19 Dec 2011

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

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8Kuwait 10to hold 11 general 20 election on February 2 Transparency body to monitor polls • Former MPs quizzed

Max 19º Min 03º Low Tide 11:46 High Tide 05:16 & 18:16

By B Izzak

Last US forces quit Iraq IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER, Kuwait: The last US forces left Iraq and entered Kuwait yesterday, nearly nine years after launching a divisive war to oust Saddam Hussein, and just as the oil-rich country grapples with renewed political deadlock. The last of roughly 110 vehicles carrying 500-odd troops mostly from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, crossed the border at 7:38 am (0438 GMT ), leaving just 157 military trainers at the US embassy, in a country where there were once nearly 170,000 troops on 505 bases.

It ended a war that left tens of thousands of Iraqis and nearly 4,500 American soldiers dead, many more wounded, and 1.75 million Iraqis displaced, after the USled invasion unleashed brutal sectarian killing. “It feels good, it feels real good” to be out of Iraq, Sergeant Duane Austin told AFP after getting out of his vehicle in Kuwait. “It’s been a pretty long year - it’s time to go home now.” The 27-year-old father-of-two, who completed three tours in Iraq, added: “It’s been a long time, coming and going. It’s been pretty hard on all of us... (It will) be a nice break to get back, knowing that it’s over with now.”

The last vehicles transporting US troops out of Iraq left the recently handed over Imam Ali Base outside the southern city of Nasiriyah at 2:30 am to make the 350km journey south to the Kuwaiti border. They travelled down a mostly deserted route, which US forces paid Shiite tribal sheikhs to inspect regularly to ensure no attacks could take place. Five hours later, they crossed a berm at the Kuwaiti border lit with floodlights and ringed with barbed wire.

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KHABARI AL AWAZEEM, Kuwait: The last vehicle in a convoy of the US Army’s 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait yesterday. The brigade’s special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq.

(Inset) A soldier gestures from the gun turret of the vehicle.

— AP (See Page 6)

Czech revolution icon Havel dies PRAGUE: Former Czech president and “soul of the Czech revolution” that peacehero of the Velvet Revolution Vaclav fully toppled communism in his country.

Havel, who steered his country peacefully People held vigils in Prague’s central to independence from Soviet rule in 1989, Wenceslas Square, the focal point of antidied yesterday at the age of communist rallies in 1989, 75. The onetime dissident and at Prague Castle, the died in his sleep at dawn in seat of Czech presidents. his weekend house in the Havel, president of village of Hradecek, about Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 140 km northeast of Prague, 1992 and of the successor after a lengthy illness, his Czech Republic from 1993 to secretary Sabina Tancevova 2003, had long battled poor said. Tributes poured in from health, partly caused by the across Europe and America five years he spent in comfor the statesman and playmunist jails. A onetime chain wright who was hailed as a smoker, Havel had grappled Vaclav Havel “great European” and the Continued on Page 13

Bahraini forces tear gas Shiite protesters ABUSAIBAH, Bahrain: Bahraini security forces yesterday dispersed several hundred Shiite demonstrators who gathered outside the capital Manama for the fourth day in a row, after the funeral of an elderly man who witnesses say died from tear gas inhalation.

Riot police stormed a roundabout on the Budaiya highway where men and

MAQSHA, Bahrain: A Bahraini boy holds up pictures of an elderly man during his funeral yesterday in this Shiite village. — AP

women had gathered and chanted slogans against the government of the Sunni-ruled kingdom. On Thursday, female blogger Zainab Al-Khawaja was roughed up, handcuffed and dragged off into custody from the same roundabout for refusing to end a sit-in.

Police fired tear gas yesterday before they used batons to chase demonstrators out of the area.

Amir Al-Mouali said his 73-year-old neighbor, Abdulali Ali Ahmed, was taken to a hospital Saturday morning after struggling to breath during a night of heavy clashes near his home along the Budaiya highway. Al-Mouali said Ahmed died Saturday evening. In a statement yesterday, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said Ahmed died of natural causes.

Shiite youth groups had called for a series of consecutive protests on the highway which links Shiite villages with Manama’s former Pearl Square, the focal point of a month-long prodemocracy uprising that was crushed in March. The crackdown comes even after Bahrain’s government promised reforms following the publication last month of a highly critical report into the protests in February and March.

Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: The government yesterday approved a decree setting the elections on Feb 2 and agreed to allow the local Kuwait Transparency Society to monitor the election for the first time ever. The public prosecution meanwhile questioned several former MPs yesterday over illegal deposits and storming of the National Assembly, and three former opposition MPs were briefly held on returning to Kuwait from abroad. The election decree was approved at a meeting by the new Cabinet formed at the end of last week and headed by Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. Under the constitution, the decree will be issued by HH the Amir and will be effective only after it is published in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm.

Education and Justice Minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi said after the Cabinet meeting that the government approved a decree calling on an estimated 400,000 Kuwaiti voters to elect a new parliament on Feb 2, according to the statement. Mulaifi said that the government agreed to allow Kuwait Transparency Society to monitor the elections and also decided to establish hotlines in various areas for people to report violations.

Under the election law, registration of candidates for the 14th Assembly will start the day after the decree is published in the official gazette. The Cabinet said in a statement after the meeting that it has studied the controversy over the constitutional measures adopted since the previous Cabinet resigned and found them all in line with the constitution. The new move comes days after the formation of the new government and about two weeks after the Assembly was dissolved over a dispute between the government and former opposition MPs. A campaign of protests and rallies by the opposition forced the government of Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to quit on Nov 28.

Continued on Page 13

Violence rocks Cairo 24 bedoons freed, others for third straight day facing trial

By Nawara Fattahova and Agencies KUWAIT: Authorities yesterday released 24 bedoons arrested two days earlier during a protest that was forcefully dispersed by riot police, a judicial source said. The release came as another group of bedoons went on trial in connection with similar protests earlier this year and were charged with illegal assembly with the intent to commit crimes. The men who were freed had been arrested on Friday when hundreds of stateless people demonstrated in Jahra demanding citizenship and other basic rights.

Attorney Fawziya Al-Sabah, Head of the Human Rights Committee at the Bar Association expressed disapproval at the violent treatment meted out by the Ministry of Interior against the protestors who were demanding their human rights. According to her, violence by the ministry was uncalled for. “The protestors were holding Kuwait flags and pictures of the Amir in a peaceful demonstration demanding their rights.

They were attacked by special forces who fired teargas on them, chased them till their homes and then arrested them,” she said. According to Al-Sabah, the government neither respected democratic freedom nor did it provide necessary protection to the bedoons. “The government didn’t allow them to express their legal demands which didn’t challenge the law or the constitution; this affects Kuwait’s reputation internationally,” she said.

Two teenagers were among those freed after they were made to pledge that they will not take part in protests in the future, the source said. The 17 bedoons denied any wrongdoing at the start of their trial, during which they were also charged with assaulting security forces. They are among a group of 52 stateless people facing trial on similar charges in Kuwait. A first group of 31 stateless people were charged last Monday with illegal assembly and assaulting police during demonstrations earlier this year to demand citizenship and other basic rights.

Mubarak Al-Shemmari, one of several lawyers who volunteered to defend them, told AFP last week that the defendants face between three to five years in jail if the charges were proven. He however described the whole case as “politically motivated” because no crime was committed and authorities could not provide any substantial evidence. A trial for four others started on Wednesday. All of the defendants are free on bail.

Under Kuwaiti law, only citizens have the right to hold public gatherings. A number of Kuwaiti political groups and activists called for a gathering in Jahra today in support of stateless people. The interior ministry threatened that it will not allow such demonstrations to proceed anywhere in the state.

CAIRO: Deadly clashes pitting army troops and police against protesters rocked Cairo’s political centre for a third day yesterday, widening divisions over the military’s handling of transition from Hosni Mubarak’s rule. At least 10 people were killed in the violence that also destroyed a historic library housing priceless national archives. Armed forces detained 164 people including minors, a military source said, as street battles raged outside parliament and government offices where protesters have been demanding an end to military rule.

The latest clashes erupted on Friday, overshadowing a vote count in a multistage parliamentary election, the first since Mubarak was ousted from power after three decades of rule. Demonstrators hurled stones and pieces of metal over a concrete wall erected by troops on a wide avenue leading from Tahrir Square to the seat of government, AFP journalists reported. By afternoon, troops retreated and riot police faced off with the protesters, who used metal sheets as barricades.

Men in civilian clothes standing on the

roof of a building threw stones at protesters, who fired fireworks back.

Outrage flared yesterday as furious protesters brandished the front page of a local paper showing military police clubbing a veiled woman after having ripped her clothes to reveal her bra. In the picture and YouTube footage of the incident, the woman is sprawled on the ground, helmeted troops towering over her. One is seen kicking her, and later she appears unconscious, her stomach bared and her bra showing. Other pictures circulating on social media networks that have enraged protesters include one of a military policeman looming over a sobbing elderly woman with his truncheon. More footage showed army troops beating two protesters, a man and woman, before leaving their motionless bodies on the ground. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads the ruling military council, visited some of the wounded in hospital, state television showed.

Continued on Page 13

CAIRO: Egyptian protesters take cover while a fellow protester throws a firebomb toward army soldiers during clashes near Tahrir Square yesterday. — AP

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

LOCAL

Legal staff to stage sit-in

KUWAIT: Mohammad Al-Busairi pictured with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah during the oath taking ceremony at the Seif Palace yesterday.

Busairi takes oath as oil minister before Amir KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday, at Seif Palace, Mohammad Al-Busairi who took the constitutional oath before His Highness as the new Minister of Oil and Minister of State for

Parliament Affairs. Al-Busairi took the oath in presence of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, and was accompanied by Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah. The oath-taking ceremo-

ny was attended by Deputy Minister for Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah AlSabah, Cabinet Secretary General Abdellatif Al-Roudhan, and Head of Amiri Protocol Sheikh Khalid Al-Abdullah AlSabah Al-Nasser Al-Sabah. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Legal staff members in state departments are set to stage a mass sit in starting from 10am today in front of the Civil Service Commission building, in protest against unfulfilled demands of better pay. In the meantime, the labor union representing the protesting staff released a statement condemning statements of Minister of Justice, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Ahmad Al-Mulaifi in which he hinted that penalty measures will be taken against employees participating in the strike that has been ongoing for at least two months.

In his statements made last week, AlMulaifi insisted that despite the fact that Kuwait is signed to international agreements that protect employees’ right of staging strikes, he can still take actions against staff members whose work stoppage can cause problems deemed negatively affecting the state’s national interest. “[Al-Mulaifi’s] statements are irresponsible coming from someone who not only represents the Kuwaiti govern-

ment as a whole, but also as a man of law”, said head of the labor union Hamad Al-Wardan, referring to the minister’s background as a lawyer.

The protesting staff demand adjustment of their job classifications to match those of their peers at the Fatwa and Legislation Department and the Kuwait Municipality. These special classifications allow members of these two departments to obtain additional financial privileges.

Al-Mulaifi released another statement on Saturday in response to the outcry against his earlier statement, in which he insisted that while state employees have the right to make demands, actions that lead to harming interests of the state and residents are not acceptable.

The Kuwait Trade Union Federation also released a statement on Saturday, in which they warned that any punitive actions taken against protesting employees would put Kuwait in violation of international agreements that it signed on. —Al-Qabas

Ex-MP slams interior minister over Syrian demonstration Minister follows double standards

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Former MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan criticized Interior and Defense Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah for allegedly allowing Bedouins of Syrian origin to demonstrate outside the Syrian embassy. AlDawaisan said, “it appears as if the interior minister follows double standards while implementing the law. He allows Syrians to demonstrate outside. So where is the credibility?” He added, “God is always with the oppressed and the minister should be ready to face a severe grilling motion. No security advisors, special forces or the likes will come to his rescue.”

Meanwhile, former MP Waleed AlTabatabae was arrested at Kuwait Airport upon his arrival from Tunisia. He was whisked away to the detectives’ building to be presented before the Public Prosecution Department for questioning on the storming of the National Assembly. Al-Tabatabae has said earlier that he would face the trial with

pride as the act of storming the National Assembly was heroic. He and eight other MPs face charges in connection with storming a public building, urging police not to obey orders, and preventing them from performing duties, injuring some policemen and damaging Abdallah Al-Salem Hall.

In another development, the Gulf Cooperation Council summit will be held tomorrow and decisions related to the country’s economy will be made. It is certain that the unified GCC currency move will be postponed indefinitely.

GCC Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs Abdallah Al-Shibly said that the issuance of new currency is linked to the establishment of the Central Bank. He said that the time frame during which the new currency will be issued and its use is completely dependent on the finalization of legislative structure. He said, “according to the decision of the GCC summit in 2009, its monetary unification is among the duties of the currency council as indicated by the currency

Wataniya Telecom offers 50% bonus credit KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom continues to share the spirit of happy holidays and festive occasions with its customers. Celebrating the end of 2011 and the start of the New Year, Wataniya is eager to offer a 50% local bonus credit to its customers with every recharge of KD 2.5 and up to KD 10 giving them more local talk time with friends and family for lower rates. The offer is valid between the 19th and 22nd of December, where all Wataniya prepaid subscribers can benefit from this promotion: Wink, Xpress and MAXPRESS. All recharge methods will be accepted and the local bonus credit will be valid for 7 days from date of recharge. In this regards, Abdolaziz Al-Balool Public Relations Director at Wataniya Telecom congratulated all customers on the holiday season and the end of year 2011 and said: “Wataniya has always offered its customers with great promotions and offers to keep them close to their family and friends while celebrating the joyous occasions’. We highly appreciate our customers trust and loyalty to the company and that is why we continue

Abdolaziz Al-Balool in innovating our services and offerings.” Al-Balool also added:” Such a promotion is not the first of its kind; similar promotions have been offered to customers on the occasion of Kuwait’s 50th Anniversary and 20th Liberation Days of this year as well as Eid Al Adha thus allowing callers to share the blissful moments in a distinguished way and allowing us to stay closer to our customers at all times.”

union agreement. It said that the Central Bank will issue the unified currency while the Council completes necessary technical aspects (including name, design and denomination.)

Meanwhile, it is expected that at the joint meeting convened by the ministerial council (of foreign ministers with finance ministers) in Riyadh, all obstacles that obstruct the Gulf Customs Union will be removed. An agreement was reached by finance ministers recently.

GCC Secretary General Dr Abdellatif AlZayani said that of various political, economic and social fields will be discussed as part of the summit’s agenda. Also, follow-up measures must be approved by leaders. He said that among the important issues to be discussed will be the unified identity card. It is expected that instructions will be issued to use smart cards to identify GCC citizens. This move will deal with the difficulties faced by GCC citizens while traveling with their identity cards.

Information Ministers visit Kuwait’s pavilion RIYADH: Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Dr Abdelaziz Khoujah visited here yesterday Kuwait’s pavilion at the media exhibition accompanying the 32nd GCC summit that will kick off today.

Khoujah told reporters that Kuwait is a pioneer in the field of culture and media since it was established, praising its distinguished cultural publications.

He asserted his keenness to acquire Al-Arabi publications and all issues of Alam Al-Ma’arefa.

The Bahraini Head of the Information Authority Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammad Al Khalifa also visited Kuwait’s pavilion, praising the excellent organization of the pavilion.

They were briefed by Abdullah Al-Hathal, Coordinator of the pavilion who presented them with gifts.

He said he would anew visit the pavilion to acquire all books related to Kuwait’s political and civilize history.

The exhibition will officially be inaugurated tomorrow. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah received a delegation of Boy and Girl Scouts in the presence of Undersecretary Ghazi Al-Omar and Assistant Undersecretary Lt Gen Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah. The delegation congratulated the minister on the occasion of Arab Police Day which was commemorated yesterday.

KUWAIT: The Engineering College in Khaldiya held an exhibition under the slogan “Your health... the secret of your happiness”, in which the Kuwait Fire Service Department participated. The event included a lecture on better life away from obesity, and a first aid course. The exhibition will conclude on Dec 22.

Car accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 60-year-old Iranian fractured his right thigh bone and suffered a lacerated scalp in a car accident that took place along Jahra road. He was admitted to Jahra hospital. A 37-year- old Sri Lankan suffered a pelvic injury and a 28-year-old citizen suffered multiple injuries in a car accident that took place along the Fifth Ring Road. They were

admitted to Sabah hospital. Also, a 46year- old citizen suffered a deep laceration on his scalp in a car accident that took place along Salmy road. He was admitted to Jahra hospital.

Hit and run case A 23-year-old Egyptian was run over by a car in Hawally, Sharhabeel St. He suffered multiple bruises and was admitted to Mubarak hospital.

Legal procedure ahead of reunited mom, daughter KUWAIT: Criminal Investigation Department officials are expected today to receive DNA test result to prove the parentage of a Kuwaiti mother to her biological daughter with whom she recently reunited for the first time since they were separated shortly after the girl’s birth 17 years ago.

According to a source within the department, an earlier DNA test has already proven that the girl is not biologically connected to her foster mother who passed away last year after raising her since she was a baby when she was abandoned by her father, a Chadian citizen of Arab descend.

The girl is the product of a love relationship between the Kuwaiti woman and her friend’s brother, which culminated with the two agreeing to have a customary marriage in 1994. The girl was reportedly left by her father with his own sister shortly following her birth, after which he left Kuwait for good in order to live in Sweden. The girl ended up with custody of an Egyptian woman with whom her aunt left her before leaving Kuwait as well a short while after the father left. Coincidently, the foster mother was also friends with the girl’s biological mother, but for reasons that remained unknown to investigators as she chose to raise the little girl without telling her mother about what happened; and instead advised her to put the whole issue behind her and turn a new page in her life. And that’s what the Kuwaiti woman did. According to her statements to officials during the ongoing investigation, the mother

said that she married again after that period, this time legally, and gave birth to another daughter. This marriage however ended in divorce, she told officials.

Following her foster mother’s death in 2010, the girl, now 17, found herself in a legal dilemma since the Egyptian woman failed to issue identifications or legal documents for her. On that regard, the source explains that after the DNA test results are received, the girl will be put at the state’s social care home since technically she is a minor. During her stay, the girl will obtain all legal documents including birth certificate and civil ID. The girl will eventually be naturalized as soon as she turns 18, as per article 3 of the Kuwaiti citizenship law which pertains with children of unknown parentage who are staying at social care homes.

After turning 18, the girl will also be given the choice to whether go back to live with her foster family, or be reunited with her biological mother. Regarding the legal complications pertaining with the case, the source who preferred to speak anonymously explained that the girl’s biological mother will not face charges stemming with her illegal customary marriage and subsequent pregnancy, since the case happened 17 years ago which is a time warranted enough for the case to be dropped by the law. The source also explains that the foster mother’s death means that they can’t take any legal actions with regards to the situation in which the girl was kidnapped and raised illegally. —Al-Rai

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

LOCAL

Satire Wire

In my view

The dawn of a new Iraq

Fix the addict

By Sawsan Kazak

By Fouad Al-Obaid

sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

fouad@kuwaittimes.net Twitter: @Fouadalobaid

D

ay in and day out, newspapers in Kuwait, report on the capture of drug peddlers trying to smuggle in pills, hard drugs and other types of illegal substances. A picture of the apprehended suspect or suspects sitting on the floor with a sad look plastered on their face and their ‘merchandise’ laid out in front of them gets published.

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s the last US troops left Iraq, many questions should be raised. Though the relation between Kuwait and Iraq improved in the post-Saddam era, caution is of the essence. Iraq has in the past threatened to harm us, and has done so in 1990. Even as relations are starting to return to normal, many issues still need to be discussed. Questions of reparation for the invasions, damages done to the national airline, and border demarcations are a few to mention.

Though Kuwait has played a positive role in helping post-Saddam Iraq, much doubt has been placed on Kuwait’s sincerity by Iraqis and on its intentions. The issue of Port Mubarak on Bobyian Island has created a stir and different parties in Iraq echoed phrases reminiscent of the old regime in Bagdad. Despite genuine efforts on the part of both governments to mend relations, and after several reciprocal visits and numerous meetings, old grievances seem to not thoroughly be addressed. The trauma inflicted on both parties has made mending relations at the individual level hard, especially since no efforts were undertaken to appease the minds and hearts of people. The danger would be that Iraq is simply waiting for the opportune moment to return to its traditional rhetoric towards Kuwait, which it feels unable to do so long as it is still placed under UN Chapter VII. Kuwait should be particularly wary of any attempts by Iraq to re-arm, and should seek to prevent a militarized Iraq capable of once again sending tanks rolling over the border. With that in mind the issue of the 1990 invasion and the subsequent damage should never be allowed to fade into the oblivion of the peoples mind, for though we are keen to forgive, efforts to erase the pain caused will only allow for relaxing of position that could come to prove fatal in time.

It remains in the interest of Kuwait to play a proactive role in fostering at all levels cordial relations with Iraq.

Relations between both parties need to be built on a need for cooperation at all levels, and with honesty as a main pillar. We are neighbors for better or worse, and our history as neighbors is here to stay. With this reality in mind, it would be important to open a new page in history with an increased outreach by civil society association from both countries to attempt to work on fostering new links that could help build strong relations. A new effort for reconciliation should be undertaken. All parties need to come to realize that it is in the prime interest of all to have impeccable relations built of solid foundations that would bring about prosperity to the wider region. The efforts undertaken in the past several decades with questions of defense has placed high barriers that today need to slowly be brought down so as to ensure a lasting peace.

