year, a growth of 4 { percent.

Women’s clothing sales remained flat in the same time period.

At Water Tower Place in Chicago, shoppers used to rely on anchors such as Macy’s or the American Girl Place for children’s clothing. Today, adult stores such as Billabong and Adidas have added kids’ lines, said Katie Lindsay, marketing manager.

“As times have evolved, the products that they’re making for children are also evolving,” Lindsay said.

“I think moms want the opportunity to dress their children exactly how they’re dressed.” But while Cagner insists that Synclaire Brands goes to great lengths to design shoes that look like women’s but keep little girls in mind, companies that don’t make the same efforts-or, even worse, go out of their way to push the envelope-have become a common complaint among parents.

Jennifer Gersten of Barrington Hills, Ill, was alarmed when she began taking note of the short mini-skirts and midriff-baring tops sold at her 9year-old daughter Eleah’s favorite stores.

“I have to go shopping without her so I have a little bit more control over what she is drawn to,” said Gersten.”It’s not her fault. She’s just drawn to what everyone else wears.” Laura Kleyweg, 40, in LaGrange, Ill., surprised herself by giving her 9-yearold daughter a serious talk about her body and being conscious of showing skin when Ellen was in the second grade. “I’m hopefully laying some good ground rules to start respecting her body,” Kleyweg said.

And, as school started back up at Grove Elementary in Barrington, principal Kalogeropoulos made sure a box of extra clothes in the nurse’s office was ready for students who might show up in an outfit that showed a little too much or sent the wrong message.

“The fleeting years of childhood, you have that little portal of time to just be carefree and innocent, and to have that robbed and shortened, even by a year? It’s so hard to imagine,” Kalogeropoulos said.

After noticing a steady stream of parental rants on this subject online, Jessica Ashley, who writes a popular parenting blog on babblefish.com, posted helpful tips on how to keep children both fashion-

her 3-year-old daughter to a popular high-end children’s clothing store in search of shoes. At first, she was tickled to find a pair of wedge heeled sandals next to the store’s regular Mary Janes and sneakers.

able but appropriate for their age in today’s shopping world. First, Ashley suggests sticking with wellestablished children’s clothing companies, who are less likely to try flashy new looks because they have an image to uphold. She also recommends developing clear cut wardrobe rules for your family, explaining not just what your kids can’t wear-but also why.

“Pay attention to what you’re allowing on a regular basis,” Ashley said. “When is your daughter being sexualized by the clothes that she wears when she’s not even aware that’s going on?”

(Keeping your own standards in mind is important, especially because at today’s stores, the styles can pull you in when you least expect, said Kristi Stec, 31, of Chicago. Earlier this summer, Stec took

But when she fastened them to Savannah’s feet, Stec knew her daughter was years away from runway looks. “You definitely get tempted,” Stec said. “But she couldn’t even walk in them. She doesn’t care what her image is. She’s not trying to attract boys.

She just wants to have fun.”—MCT

Tribal museum spins age-old story of hair

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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s a young boy Ismail Ahmad spent most of his childhood helping his grandmother in the kitchen, learning heirloom recipes and traditional Malay-styled culinary methods, skills that have helped build his successful career in Malaysia. Hailing from a quiet village in Negeri Sembilan state, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Kuala Lumpur, the 52-year-old Ismail set up Rebung - a restaurant known for its signature Malay dishes - after a successful spate of hosting television cooking shows and touring as the country’s food ambassador.

Sprawling across three bungalow houses in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur, Rebung, which marks its 10th anniversary next year and was set up with business partner Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, welcomes diners with its cozy wooden furniture, warm lighting and live karaoke sessions at night.

Rebung’s 50-odd item buffet spread, pegged between 40-50 ringgit ($13-$16), has earned Ismail fame for its Malay dishes that are hard to come by.

Some of his customers are willing to take a 4-hour road trip from Singapore just for lunch.

Indian designer Sudhakar Yadav stands next to his idol of Hindu God Lord Ganesha sitting on a mechanized moving mouse in Hyderabad yesterday. Yadav designed 6.6 foot tall Ganesha idol sitting on a mechanized moving mouse made with old automobile parts for the ten day long Ganesh festival starting today. — AFP

Hope for healing miracle draws crowds

Bulgaria holy site

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opeful eyes look on as thousands of candles and the lighted crosses of a dozen tiny chapels dot the chilly nightscape at Krastova Gora, a holy site high up in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains. “I’ve had a stroke. That’s why I came here. For help!” said Yanko Dimitrov, 65, one of the many who have come to the sacred site. Every weekend, crowds of believers and nonbelievers converge on the hills around here to pray for healing miracles for themselves and their loved ones. But the big day is September 14 — the Orthodox Christian feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. According to local legend, spend-

Bulgarians sleep in a chapel after an open-air mass at the holy site of Krastova Gora in the Rhodope mountains.

—AFP photos

ing the night out here on the eve of the feast can do miracles and cure all illness.

“One must have faith... Without faith, there’s no life,” Dimitrov told AFP, stirring with difficulty in a makeshift bed by the main church. Hardly able to walk, he nevertheless travelled some 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the central region of Veliko Tarnovo with his wife. Mariana Vladova, 51, recovering from a complicated brain surgery, brought along a friend with muscle function loss after a stroke, hoping to help her regain her health and spirit. “I am no devout believer, you know. But the first time I came here I saw with my own eyes the

face of Jesus forming in the sky over the big chapel,” she said. Over 1,000 people come to these hills every year on the eve of September 14, each with their own pains and prayers: childless couples, mothers hugging sickly babies, wheelchair-bound youngsters and limping elderly people, as well as many ordinary believers.