Let us today start building the foundation of a brighter tomorrow...

kuwait digest

‘Constitutional controversy’

By Dr Fuhaid Al-Busairi

kuwait digest

Don’t violate residents’ rights

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

“I

ndividuals have the right to gather without permission or prior notification, and police may not intervene in such meetings. Public meetings, processions and gatherings shall be permitted in accordance with the conditions and manner specified by law, provided that their purpose and means are peaceful and do not contradict with morals” —- Article 44 of Constitution.

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

“Places of residence shall be inviolable. They may not be entered without the permission of their occupants except in the circumstances and manner specified by law,” —- Article 38 of Constitution.

These are scripts from the Constitution of Kuwait, the legal document agreed upon by all citizens which spells out all laws as well as duties and rights of people living in the state. These articles use the terms ‘individuals’ and ‘people’ not out of mere coincidence.

Otherwise, the term ‘citizens’ or ‘Kuwaitis’ would’ve been used in the article. The term individuals include Kuwaitis, expatriates, and stateless residents also known as bedoons. The Constitution classifies bedoons as individuals who enjoy rights and duties that equal citizens

and expatriates. Article 44 further protects every individual’s right of public assembly, without specifying nationality or origin.

The Constitution acknowledges Kuwait’s duty to provide care and protection to human beings living on its lands. It is something that Kuwait is obliged to commit to as per agreement signed with International Covenant on Human

The Constitution classifies bedoons as individuals who enjoy rights and duties that equal citizens and expatriates.

Article 44 further protects every individual’s right of public assembly, without specifying nationality or origin. The Constitution acknowledges Kuwait’s duty to provide care and protection to human beings living on its lands.

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ll controversy surrounding the Parliament’s dissolution is ironic, given the fact that it took place after public demands were made. People wanted the Cabinet to be dismissed and it resigned. After that, they began arguing if the actions that took place fall in line with the Constitution.

For some reason, this so called ‘constitutional controversy’ brings to mind the eternal struggle to find the answer of who came first, the chicken or the egg. It doesn’t matter to us as we continue to have eggs for breakfast everyday and go to bed after eating chicken.

Similarly, it doesn’t matter now whether the current situation is constitutional or not. We already have what we wanted, right? If that’s true, then why are we still arguing?

If anyone has been following-up with local updates in Kuwait, they’d probably be thinking. That’s because we can’t tell how things are organized, regardless of whether a critical decision such as the parliament’s dissolution is constitutional or not. In the meantime, the oh-so- knowledgeable constitutional experts in Kuwait took this opportunity to showcase their ‘talent’ to the public. It appears that we are ignorant of our own Constitution, which is why experts feel the need to educate the masses. People who are so concerned about the repercussions that could take place if the unconstitutional situation continues.

Kuwait’s Constitution has 120 pages, and an explanatory section that can be referred to when conflicts arise.

You would expect constitutional experts urging the state to refer to the this section in order to resolve the current controversy. But instead, they exploited the opportunity to achieve fame by attempting to teach us how to respect the Constitution fully.

What’s ironic is that constitutional experts couldn’t agree upon one notion in their attempt to resolve the controversy. They gave different opinions which if anything, added more to the controversy than actually help eliminate it. But then again, it’s normal that experts give different interpretations to laws that were put by people in the first place.

In the end, all this talk about the constitutionality of the Parliament is not going to lead us anywhere. What the people wanted has already been fulfilled. Doesn’t the Constitution recognize the people as source of all authorities? Instead of armies of experts who try to solve a constitutional controversy, what we actually need are armies of people willing to work for the future step that our country needs to take. Our real problem is not the constitutional controversy. Our real problems have been shelved for a long time, and the time has come for them to finally be addressed. — Al-Rai

Rights regulations. Unfortunately, Kuwait has failed to safeguard the rights stipulated in Article 44 of the Constitution. Force was used to disperse bedoon demonstrators on Friday in Taima, Jahra. There is no justification whatsoever to the use of brutality.

Even if police had motives to violently disperse the gathering, be it allegations to ‘provoke security officers’ or any other usual justification we hear whenever a similar situation takes place, police have no right to go after protestors and raid their homes to arrest them - in violation of Article 38 of the Constitution.

Authorities might use multiple justifications to disperse non-Kuwaiti demonstrators - despite the fact that this right is protected by the Constitution. They certainly don’t have any justifications to prosecute and humiliate bedoons in streets of Taima, and at their homes. These incidents are only part of the injustice meted out for decades by the government against stateless residents who enjoy equal constitutional rights.

What happened on Friday is definitely not going to stop stateless residents from demonstrating again. And according to reports, Kuwaiti human rights activists plan to join them next time a public gathering is held. My advice to the Interior Ministry on that regard is to commit to their constitutional duties of protecting people’s safety and security, and avoid violating people’s rights. — Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

E-learning affects the lives of many

By Faisal Al-Zamel

I

was attracted to Dr Adel AlSubaih while talking about university education. YouTube is the new platform for learning in university and pre-university level. The total number of students learning through this method has touched 3.5 million.

In colleges, students never see each other except during the time of exams. Results show that teaching through YouTube is the fastest method in understanding normal lectures.

Students can replay lecture videos several times until the meaning is understood.

Strangely, the one who innovated this method of teaching does not do anything. He lives in the US and his name is Salman Khan, employed with a financial company. His cousins asked him to teach their sons Algebra and Mathematics. As they lived far away from him, in different states, he resorted to YouTube. It then developed into non-profitable academy that works through the medium of the internet. He then suggested to the founders of Google and Bill Gates’ charitable trusts. They offered him $2 million. He then began organizing a curriculum.

When Bill Gates announced that he and his children would follow Khan’s innovation at the Aspen Conference for Ideas in 2010, the number of students multiplied overnight.

Dr Adel Al-Subaih believed this method of learning has sev-

eral advantages: 1. Curriculum is presented in an attractive manner.

Students can replay lecture videos several times until the meaning is understood.

Strangely, the one who innovated this method of teaching does not do anything. He lives in the US and his name is Salman Khan, employed with a financial company. His cousins asked him to teach their sons Algebra and Mathematics. As they lived far away from him, in different states, he resorted to YouTube.

It then developed into non-profitable academy that works through the medium of the internet.

2. This method provides a chance to learn for millions of people who have no money to pay tuition fees, especially proving helpful to those want to study despite being employed.

The student will not have to leave their hometown to pursue studies. They can save money on registration, transportation, lectures.

3. Scientific results are advanced.

4. Many e- learning enterprises have been set up in the whole world. I would be the first to talk about and the last to implement such k ind of teaching and acknowledge the e-university’s certificate!

5. The student who fails the exam will not lose too much money. He will earn a good education albeit without a certificate!

6. The Curriculum can be purchased in the form of CDs. Such kind of education can penetrate far-flung villages in Africa and some Islands in Asia. Take an example of bank ing ser vices which have become electronic.

Very few people go to the bank to withdraw money. The electronic withdrawal and transfer of money has become available in most places. Even electricity bills can be paid to government parties in this manner. We hope that Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) will adopt the changes in the field of education and we thank Dr Adel Al-Subaih for scientific interests. — Al-Anba

If you stop one kind of drug from entering the country, an addict will find his fix some other way. So you stop a large shipment of opium from entering Kuwait, an addict will not sit around waiting patiently for the next successful shipment so he can buy some. He will, most probably, find another substance that will get him just as high - or higher. If that next substance also gets stopped, then yet another substance will be experimented with.

Usually the arrest will result in small amounts of drugs being confiscated and prevented from making it to the public, but sometimes there are significant seizures of large amounts of drugs. Seeing these images on a daily basis in the media leads you to wonder over the quantity of drugs making its way into the country. People are being arrested daily and yet there are reports that the country is filled with illegal drugs, people abusing the substances and even people overdosing on them.

Arresting those attempting to bring the drugs into the country is a great first step, but if there is a constant supply of these items, this means there is a constant demand. I believe there should be just as much attention paid to the people asking for the illegal substances as there is to those attempting to bring it in and sell it. I’m saying everyone involved in this process should be arrested and treated like a criminal, but some attention should be given to the addiction factor of this cycle.

If you stop one kind of drug from entering the country, an addict will find his fix some other way.

So you stop a large shipment of opium from entering Kuwait, an addict will not sit around waiting patiently for the next successful shipment so he can buy some. He will, most probably, find another substance that will get him just as high - or higher. If that next substance also gets stopped, then yet another substance will be experimented with. There are not enough outlets or services in Kuwait to help addicts with their addiction.

I’m not saying that treating the addiction will cure the whole drug problem and turn Kuwait into a drug-free nation. But by treating the addiction, you are treating the problem at its root. Drug addicts will exist whether there are drug dealers or not; it’s a behavior caused by a deeper problem than just the availability of the substance. There is always going to be someone willing to risk his or her life to make a quick buck, but if there are fewer demands, then the option doesn’t seem so appealing or profitable anymore.

kuwait digest

Who is the real culprit?

By Abdullah Al-Adwani

M

y dear Kuwaiti citizen, you have been accused of depositing millions of dinars into your account. You have been accused of money laundering, receiving bribes and selling yourself.

The poor citizen who awaits a monthly salary before time has been accused of selling the country to the corrupt and to those who pass laws to suit personal interests. You expressed hope that traders would monopolize trade to control tenders.

Dear citizen, if the accused are honest and innocent, then who are the real culprits ? Who will correct the wrong? They tells us that they are defending the public and the interests of the public. God has revealed everything.

Why are there no names from the honest opposition blocs? Why hasn’t the names of MPs like AlSaadoun, Al-Barrak, Al-Meslem, Hayef, Al- Tabtabae, Al-Deqbesi not featured in the list?

There is a well-known saying that “There is no smoke without fire.” One can assume that no one’s name can be sent to Public Prosecution Department without obtaining any proof. We believe that the bank is not naive, to expose themselves to legal questioning.

Attempts of revenge have been made by a person who could be an MP. We do not accuse any particular person and emphasize that every accused is innocent until proven guilty. The corrupt should not cover up and resist more.

They should surrender and seek Allah’s mercy by acknowledging their mistakes. The public will hold you accountable. They will make their final decision in ballot boxes. — Al-Anbaa

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Thief rejects generous car offer sarcastically Kidnap attempt foiled in Hawally KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti man made an offer to a thief who stole his luxurious car by asking him to keep the vehicle and only return back his cell phone which he kept inside. The thief reportedly rejected the offer, and investigations are on to nab him. Salmiya police were approached by the citizen who reported his car stolen along with his phone. He showed extreme concern about the handheld device as he provided its serial number to officers as well as the purchase receipt. When asked about the plate number of his car, the man couldn’t remember it, but insisted that he doesn’t care much about the car as much as he does about the phone which according to him contained “highly sensitive information”.

Furthermore, the man told police that he is willing to give away his car if the thief cooperates and returns his phone.

Perplexed by this offer, police attempted to know the reason behind the man’s concerns over his phone, but he refused to provide any further details. The man was reportedly able to contact the thief by sending an SMS to his own phone from a separate one.

The thief reportedly replied to the text and refused in a sarcastic manner.

Brotherly love A man is facing charges after threatening two police officers with death when they arrested his fugitive brother. Two Jahra security officers were on their way to the Criminal Investigations General Department with a suspect who they arrested following investigations, when a driver followed them and was eventually able to force them to stop their vehicle. The driver soon demanded the release of his brother, and threatened the officers with death if they failed to comply. He drove away from the scene before backup police arrived. A case was filed for investigations in search for the suspect and his brother.

Kidnap foiled Police are on the lookout for a male suspect who attempted to kidnap a domestic worker in front of an apartment in Hawally, but disappeared when his plan failed.

The housemaid reportedly screamed for help as the suspect tried to abduct her. The kidnapper opted to run away at that point before pedestrians at the scene were alerted by the incident. The victim’s sponsor helped her to the area’s police station after she told him about the incident. Police obtained a description of the man which they are using currently in

MSAL accepts applications to transfer visas

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: Deputy Head of the National Guard, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday honored officers from the National Guard’s Manpower Directorate who recently obtained diplomas in Human Resource Specialties.

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) will soon begin accepting applications to transfer commercial visit visas into work permits, based on a decision approved by Undersecretary Mohammad AlKandari. The ministry has already begun transferring commercial visas into government contracts for workers belonging to certain nationalities.

In other news, the Interior Ministry has stated that political activists and politicians will not be allowed to gather in Jahra in support of bedoons. It has said that such activities can only be organized after obtaining prior permission or it would be considered a violation. A protest held by bedoons on Friday was dispersed by police.

their ongoing investigation.

Man punches cop An apartment building owner was arrested after attacking a police officer who tried to shut down international calling operations that were run illegally in the same building. The police officer had escorted a Ministry of Commerce staff member to the scene in Fahaheel, with a warrant to raid an apartment where international calling services were illegally provided. The building’s owner refused to cooperate, however, even after seeing the search warrant. And as the police officer went about his business, the building’s owner punched his face and knocked him to the floor. The attacker was arrested shortly afterwards by backup police. He is currently facing multiple charges behind bars.

Fugitives nabbed Police nabbed two fugitives wanted for separate charges by coincidence during a patrol mission in Farwaniya. Patrol officers had pulled over a German-made car with two young men who raised suspicions. The two were placed under arrest shortly afterwards after police learned that one of them is wanted for an attempted murder, while the oth-

er is wanted for a sexual assault charge. They were taken to the relevant authorities where they are currently held pending trial.

Revenge attack Police intervened to prevent an assault on a citizen at the Sabah Hospital that was reportedly planned by the family of a Syrian man who died in a car accident which the citizen was involved in.

Medical staff called police as family members of the deceased started gathering at the medical facility and reportedly planned to take revenge against the other driver thinking that the incident was deliberate. The situation was put under control after police pacified the family.

‘Friendly’ escape Two bedoon residents were put under arrest following their failed attempt to free their friend from police’s custody. The incident took place in Jahra where patrol officers nabbed a Syrian fugitive who was able to call his two friends before being put under arrest. The two showed up minutes afterwards and attempted to open the patrol vehicle’s door to enable their friend to escape, but police were able to stop them. The three were referred to the relevant authorities. — Al-Watan, Al-Rai, Al-Anba

MoH hospital management deal postponed KUWAIT: A multi-million dinar contract that the Ministry of Health(MoH) was to sign yesterday with the Johns Hopkins University hospital to manage four public hospitals in Kuwait has been postponed so as to conduct a feasibility study on the project.

This was confirmed by Minister of Health and Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali, who told Al-Rai on Saturday that he would review the terms of the contract that is estimated to cost around KD100 million.

“Contracts signed between the MoH and foreign medical schools are subject to extensive studies carried out by medical staff members within the ministry,” said Al-Shamali who has been assigned the health portfolio in the new Cabinet that swore-in last week. Al-Shamali confirmed that he hasn’t held extensive meetings with senior MoH officials, adding that he is only assuming that his new post is for a temporary period “until a new minister with medical experience is appointed.” — Al-Rai

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IFRC lauds Kuwait’s role in humanitarian relief KUWAIT: Head of MENA regional office of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Ibrahim Mohammad Osman affirmed that Kuwait is a leading example in the support of humanitarian efforts due to its role in supporting countries in need.

After meeting the President of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Barjas Hmoud Al-Barjas, Osman lauded the great humanitarian role played by KRCS in responding to crises and humanitarian issues.

He said that the KRCS has a long history of humanitarian work, whether at the local or international levels. He stressed that the IFRC is “proud of the serious humanitarian work” performed by the KRCS, and described its efforts as “leading”. The meeting also discussed the support of the KRCS to other Red Crescent Societies in the field of technol-

ogy and communications, Osman said.

The meeting with Al-Barjas is part of ongoing consultations and consolidation of bilateral cooperation, he concluded. On his part, Al-Barjas illustrated the KRCS’s role in local and international relief operations, as well as the cooperation with Arab and international Red Cross and Red Crescent associations.

Natural disasters that have ravaged different parts of the world call for humanitarian groups to redouble their efforts in order to reduce the impact of disasters and to mitigate its devastating consequences, Al-Barjas added.

He noted that the meeting dealt with the exchange of views in the development of the capacity of national societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent at the IFRC and the coordination of relief work, decision-making and programs. — KUNA

Kuwait major player in supporting joint Arab work AMMAN: President of Jordan Chamber of Industry Hatem Halawani described Kuwait yesterday as a major player in supporting joint Arab work, as well as an important investing partner of his country with investment worth over $8 billion.

Halawani stressed the importance of the initiative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah to host the 1st Arab Economic, Social, and Development Summit in Kuwait. The summit discussed various key economic issues such as mechanisms of invigorating Arab economic cooperation, facing challenges related to global financial crises, supporting small and medium projects, launching monetary funds, and removing obsta-

cles that hinder boom of inter-Arab trade, smooth investment traffic, and businessmen mobility.

On Kuwait-Jordan relations, Halawani said the latest development in recent years came through efforts and visions of leaders on both end aspiring to development in the economic field in particular. The size of Kuwaiti investments in his country is a clear indication of strength of economic relations between the two countries, the official pointed out. He also noted that Jordanian exports to Kuwait reached $79.1 million in the first six months of this year, compared to $87 million last year. Kuwaiti investments in Jordan make it the largest foreign investor in the Hashemite Kingdom.—KUNA

KUWAIT: (Left) A line of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division drive on Highway 1 towards Kuwait as the last US military convoy leaves Iraq yesterday. (Right) US soldiers celebrate as the first vehicles of the last US military convoy carrying troops out of Iraq pass through the KCrossing at Iraq’s border with Kuwait yesterday. — AFP photos

Last troops out of Iraq say war took toll on family CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait: Soldiers who brought the US war in Iraq to an end on Sunday when they crossed into Kuwait say the conflict, which kept some of them away for years, took a toll on their family lives. Having entered Kuwait, the troops will not be returning to Iraq, where 4,474 US soldiers have died in the nearly nine years since the US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein.

Slightly fewer than 500 soldiers set out from Contingenc y Operating Base Adder, now known as Imam Ali Air Base after its transfer to Iraqi control, in groups of military vehicles beginning late on Saturday night, with the last leaving early on Sunday.

They slowly rolled across the border into Kuwait several hours later on Sunday morning, bringing themselves one major step closer

to returning to their families in the United States.

“That’s the hardest part, is being away from the family,” said Sergeant Michael Smith, who is married with a two-year-old son, and has served two tours in Iraq.

Smith said the worst day he had while deployed was one in which he was trying to talk to his son online, but couldn’t because of a bad connection. “He’d been just waiting to talk to me,” Smith said.

“He had a tantrum, and then grabbed my picture, went crying on my spot in the bed. That was really hard for me; that’s been the hardest part.

“That’s the only thing I think about, is going home to my family,” said Smith, a 31-year-old soldier in the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion (BSTB) of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.

Sergeant Adam Boone, another 31-year-old soldier with the 3rd BSTB, has been deployed three times to Iraq, and has a three-yearold daughter and a one-year-old son. “I don’t know either one of ‘em, I’ll be honest,” Boone said, adding that he’s looking forward to spending time with them when he is back in the United States.

Staff Sergeant David Salceda, a 32-year-old with the 3rd BSTB, has served four tours in Iraq, and is married with a five-year-old son and a young daughter.

“I spent almost half of my military career out in Iraq and I haven’t seen my son being raised-I go home a year, come back a year. So, it’s going to be challenging, getting to know my son a lot better, knowing my newborn daughter a lot better. ... It’s going to be like a Christmas present for me.”

“This has been a tough assignment-every soldier that’s been over here in Iraq, it’s been a tough assignment,” said Sergeant First Class Torres Carr on Saturday before departing Adder.

“You’re doing year-long deployments away from your family. You get two weeks home, you gotta come right back. Some soldiers did 15-month deployments during surge,” said the 33-year-old, referring to the 2007 “surge” of US troops to combat worsening bloodshed. “It’s been a tough mission, it’s been a real tough mission, but I’m excited to get home,” he said. Carr, who also spent six months in Kuwait before the launch of the Iraq war, is married and has three daughters, aged 11, 13 and 15. “They’re used to Daddy being gone, ‘cause I’ve been gone a lot.” — AFP

KFAED, Siniora discuss development projects in Lebanon BEIRUT: Representative of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) resident in Lebanon Nawaf AlDabbous yesterday discussed with former Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora a number of projects that KFAED implemented in the country.

After his meeting with Siniora, AlDabbous said that KFAED pays great attention to suppor ting social and development projects in Lebanon, as well as boosting the economic and social process in that country. Various development and social projects were discussed during the meeting, especially the Sidon Archaeological Museum which is due to open to the public in

2012, noted Al-Dabbous. He added that this project is part of Kuwait’s 2006 financial package to Lebanon, and has an impor tant historic and civilized dimension to citizens as well as tourists.

Also, Al-Dabbous affirmed the Kuwaiti leadership’s keenness to strengthen relations between the two countries, noting that Kuwait’s contribution to the development process in Lebanon stems from a firm belief in the deep historic relations between the two countries. The Sidon Archaeological Museum was built on a 1600-squaremeter area with a cost around USD 4 million, in which KFAED presented $3 million.— KUNA

KUWAIT: (Left) US soldiers with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division perform a security check on their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles near the Kuwaiti border as the last US military convoy leaves Iraq yesterday. (Right) US Army soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division, the last soldiers to leave Iraq, arrive at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, yesterday.— AFP photos

Sheikh Salem Informatics to honor volunteers KUWAIT: The Board of Trustees of Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah Informatics Prize announced a grand ceremony to honor volunteers who worked in the different committees of the prize in its first ten years, to be held Tuesday at Salwa Al-Sabah Hall.

The ceremony is to be held under the patronage and with presence of His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad AlSabah, in recognition of the remarkable effort

of the volunteers, said a statement of the board of trustees on this occasion.

The volunteer work had been essential throughout all functions of the prize, and volunteering is an important contribution to social development on both national and Arab level.

The prize helped spread the values of cooperation and solidarity among all components of civil society. The prize’s volunteering

system had been clearly defined and posted on its website since 2009, allowing those interested to join the team with ease.

The volunteers would receive their medals in different categories with serial numbers identifying each volunteer since 2001.

The ceremony would see the honoring of 59 volunteers, including seven from various Arab countries, along with the 133 volunteers of the tenth year of the prize. — KUNA

Burgan Bank holds activities for ‘BuBa Kids Account’ holders

KUWAIT: Al-Klaib during the presentation.

Project aims to turn Kuwait’s desert to ‘live oases’ KUWAIT: The ‘Afaq’ Cultural and Social Forum at the Kuwait University recently hosted Khalid Al-Klaib, a member of the Kuwait Oasis Project, who made a presentation on the project ’s goal of enhancing Kuwait’s desert through citizens’ contributions.

Launched in 2006, the project started with a group of young Kuwaiti men and women who planted different kinds of trees in separate locations around Kuwait’s desert in order to study which plant adapts the best with Kuwait’s climate. Eventually, the willow tree was found to be easily adaptable and best suited for Kuwait’s desert climate. The team launched campaigns to spread awareness among campers to plant willow trees as well as other kinds of trees

that adapt well within perimeters of their camps.

Al-Klaib explained that if 10 seedlings were planted around each of the nearly 40,000 camps held annually around Kuwait, this will ensure that around 400,000 trees are planted across Kuwait’s deserts each year.

“If 60 percent of these seedlings eventually grow, the deserts will be turned into green oases with nearly a quarter million trees”, he added.

Al-Klaib further indicated that the project helps restore environmental balance by providing enough number of trees where migratory birds can build their nests. He also pointed out that the trees can function as windbreakers to limit Kuwait’s sandstorm occurrences.

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank recently concluded its interactive activities, which were held at Discovery Center exclusively for its “BuBa Kids Account” holders. The event featured a range of activities such as tattoos, hair braiding, DJ, while also providing them with an array of gifts.

During the event, the bank’s team announced exclusive promotions, which have been specifically tailored only for its “BuBa” kids account holders. The bank is offering a 10% discount on selective stores that include Crocs, Nike Stores, The Athlete’s Foot and Cozmo. Customers are required to use their cards to benefit from this exciting initiative.

Haneen Al-Rumaihi, Head of Marketing at Burgan Bank, said: “Our new “BuBa” Kids Account” is the perfect solution for parents who want to earn more from their savings for their children and at the same time enjoy a wide range of benefits. As part of the account’s scheme, children will also enjoy an exciting range of promotions across the year.”

“We continue to tailor our banking products and services with an aim to assist our customers with their financial requirements at every stage of their life,” added Al-Rumaihi. Burgan Bank’s latest “BuBa” Kids Account is a savings account with a minimum opening balance of KD 10. The account holders will be in title to enter two draws that will be held in February and May 2012 to grant them a family trip to Abu Dhabi in collaboration with Ritz Travel, and experience the excitement of Ferrari World. For every KD20

deposited in their accounts, customers will receive one chance to enter the draw. To find out more about Burgan Bank’s newly launched “BuBa” Kids Account, customers are urged to visit any of Burgan Bank’s conveniently located branches, or call the bank’s call center on 180408, or log on to Burgan Bank’s website at www.burgan.com.

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Al-Saadoun supports legality of Parliament dissolution Call to adopt political reform project KUWAIT: Former lawmaker Ahmad AlSaadoun announced his support for constitutional analysis to determine the legality of the Parliament’s dissolution, putting an end to speculation on the opposition blocs’ opinion on the controversial situation. Several constitutional experts have questioned the constitutionality of the request submitted to the Amir by the Cabinet to dissolve the Parliament, as well as the formation of the new Cabinet which missed a member from the elected parliament as per Article 56 of the Constitution. Al-Saadoun said on Saturday that he agrees with other interpretations which render these procedures as being constitutional given the present circumstances.

Former MP Dr Faisal Al-Mislem called for the adoption of a political reform project that his Development and Reform Bloc proposed on a previous occasion, including legislations and constitutional amendments which reorganize authorities of the legislative and executive authorities in a manner “that prevents political crisis from happening in the future.”

In other developments, the Democratic

Forum is expected to announce names of its members who plan to contest elections set for late January or early February of next year.

On that regard, a source close to the liberal group suggested that the members are likely to be Ahmad Al-Obaid running for office in the first constituency, Mohammad AlAbduljader as a candidate in the second constituency, and Saleh Al-Mulla as a candidate from the third constituency. Meanwhile, another source hinted that Islamist former MPs Dr Faisal Al-Mislem, Dr Waleed AlTabtabaei, and candidate Mohammad AlDallal are likely to coordinate with each other while canvassing. On Saturday, former MP Musallam Al-Barrak expressed his willingness to cooperate fully with authorities as he was summoned along with eight other former legislators to report to the Public Prosecution Department on the incident where the Parliament was stormed last month, reported Al-Rai. The investigations were scheduled to begin yesterday. Eleven former lawmakers as well as two new former MPs were to be investigated on the cash deposits case. In an

update to this case, Al-Qabas reported on Saturday quoting sources with knowledge of the subject that the Public Prosecution Department has assigned the anti-money laundering unit at the State Security Service to provide complete report on deposits that were made into the bank accounts of former MPs, and their sources.

Separately, a member of the ruling family, in an interview with Al-Qabas, called for holding internal elections to select the prime minister, before allowing citizens to vote the candidate of their choice.

Sheikh Dr Meshal Abdullah Al-Jaber AlSabah is quoted as saying that his proposal would help make ruling family members more accustomed with the principles of democracy, explaining that third generation ruling family members currently play a “completely marginalized role.” He further explained that citizens can participate in a referendum one year after the prime minister is elected through Al-Sabah family’s elections to decide whether or not the prime minister should be replaced, reported Al-Qabas.

Zayani asserts significance of upcoming GCC summit RIYADH: Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Dr Abdul Latif Al-Zayani said that the 32nd GCC Summit which will convene here today will discuss political, security and economic challenges facing the GCC countries and the region, stressing the importance of the summit and its topics. Al-Zayani said in an exclusive interview with Kuwait TV that the GCC countries are not immune to developments in the Arab countries and the region as they are positively affected “because they are getting stronger and more coherent with the growing challenges due to the strength of the relationship between rulers and the peoples of the GCC countries.”

Al-Zayani recalled the coherence of the GCC states during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the latest incidents in Bahrain. The Secretary General expressed the attention given by their Majesties and Highnesses the leaders of the Council’s to the well-being and prosperity of the Gulf citizens and development, adding that this will be clear in the resolu-

tions of the Riyadh summit. AlZayani said the GCC summit tomorrow will look into supporting economic agreements and approval of legislation and mechanisms for implementation, customs union, common market and the integration of linking the electric railways and other projects, besides issues of education, health, security and defense.

He stressed the important supportive role for the GCC process carried out by Their Majesties and Highnesses the leaders of the Council in this respect. Meanwhile, as the member states ready for the 32nd session of the GCC Supreme Council, they can look back on and enjoy support of a history of achievements and qualitative leaps in all fields of cooperation and joint action, be it politics, military, security, economy, social affairs, youth and education affairs, media, environment work, culture, and much more.

In politics, GCC states maintained coordinated stances on critical regional and international dossiers, including relations with Iran and

response to dossiers involving Iran and the UAE. They also maintained a clear and joint stance regarding terrorism and counter-terrorism efforts.

The states also maintained close coordination on critical developments in a number of Arab countries this past year within the GCC region and beyond. GCC states played mediator in the Yemen revolt and GCC foreign ministers presented a settlement initiative to defuse the crisis. The ultimate objective of the proposed document was safeguarding Yemen’s territorial integrity and unity while still meeting the demands and expectations of the Yemeni people with least friction possible.

The initiative was accepted by the two parties concerned and signed in Riyadh November 23, with King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdelaziz as sponsor. When it comes to Iraq, GCC members maintained support to Kuwait on the Mubarak Al-Kabir Port project, as one within Kuwaiti regional waters defined by UN-ratified borders. They maintained that

Iraq’s meeting of its obligations toward its neighbor is imperative to restore trust. The council also expressed keenness on maintaining Iraqi unity and maintaining noninterference in its internal affairs.

The crisis in Syria also required close coordination and tough stances. The GCC expressed condemnation of bloodshed and violence against civilians. They demanded halt of violence and a wise consideration of and response to the just demands of the Syrian public.

They maintain their support of the Arab League initiative and all league resolutions regarding this dossier.

On Libya, the council expressed relief over the people’s success in meeting their demands and setting their homeland on a new path for a new era of rule of law and democracy. On Sudan, the GCC welcomed the Darfur peace agreement signed in Doha July 14, and welcomed the creation of the new state of South Sudan, wishing it good and neighborly relations with Sudan and the region. — KUNA

Islamic culture ministers meet in Algeria ALGIERS: Algeria hosted Islamic culture ministers for a meeting of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) yesterday.

The meeting discussed inter-cultural dialogue and empowering youth to interact more in the culture of dialogue.

Administering the meeting were Algeria’s Culture Minister Khaleeda Toomy and the ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz bin Othman Al-Towaijri.

Representing Kuwait in the two-day meeting was Kuwait’s Ambassador to Algeria Saud Al-Dowaish.

The meeting also intends to discuss cultural strategies in the Islamic world, along with a Saudi initiative on future avenues of the dialogue between different faiths and cultures.

A recommendation on a declaration, identifying the roles of the civil society in enhancing dialogue and world peace, and a draft program aimed at improving the tainted image of Islam in Western media are also on the table.—KUNA

Nat’l Guard keen on HRD KUWAIT: Deputy Chief of the Kuwait National Guard (KNG) Sheikh Mishal AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said yesterday that developing human resources was a core element within the guard’s progress policy. This statement came at an honoring ceremony for officers of the manpower departments at KNG who recently graduated from a training course. Sheikh Mishal commended the role of the officers in the National Guard, affirming that participating in such training courses would help elevate the human resources element at KNG. The training course came within the KNG’s strategic development plans for 2010-2015. — KUNA

Bangladesh Embassy celebrates Victory Day KUWAIT: Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait observed the 40th anniversary of Victor y Day at the Chancer y in a befitting manner. To mark this auspicious day, Syed Shahed Reza, Ambassador of Bangladesh, hoisted the national flag in the presence of embassy officials, officials of the Bangladesh M ilitar y Contingent, Bangladesh Biman and members of the community and media.

The main event commenced with a recitation from the Holy Quran. Special prayer was offered seeking divine blessings for the departed souls of martyrs of the Liberation war, well being of the injured freedom fighters. A one-minute silence was observed in honor of the martyrs. The messages by the president, prime minister and foreign minister were read out by officers of the

embassy. The highlight of the discussion was the participation of leaders and members of the Bangladesh community and various socio - cultural organizations. They highlighted the significance of the day and also touched upon the history of struggle for selfemancipation. In this respect, they paid highest tribute to the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, four national leaders and all mar tyrs. Syed Shahed Reza in his speech paid the deepest respect to the greatest Bangladeshi of all time, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in response to whose clarion call, the Bangla nation fought for ultimate victory. He urged upon the expatriate community to work together with utmost sincerity and integrity to improve the image of the country.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

Battle for Philippine flood rescuers as bodies rot

Russian rig sinks, more than 50 feared dead Page 10

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WATULIMO: Survivors of a boat that sank are treated at a temporary shelter in Watulimo yesterday. More than 200 people were feared dead after a heavily overloaded boat packed mostly with Afghan and Iranian asylum-seekers sank off Indonesia en route to Australia, rescuers said yesterday. — AFP

200 feared dead as migrant boat sinks Australia’s govt calls sinking ‘a terrible tragedy’ WATULIMO: More than 200 people were feared dead after a heavily overloaded boat packed mostly with Afghan and Iranian asylum-seekers sank off Indonesia en route to Australia, rescuers said yesterday.

Australia’s government called the sinking “a terrible tragedy”, but came under pressure from campaign groups which said its tough approach to refugees was partly responsible for such disasters.

The fibreglass boat had a capacity of 100 but was carrying about 250 people when it sank on Saturday, 40 nautical miles off eastern Java, in heavy rain and high waves, Indonesian officials said.

Thirty-three survivors were plucked from the shark-infested waters, officials said, after the vessel sank along a well-wornand occasionally lethal-route from Java to Australia’s remote Christmas Island.

Officials said there was little hope of finding any other passengers alive, which would make the sinking Indonesia’s deadliest migrant boat accident. “We sent out

five boats and three helicopters but no survivor or body was sighted. It’s unlikely they were washed up on islands as the closest shore is 40 miles away,” district search and rescue official Kelik Purwanto told AFP. Purwanto said the accident was the “worst disaster involving migrant boats” to date. “If we find no survivor, then this is by far the largest loss of life,” he added.

National Search and Rescue Agenc y spokesman Gagah Prakoso earlier said “it’s very likely they have all drowned.”

“It’s impossible even for a good swimmer with a life vest to swim to shore safely in such extreme conditions. When boats sink like this, the bodies usually surface on the third day,” he told AFP. Bad weather, strong winds and waves of up to five metres (16 feet) hampered rescue efforts yesterday, with 300 rescuers including navy and police officers deployed to comb the sea for bodies.

One survivor, 17-year-old Afghan student Armaghan Haidar, said he was sleep-

ing when a storm came up and began to rock the boat. “I felt water touching my feet and woke up. As the boat was going down, people were panicking and shouting and trying to rush out,” he told AFP ashore.

“I managed to swim out and hang on to the side of the boat with about 100 others.

(There were) about 20 to 30 others with life jackets, but another 100 people were trapped inside,” he said. Survivors were floating in the sea for six hours before fishermen rescued them, survivors and officials said.

The survivors are being kept at a community hall near Prigi beach, 640 kilometres (400 miles) southeast of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, and say they had official UN documentation to prove their refugee status.

Survivors interviewed by AFP and local officials said that most of the passengers came from Afghanistan or Iran, and they had paid agents between $2,500 and $5,000 to seek asylum in Australia. Others

claimed to be Iraqi, Pakistani, Turkish or Saudi nationals, and that their papers were lost at sea. Haidar, the Afghan student, said he flew from Dubai to Indonesia and boarded a boat in West Java.

“We want to go to Christmas Island and live a better life in Australia,” he said.

“There is nothing in Afghanistan. There’s a lot of terrorism. We couldn’t study, go to college, find jobs. There’s no future for us there.” Thousands of asylum-seekers head through Southeast Asian countries on their way to Australia every year and many link up with people -smugglers in Indonesia for the dangerous sea voyage.

Christmas Island is a favoured destination for people-smugglers, lying closer to Indonesia than Australia. Nearly 50 wouldbe migrants are believed to have died in wild seas during a shipwreck there in December 2010.

“Our focus today is on the search and rescue effort and our thoughts today are with the people who died and with the families of those still lost at sea,” Australian

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said of Saturday ’s sinking. “ Whenever people make a dangerous journey and risk their lives, I am concerned,” he said, adding that Australia had offered an Orion surveillance aircraft to help the rescue effort. Australia has failed in its efforts to set up a regional processing centre in neighbouring countries to reduce the flow of asylum-seekers heading to its shores.

The number of boatpeople arriving in Australia ballooned to almost 900 in November, with at least nine ships intercepted in Australian waters so far this month. Ian Rintoul, coordinator of the Refugee Action Coalition, said any sympathy the Australian government or opposition expressed for those who died at sea would amount to “hypocrisy” until the parties adopted humane policies. The UN H igh Commissioner for Refugees in November said at least nine people were killed when an overloaded vessel capsized in rough seas off Java on the way to Kupang in eastern Indonesia. — AFP

Army defectors kill six Syrian troops BEIRUT: Syrian army defectors killed six government troops in heavy fighting yesterday in the country ’s rebellious central region, activists said, in the latest sign that the nation’s uprising may be shifting toward civil war. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an officer was among those killed in the town of Qusair in Homs province, near the border with Lebanon.

“Three armored vehicles were destroyed and those inside were killed and wounded,” according to the group, which relies on a network of activists inside the country. It said the clashes also resulted in the “partial destruction of some homes.”

Heavy gunbattles were also reported Sunday in several villages in the restive Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border, where many defectors are believed to operate. Syria has seen a sharp escalation in armed clashes recently, raising concerns the country of 22 million is slipping toward civil war nine

months into the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian revolt began in mid-March as protesters emboldened by uprisings across the Arab world took to the streets to demand an end to the Assad family’s more than 40year rule. The regime responded with a bloody crackdown that the UN says has killed at least 5,000 people.

The Arab League has given Syria until Wednesday to allow observers into the country or else it will likely turn to the UN Security Council for action to try to end the deadly violence against regime opponents, Qatar’s prime minister said Saturday.

Speaking after an Arab ministerial committee meeting in Doha, Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani said Arab foreign ministers will hold a “decisive and important” meeting in Cairo on Wednesday to decide on the next step. He said there is near unanimity on taking the Arab League’s plan to the Security

Council in hopes the world body can bring more pressure to bear on Damascus to accept it. Syria has demanded changes to the proposal, which calls for an end to the government crackdown.

The United Nations has been waiting for word from the Arab League before moving ahead with a resolution on Syria. A clear nod from Damascus’ Arab neighbors could ease Russian and Chinese opposition to sanctions.

Both nations have veto power at the Security Council.

The Arab plan calls for Syria to halt its crackdown, hold talks with the opposition and allow in Arab observers to ensure compliance with the deal. It does not call for foreign military intervention, as happened in Libya.

The 22-member League has also suspended Syria’s membership and imposed sanctions, but it has been divided over whether to seek the help of the wider international community beyond the Arab world. — AP

DAMASCUS: A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syrians holding national flags during a rally in support of the regime in Damascus yesterday. — AFP

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Iraqi prime minister moves to oust deputy 2 arrested in connection with attack on parliament

RAMALLAH: Palestinians celebrate as they wait at the Beituniya checkpoint for released Palestinian prisoners to cross into the West Bank city of Ramallah, yesterday. Israel was wrapping up preparations to release 550 Palestinian prisoners late yesterday, in the second and final phase of a swap with Hamas militants that brought home an Israeli soldier after five years in captivity. — AP

Israel prepares to free 550 Palestinian prisoners JERUSALEM: Israel was yesterday preparing to release 550 Palestinian prisoners who will be freed after nightfall to complete a swap deal which brought about the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit. The release operation was to take place late in the evening, when the prisoners would be bussed to drop-off points near the West Bank city of Ramallah and along the Gaza border.

The Israel Prisons Service said the prisoners would depart from Ayalon prison near Tel Aviv at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) and would be released to the West Bank, Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and the Jordan border three hours later. Among the prisoners earmarked for release is Salah Hamuri, a French-Palestinian who was convicted of plotting to assassinate a Jewish religious leader and had been due to complete his seven-year sentence in March.

There are also six women. Unlike in the first stage of the deal, which saw the release in October of 477 Palestinians including hundreds serving life for killing Israelis, yesterday’s operation will not include anyone “with blood on their hands,” officials on both sides said. The Israel Prisons Service said 41 of those to

be freed would be returned to their homes in Gaza, two to Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, two to Jordan and the remainder to the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian officials said there would be a brief welcome ceremony for the West Bank prisoners at the Muqataa presidential compound, but that president Mahmud Abbas would not be present as he would be travelling to Turkey during the evening. The list of names was published on Wednesday, and an appeal to delay the deal lodged by Israeli victims of Palestinian attacks was rejected by the Supreme Court on Friday, clearing the way for the operation to go ahead.

The names of the prisoners to be released were selected by Israel, and none of them belong to Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Israeli officials said priority had been given to members of Abbas’s secular Fatah movement.

Under the landmark swap deal agreed with Gaza’s Hamas rulers in October, Israel agreed to free 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, who had been held in Hamas captivity in Gaza for more than five years. It was the first time in 26 years that a captured soldier has been returned to Israel alive. — AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on lawmakers yesterday to withdraw confidence from one of his deputies, as the country’s political crisis deepened as US forces completed their withdrawal.

Maliki’s push for the ouster of Saleh al-Mutlak, a Sunni Arab who described him on television as “worse than Saddam Hussein”, came a day after the deputy prime minister’s Iraqiya bloc said it was boycotting parliament in protest at the premier’s alleged centralisation of power.

The latest moves come with the US military having completed its withdrawal from Iraq yesterday morning, nearly nine years after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam from power.