“Everyone has something to pray for,” Milka Dakova, 27, from the northwestern town of Montana said while playing with her two-year-old son on a picnic cloth besides the car-lined road. It takes about an hour to hike up to the main church, while the very sick can be brought through by car. But the road is usually jammed. At 1,545 meters (5,070 feet) above sea level, the autumn night can be chilly so pilgrims bring along anything to keep them from the cold, from cheap plastic sheets and blankets to sleeping bags, tents and even folding beds. “We have been coming here every year for the past 12 years and will come as long as we live to wish health for us and our children and grandchildren,” a retired couple said on their way up.

‘This place makes us feel well’ “The magic of this place makes us feel well,” they added, remembering how the fog cleared and the rain stopped one year just for the feast’s night mass, with clouds returning once the priest’s chanting had seized to resound. The site was apparently uncovered in 1933 when a strongly religious man from the nearby village of Borovo saw a cross of light in the sky over the hills, and had a vision telling him there used to be a monastery there that held remains of the Holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified. After Evdokia, the frail sister of Bulgarian King Boris III, said she felt great relief from spending the night out there, the grateful monarch commissioned a metal cross to adorn the mystic hill.

A small chapel was then built as the fame of Krastova Gora-Bulgarian for “forest of the cross”spread, and a growing number of miraculous healing stories started to circulate. Even under communism, when atheism was imposed and church-going was taboo, locals helped desperate people smuggle their sick children up forest paths to the sacred site. When the regime fell in 1989,

the painful economic transition, rising unemployment and ailing healthcare system steered people back to the churches, and renewed interest in the site prompted the construction of a church, 12 small chapels for each of the apostles and a monastery.

But now, more and more people come simply out of curiosity, and smoking grills, cheap souvenir stalls and curative herb sellers have moved in with the crowds. “It just seemed an interesting place to visit,” said Radostina Simonova, who arrived on an organized tour. “I’ve heard about the huge power of this place to cure diseases. Maybe it can also make dreams come true!” she said, while preparing to sleep under the stars. — AFP

Q: How did your grandparents nurture your love for cooking?

A: “Since I was about 5 years old, I helped my grandmother in the kitchen - plucking bean sprouts, cleaning dried anchovies, peeling onions, running off to the market to buy tamarind pieces. Later on I learned how to cook our heritage dishes. “My grandfather taught me about ‘freshness’ when choosing seafood. I would follow him to the market on Saturdays to buy fish. He didn’t physically teach me, but he’ll chat to the fishmonger and I would listen.”

Q: How did growing up in a quiet village influence your cooking style?

A: “My daily food was simple. Most dishes had chili, turmeric, lemon grass, and coconut cream. We also used a lot of leaves and herbs gathered from the jungle. Electricity came into my village only in the 1970s, before that we used generators. We had no fridge. So my grandmother would prolong the shelf life of food either by smoking, salting or pickling it.

Beef, mackerel will be smoked until it is dry. For pickles, we used a lot of bamboo shoots. These are ancient methods, but very clean. I still have the smoked beef in Rebung as a signature dish.”

Q: Which are the family recipes inherited from your forefathers and how is it different compared to dishes from other Malaysian states?

A: “Negeri Sembilan food uses easy ingredients, but it is not easy to make. We mostly use chili padi (bird’s eye chili or Thai chili), fresh turmeric, lemon grass, and coconut cream, tapioca - with beef, duck, fish, and prawn. And it is mostly yellow. We use a lot of turmeric, which is rich in beta-carotene. We hardly use fresh chilies - we use dried chili and chili padi. If we use onions, it’s mostly shallots. We don’t use much garlic. We don’t usually blend the ingredients - only sliced. “Authentic Malay heritage food is mostly fermented. We add in different type of herbs and leaves. The meat in Negeri Sembilan dishes are mostly smoked because in the original recipes, all meat was smoked for preservation purposes.”

Q: What are Rebung’s specialty dishes?

A: “We have gulai lemak daging salai (smoked beef cooked in turmeric, fresh coconut and chili padi gravy), as well as durian pulut (durian pulp cooked with coconut and palm sugar served with sticky rice) and labu masak lemak (pumpkin with coconut cream and turmeric shoots). “Rebung also serves ‘ikan patin tempoyak’, a type of river catfish (iridescent shark, its meat is called “swai” in the United States) cooked with fermented durian pulp, mixed turmeric, chili, crushed lemon grass, then boiled with tamarind pieces and salt.”

Bulgarians sleep in a chapel after an openair mass.

Q: How do you maintain the “home cooked” and “authentic” tastes of the dishes at Rebung?

A: “I personally train my staff how to cook the dishes the exact way I do it. I also check all the ingredients.

I tell them that the journey of cooking is through experience. There’s no shortcut in heritage cooking.

If you have to go and find an ingredient, you do it. If you have to cook in a clay pot, you do it, because it affects the taste and texture of the dish. My grandmother used to make her own cooking oil from coconut. Everything adds value - the charcoal fire, the homemade oil. “Everything at Rebung is homemade, except the ketchup and chili sauces. All the dips are ground and made from scratch. Less is more - less ingredients, more in taste. It’s important to know the essence of the food. You shouldn’t modify it at all. If you cook it nicely, you can make a man happy for a day.”

Q: What ingredients inspire you?

A: “The smell of chilies. Another is mali-mali (bandicoot berry leaves), which is a kind of medicinal shrub used only in Negeri Sembilan for chicken rendang. It is really delicious and tastes nicer than tapioca shoots. You can find it in the jungle here, but people nowadays rarely recognize it.” — Reuters

Bulgarians hold candles as they attend an open-air mass.

Bulgarians pray during an open-air mass at the holy site of Krastova Gora.