“The prime minister sent an official letter to parliament, asking it to withdraw its confidence in Saleh al-Mutlak after his recent statements,” Ali Mussawi, media advisor to Maliki, told AFP. Mutlak, who had been accused of being a supporter of Saddam’s outlawed Baath party in the run-up to March 2010 elections that he was barred from standing in, told CNN on Tuesday that Washington was leaving Iraq “with a dictator”. And

in a separate interview with his own Babiliyah satellite television channel, Mutlak charged: “Maliki is worse than Saddam Hussein, because the latter was a builder, but Maliki has done absolutely nothing.”

Meanwhile, security officials said at least two guards of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, also a Sunni Arab and an Iraqiya member, were arrested in connection with a November 28 attack on parliament.

Local Iraqi news outlets reported that an arrest warrant had also been issued for Hashemi himself, but judicial and police officials declined to comment. On Saturday, Iraqiya, which emerged as the largest bloc in March 2010 elections and has 82 lawmakers in the 325-seat parliament, issued a statement saying it was suspending its participation in parliament to protest what it said was Maliki’s centralisation of decision-making.

“We can no longer remain silent about the way the state is being administered, as it is plunging the country into the unknown,” it said.

Iraqiya, which garnered most of its support from Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority, was out-manoeu-

vred for the premiership by Maliki, who, after finishing second in the elections, struck a deal with another grouping to broaden his power base and lead the government.

The bloc, which controls nine ministerial posts, has not pulled out of Iraq’s national unity government, however.

Iraqiya said the government’s actions, which it claimed included stationing tanks and armoured vehicles outside the houses of its leaders in the heavily-fortified Green Zone, “drives people to want to rid themselves of the strong arm of central power as far as the constitution allows them to.”

Provincial authorities in three Sunni-majority provinces north and west of Baghdad have all moved take up the option of similar autonomy to that enjoyed by Kurds in north Iraq, drawing an angry response from Maliki.

Key political issues such as reform of the mostly state-run economy and a law to regulate and organise the lucrative energy sector also remain unresolved, to say nothing of an explosive territorial dispute between Arabs and Kurds centred around the northern oil hub of Kirkuk. — AFP

Netanyahu warns of gender segregation JERUSALEM: A woman’s refusal to sit at the back of a Jerusalem-bound bus as demanded by ultra-religious Jews moved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday to warn about the dangers of gender segregation in Israel.

The Facebook-fuelled protest by 28-year-old Tanya Rosenblit aboard a public bus on Friday became front-page news in Israel, whose secular Jewish majority often frets at signs of the rising political power of the pious.

The episode followed widespread outrage at zealot settlers in the occupied West Bank who have vandalised Palestinian property and turned on Israel’s revered conscript military by rioting at one of its garrisons.

“Israeli society is a complex mosaic of Jews and Arabs, of secular and religious and ultraOrthodox, and to this day we have agreed to peaceful coexistence,” Netanyahu told his cabinet in broadcast remarks.

“Recently we have witnessed attempts to fray this coexistence,” he said, citing Rosenblit’s experience. “I totally oppose this. I think that we must not let fringe groups dismantle our common ground, and we must preserve public spaces as

open and safe spaces for all the citizens of Israel.”

Several gender-segregated bus routes cross ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods in Jerusalem.

Under Israeli law, women are not obliged to sit in the back of the vehicles but many do so out of deference to tradition or under scrutiny by male

passengers.

Rosenblit, who describes herself as a producer for a Jewish news service, said she had been aware that the bus she had taken catered to the ultra-Orthodox and she had dressed conservatively so as not to cause offence. —Reuters

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attends a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem yesterday. — AFP

Hamas, Fatah begin unity talks in Cairo CAIRO: The rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas began meeting in Cairo yesterday to discuss ways of implementing a stalled reconciliation deal, an official said.

Delegates from the two factions met “to prepare for the comprehensive dialogue” which is to take place on Tuesday in the Egyptian capital, Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah delegation told AFP. Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal was expected to arrive in Cairo late on Monday, with Palestinian president and Fatah chief Mahmud Abbas set to join him on Wednesday, officials said. The two were to hold talks on Thursday to discuss ways of implementing a landmark reconciliation deal between their rival movements which was signed in May but which has never got off the ground.

The deal called for the establish-

ment of a caretaker cabinet which would prepare for legislative and presidential elections within a year, but it was never implemented due to disagreements over who would take on the role of premier.

Yesterday’s dialogue between the two movements was expected to continue until Tuesday when they would be joined by representatives of all the other Palestinian factions to pin down plans to hold general elections in May and to discuss reforming the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

Ahmed said Tuesday’s meeting “will focus on different points of the reconciliation agreement signed in May, the PLO, the formation of government, elections, reconciliation and the unification of the security forces and of civil institutions and security.”

On Thursday, there will be a meeting of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) which will discuss allowing Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join the PLO, he said. Hamas and Fatah officials were also expected to discuss the release of political prisoners held by both sides, which both parties have pledged will take place soon.Abbas and Meshaal last met on November 24 in Cairo after which they announced that they had ironed out their differences and begun a new era of “partnership” that would make good on the unity deal Hamas and Fatah, which respectively control Gaza and the West Bank, have long been political rivals. Tensions spilled over into deadly violence in 2007 when Hamas forced their Fatah rivals out of Gaza and took control of the strip. —AFP

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Thousands protest against rigged polls in Russia MOSCOW: Around 8,000 people protested in Moscow and Saint Petersburg yesterday against what they say were rigged parliamentary polls handing victor y to Vladimir Putin’s ruling party. The new rallies come on the heels of a wave of protests that swept Russia last weekend after the opposition and independent observers said Putin’s United Russia party cheated its way to a slim majority in December 4 parliamentary polls.

More than 3,000 people attended a rally on Manezhnaya Square near the Kremlin walls organised by the Communist party, the runner-up in the parliamentar y elections. Yur y Molodkin said he joined the rally because he was “outraged” by Putin’s claims that protesters were in the pay of a foreign state and compared a symbol of the protests against his rule-the white ribbon-to condoms.

“I came to listen to people who are

ready to fight these liars,” the 46-yearold told AFP. In a live televised phonein beamed across Russia on Thursday, Putin claimed he wasn’t troubled by the largest protests of his 12-year rule and said he first thought the rallies were an anti-AIDS campaign and that its participants had pinned condoms to their lapels.

“He talked like a crime boss,” said Molodkin, who noted he had not been to a rally since 1993. Police put the turnout at the Moscow protest at 3,300 people. In Russia’s second city of Saint Petersburg protesters chanting “Russia Will Be Free!” and holding signs such as one reading “Give Back My Vote!” also said they were offended

by Putin’s claims they were hired to protest.

“It’s a ridiculous idea that people get paid for coming here,” said Sergei, a student and one of some 5,000 protesters who gathered in the central Pionerskaya square. “Clearly everyone

is tired of the lies coming from the authorities,” said Sergei, who held a

sign reading “I Was Asked to Stand Here for $10”. More than 50,000 peo-

SAINT PETERSBURG: Russian opposition supporters hold a poster with Russian Premier Vladimir Putin’s picture during a rally gathering 5000 people yesterday in central Saint Petersburg’s Pionerskaya square against what they say were rigged parliamentary polls handing victory to Putin’s ruling party. — AFP

ple gathered in Moscow last weekend in the biggest show of popular anger since the turbulent 1990s. The next major opposition protest in Moscow is scheduled for Saturday.

Both Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev have rejected the protesters’ claims of mass violations during the vote, with Putin also accusing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of sparking the rallies by questioning the vote’s legitimacy.

The newly elected lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is scheduled to convene for its first session on Wednesday. The protests come less than three months before March presidential polls in which Putin is widely expected to reclaim his old Kremlin job. Amid the worst legitimacy crisis of his rule, Putin’s approval ratings have however taken such a dive that he will not be able to secure victory in the first round, the most recent polls showed. — AFP

Russian rig sinks, more than 50 feared dead No oil spill, but blow to Russia exploration

ROME: In this photo released by Vatican paper L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI, right, exchanges a gift with an inmate during his visit to Rome’s Rebibbia prison, yesterday. — AP

Pope urges reforms on visit to Rome prison ROME: Pope Benedict XVI visited one of Italy’s biggest prisons yesterday in Rome for an emotional Christmas observance, as the government prepares measures aimed at easing the problem of overcrowding. “This visit is a public gesture to remind our fellow citizens and our government that there are major problems and difficulties in Italian prisons,” the pope said during a question-and-answer session with detainees.

“I know that overcrowding and degradation in prisons can make detention even more bitter,” he said, calling on the government to ensure that conditions are improved “so that prisoners never have to serve a double sentence.”

The Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome visited by the pope has 1,740 detainees — 500 more than its capacitya situation repeated across Italy where there around 68,000 detainees for 44,385 places. More than 60 prisoners have committed suicide so far this year.

Asked by one prisoner about negative views about HIV-positive prisoners, the pope answered: “We have to tolerate people talking about us in a fierce way.

Some people speak fiercely about the pope, but we still carry on.” The pope was met at Rebibbia by Justice Minister Paola Severino, who said the pope’s visit was “a very happy coincidence” since she has stressed that decreasing the prison pop-

ulation is her top priority. “I think this visit ... will give a very important signal of the presence in our hearts, our spirit and our minds of the prison problem as one of the fundamental problems of our life and our society,” she said. Severino, who joined Prime Minister Mario Monti’s cabinet last month, said there was “a situation of exceptional difficulty and unease” in prisons, and incarceration should be only “a really exceptional measure.”

The measures proposed by the government include shortening the maximum length of time someone can be held before indictment to 48 hours from 96 hours and using police stations instead of jails for short custodies.

Severino has also talked about the possibility of an amnesty.

Benedict recited a prayer with prisoners, accepted gifts from them and blessed a cypress tree that he has donated for the prison yard. He has visited several jails in Italy since becoming pope in 2005 and is far from being the first pontiff to visit a jail, starting with a historic visit by John XXIII to Rome’s Regina Coeli prison on December 26, 1958.

Benedict’s predecessor John Paul II visited Italian prisons 12 times including a visit to Rebibbia on December 27, 1983, when he met with the Turkish militant Ali Agca who had tried to assassinate him two years earlier. — AFP

MOSCOW: A drilling rig with 67 crew on board capsized and sank off Russia’s far eastern island of Sakhalin yesterday while being towed through a storm, leaving more than 50 dead or missing in the icy Sea of Okhotsk.

Emergency officials said the crew of an icebreaker and tugboat rescued 14 workers alive from the jack-up rig, the ‘Kolskaya’, which was operated by a Russian offshore exploration firm. They recovered four bodies from the water.

Four of the sur vivors, suffering from hypothermia, were airlifted by helicopter to land and taken to hospital after the disaster struck at 12:45 pm (0145 GMT). The rest of the crew were missing, 200 km (125 miles) off the coast of remote Sakhalin island. The water temperature was one degree Celsius (33.8 Fahrenheit), giving survivors around 30 minutes before death from freezing, according to maritime and rescue websites.

“The Kolskaya keeled to its side ... and sank within 20 minutes. The depth of the water at the site is 1,042 metres (0.65 miles),” Russia’s federal water transport agency said in a statement on its website. Several rescue crafts and helicopters had been sent to the site to scour the waters for survivors from the rig owned by Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka (AMNGR), a unit of state-owned Zarubezhneft.

“There is no ecological danger. The vessel was carrying the minimum amount of fuel as it was being tugged by two craft,” said a spokesman for AMNGR. But the incident will deal a blow to efforts by Russia, the world’s largest energy producer, to step up offshore oil and gas exploration to stave off a longterm decline in onshore production.

The jack-up rig, which has three support legs that can be extended to the ocean floor while its hull floats on the surface, was heading from Kamchatka to Sakhalin when it overturned in stormy winter conditions with a swell of up to 6 metres (19.7 feet). “(President) Dmitry Medvedev has ordered all necessary assistance be provided to the victims of the drilling platform accident and has ordered a probe into the circumstances of the loss of the platform,” the Kremlin said. The Emergencies Ministry said it would work through last night.

“The violation of safety rules during the towing of the drilling rig, as well as towing without consideration of the weather conditions ... are believed to be the cause of the (disaster),” investigators said in a statement on

their website. The ‘Neftegaz-55’ tugboat, also owned by AMNGR, had been towing the Kolskaya and took part in the search effort, but pulled out after suffering hull damage from the high waves.

The tug, carrying most of the crew rescued from the rig, was taking on water and trying to limp to port. An icebreaker, the ‘Magadan’, was still at the scene.

The rig, built in Finland in 1985, had been doing work on a minor gas production project

OKHOTSK SEA: An undated picture released by Arktimor Neftegaz Razvedka (AMNGR) shows the Kolskaya oil rig. — AFP in the Sea of Okhotsk for a unit of state-controlled gas export monopoly Gazprom, the company said. Russia’s prize offshore gas and oil fields lie to the northeast of Sakhalin. Two major offshore projects are already producing oil and gas off the island - Sakhalin-1, operated by Exxonmobil and Sakhalin-2, in which Gazprom has a controlling stake.

The disaster is unlikely to seriously affect oil or gas production. AMNGR said the vessel was no longer under contract when it sank.

Operating conditions in the region, explored

by Soviet geologists in the 1960s and 1970s, are among the harshest for Russian energy companies. Winter often lasts 220-240 days in

Protests spread in Kazakh oil region AKTAU: Protests in Kazakhstan’s oil-producing Mangistau region, unprecedented in the Central Asian state’s recent history, spread yesterday to the regional capital, where hundreds of angry protesters faced reinforced police troops.

Late on Saturday, one person was killed and 11 people were wounded in a fresh clash with police in the village of Shetpe, bringing the total official death toll in the western region to 12 and the number of wounded to nearly 100.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared a 20-day state of emergency on Saturday in the oil city of Zhanaozen, in the same region, after at least 11 people were killed there in violence that broke out on Friday.

Public protests are rare in Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest economy and biggest oil producer, where the 71-year-old Nazarbayev has overseen more than $120 billion in foreign investment during more than two decades in power, but tolerates little dissent and puts stability before democratic freedoms.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it was worried by the confirmed death toll and urged the Kazakh authorities to use force proportionately, respect human rights and hold a transparent investigation. Yesterday morning, around 500 angry protesters gathered near the main square of Aktau, a city of 160,000 on the Caspian Sea, some 2,600 km (1,600 miles) southwest of the capital Astana.

Braving biting frost, they faced a large force of black-clad riot police holding shields, a Reuters correspondent reported from the scene. Some policemen were armed with automatic rifles. “ Take the troops out of Mangistau!” read a long banner in Kazakh held by a dozen protesters.

One protester, Sarsekesh Bairbekov, said he had been fired by oil firm Karazhanbasmunai (KBM) in May. “I worked there for 20 years. I was a welder and lost an eye,” the 58-year-old told Reuters. His wage

the waters off Sakhalin, where the main companies operating are ExxonMobil, Gazprom, and Royal Dutch Shell. They produce oil and gas, sometimes in icebound conditions, for export largely to Asian markets.

Sakhalin-2, in which Shell and Mitsui also have stakes, produces 10 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas at Russia’s only LNG plant in the port of Prigorodnoye for export to Asia, much of it to Japan. Each tanker of crude oil produced by at the 160,000

was 120,000 tenge ($810) before he was fired. KBM is jointly owned by London-listed KazMunaiGas Exploration Production and CITIC, China’s biggest state investment company. “We want them to take away the troops,” Bairbekov said, referring to the state of emergency imposed in Zhanaozen after the riots. “ They killed local people,” he added, still wearing maroon-and-blue KBM overalls. Many protesters called into question the official death toll announced after the riots in Zhanaozen. — Reuters

ROME: In this photo released by Vatican paper L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI, right, exchanges a gift with an inmate during his visit to Rome’s Rebibbia prison, yesterday. — AP

barrels-per-day Sakhalin-1 project, operated

by ExxonMobil, is escorted by two icebreakers when ice thickness reaches 60 cm (2 feet).

State-controlled Rosneft this year reached a major deal with Exxon to explore for oil and gas in the Kara Sea, to the north of the Russian mainland, a largely unexplored region estimated to hold over 100 billion barrels of oil. A combination of poor infrastructure and chronic corner-cutting has dealt the country its share of sea disasters, noteably the 2000 sinking of the nuclear submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea in August 2000, killing all 118 aboard and prompting criticism of the sluggish response. — Reuters

Police rule in Belarus a year after vote protests MINSK: Dreams of a democratic revolution have shattered in Belarus one year after a night of protests saw hundreds jailed on strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko’s contested re-election to his fourth term. The 57-year-old’s two main rivals still languish in prison while the police enjoy the right to arrest anyone suspected of making a political statement in public and have already banned all events marking today’s vote anniversary. But Lukashenko’s growing reliance on what is still known as the KGB security service underscores the resentment growing both within society and his own circles at a time of the state’s worst economic crisis since Soviet times.

“It was a difficult year for the opposition and a catastrophic one for the Belarus authorities,” former presidential candidate and subsequent KGB detainee Vital Rymasheuski said in an interview.

“Lukashenko’s actual level of support is now around 20 percent. The authorities are hanging on with the exclusive help of the security services.”

Rymasheuski spoke on the sidelines of another bid by his Belarus Christian Democrats to get registered as a party-a boisterous gathering filmed by a silent man in a bomber jacket who strongly resembled a state service employee. The imposing figure spent most of his time focusing his camera on the faces of peo-

ple walking in and out of the conference hall. The comprehensive scale of Lukashenko’s security crackdown has altered the way people talk-names are rarely mentioned over the phone as a precaution-and the manner in which his government is treated by Western states.

A brief rapprochement the West tried to strike with Lukashenko as an incentive for fair elections is over.

The former collective farm boss and more than 200 of his closest underlings are banned from travel to EU nations, and dozens more cannot enter the United States. Both the EU and the US are also imposing targeted sanctions against Belarus firms.

And no talks with Lukashenko are promised until the release of more than a dozen political prisoners who include two men Lukashenko faced a year agoformer deputy foreign minister Andrei Sannikov and old regime foe Mikola Statkevich. “Why do you have to talk to Lukashenko?” one foreign diplomat asked with genuine surprise in his voice.

“There is also a civil society here.”

There are grounds for genuine resentment in the nation of nearly 10 million.

Salaries imploded when the state-burdened by Lukashenko’s lavish election promises-ran out of cash and eventually devalued the currency to less than half its original worth. — AFP

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Congress’ new terrorism rules leave open questions WASHINGTON: After a bruising battle in Congress, the Obama administration retained the right to investigate and try suspected terrorists in civilian courts. But officials say newly enacted legislation raises a host of questions that will complicate and could harm the investigation of terrorism cases.

During a struggle that began last May and ended this past week in a compromise defense bill, the administration waged an uphill fight against a majority of Republicans and some Democrats trying to expand the role of the military while reducing the role of civilian courts in the fight against terrorism.

It was the latest effort by conservatives to keep open the US military prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to place terrorism suspects in indefinite detention and to designate military commissions as the preferred alternative to civilian courts for meting out justice.

In the end, the administration came away with one major victory. Gone from the defense bill during House-Senate negotiations was a provision that would have eliminated executive branch authority to use civilian courts for trying terrorism cases against foreign nationals. The new law would require military custody for any suspect who is a member of al-Qaeda or “associated forces” and involved in planning or

attempting to carry out an attack on the United States or its coalition partners. The military custody requirement does not apply to US citizens or to lawful US residents.

The president or a designated subordinate may waive the military custody requirement by certifying to Congress that such a move is in the interest of national security. The new law “will ramp up the political costs” when the administration decides to hold a civilian criminal prosecution for a detainee, said University of Texas law professor Robert M. Chesney, who focused on detainee issues while serving at the Justice Department in 2009.

But, Chesney added, “this law does leave the president with flexibility” to have civilian trials “and therefore the law is neither quite as bad as its opponents say nor as useful as its supporters think.”Weighing in heavily in the debate was the FBI, the front-line investigative agency that now must operate in a reordered environment in which the US military will suddenly play a bigger role that is sometimes side by side with law enforcement.

In a Nov. 28 letter to Congress, FBI Director Robert Mueller said the legislation will inhibit the bureau’s ability to persuade suspected terrorists to cooperate immediately and provide critical intelligence. Mueller tried to make a simi-

lar point at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this past week, but got little sympathy from Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. “What I am focused on is what happens at the time of arrest,” the FBI director said. “Well, then you need to work this out with the Department of Defense, don’t you?” said Sessions, a former federal prosecutor and ex-Alabama attorney general.

Mueller also said it wasn’t clear how agents should operate if they arrest someone covered by the military custody requirement but the nearest military facility is hundreds of miles away.

And last month, Lisa Monaco, assistant attorney general for national security, said that “agents and prosecutors should not have to spend their time worrying about citizenship status and whether and how to get a waiver . in order to thwart an al-Qaida plot against the homeland.”

Law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, say that it won’t be easy working under a new set of rules that must be written in the next 60 days before the law goes into effect. Pressure from the administration produced one late compromise section that says nothing in the bill may be “construed to affect the existing criminal

enforcement and national security authorities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or any other domestic law enforcement agency with regard to a covered person, regardless whether such covered person is held in military custody.”

But that left open questions. “I’m concerned with the lack of clarity about who is in charge of investigation and interrogation for detainees in military custody,” Michael J. Nardotti, the judge advocate general of the Army from 1993 to 1997, said of the legislation. “If the detainees are in military custody and the military is responsible for their disposition and control, what role does the FBI have in that process and is the FBI going to be directed in some respects by the military on the use of the bureau’s investigative resources?” asked Nardotti.

“The second concern I have,” said Nardotti, “is that the use of the words ‘associated forces’ in the legislation can be read as expanding the definition of who can be held indefinitely in military custody in an open-ended conflict.”

That could become an important issue because the legislation will undoubtedly at some point or at many points - undergo scrutiny by the courts.

Gary Solis, a retired judge advocate who served 26 years in the Marine Corps, called the latest political venture into how best to battle

terrorism “a very bad idea.”“Making the military the warders of every suspected terrorist goes far beyond the military’s legislatively assigned mission,” he said.

“It appears to me to be an effort to assure that all suspected terrorists will be tried by military commission,” said Solis. “Despite the fact that hundreds of terrorists have been tried in the federal courts, convicted and sentenced to long terms, for reasons that escape me Congress is unwilling to allow our courts to proceed with what they have demonstrably been so capable of doing.”

Congress and the White House have been at odds over detention policy ever since President Barack Obama was sworn in. Many lawmakers have resisted the administration’s efforts to close the US prison at Guantanamo Bay and have opposed trying terror suspects in federal courts in the United States rather than by military commission. This latest round featured some Democrats, including Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin of Michigan and Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, supporting the measure while some Republicans and libertarian-leaning Republicans, including Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, opposed the legislation that the administration objected to. —AP

Battle for Philippine flood rescuers as bodies rot Bodies washed at sea retrieved CAGAYAN DE ORO: Philippine rescuers struggled against mud, fatigue and the stench of death yesterday to help the survivors of devastating flash floods that killed more than 650 people. As bodies washed out to sea began rising to the surface, mortuaries were overwhelmed and emergency teams struggled to find survivors in cloying mud around

to rise to the sur face,” Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster council, told AFP by mobile phone from a rescue boat off Cagayan de Oro. The United States offered assistance to its former colony as the Philippine government and the Red Cross appealed for help to feed, clothe and house more than 35,000 people huddled in

Colonel Efren Baluyot said only 43 people were known to have survived there.

Local freelance reporter Leonardo Vicente Corrales told AFP that rotting corpses were piling up unclaimed at mortuaries in Cagayan de Oro as overworked staff ran out of embalming fluid, coffins, and water to clean them.

“The bodies are decomposing too

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: Residents covering their faces from the smell as they try to identify corpses of relatives laid on the pavement outside a funeral parlor in Cagayan de Oro City on the southern island of Mindanao yesterday, a day after Typhoon Washi wrought havoc in the city. —AFP the major port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan on Mindanao island.

Entire villages were swept away by floodwaters as residents, normally spared from typhoons that devastate other parts of the Philippines every year, slept in the early hours of Saturday despite storm warnings.

The Red Cross said that 652 people had been confirmed dead and another 808 were currently listed as missing. “I’m out here retrieving bodies that are starting

evacuation centres. A 20,000strong military force normally involved in fighting Muslim insurgents in Mindanao was leading rescue and relief operations.

A 30-member military and police rescue team landed yesterday in Bayug, a delta area near Iligan formerly home to a fishing community of up to 1,000 people, an AFP photographer saw. The delta had been swept clean of most structures, leaving those left alive having to rebuild huts with scrap wood, and Lieutenant

quickly because they are drowning victims because there is muddy water in their bodies,” he said.

One establishment, Somo Funeral Homes, turned away the bodies of two drowned children.

“We are already swamped. We only have four embalmers,” its owner Ryan Somo told an AFP reporter. The mayor of Cagayan de Oro, Vicente Emano, said he expected the death toll to reach 500 just in his city, which has a population of half a million. The local authorities opened up fire

hydrants and long lines soon formed as residents queued for fresh water.

In the hamlet of Macasandig, near Cagayan de Oro, teacher’s wife Divilita Cuartero, 38, said she saw two dead bodies among the wreckage of houses near her own home, which was filled with mud from the nearby Cagayan river.

“I’m thankful that we woke up in time and were able to run toward the road, otherwise we would be dead by now,” the mother of one told AFP. The Philippine National Red Cross listed 346 deaths in Cagayan de Oro and 206 in Iligan. Smaller tolls were reported in other parts of Mindanao and the central province of Negros Oriental.

Gwendolyn Pang, the organisation’s secretary general, said the 808 people listed as missing could be trimmed as the dead were identified. Authorities likened tropical storm Washi to Ketsana, one of the country’s most devastating storms which dumped huge amounts of rain on Manila and other parts of the country in 2009, killing more than 460 people.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino has ordered a review of the country’s disaster defences as it became apparent that residents were unprepared for such a deadly storm. Ramos, the disaster agency chief, said the government faced a formidable task with 100,000 people needing help, including those who sought refuge at schools, government buildings and gyms.

The national government has begun airlifting mats, blankets and clothes to the affected populations of the south, he added.

Debris has to be cleared, electricity and drinking water have to be restored and damaged roads and bridges must be repaired, officials said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent condolences to the Philippines and said in a statement: “ The US government stands ready to assist Philippine authorities as they respond to this tragedy.” —AFP

No motive in deadly LA office shooting LOS ANGELES: Authorities were searching for a motive yesterday as they named the 48 year-old company employee who shot four people, killing two, at a utility office east of Los Angeles.

Investigators said Andre Turner of Norco in Riverside County methodically picked off his co workers with a semiautomatic handgun Friday before turning the weapon on himself inside a complex that houses more than a thousand Southern California Edison employees.

Turner’s death was ruled a suicide, Los Angeles County coroner’s Lt. Larry Dietz told The Associated Press. He had worked at Edison for seven years, utility spokesman Steven Conroy said. The two other men killed were Henry Serrano, 56, of Walnut and Robert Scott Lindsay, 53, of Chino Hills, coroner and company officials said.

Both men were managers in the information technology department and longtime Edison employees, the company said in a statement Saturday. Lindsay had worked for the company for 29 years, Serrano for 26. Two other shooting victims were taken to hospitals in critical condition, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

The injured were Angela Alvarez, 46, of Glendale, an Edison employee, and Abhay

Pimpale, 38, of Montebello, Edison said in a statement. Pimpale, an independent contractor, was released from the hospital Saturday, according to City News Service. There was no new word on the condition of Alvarez.

All five people worked in the same area of the same building at the office park in Irwindale, a small industrial city in the San Gabriel Valley, authorities said. Authorities have released no information on a possible motive for what the Edison statement called “one of the most horrific events the company has experienced in its 125-year history.”

A woman who picked up the phone at a number listed in Turner’s name declined to give her name or offer comment. Several cars were parked in the driveway of Turner’s home in an upscale neighborhood near a golf club in Norco, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.

A woman standing on a balcony on the home’s second floor would not comment for the newspaper.

Turner’s real estate agent Shane Tucker said the home was up for a short sale and he and his wife were moving into a smaller place, but he still couldn’t see a motive for something so drastic. “He seemed like a real stand-up guy,” Tucker told KABC-TV as he sat in a car outside the

home where Turner had lived for six years as the original owner. “I know he did put a lot of the money into the house, it’s really nice. I don’t see why short-selling the house would trigger anything negative, so it has to be something else.”

Horrified employees barricaded themselves behind locked doors and hid under desks Friday afternoon as Turner walked through the office firing a semi-automatic handgun, authorities said. The office complex and nearby schools were locked down as the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s SWAT team responded to several 911 calls. Some workers trapped inside the facility thought while the rampage was going on that it had left more people wounded.

Ron Orona of El Monte said his daughter, a 23-year-old employee who works in one of the adjacent buildings, said Turner had been in her building and talked to her boss about five minutes before the gunfire broke out. She heard the shots, and reached for her phone in a panic.

“She called me and said dad, there’s two gunmen and 12 people have been shot,” Orona told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. “She was a little shook up, as I was.” Turner and Lindsay were found dead at the scene, and Serrano died at a hospital, authorities said. —AP

NEW YORK: This Saturday, Dec 17, 2011 surveillance photo provided by the New York Police Department shows a suspect wanted in connection with a homicide, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A woman burned to death in the elevator of her Brooklyn apartment building Saturday afternoon after a man ambushed her, sprayed her with liquid and set her afire with a Molotov cocktail, police said. —AP

Woman set afire in elevator of building NEW YORK: A woman burned to death in the elevator of her Brooklyn apartment building Saturday after a man ambushed her, sprayed her with liquid and set her afire with a Molotov cocktail, police said.

The unidentified man was waiting for 64-year-old Doris Gillespie when the elevator doors opened to her floor of the Prospect Heights building. The man sprayed her with an accelerant and set her on fire, New York City police spokesman Paul Browne said.

“It was apparent he knew she was on the elevator,” he said. No arrests had been made as of early Sunday, and police were still searching for the suspect. The brutal attack happened shortly after 4 p.m., lasted about a minute and was recorded by two video cameras, including one inside the small elevator.

Brown said the video showed the elevator doors opening to the fifth floor where Gillespie’s apartment was located and the assailant stepping in and spraying her. Gillespie, who had grocery bags in her arms, turned about 180 degrees and then crouched in an attempt to protect herself, he said. But the man sprayed her directly in the face and continued to spray her “sort of methodically” over her head and

parts of her body as the bags draped off her arms. She turned around and retreated to the back of the elevator.

At some point, Browne said, the suspect then pulled out a barbeque-style lighter, used it to ignite a rag in a bottle and then waited for a few seconds before using the flames to set her afire, causing smoke to fill the elevator.

The man backed out as she fell to the floor of the elevator, Browne said, and seemed to pause before tossing the bottle inside the elevator and onto her. Browne would not comment on the motive in the killing, but said the suspect knew his victim. Investigators believe the suspect fled down the stairs of the building, he said.

Police released still images of the man Saturday night, showing him in a black jacket, wearing what appear to be surgical gloves and with a white dust mask perched atop his head like a pair of sunglasses. He is holding what appears to be a canister with a nozzle and spraying as he steps into the elevator.

Neighbors reported a fire in the building, unaware that the woman was burning to death in the elevator. Residents were evacuated from the six-storey building for hours Saturday night. —AP

US limits intel value of drones WASHINGTON: A US official says Iran will find it hard to exploit any data and technology aboard the captured CIA stealth drone because of measures taken to limit the intelligence value of drones operating over hostile territory.

The official also said Saturday that despite Iran’s latest claims to have hijacked the RQ170 Sentinel and brought it down near the eastern Iranian city of Kashmar, the US is convinced that the drone malfunctioned. “The Iranians had nothing to do with it,” the official said. The official, who could speak about classified matters only on condition of anonymity, did not provide details. But independent experts say the data and communications of the unmanned aircraft are heavily encrypted, making it difficult for Iran to harvest much intelligence from them. US officials previously have said the drones have no self-destruct mechanism.

The RQ-170 was nicknamed “the Beast of Kandahar” because it was first spotted over Afghanistan. It was used to conduct surveillance of Osama bin Laden’s Pakistani compound before he was killed in a US raid. The Christian Science Monitor on Thursday quoted an unidentified Iranian engineer as saying that Tehran seized control of the drone by exploiting a key vulnerability in its navigation system, its reliance on GPS technology to guide it home when it loses contact with US controllers.

The engineer said Iran’s electronic warfare specialists jammed the RQ-170’s satellite communications link and tricked its autopilot into thinking that it was landing at its base in

Afghanistan when it touched down in Iran.

“The GPS navigation is the weakest point,” the engineer was quoted as saying. “By putting noise on the communications, you force the bird into autopilot.”

US officials say Iran merely picked up a drone - or large pieces of one - that had lost contact with its controllers and landed inside Iranian borders relatively intact. What appears to be an Air Force Scientific Advisory Board report on drone warfare, posted on a website, found that communications links are a “primary target of the adversary” in robotic aircraft operations.

The April 2011 report added: “Small, simple GPS noise jammers can be easily constructed and employed by an unsophisticated adversary and would be effective over a limited RPA (remotely piloted aircraft) operating area,” the report said. The website, Public Intelligence, describes itself as an international consortium of independent researchers dedicated to providing access open-source intelligence materials. Some independent US experts confirmed that the document accurately describes a well-known potential vulnerability in drones.

But Ted Beneigh, an expert on unmanned aircraft systems at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, said it was “highly unlikely” that the Iranians have a system that could interfere with the RQ-170’s GPS navigation system. The US drone, Beneigh wrote in an email, would have used “military GPS frequencies, whose timing and code sequence is classified. Commercial GPS repeaters operate on civilian frequencies.” —AP

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Singapore rattled by week of subway breakdowns SINGAPORE: Singapore’s subway system restarted yesterday after a week of breakdowns inconvenienced hundreds of thousands of commuters and rattled a city-state that sells itself as having a world-class infrastructure.

All subway lines were in operation by about noon yesterday after safety checks shut down service during the morning, operator SMRT Corp. Ltd. said. The problems started with a 40minute breakdown Wednesday on the island’s Circle line and escalated when the busy NorthSouth line - which runs from downtown through the famed Orchard Road shopping strip and out to the suburbs - was shut for five hours Thursday night and about seven hours Saturday morning. Another line, the East-West, also suffered shutdowns.

SMRT and government officials have struggled to pinpoint and fix the cause of the breakdowns and contain the ensuing commuter chaos in the worst systems failure in the subway’s 24-year history. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the government will hold a public inquiry into the breakdowns and SMRT’s response.

“Had it just been a one-off matter, I think the operating agencies can take care of it,” Lee said. “But when the incidents happened again (Saturday), and same thing, that meant that it wasn’t just a random thing, that something more basic has caused it and we haven’t quite pinned it down yet.”

The Straits Times said 127,000 commuters were affected Thursday and 94,000 on Saturday. Travelers had to wait in long lines for hours for buses or

taxis. Singaporeans were shocked by photos of a window smashed with a fire extinguisher by a passenger who said he was desperate for fresh air in one of four trains stalled Thursday in tunnels for up to an hour.

Vandalism is extremely rare in Singapore because it carries a mandatory caning punishment, but fellow passengers called the man a hero, the Straits Times said. At least two passengers fainted in the stifling heat when emergency lighting and ventilation failed. SMRT Chief Executive Saw Phiak Hwa admitted her company wasn’t properly prepared for the emergency.

“It’s not something that we could foresee it could happen,” Saw said Friday. “All the energy now is to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”

However, it did happen again on

Saturday, prompting about 80 people to protest at a downtown park and call for Saw’s resignation.

“An immediate concern is the apparent inability of the subway operators and the relevant government agencies to deal with crises of this scale,” the opposition Workers’ Party, which has six members of parliament, said in a statement. “We dread to think how much worse the situation could be in the event of a terrorist attack or train collision.”

Orchard Road business owners are upset that the disruptions hurt sales during the key Christmas shopping season when tourist arrivals increase.

Some opposition politicians were quick to blame a surge in foreign workers during the last five years for overburdening the country’s trans-

portation infrastructure. A backlash against higher housing costs and growing income inequality helped cut the overall vote won by the ruling People’s Action Party in May’s parliamentary elections to the lowest since independence in 1965.

“It’s clear that SMRT ’s current resources are stretched to breaking point by the government’s decision to increase our population so drastically through immigration while neglecting to invest in adequate infrastructure,” said Kenneth Jeyaretnam, leader of the Reform Party.

Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said he was disappointed with SMRT’s handling of the crisis. “This is a very, very serious disruption,” Lui said. “(SMRT) better take heed, learn the lessons and improve on the systems.” — AP

Islamists stage protest in support of Pakistan army ‘We will defeat any conspiracies against Pakistan’

YANGON: Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha, right, granddaughter of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit and the only child of Crown Prince Maha Vajralongkorn with Princess Soamsavali, offers Pali Tipitaka to a senior Buddhist monk during the cerebration of The World Tipitaka Presentation by Dhamma Society to commemorate the 2,600th anniversary of the Buddha’s Enlightenment at Kabaaye pagoda on Saturday, in Yangon, Myanmar. — AP

America warns Nepal over political unrest KATHMANDU: The United States warned Nepal yesterday that political strikes threatening to paralyse the country could lead to its travel warning being reinstated. Opposition leaders called a countrywide shutdown on Saturday-forcing shops to close, crippling transport and sparking violence-after a senior party activist was killed in a prison in the southern district of Chitwan.

The opposition Nepali Congress (NC), which is demanding justice for the killing, has called for a repeat on Monday of the strike, which saw protesters blocking roads, torching cars and vandalising shops across the country. “ The US recently lifted the travel warning for American citizens hoping to visit Nepal and we are actively seeking to bring American investors here,” Scott DeLisi, the US ambassador to Nepal, said on his Facebook page.

“This type of political violence puts our efforts at risk and threatens to recreate the atmosphere that led to the travel warning in the first place.” Shiva Poudel, chairman of the NC’s youth wing in Chitwan, was critically injured when a group of inmates attacked him on December 6 and he died in Kathmandu on Saturday. He was on remand, having

been accused of murdering a political rival. The NC demanded an investigation into his death and called on the Maoistled government to withdraw cases filed against Poudel, declare him a martyr and compensate his family. Hundreds of police with wooden sticks and riot shields patrolled the streets of Kathmandu yesterday.

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai offered Poudel’s family one million rupees ($12,000) and asked the party to call off Monday’s strike after an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday.

Nepal’s civil war ended in 2006 after a decade of fighting that killed some 16,000 people, but the former destination on the legendary hippy trail remained unstable as political leaders struggled to reach a lasting agreement.

But political parties last month reached a breakthrough deal that allows for the reintegration of thousands of former Maoist rebel fighters as the parties work to complete a new constitution.

The US State Department warned Americans in January of the risk of street violence in Nepal, but cancelled the advisory on December 6 saying it “believes country conditions have changed considerably over the past year”. — AFP

Chinese villagers threaten government office march WUKAN: Protesting villagers in southern China said yesterday they will march on government offices this week unless the body of a local leader is released and four villagers in police custody are freed. The 13,000 residents of Wukan, in the wealthy province of Guangdong, are in open revolt against officialdom and have driven out local Communist Party leaders who they say have been stealing their land for years.

The villagers appear to be winning support from the public, with the first confirmed protest backing them held in the provincial capital Guangzhou on Sunday.

The three demonstrators there were detained by police.

While the Guangzhou protest was relatively small, it is a sign that government efforts to block news of the unrest in Wukan have failed and the villagers are attracting public support. Many local businesses have been closed for the past week while schools have been shuttered as riot police blockade the village, which has for months been the scene of occasionally violent protests over land seizures.

Authorities have vowed to crack down on the instigators of the latest unrest, which was triggered by the arrest nine days ago of five villagers, one of whom died last Sunday in police custody. Authorities say the 42year-old man suffered a heart attack, while relatives who saw the body said they believed he had been beaten to death.

Villagers told AFP yesterday they will march to government offices in Lufeng city on Wednesday unless the body of Xue Jinbo

is returned and the other four villagers still in police custody are released. “If they do not return our people then for sure we will march to Lufeng,” said a villager surnamed Zhang, 44, who told AFP his family’s plot of farmland was taken from him in 1995. It would be the third such march since September.

Community leaders have started to collect donations of food and money for the “several hundred villagers” struggling to feed themselves due to the cordons of police and riot squads blocking the main roads in and out of Wukan. “Yesterday we raised about 10,000 yuan ($1,575) in donations for the poorer people,” said a villager surnamed Chen, outside a building where a dozen 20-kilogramme (44-pound) sacks of rice were stacked.

Villagers complain that local leaders have been stealing their land for decades. Anger boiled over in September when a lucrative housing project involving yet more valuable farmland was announced. The villagers marched to a nearby police post and violent clashes ensued. Since then, Wukan has driven out local Communist leaders who residents say have ruled the village as despots.

Despite the police blockade, some businesses have remained open but owners complain they are running low on supplies.

“Of course we are having difficulties. Due to the police blockade we cannot get in any new stock,” a man surnamed Wu told AFP in his general store where shelves normally packed with alcohol, oil and other cooking ingredients were half empty. — AFP

LAHORE: About 30,000 Islamists staged a protest yesterday to condemn the United States and show support for Pakistan’s military, which has reasserted itself after a cross-border NATO attack and a controversial memo that has weakened the civilian government.

Speakers included Hafiz Saeed, a fiercely anti-American cleric suspected of links to the group blamed for the 2008 militant rampage in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people. Also at the podium was Maulana Sami-ulHaq, known as the father of the Afghan Taleban, who are fighting US-led NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s military was humiliated by the unilateral US special forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town in May, facing unprecedented public criticism. But many Pakistanis rallied behind it after a Nov. 26 cross-border NATO air raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and plunged already troubled ties with Washington to a low point.

The Islamists’ show of support for the military will bring more pressure on Pakistan’s civilian leaders, especially deeply unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari, who could be damaged by a memo, allegedly crafted by the former US ambassador to the United States, accusing the military of plotting a coup.

“All Islamist organisations stand with the Pakistan army. We will stand together and defeat any conspiracies against Pakistan and the Pakistan army,” said cleric Tahir Ashrafi, in an apparent reference to what has become known as “memogate”.

“Long live the Pakistan army,” chanted the Islamists in the central city of Lahore. Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, writing in a column in the Financial Times on Oct. 10, said a senior Pakistani diplomat

PESHAWAR: Activists of Jammat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan wave party flags during a rally in Peshawar yesterday. JI leaders criticised the Pakistani government on their handling of the country’s affairs and were protesting against the NATO interventions in Pakistan. — AFP had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for US help to stave off a military coup in the days after the bin Laden raid. Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Husain Haqqani, the then Pakistani ambassador to Washington who denied involvement in the memo but resigned over the controversy. No evidence has emerged that the military was plotting a coup and the Pentagon at the time dismissed the memo as not credible.

Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has called for an investigation into the memo. On Monday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court is due to start hearings into a petition demanding an inquiry into who was behind it.

Tension between Pakistan’s civilian government and military have bedevilled the nuclear-

armed South Asian country for almost its entire existence, with the military ruling the country for more than half of its 64-year history after a series of coups.

Haqqani’s resignation was seen by many analysts as further weakening the civilian government, which is already beset by allegations of corruption and incompetence.

The military, which determines security and foreign policy, dismisses any suggestion that it might stage a coup but analysts say military intervention could not be ruled out in the event of chaos.

Zardari is in Dubai, resting at his residence after medical treatment which raised speculation that he would resign. The prime minister has said Zardari’s condition is improving and he will return to Pakistan.

At the protest, Islamists from dozens of groups and parties waved flags and chanted “the defence of Pakistan is our holy duty”. It was the type of scene that would concern US officials who have called for a harder line against Pakistan to force it to crack down on militancy. Those demands seem more unrealistic than ever given hostilities after the NATO attack and a new wave of anti-Americanism sweeping Pakistan, a nuclear-armed US ally.

The Lahore rally was hosted by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the humanitarian wing of militant group Lashkare-Taiba, which is banned in Pakistan and blacklisted by the United Nations. The Lashkar-eTaiba was accused of being behind the Mumbai attacks. The JuD denies any role in that bloodshed. —Reuters

Blast kills one in Bangladesh DHAKA: A bomb blast killed one man yesterday in Dhaka as violent clashes broke out between police and hundreds of opposition party activists gathered to mark Bangladesh’s 40 years of independence, police said. Police used batons and fired tear gas at the rioting activists who hurled small bombs, torched a police van and four buses as clashes spread across the city, halting rush-hour traffic, Dhaka police spokesman Masud Ahmed said.

The clashes erupted in the morning, as police dispersed supporters of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist allies, coming together in central Dhaka. “A man aged around 25 was killed on the spot after a small bomb he appeared to have carried exploded. We are investigating the incident,” police chief at Motijheel commercial district Tofazzal Hossain told AFP. He said the victim had been entangled in a barb-wire fence when was trying to cross a road in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange. It had not been confirmed whether the man was an opposition activist or he was trying to flee the clashes between police and opposition supporters.

However, BNP spokesman Rizvi Ahmed said the young man was an activist for the party and blamed police for the death.

DHAKA: A bus set on fire by demonstrators burns on a street in Dhaka yesterday. A youth was killed after police clashed with hundreds of activists of the main opposition party, turning key roads in the Bangladeshi capital into battlefields, police said. — AFP “Police attacked thousands of our activists coming from all parts of the country. They wanted to foil our victory day programme in which the leader of the opposition is to honour the country’s freedom fighters,” he said.

A trader also suffered serious burns on his legs in the explosion.

“We fell down when bombs were thrown,” he told private ATN News

television channel. Police said BNP activists armed with small bombs, bricks and sticks also clashed with law-enforcing agencies near the Dhaka University area. “ They threw at least seven small bombs at us. But no one was injured,” Rezaul Karim, head of one police station said. Police rounded up nearly 250 opposition

activists, police duty officers at four stations told AFP. Bangladesh became an independent nation after a bloody nine month battle with Pakistan that ended 40 years ago on December 16, 1971.

The South Asian nation has a history of political instability and the BNP and its allies have recently held a series of strikes in a new wave of unrest. —AFP

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NEWS Strollers enjoy the picturesque winter landscape in Schauinsland in the Black Forest, southwestern Germany, yesterday. — AP

Bahraini forces tear gas Shiite protesters

Czech revolution icon Havel dies

Continued from Page 1

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The report said the death toll from the crackdown on the Shiite-led pro-democracy protests had reached 35, and that police had used “excessive force” and tortured detainees. Police vehicles are still deployed at the roundabout and patrol the area.

Before police arrived, young men brandishing the red-and-white Bahraini flags and women in the traditional black abaya cloaks stood defiantly insisting that their movement was peaceful. “I am a Bahraini citizen. It is my right to work in the army or the public sector. I would protect this homeland more than the foreign” recruits, said Mohammed Mulla Ahmed Ali, 19, who carried a Bahraini flag. “We want to feel like citizens,” he said, showing the scars of a deep cut in his stomach and birdshot pellets on his chest, saying he was struck on March 16 during the crackdown. The marketing student said he was suspended from university, like many

Shiites who faced suspension from schools or were fired from jobs for taking part in demonstrations. He also was in jail for three months.

Hawraa Al-Halawati, 28, a female architect who also lost her job after three years as a public servant echoed protesters’ demands for a change of the government, led by King Hamad’s uncle Prince Khalifa bin Salman AlKhalifa. “We don’t want this government. They sacked us from our jobs... There is no freedom of expression,” she told AFP. “We are not scared,” she said, adding that taking part in protests has become a daily routine for her.

Bahraini police on Saturday stormed the same roundabout chasing hundreds of protesters who gathered following the funeral of a young man who was hit by a car while allegedly being chased by security forces.

Video footage posted online showed dozens of riot police in blue armoured gear and white helmets sweeping across the roundabout and chasing many protesters into a cafe across the street. — Agencies

Last US forces quit Iraq Continued from Page 1 The 5-hour drive by the last convoy of MRAPS, heavily armored personnel carriers, took place under cover of darkness and under strict secrecy to prevent any final attacks on the withdrawing troops. The 500 soldiers didn’t even tell their Iraqi partners they were leaving before they slipped out of the last American base and started down the barren desert highway to the Kuwaiti border before dawn yesterday.

The atmosphere was subdued inside one of the vehicles as it streamed down the highway, with little visible in the blackness outside through the MRAP’s small windows.

Along the road, a small group of Iraqi soldiers waved to the departing American troops.

“My heart goes out to the Iraqis,” said Warrant Officer John Jewell, acknowledging the challenges ahead. “The innocent always pay the bill.” But after crossing the berm at the Kuwaiti border, the troops were elated. They cheered, pumped fists in the air and gave each other chest bumps and bear hugs. “We’re on top of the world!” shouted one soldier from the turret of his vehicle. “It’s just an honor to be able to serve your country and say that you helped close out the war in Iraq,” said Spc Jesse Jones, a 23-year-old who volunteered to be in the last convoy. “Not a lot of people can say that they did huge things like that that will probably be in the history books.” Spc. Brittany Hampton joked that no one was going to believe her back home when she told them she was in the very last of the 110 vehicles in the convoy to exit. “But we really truly were the last soldiers in Iraq. So it’s pretty awesome,” she said.

On Saturday evening at Camp Adder, near Nasiriyah, about 320 km southeast of Baghdad, the vehicles lined up in an open field to prepare and soldiers went through lastminute equipment checks to make sure radios, weapons and other gear were working. Gen Lloyd Austin, the commanding general for Iraq, walked through the rows of vehicles, talking to soldiers over the low hum of the engines. He thanked them for their service and reminded them to stay vigilant on their final mission. “I wanted to remind them that we have an important mission left in the country of Iraq. We want to stay focused and we want to make sure that we’re doing the right things to protect ourselves,” Austin said.

The commander of the Special Troops Battalion, Lt Col Jack Vantress

told his soldiers, “We are closing the book on an operation that has brought freedom to a country that was repressed. When the sun comes up, we’ll be across the berm.” He added a warning to watch out for any final attacks. “Laser focus. Laser focus. You’ve got time, hours of road to go. There are people out there who still want to hurt you.”

Early Saturday morning, the brigade’s remaining interpreters made their routine calls to the local tribal sheiks and government leaders that the troops deal with, so that they would assume that it was just a normal day. “The Iraqis are going to wake up in the morning and nobody will be there,” said Spc Joseph, an Iraqi American who emigrated from Iraq in 2009 and enlisted. He asked that his full name be withheld to protect his family. In a guard tower overlooking a now empty checkpoint at the base, Sgt Ashley Vorhees and another soldier talked about what they looked forward to most in getting home. The 29-yearold Vorhees planned to go for Mexican food at Rosa’s, a restaurant in Killeen, Texas. Another joy of home, she said: you don’t have to bring your weapon when you go to the bathroom.

At its height, Camp Adder boasted a Taco Bell, a KFC, an Italian restaurant and two Green Beans coffee shops. On Saturday, it felt empty, with abandoned volleyball and basketball courts and a gym called “House of Pain”. Hundreds of vehicles - trucks, buses - waited in a lot to be handed over to the Iraqi military, which is taking over the site.

With the Americans gone, the base reverts to its former name, Imam Ali Air Base.

Capt Mark Askew, a 28-year-old from Tampa, Florida who was among the last soldiers to leave, said the answer to the question of whether the Iraq war was worth the cost will depend on what type of country and government Iraq ends up with years from now, whether they are democratic, respect human rights and are considered an American ally. “It depends on what Iraq does after we leave,” he said, speaking before the final convoy departed. “I don’t expect them to turn into South Korea or Japan overnight.”

“I am proud - all Iraqis should be proud, like all those whose country has been freed,” 26-year-old baker Safa, who did not want to give his real name, told AFP in Baghdad. “The Americans toppled Saddam, but our lives since then have gone backward.” A 50-year-old mother-of-four who gave her name only as Umm

Mohammed, or mother of Mohammed, added: “I don’t think we can ever forgive the Americans for what they did to us.” “We are glad to see the last US soldier leaving the country today. It is an important day in Iraq’s history, but the most important thing now is the future of Iraq,” said 25-year-old Said Hassan, the owner of money exchange shop in Baghdad. “The Americans have left behind them a country that is falling apart and an Iraqi army and security forces that have a long way ahead to be able to defend the nation and the people.”

Yesterday’s completion of the withdrawal brings to a close nearly nine years of American military involvement in Iraq, beginning with a “shock and awe” campaign in 2003 to oust Saddam, which many in Washington believed would see US forces conclude their mission within months. But key decisions taken at the time have since been widely criticised as fuelling what became a bloody Sunni Arab insurgency, in particular dissolving the Iraqi army and purging the civil service of all members of Saddam’s Baath Party, including lower-rankers.

The insurgenc y eventually sparked communal bloodshed, par ticularly after the Feb 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in the predominantly Sunni city of Samarra by Al-Qaeda. More than 100,000 Iraqis have been reported killed in violence since the invasion, according to British NGO Iraq Body Count. The bloodshed was only quelled when then-US president George W Bush ordered a “surge” of American troops to Iraq, and Sunni tribal militias sided with US forces against Al-Qaeda.

Baghdad and Washington signed a 2008 pact that called for the withdrawal by the end of this year, and in the summer of last year, the US declared a formal end to combat operations while maintaining fewer than 50,000 troops in Iraq. The US embassy will now retain just 157 US soldiers, for training Iraqi forces, and a group of Marines to security. Attacks in Iraq remain common but violence has declined significantly since its peak. Iraq has a 900,000-strong security force that many believe is capable of maintaining internal security but lacks the means to defend its borders, airspace and territorial waters. Some also fear a return to bloody sectarianism, doubt the strength of Iraq’s political structures, and feel that Maliki has entrenched his power base to the detriment of Iraq’s minorities.— Agencies

with respiratory problems since he had part of his lung removed in 1996 to stop cancer. “In his last moment, his wife Dagmar was with him, together with one of the nuns who have been taking care of him in recent months,” Tancevova said.

Current President Vaclav Klaus said Havel had become a symbol of the modern Czech state. “His personality, name and work substantially helped the Czech Republic swiftly become a part of the community of free and democratic countries,” he added. Under Havel’s presidency, the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and later became a member of the European Union in 2004. Klaus said he had asked Prime Minister Petr Necas and the speakers of both houses of parliament to meet at Prague Castle yesterday to “prepare further necessary steps together”. The centre-right cabinet said it would hold an extraordinary session today to decide on national mourning for Havel.

Havel was born in Prague on Oct 5, 1936 into a wealthy family which lost its assets as the communists took power in 1948. He established himself as a leading figure on the scene of the Czechoslovak theatre of the absurd in the 1960s, before being banned from theatres after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

He was responsible for drawing up Charter 77, a 1977 manifesto challenging the communists to live up to their international promises to respect human rights, and he kept fighting the regime which earned him five years in prison.

As communism was toppled in the peaceful Velvet Revolution, Havel was the first choice for the top job in Czechoslovakia, which then split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. “His peaceful resistance shook the foundations of an empire, exposed the

emptiness of a repressive ideology, and proved that moral leadership is more powerful than any weapon,” US President Barack Obama said. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Havel had “devoted his life to the cause of human freedom” and “led the Czech people out of tyranny”. “Europe owes Vaclav Havel a profound debt,” Cameron said in a statement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, also hailed Havel as a “great European” whose “fight for freedom and democracy was as unforgettable as his great humanity”. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle described him as “the soul of the Czech revolution”. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Czech Republic had “lost of one its great patriots, France a friend and Europe one of its wisest men.”

Poland’s former president Lech Walesa, who like Havel went from anti-communist dissident to become head of state after the 1989 peaceful collapse of communism, also paid tribute to Havel. “He was a great spokesman in the struggle for freedom, for democracy and for freedom from the yolk of commumism,” Walesa told AFP. “His voice will be greatly missed in Europe, especially now when it’s in great crisis.”

Havel’s health woes stemmed from a poorly treated case of pneumonia he suffered while he was jailed by the communist regime in the 1980s for dissident activity.

Earlier this year, Havel was taken to hospital with acute bronchitis, from which he was never able to fully recover.

The illness also caused “a loss of balance, memory loss and weight loss”, Havel said in an interview. This summer, Havel retreated to his country home to convalesce and last returned to Prague to meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Dec 10. Havel married actress Dagmar Veskrnova, 20 years his junior, in 1997, following the death of his first wife Olga a year earlier. He had no children. — AFP

Violence rocks Cairo for third straight...

Continued from Page 1 The clashes were the deadliest in weeks and have sparked a furious debate over the army’s role during the transition. Some argue that the protesters are sabotaging the elections, seen by some as the first step to democratic rule. But much remains unclear about how the new parliament will function and how much power it will be given by Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), headed by Mubarak’s former defence minister Tantawi. The health ministry said late Saturday that 10 people had been killed and at least 500 wounded since Friday.

The clashes also left the Institute of Egypt in flames. The centre for the advancement of scientific research was founded in 1798 during Napoleon Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt, and contained more than 20,000 precious documents and manuscripts. Yesterday, a group entered the premises to recover the manuscripts, some of which were burned, AFP correspondents said.

“We are trying to save whatever we can of these historic documents.

The building can collapse any

minute,” said Olfa, with a bag of partly burned papers.

Culture Minister Shaker Abdel Hamid called the fire “a catastrophe for science”. “ The building contained important manuscripts and rare books which have no parallel in the world,” Abdel Hamid said on state television late Saturday. The authorities have blamed the protesters for the deadly unrest. The military council late on Saturday posted footage on its Facebook page and on YouTube of protesters ransacking a government office on Friday. “Is it not our right to protect the people’s property?” said a brief message.

Prime Minister Kamal Al-Ganzuri raised tensions on Saturday by accusing the protesters of being counter-revolutionaries and denying security forces had opened fire on them. “Those who are in Tahrir Square are not the youth of the revolution,” he told a news conference. “ This is not a revolution, but a counter-revolution,” added Ganzuri, who also served as premier under Mubarak. His appointment last month by the SCAF, which has ruled since Mubarak’s ouster in February,

had prompted protesters to launch a sit-in outside the cabinet offices.

The demonstrators want the SCAF to hand over full powers to a civilian administration. The military has said it will step down only once a president has been elected by the end of June in the final stage of a protracted transition.

The clashes pushed stocks down 3.46 percent yesterday, with the main EGX-30 index plummeting to 3,782.74 points, the lowest since Mubarak was toppled. The violence has also overshadowed the count in the second round of a three-stage parliamentary election which has seen Islamists emerge as the frontrunners. More than 40 people were killed in similar clashes between protesters and securit y forces just before the election’s first round in November.

In another development, an explosion hit a gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in the 10th such attack this year. The blast south of the town of El-Arish in the north of the Sinai Peninsula targeted a segment of pipeline which was gas-free as it was under repair. — Agencies

Kuwait to hold general election on...

Continued from Page 1 The Amir accepted the resignation and appointed former defence minister Sheikh Jaber as the new premier. Since he was appointed as premier in Feb 2006, Sheikh Nasser formed seven governments and all were forced to resign over pressure from the opposition.

The new elections are the fourth general polls since May 2006 and the last four assemblies have not completed their full four-year terms due to political disputes.

Most of the former MPs have already announced they will bid for re-election and several political groups announced their candidates. Former MPs Maasouma AlMubarak, Hussein Al-Huraiti, Faisal Al-Duwaisan and Adnan Abdulsamad said they are contesting from the first constituency. Former MPs Jamaan Al-Harbash, Khalaf Dumaitheer, Mohammad Al-Saqer, Khaled AlSultan, Abdulrahman Al-Anjari, Adnan Al-Mutawa and Mohammad Al-Abduljader are running in the second constituency. Former MPs Rola Dashti, Saleh Al-Mulla, Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, Faisal Al-Mislem, Ahmad AlSaadoun and Ali

Al-Omair will be contesting in the third constituency.

The picture is not yet clear in the fourth and fifth constituencies which are totally dominated by tribes and most of the former MPs are contesting. The Shiite National Islamic Alliance has decided to field former MPs Abdulsamad and Ahmad Lari, both from the first constituency. The Islamic Salaf Alliance has decided to field former MPs Sultan, Abdullatif Al-Ameeri and Fahad AlKhannah from the second constituency and former MP Ali Al-Omair from the third. The Islamic Constitutional Movement has decided to field Mohammad Al-Kandari in the first constituency, Al-Harbash and Hamad Matar from the second and Mohammad Al-Dallal in the third.

The public prosecution meanwhile questioned four former opposition MPs - Musallam Al-Barrak, Waleed AlTabtabaei, Khaled Al-Tahous and Jamaan Al-Harbash over the storming of the Assembly. The prosecution is due to question five other former opposition MPs on the same charges. The prosecution also questioned former MP Khaled Al-Adwah over allegations that his account received large cash deposits. He was later released on a KD 5,000 bail.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

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Issues

America, Iraq and a promise unfulfilled

By Bernd Debusmann hen Barack Obama campaigned for the presidency, he spoke eloquently about America’s moral obligation to Iraqis working for US forces in their country. “We must keep faith with Iraqis who kept faith with us,” he said in a 2007 campaign speech.

“One tragic outcome of this war is that the Iraqis who stand with America - the interpreters, embassy workers and subcontractors - are being targeted for assassination.

Keeping this moral obligation is a key part of how we turn the page in Iraq. Because what’s at stake is bigger than the war - it’s our global leadership.”

The war Obama inherited from George W Bush officially ended last week when US soldiers rolled up the flag of military forces in Iraq in a low-key ceremony attended

by US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. They leave behind thousands of the faithful Iraqis Obama described on the campaign trail. They are still targets, seen by antiAmerican militants as traitors or collaborators. A special program set up in 2008 provided for an annual quota of 5,000 visas for Iraqis at risk. Fewer than a quarter have been allotted so far. Thousands of applications are pending, stuck in a “nightmarish, dysfunctional screening process, “ in the words of Bob Carey, a resettlement policy expert with the International Rescue Committee. What’s worse, he said in an interview, there is no contingency plan to protect Iraqis at risk after the last American soldier leaves. “Are they being abandoned, betrayed?”

There is a certain symmetry to the beginning and the end of the war. At the beginning, there was little or no planning for the post-combat phase. At the end, there is no post-withdrawal planning to get US-affiliated Iraqis to safety quickly if the need arises. There are precedents for such operations. In 1996, the administration of Bill Clinton airlifted 6,600 Kurds who were under attack by Saddam Hussein’s army to the Pacific island of Guam, where they went through the asylum process in less than half the time it usually takes.

Just how much risk is there for the estimated 70,000 who worked for the US military, embassy and American sub-contractors? The List Project, an advocacy group set up by Kirk Johnson, a former official of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has begun compiling a threat spreadsheet. A typical entry, from Nov 24: “Iraqi who worked with the US contacts TLP, explaining that he had been threatened outside his home by an Iraqi policeman, who told him that he would be beheaded because he was a disloyal traitor and an American puppet.” A police officer threatening a fellow Iraqi with beheading does not quite fit into the post-US Iraq that Obama described in a speech to troops at Fort Hood to mark the end of the war. The United States, he said, was leaving behind a stable country. How stable it will be remains to be seen. Doubts go beyond refugee advocacy groups and human rights organizations. In one of the last press briefings by a senior US military officer, Lieutenant General Frank Helmick, the deputy commander of US forces in Iraq, listed a string of difficulties - Iranian-backed militias, violent extremists, tensions between Sunnis and Shiites and between Arabs and Kurds. One gauge of how stable Iraqis will see their country after the last US soldier leaves will be the rate of return of an estimated 1.6 million who sought refuge in neighboring countries from the sectarian violence uncorked by the US invasion in 2003. Even though violence has subsided substantially from its peak in 2007, there has been no rush of returnees. Neither has there been much change, according to refugee organizations, in the number of internal refugees - people driven from their homes by successive waves of ethnic cleansing in mixed neighborhoods.

Taken together, this makes for more than 3 million people - the largest population displacement in modern Middle East history. It is a consequence of the war barely noticed in the United States. That, too, goes for the number of Iraqis killed since the US invasion. Estimates vary but the lowest figure given by the Iraq Body Count is 104,080 - more than 23 times the 4,500 US troops killed in Iraq who are mentioned in virtually every US news story on the war. Once the last US soldier is out and Iraq fades from the media spotlight, humanitarian workers fear the already steep uphill battle to focus Western minds on the plight of Iraqi victims of the war will become even more difficult. As Maxwell Quqa, who runs the Sponsor Iraqi Children Foundation, an organization that helps Iraqi orphans and street children, puts it: “What we face is compassion fatigue.” — Reuters

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All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Witch hunts on rise in Papua New Guinea

By Christiane Oelrich fter they had strung her up on a tree to die, her only hope was faith in God. “I prayed a lot,” says Lisbeth Bulheg, whose name has been changed to protect her identity. The horror of that day, Easter Sunday 2011, remains etched in a face scarred by the deep notches carved out by her nephew. Her husband’s family had accused her of witchcraft.

And in Papua New Guinea (PNG), an impoverished South Pacific island nation north of Australia, witches are tortured and killed. “Three suspected sorcerers are dead after being held hostage and tortured,” the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier reported in October.

Similar incidents occur every couple of days, and police say they are increasing. Human rights groups estimate that several dozen alleged witches or sorcerers are murdered in PNG each year. Police are powerless, and the church is halfheartedly fighting a hopeless battle against the crimes. The Post-Courier recently quoted Chief Superintendent Teddy Tei, provincial police commander of the Southern Highlands, as saying that investigations into sorcery-related crimes were very difficult because police lacked physical evidence to convict someone for practising sorcery. “If you feel that you are possessed by evil spirits, then you better go to church so that the living God Almighty will cleanse you and purify you,” Tei remarked. “Of course sorcery exists,” the head of a Lutheran church board says near Goroka. Even pastors accuse each other of sorcery. The PNG Sorcery Act of 1971 distinguishes between “evil sorcery”, which is punishable by up to two years in jail, and “innocent

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sorcer y ”, which is allowed. In the words of Paul Gamen, a Sepic River tour guide, the former “kills” while the latter “heals”. People go to practitioners of black magic when they have a bone to pick with someone, and to practitioners of white magic when they want to free themselves from a curse, are unhappy in love or ill. In the village of Lirako in the Tari area of the Southern Highlands, a woman named Amy demonstrated “good” sorcery. “This is how you keep your husband in line,” she said with a grin. She rolled some tree bark, powder, paste and a hair from her spouse into a leaf, then suddenly began hacking at it with a knife. “I’m cutting into his brain, his belly, his arms so that he’ll follow me forever like a lap dog,” explained Amy, who said the mixture would be smeared on the door frames and was sure to work.

In a bamboo hut in the village of Tokua, near Mount Hagen, the “kurmunw” - which in the local language means “the man who conjures spirits” - displayed his craft. He was sitting in front of a pot filled with “holy” stones. “Each one represents a different spirit,” the interpreter whispered. The kurmunw began to chant, and moved his hands over the pot. “Reveal yourselves!” the kurmunw cried. “ Which spirit is responsible for our brother’s illness?” He touched a stone. “What! You want a pig as a sacrificial offering again? You come too often!”

“When there’s a serious illnesses, people always ask who, not what, caused it. But believing in such forces is totally misguided,” says Jack Urame, director of the ecumenical Melanesian Institute, who has been studying the phenomenon for years. The accused witch Lisbeth is about 40 years old - she does not know for

sure. She was living in the highlands with her husband, when doctors diagnosed him with bone tuberculosis. His family suspected that Lisbeth had caused it, and forbade her from seeing him.

As the man lay dying, they struck. “It was night and I couldn’t sleep,” Lisbeth recalled. “I looked at my mobile phone - it was 4 am.” There was a knock at the door of her hut. At the door stood a nephew with several of his cronies. The young men grabbed her.

“Three held me tight, and my nephew hacked at me with a knife,” she said. “He drew the blade across my lips so that my mouth hung open. I hardly had anything on. They cut into my stomach and back, again and again. I passed out because of the pain. Then they put a rope around my neck and dragged me to a mango tree.” Lisbeth no longer remembers how she finally managed to haul herself, with two broken arms and grievous wounds, to a church in a nearby village. A group of youths found her there and took her to a hospital. Her nephew is now in pre-trial detention.

“The government is not doing enough to protect its own citizens and maintain the rule of law,” Apolosi Bose, Amnesty International’s Pacific Islands researcher, said in 2009. But nothing has been done.

About 85 per cent of Papua New Guinea’s population of 6.5 million live in rural areas, from hand to mouth, in villages without electricity, without schools, without medical care. The country’s vast mineral resources benefit only a tiny elite. “People often tell me, ‘We gave up our magical powers in exchange for the Gospels’,” Urame said. “‘We pray, but our lives are still miserable. Now we are remembering what our ancestors knew.’”—dpa

Toxic liquor leaves village of widows

By Sailendra Sil hey are already calling it the “widow village”. In the space of just a few short days, the close-knit community of Sangrampur in eastern India along with a number of smaller surrounding villages - has been devastated by a case of mass poisoning from toxic, homebrewed alcohol. So far 170 people have died, almost exclusively men, most of whom were the sole bread-winners in families that were already struggling with life on the poverty line. “At the moment, it feels like all roads lead to the burial ground,” said Abdul Mannan Gayen, who lost two sons and has a third battling for his life in hospital along with more than 100 other critically ill villagers.

In India, disasters - fires, flood, earthquakes, epidemics often take their heaviest toll among the poor, who live in the most vulnerable, densely packed communities in poorly constructed, makeshift homes.

But the tragedy that struck the district around Sangrampur in West Bengal state was particularly narrow and devastating in its focus. Illegal, home-distilled liquor, or “hooch”, has been brewed in such places for decades, catering to an impoverished male clientele of labourers, farmers and rickshaw drivers unable to afford branded alcohol. On Tuesday evening, the half-litre measures of hooch

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- costing as little as 10 US cents were drunk and shared as they are most evenings. By Wednesday morning, local hospitals were already struggling with the chronically sick and dying and the next few days

Wednesday after drinking from the toxic batch of methanollaced alcohol at the home of a relative who was celebrating the birth of his second son. “We have nothing now. Just our home and I don’t know how we

I feed them?” she said. Newlymarried and now widowed Anwara Bibi, 23, said she had no choice but to return to her father’s house just months after leaving it to start a new life with her husband, a tailor. “My life

An illicit booze shop goes up in flames after it was set ablaze by villagers in the Burdwan district of West Bengal, India yesterday. — AP saw the death toll rise inexorably from 50 to 100, to 150 and beyond. Those who died, died painfully, wracked by cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea - leaving behind wives and children who now face a perilous future. “ We’re ruined,” said Roserana Naskar, whose husband - normally teetotal - died

can keep that,” said Naskar, who has four young children. Jhunu Bibi, a 30-year-old mother of four, broke down as she contemplated life after the death of her husband whose body was brought home from the hospital on Friday evening. “I don’t know what to do. I have to carry on because of the children. How do

has been taken away,” she said.

In the district’s largest hospital, in the town of Diamond Harbour, bodies were being laid outside on Saturday, with the facility’s small morgue unable to cope with the number of dead.

“We’re helpless,” said hospital superintendent Chiranjib Murmu. “This stuff is so toxic,

there’s really no treatment. “By the time people get here, they are already dying. They don’t respond to any medicine,” he said.

Days after the poisoning first sur faced, the sick were still being brought in, going the opposite way to hospital rickshaws and even horse-drawn carts ferrying bodies back to their home villages. Amid the grief, there was also intense anger. On Friday evening, a crowd ransacked the house of one man who allegedly controlled a string of illegal distilleries in the area. Methanol, a highly toxic form of alcohol used as an anti-freeze or fuel, is often added to bootleg liquor in India as a cheap, quick method of upping the alcohol content. If the dosage is too high, it results in a lethal brew that can induce blindness and death.

Equally toxic, social workers say, is the collusion of local police and politicians who take a sizeable cut of the profits for turning a blind eye to the “hooch” cottage industry. “While the hunt is on for the manufacturers ... it’s necessary to realise they are just smaller cogs in a much larger criminal wheel,” the Hindustan Times said in an editorial on Saturday. “To run this well-oiled racket, manufacturers and distributors of spurious liquor get support from the very same people who are supposed to stop such activities,” the newspaper said. — AFP

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

Years

sp orts

LFP probe racial slurs PARIS: The French League (LFP) has opened an investigation into alleged racist remarks made by an assistant referee to AJ Auxerre midfielder Kamel Chafni at Stade Brest on Saturday. “(LFP president) Frederic Thiriez has ordered an investigation so that the matter can be clarified as soon as possible,” the LFP said in a statement yesterday.

Moroccan Chafni claimed assistant referee Johann Perruaux told him ‘get lost, Arab’. Chafni reported it to referee Tony Chapron but was booked and then sent off in the 55th minute. “This matter must be cleared up. Some Brest players heard the same thing. So I don’t think it’s the player’s imagination,” Auxerre president Gerard Bourgoin was quoted as saying by sports daily L’Equipe yesterday. “There is a foul that is not sanctioned, I got to the assistant referee to tell him it’s not normal,” Chafni told L’Equipe. “He answers: ‘get lost, Arab’ (...) I go to the field referee and I tell him what happened and he gives me a yellow card. I tell him it is unacceptable and he shows me a red card.” Chapron denied his assistant had made a racial slur. — Reuters

City to sell Bridge, Onuoha LONDON: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has confirmed he is willing to sell defenders Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha in the January transfer window. Former Chelsea left-back Bridge has made just one appearance for City this season, whilst Onuoha, who can play across the backfour, has had only two League Cup outings.

Even with regular left-backs Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy out of yesterday’s clash with Arsenal, Bridge is not getting a look in and Mancini has admitted the England international is well down the pecking order. “We have a problem at left-back. My choices are Stefan Savic, Pablo Zabaleta, Joleon

Lescott or Karim Rekik, a young player. It is important to get it correct,” Mancini said.

Mancini also admitted City want Bridge and Onuoha to leave permanently rather than on a shor t-term deal as the club’s hierarchy are trying to reduce the wage bill. Mancini added in the Sunday Mirror: “If we take a player from another club, we pay a lot of money, yet other clubs want to take players from us on loan. It is not correct.

“Onuoha and Bridge are good players and I hope we can find a good solution for them in Januar y. “I hope for them that they can find good clubs who will pay for their value and they can continue to play football.” — AFP

Djokovic targets 2012 repeat ABU DHABI: World number one Novak Djokovic proclaimed himself fighting fit on Saturday and insisted there was no reason why he cannot repeat his sensational season in 2012. Djokovic won three of the four Grand Slams and five Masters in 2011, became world number one, assembled a 70-6 winning record and banked a season record cash haul of 12.6 million dollars.

“This year’s success gives me a reason to believe that I can win again. Why not?,” said the Serb, who will be based in Abu Dhabi until the end of the year where he will also play in an exhibition tournament alongside Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. “I think it doesn’t make any sense to be anything other than optimistic. I need to believe in my qualities and my abilities and I need to believe that I can repeat the success. “Of course it is going to be an incredibly difficult task to achieve, but you never know, nothing is really impossible.”

Djokovic’s landmark season eventually took its toll with a combination of back and shoulder trouble condemning him to four defeats in the year’s closing stages. — AFP

NHL results/standings

Bruins end Flyers 7-game win streak

Boston 6, Philadelphia 0; Vancouver 5, Toronto 3; New Jersey 5, Montreal 3; Pittsburgh 8, Buffalo 3; Winnipeg 5, Anaheim 3; Detroit 8, Los Angeles 2; Tampa Bay 3, Columbus 2; Nashville 2, St. Louis 1 (SO); NY Islanders 2, Minnesota 1 (So); NY Rangers 3, Phoenix 2; Colorado 2, Washington 1; San Jose 3, Edmonton 2.

Selanne skates back to hero’s welcome

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF Philadelphia 20 8 3 110 NY Rangers 18 8 4 87 Pittsburgh 18 11 4 107 New Jersey 18 13 1 90 NY Islanders 10 14 6 69

GA 91 67 88 92 97

PTS 43 40 40 37 26

Boston Buffalo Toronto Ottawa Montreal

Northeast Division 21 9 1 108 16 13 3 89 16 13 3 100 15 14 4 102 13 13 7 85

61 94 105 116 89

43 35 35 34 33

Florida Winnipeg Washington Tampa Bay Carolina

Southeast Division 17 9 6 87 15 13 4 89 16 14 1 91 14 16 2 87 10 18 5 84

82 97 96 107 113

40 34 33 30 25

Chicago Detroit St. Louis Nashville Columbus

Western Conference Central Division 20 8 4 107 20 10 1 104 18 9 4 76 17 11 4 85 9 19 4 76

96 69 65 84 105

44 41 40 38 22

Minnesota Vancouver Calgary Edmonton Colorado

Northwest Division 20 8 5 84 19 11 2 106 14 14 4 80 14 15 3 87 15 17 1 88

72 80 90 87 100

45 40 32 31 31

San Jose Dallas Phoenix Los Angeles Anaheim

Pacific Division 17 10 3 86 18 12 1 80 16 13 3 84 14 14 4 69 9 18 5 75

74 86 85 79 105

37 37 35 32 23

PHILADELPHIA: The Boston Bruins scored four first-period goals and ended the Philadelphia Flyers’ seven-game winning streak with a 6-0 victory in the NHL on Saturday. Benoit Pouliot, Daniel Paille, Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic got Boston off to a fast start as the Bruins extended their winning streak to four games. Tim Thomas stopped 31 shots for his fourth shutout this season. The Bruins moved level with Philadelphia atop the NHL’s Eastern Conference with 43 points apiece. Nathan Horton and Tyler Seguin added late goals to finish the scoring for Boston, which leads the NHL with 21 victories. Ilya Bryzgalov allowed five goals on 20 shots before being replaced

by Sergei Bobrovsky in the second period.

Jets 5, Ducks 3 In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Defenseman Zach Bogosian had a goal and two assists as the Jets were victorious in Teemu Selanne’s return to Winnipeg. Selanne, who started his 19-year NHL career in Winnipeg, set records with 76 goals and 132 points in his rookie season in 1992-93. It was his first game back

Rangers 3, Coyotes 2 In Glendale, Arizona, Brad Richards scored the winning goal with 0.1 seconds left as the New York Rangers shocked Phoenix. Richards’ backhanded shot from the left circle slipped past goalie Mike Smith as time ran out. The game appeared to be headed to overtime, but a video replay revealed that the puck crossed the goal line just before time ran out. Cal O’Reilly scored on a power play to give Phoenix a 2-1 lead WINNIPEG: Blake Wheeler #26 of the Winnipeg Jets scores against goalie Dan with 51 seconds left in the second period. Ellis #38 of the Anaheim Ducks in NHL action at the MTS Centre on December Martin Gaborik’s second goal of the game 17, 2011 in Winnipeg. — AFP then tied it 2-2 just over two minutes into the third. The Rangers ended a two-game coach this week. Jonathan Quick stopped in the city since the Jets’ return to the NHL losing streak. The Coyotes have lost four of four shots before being replaced less than this season. Kyle Wellwood, Blake Wheeler, five. halfway into the first period by Jonathan Alex Burmistrov and Andrew Ladd also Bernier. scored for the Jets. Corey Perry scored a pair Penguins 8, Sabres 3 of goals for Anaheim, and Niklas Hagman In Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin had his sevDevils 5, Canadiens 3 added one. Selanne had two assists. enth career hat trick and two assists to lead In Montreal, Patrik Elias scored twice, the injury depleted Penguins in a rout over including his team-record 348th goal, as Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 2 Buffalo. Jason Williams and Simon Despres New Jersey ruined Randy Cunneyworth’s In Columbus, Ohio, Steven Stamkos both scored their first goals with Pittsburgh NHL coaching debut by beating the scored his NHL-leading 20th goal of the seaduring the game’s first seven minutes. James Canadiens. Elias tied John MacLean’s team son and Mathieu Garon stopped 26 shots to Neal, Deryk Engelland and Chris Kunitz record on a power play 5:05 into the sec- lead Tampa Bay past Columbus. Blair Jones added goals for the Penguins, who had lost ond. He broke the mark with his second tal- and Eric Brewer also added goals for the four of five. Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 ly of the game - and 13th of the season - to Lightning, who won for the third time in 10 saves, and at the age of 27, became the give New Jersey a one-goal lead 1:31 into games. Garon, who spent two seasons with fourth-youngest goalie to reach 200 NHL vic- the third. the Blue Jackets, returned to Columbus for tories since 1967, according to the Elias Petr Sykora, David Clarkson and Dainius the first time since signing with the Sports Bureau.

Zubrus also scored for the Devils, who won Lightning as a free agent last summer. their fourth in a row. Cunneyworth took Red Wings 8, Kings 2 over as Montreal’s interim head coach after Islanders 2, Wild 1, SO In Detroit, Cory Emmerton and Drew Jacques Martin was fired earlier Saturday.

In St Paul, Minnesota, Frans Nielsen Miller both scored twice in Detroit’s win Montreal is last in the Northeast Division at scored the only goal in the shootout to give over Los Angeles. Niklas Kronwall added a 13-13-7. the New York Islanders their first extra-time

Ohio beat Utah State 24-23 in Potato Bowl BOISE: Utah State is no stranger to tense, down-to-the-wire finishes, and the Aggies found a way to win each time in their final five regular-season games. That streak of narrow wins ended Saturday when Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton scored on a 1-yard run with 13 seconds remaining to give the Bobcats a 24-23 victory in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The loss was a heartbreaker for the Aggies, who were making their first bowl appearance since 1997 and seeking their first postseason win since 1993.

Behind a rushing attack that accounted for 345 yards, the Aggies had led the whole game - at least until Tettleton and the Bobcat offense rallied in the final 2 minutes to spoil Utah State’s best season in 14 years. Despite the disappointing finish, coach Gary Andersen insists he’s not about to let his team get down. “This season has turned young men into men,” Andersen said. “It’s been unbelievably gratifying to get to this point.” The Aggies (7-6) close games late early in the season, notably to Auburn in the opener and later to Brigham Young. In 10 games this season, the outcome was decided by 35 points.

But the team turned things around at the midway point, and found ways to win down the stretch. The Aggies closed with a five -game winning streak and finished second in the Western Athletic Conference. They played well Saturday, dominating the first half and building a 23-10 lead in the third quarter behind the running of Michael Smith and Robert Turbin.

Smith rushed for a career-best 157 yards on 12 carries and two touch-

goal and two assists, and Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Brad Stuart also scored for Detroit. Jimmy Howard made 27 saves.

Davis Drewiske and Jarret Stoll scored for Los Angeles, which lost for the sixth time in seven games amid reports that former Calgary Flames general manager and coach Darryl Sutter will become the Kings’ head

downs, including a 63-yarder on the opening possession of the second half.

His 11-yard touchdown run later in the third put the Aggies up by 13 points.

Turbin added 101 yards on 20 carries, his eighth game this season of 100 yards or more on the ground.

But this time, Utah State failed to seal the deal in the final quarter. On its last two possessions, Utah State managed just two first downs. And after taking over at its own 7 with 4:23 to go, Ohio came up with three straight stop to force a punt Ohio took over with 2:02 remaining, just enough time for Tettleton to spoil the Aggies season. “Everyone makes mistakes.

Everyone wants to win, but everyone can’t win,” Smith said. “All I can do is be grateful I’m here to play this game. The sadness inside hasn’t really hit me yet, because I’m shocked.” The Aggies also can point to missed opportunities. On their first possession, the Aggies (7-6) drove to the 1, but Turbin was stopped short of the goal line on fourth down.

The Aggies missed another chance late in the second quarter when a 39yard field-goal attempt by Josh Thompson sailed wide right.

After the game, Andersen refused to point fingers, opting instead to see the game as critical for turning around a program that has struggled for years in the basement of the WAC. “This is a tremendous, tremendous day for these kids,” said Andersen, who was rewarded last week with a one-year contract extension. “It’s tremendous opportunity for them to be here. It is a loss, I’m never going to sit back and say, ‘That’s OK, we lost.’ What I am saying is it’s a learning tool for us. — AP

victory of the season. Andy McDonald scored in his first game back from injury for the Islanders, but Minnesota’s Cal Clutterbuck tied it midway through the second period. The Islanders, last in the Eastern Conference, have beaten the Wild twice this season and held them to 21 shots each time - New York’s lowest totals this season.

Predators 2, Blues 1, SO At Nashville, Tennessee, David Legwand scored the only shootout goal as Nashville beat St. Louis for its fifth straight victory.

Legwand drifted to his right before lifting a backhander over the outstretched glove of St Louis goaltender Jaroslav Halak, ending the Blues’ four-game winning streak.

Martin Erat scored in regulation and Pekka Rinne finished with 39 saves for Nashville.

Canucks 5, Maple Leafs 3 At Toronto, Roberto Luongo made 26 saves as Vancouver wrapped up a long road trip with a victory over Toronto. Alexandre Burrows and Chris Higgins each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who went 31-1 on their 12-day trip. Jannik Hansen, Mason Raymond and Daniel Sedin also scored. Phil Kessel scored his 19th goal to get Toronto within one, but the Leafs couldn’t find the equalizer before Hansen iced it.

Avalanche 2, Capitals 1 In Denver, Cody McLeod and Erik Johnson both scored their first goals of the season as Colorado beat Washington for its fifth straight home victory. Washington’s Alexander Semin tied the game at 1-1 with a goal at 13:09 of the second period, but Johnson put Colorado back on top with a slap shot from the right point just 54 seconds later. Jean-Sebastian Giguere had 25 saves for Colorado.

Sharks 3, Oilers 2 In San Jose, California, Patrick Marleau scored the game-winner 6:11 into the third period to lead San Jose. Antti Niemi stopped 23 shots, and Martin Havlat and Joe Thornton also scored for the Sharks, who won their second straight game.

Jordan Eberle and Ryan Jones scored for the Oilers, who have lost three straight and five of six. — AP

Ward grabs Super middleweight belt ATLANTIC CITY: Andre Ward staked his claim as the top super middleweight fighter in the world after defeating Carl Froch in a unanimous decision in the Super Six World Boxing Classic final on Saturday. Ward used his speed and a combination of lefts to retain his WBA championship and win the WBC Super middleweight belt in the final bout of the unique tournament that stretched out over two years.

“One of the strongest assets I have is my mind.

I kept my composure, I kept things under control. And we pulled it off,” Ward said. “I hope I did a good job. But we can still get better, believe it or not.”

Ward (25-0, 13 KOs) dictated the pace from the opening round, connecting on a series of left hooks to rattle his English opponent. One judge scored it 118-110 for Ward and two others had it 115-113. “We wanted to fight inside and outside, and we pulled it off,” Ward said. “I was actually surprised at how slow Froch was.

He was as slow as he was on tape.” Froch (282, 20 KOs) didn’t unleash his power punches until late, finally showing some overdue aggression in the 10th round. “I wanted to put my shots together, but he moves around, and slips and slides. He’s very good at that,” Froch said. “And that’s why it was a bad night for me.” Ward entered the six-man, 168-pound (76-kilogram) tournament as the underdog to the more experienced Froch, Mikkel Kessler and Arthur Abraham, but dominated the field en route to taking the title. He won Saturday’s bout despite injuring his left hand in training, and then again in the sixth round. With each left hook and quick jab, he could have fooled Froch there was anything wrong with his dominant hand.

“I figured out during the fight I could explode with a left hook,” Ward said. “I know he felt some of those hooks.” Ward, 27, hasn’t lost as an amateur or a professional since he

ATLANTIC CITY: Andre Ward lands a left on Carl Froch of England during their WBA/WBC Super Middleweight Championship bout at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. — AFP

was 14. He capped an outstanding amateur career by winning a gold medal for the US in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ward and Froch had been slated to meet Oct. 29 before Ward suffered a cut while sparring and had to postpone the bout for nearly two months. Ward smothered Froch when they were close, then managed to keep his distance from Froch for most of the rest of the bout. He landed 243 of 573 of his punches (42 percent), while Froch was a miserable 23 percent (156 of 683).

Froch, who lost and regained his WBC belt during the inaugural Super Six tournament, averaged only 56 punches per round after averaging 69 in his previous four fights. “I never found myself in the zone where I could get my shots off and do what I want. That’s something I’m going to have to work on in the gym.” Froch, 34, went 4-1 in the previous rounds of the tournament. He opened with a 12-round decision over Andre Dirrell on Oct 17, 2009, then rebounded from the first loss of his career - a 12-round decision to Kessler on April 24, 2010 - with decision victories over Abraham and Glen Johnson, respectively.

Ward posted an 11th-round TKO over Kessler, then won decisions over Allan Green and Abraham.

The tournament took a bit of a hit with various boxers dropping out because of injuries.

Other contenders, such as IBF champion Lucian Bute, opted not to participate. Froch’s loss is yet another blow to British boxing, which has suffered since former champions Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton retired.

Heavyweight David Haye lost support with a listless per formance against champion Wladimir Klitschko last July, and middleweight prospect Darren Barker has yet to record a signature victory. Former super-welterweight champ Amir Khan also suffered a split decision loss to Lamont Peterson in a controversial bout last week. Khan had points deducted on two occasions for pushing and claims the scorecards were changed before the results were read out by the ring announcer. — AP

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No 19 Illinois’ cold shooting leads to first loss CHICAGO: It seemed every time Illinois tried to dribble or drive to the basket Saturday, there was a UNLV defender in the way. The 19th-ranked Illini struggled to get open shots and when they did have a good look, it usually didn’t fall. UNLV’s aggressive, switching defense threw the Illini off from the outset and they never recovered in losing for the first time this season, 64-48 at the United Center. “I thought we picked it up a little in the second half, but obviously we couldn’t get the ball in the hoop, whether it was two-pointers, 3-pointers or free throws,” coach Bruce Weber said. The Illini made just 16 of 63 field goal attempts (25.4 percent), going 7 of 25 on 3-pointers, and they also missed half of their 18 free throws.

UNLV (11-2), which beat then-No 1 North Carolina earlier this season, double-

teamed Illinois’ center Meyers Leonard early and then backed off. But whoever had the ball during the game, the Runnin’ Rebels were there to contend a shot or a dribble. “We started the game doubleteaming him, bringing the trap every time he touched the ball and that was probably why they struggled so early,” said UNLV’s Mike Moser, who led the Runnin’ Rebels with 17 points. “They didn’t have him to really create anything for them because it’s hard to create something with two guys on you.” Weber said his young 7-foot-1 center, who missed five of his six free throw attempts, didn’t react after UNLV took the post trap off.

“I think Meyers was thinking about it too much instead of playing. A couple of times he could have gone right to his hook. He’s a young guy and he is learning,”

Weber said. The Runnin’ Rebels were quicker to the ball most of the evening and also blocked nine shots. “They are athletic, they are long. They have versatile guys,” Weber said. “They’ve played a lot of different ways. ... They switched things and we didn’t react to that. That’s my job to do a better job preparing.” UNLV (11-2) got a bit of revenge for a 73-62 loss to the Illini in the second round of the NCAA tournament last March, but that wasn’t really that much of a factor, first-year coach Dave Rice said.

What was really bugging UNLV was a loss a week ago at Wisconsin.

“I was asked all week about the NCAA tournament game last year and I wasn’t here, but I didn’t feel like that was a big part of the motivation,” Rice said. “I think the bigger thing was the fact our guys were really frustrated with our effort last

week. We didn’t bring energy. We didn’t execute. ... We were ready today.” Quintrell Thomas added 13 points for UNLV, which won despite getting only two points from leading scorer Chace Stanback. The Runnin’ Rebels built a 33-22 halftime lead by closing with a 14-2 run.

In the opening 20 minutes, Illinois had nine turnovers and made just eight of 28 field goal attempts, including 3 of 11 on 3pointers as it disappointed a large, orangeclad throng of fans. “They came out swinging and we didn’t punch back. They were definitely the aggressor from the tip and they kept it going pretty much throughout the game,” said Illini guard Sam Maniscalco, who shot 1 for 10, including 1 for 7 on 3pointers. “You can’t dig yourself a hole like that, especially against an opponent of that caliber that has that kind of scoring

punch and athleticism.”

The Illini missed eight of their first nine attempts to start the second half, but DJ Richardson’s 3-pointer helped them Illini get within eight. Richardson shot 5 of 8 on 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, the lone bright spot for the Illini offense.

Richardson hit his fourth 3 of the second half to get the Illini within 11 with 6:14 remaining. Illinois whittled it to eight with 4:24 to go on a basket by Leonard. But Thomas had a dunk with 2:25 remaining to end a 7-minute field goal drought for UNLV and the Runnin’ Rebels regained control.

Illinois, which is 32-11 at the United Center, has lost three straight and five of six on the Chicago Bulls’ home floor. “My third year up here and I’m 0-3,” Richardson said. “It’s tough a third time coming up here and laying an egg.”— AP

Westwood grabs Thai title with the ‘best ever’ display Westwood set to move up to 2nd in rankings

MELBOURNE: Ian Poulter of England kisses the trophy after winning the Australian Masters golf tournament at the Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne yesterday. —AFP

Poulter wins Australian Masters as Ogilvy fades MELBOURNE: England’s Ian Poulter shot a near-flawless four-under-par 67 in windy conditions to reel in overnight leader Geoff Ogilvy and win the Australian Masters by three strokes yesterday. The much-anticipated final round shoot-out between the Briton and the Australian failed to materialize as Ogilvy surrendered his two-stroke overnight lead on the first hole and plunged to third after wilting with a bogeystrewn back nine.

“It was flawless, the whole day. I was very happy how I approached every shot, hit my targets,” the flamboyant Poulter told reporters with the tournament’s crystal globe trophy perched next to him. “I love being in contention, that’s why I play this game of golf. If you’re down the field there’s no adrenalin, there’s no excitement, there’s no real interest. “So that’s why I practice hard to put myself in this position to enjoy the fact of being under pressure because you find out who you are.”

Australia’s Marcus Fraser finished second after a scintillating 64 but was long in the clubhouse leaving Ogilvy as the sole realistic hope of stemming Poulter’s victory charge. Poulter, a model of composure throughout the tournament despite battling food poisoning on Friday and tricky winds over the weekend, threw down the gauntlet on the very first hole. Landing his tee-shot on the green of the driveable parfour, Poulter drilled a 15-foot putt for eagle to draw level with Ogilvy on 13-under.

“Crucial ... it was a very timely tee-shot,” said Poulter. “The wind being as strong as it was, 25 miles an hour, it was a difficult shot ... He gave me an opportunity there to try and roll it in to be all tied with 17 to play.”

FRUSTRATING YEAR The 35-year-old then piled on the pres-

sure with birdies on the seventh and ninth holes to take a two-stroke lead leaving Ogilvy scrambling. On Saturday the Australian had lit up Victoria Golf Club, where he had been a member since his junior days, with a course-record equaling 63, but the magic deserted him as his approaches left him long, speculative putts that refused to drop.

Ogilvy grafted a pair of clutch putts to stay in touch in the middle stretches, but the pressure told as he conceded bogeys at 13 and 15 to go four down. The Australian holed a long birdie putt on the 16th to briefly raise a slender hope, but Poulter slammed the door shut with a long birdie putt of his own to make the result a formality and add the tournament’s “golden jacket” to his colorful wardrobe. The slumping loss left Ogilvy crestfallen and capped a disappointing year marred by injury and a winless season on the US Tour.

“It has been a frustrating year,” a stonyfaced Ogilvy said. “This is kind of how the year has gone, days like today. “What are you going to do? I couldn’t really make a birdie all day.”

Poulter’s 269 total secured him a winner’s cheque of A$180,000 ($180,000) and was his first tournament victory since beating Luke Donald in the World Match Play Championship final in Spain in May. World number one Donald capped his last week of golf for the year with a scratchy oneover 72 to finish joint 12th with a total of 280, 11 behind Poulter. “I struggled a little bit the whole week, especially finding my line and speed on the greens,” said the 34year-old, the first winner of both the US and European Tour money lists in the same year. “A little bit disappointing to finish like that but I’ll reflect on what’s been an amazing year for me.”— Reuters

Frankel, Cecil light up ‘Sport of Kings’ PARIS: Horse of the year Frankel, named in honor of a trainer who died of leukaemia, added to the emotion surrounding the champion in 2011 as his trainer Sir Henry Cecil had also suffered from a life-threatening illness.

Frankel - named after US training legend Bobby Frankel who trained for the horse’s owner Prince Khalid Abdullah - set the track on fire winning all five of his starts, including four Group Ones. The crowd-pleasing miler’s exploits confirmed a remarkable renaissance for Cecil who had battled against stomach cancer.

Frankel may have kept England’s prime mile races at home but there was plenty of joy for foreign raiders during the year. French master Andre Fabre finally cracked the Epsom Derby with Pour Moi, under an audacious ride by youngster Mickael Barzalona, while young French trainer Mikel Delzangles landed the Melbourne Cup and Hong Kong Vase with Dunaden. German filly Danedream made a mockery of the formbook to take Europe’s most prestigious race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe - only Germany’s second ever winner - coming home by five lengths and breaking the 14-year-old race record.

One of the horses she beat at Longchamp, St Nicholas Abbey, was to have his day in the sun when he made it a memorable moment for Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, and his 19year-old jockey son Joseph, by winning the Breeder’s Cup Turf. However, it was Frankel who bestrode the sport throughout the year, winning his races by extravagant margins save only the St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot

when unfashionable Irish jockey Tom Queally was pilloried for all but costing him the race.

Despite this Cecil displayed his trademark loyalty and stuck with Queally, who never made another mistake and Frankel rounded off the campaign on the inaugural Champions Day at Ascot in October with a four-length triumph in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

His performance-his ninth win in nine career starts-left those connected with the horse, including Prince Abdullah who had been one of the few owners to stick by Cecil in his dark days, scrambling for words to describe him. “He’s a champion, he’s out of the ordinary and hopefully he will continue to prove himself next year,” said 68-year-old Cecil. “He did everything that we asked.”

Frankel’s win that day came at the end of a not so glorious week for British racing as their newly-introduced whip rules had been greeted with a mixture of ridicule and a threatened jockeys’ strike.

Indeed top rider Richard Hughes pulled out of his rides on Champions Day in protest after he was punished under the new rules.

Sadly for the Ascot authorities the rules were to almost ruin their day as, under a great ride

by Christophe Soumillon, French challenger Cirrus des Aigles won the Champion Stakes and upset former crack Aussie galloper So You Think. However, while the French gelding was to keep the race, Soumillon was handed a suspension and had his winning prizemoney - nearly 50,000 pounds - taken away.

“Why do they try and cut our legs off?” blasted the Belgian ace. — AFP

CHON BURI: Former world number one Lee Westwood surged to a seven shot victory at the Thailand Golf Championship on the back of the “best golf” of his stellar career yesterday. The Briton capped off another sparkling performance with his third win in Asia this season and is now set to move up one place to second in the rankings behind English compatriot Luke Donald. Westwood maintained the chunky lead he held from day one and put paid to South African Charl Schwartzel’s brief resurgence, carding a final day three-under-par 69 to finish 22under on a notoriously tricky course. As US Masters champion Schwartzel faded to a levelpar 72 to finish second, Westwood extended his four-stroke lead to seven to win with ease at the Asian Tour’s $1 million season-ending inaugural tournament and notch his 37th career title.

Aside from his erratic 73 on the third day, the former world number one was in superb form, flirting with golf’s exclusive 59 club with a 60 on day one followed by 64 to match the Asian Tour’s lowest-ever 36-hole total. “I’ve amazed myself really,” Westwood said after sinking his final putt on the 18th. “It’s been staggering, it all came together well. It’s probably the best I’ve ever played.” The win follows victories in Indonesia, the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea and the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa and will see him second behind compatriot Luke Donald when the official world rankings are published t. He has now won titles in six Asian countries - Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia and South Korea.

POLISHED PERFORMANCE Schwartzel’s four bogeys meant he was never in contention and his first blunder at the eighth gave Westwood the chance to stretch his lead with some polished putting on the back nine.

Westwood said his initial 11 shot lead had played on his mind and he had to switch gear to cope with the testing Amata Spring Country

Club course and ensure the title stayed within his grasp. “It was special this week because of the difficulty of the course. I’ve never had an 11 shot lead before and it was difficult to come out and refocus and reset goals,” he said of Saturday’s slump.

“At 20 under after two rounds, It’s yours to lose really with an 11 shot lead. There was pressure involved. Yesterday, I didn’t know how to approach it or handle it.” With his four wins this

year, the 38-year-old said he felt in better form than he did when he topped the world rankings but his failure to win a major would make it difficult to answer critics. “I’m in a tricky position because I’ve been so successful but not won a major. Anytime I’ve gone a year without a major, people are always going to say it’s been a disappointing year for Lee Westwood,” he said. “If I was to evaluate the way I’m playing now and a year ago, I’m a better player.”— Reuters

CHONBURI: Lee Westwood of England poses with the trophy after winning the Thailand Golf Championship at the Amata Spring Country Club yesterday. — AP

Europe blaze in relay as US dominate Duel ATLANTA: Maybe it’s time to change things up at Duel in the Pool. Again, it was an American rout.

Even though the European women posted the fastest short-course time ever in the 400-meter freestyle relay, that was one of the few highlights for the visiting team. The United States wrapped up the victory with nine events to go, more than doubling its opponent in a 181.5-80.5 triumph Saturday.

American star Ryan Lochte said a message was sent with the London Olympics only seven months away.

“This is just the start of it,” said Lochte, who won the 200 individual medley. “We’re the team to beat, there’s no doubt about it.” Certainly, there was no uncertainty about how this Duel would turn out after the Americans won 12 of 14 events on the opening day to build an insurmountable lead.

Europe performed better on Day 2, winning six of 16 races, but they had no chance of chasing down the US. “It was good fun,” Britain’s Francesca Halsall said.

“But we knew it would be hard to get past the depth of the Americans. They had some great swims. They were the better team.”

Halsall and her relay teammates had plenty of fun in the 400 free, holding off a star-studded US squad with Olympic veteran Natalie Coughlin leading off and 16-year-old Missy Franklin on the anchor leg. Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark went first for the Europeans, followed by Halsall, Aliaksandra Heresimenia of Belarus and Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands. They posted a time of 3 minutes, 27.53 seconds, which was faster than the world

record of 3:28.22 set by the Netherlands in 2008, but won’t count as an official mark since the swimmers are from different countries. “We had the top four swimmers from the world championships, so we knew it would be quite exciting,” Halsall said. “The Americans stepped up their game.”

Franklin was about half a body-length behind Kromowidjojo in 3:28.46, the Americans coming less than three-tenths of a second from a time that would have counted as a world record, even though they didn’t win the race. For the most part, it was the Americans getting to the wall first - a common theme at Duel in the Pool, an every-other-year event that was launched in 2003 in hopes of boosting interest in swimming beyond the Olympics. After the US easily beat Australia in the first three Duels, the format was changed in 2009 to pit the Americans against a European all-star team. But the result was much the same - a 185-78 blowout - and this one was nearly as lopsided.

In fairness to the Europeans, many of the continent’s top swimmers skipped the Duel. There was only one swimmer each from Russia and Germany, and no one at all from Italy or the powerful French squad, which performed well at the US Winter Nationals two weeks ago in the same pool but with a standard 50-meter course. They passed on the chance to compete at 25 meters. “We were prepared to swim very fast,” said Jessica Hardy, who beat fellow American and world-record holder Rebecca Soni in the 100 breaststroke. “We definitely would

ATLANTA: United States’ Ryan Lochte swims the 100-meter backstroke during the Duel in the Pool swim meet at Georgia Tech on Saturday, Dec 17, 2011, in Atlanta. —AP

have liked some better competition.” Eric Shanteau, captain of the men’s team, said he hopes USA Swimming can come up with a format that will give the Americans a tougher challenge at the next Duel in the Pool.

He’s not very hopeful, though. “They’ve got to figure out a way to make it a more interesting meet,” Shanteau said. “But that’s going to be a challenge.

We’re a country that knows how to step up at duel meets like this because we do them all the time in college. It’s difficult for a lot of the other countries.

They’re used to having prelims and semifinals.

There’s no second chances in these meets. That really gives the US an advantage.” Looking to bounce back after its miserable performance on the first day, Europe got off to a strong start in the 800 freestyle.

Lotte Friis of Denmark won on the women’s side, just missing a world record, and Pal Joensen of the Faroe Islands was first in the men’s race.

Then, it settled into a familiar parade of US wins.

Both 200 frees were 1-2-3 American sweeps: Franklin finishing ahead of Dana Vollmer and Katie Hoff, while Ricky Berens beat out teammates Matt McLean and Conor Dwyer. Elizabeth Simmonds of Britain pulled off an upset in the 100 backstroke, edging out Coughlin and Franklin, but Matt Grevers led another sweep of the points in the men’s backstroke, followed to the wall by Nick Thoman and Lochte. In the 200 butterfly, Kathleen Hersey won with an American women’s record, while Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the men’s race. In the 50 free, Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands led the Europeans to the top four spots in the women’s race, but Nick Brunelli gave the American another victory in the men’s. Caitlin Leverenz of the US took the women’s 200 IM, and the US closed the meet with a victory in the men’s 400 free relay. Brendan Hansen won for the second day in a row, again edging world champion Daniel Gyurta of Hungary in the 100 breaststroke. The American beat Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima of Japan at the Winter Nationals, and now he’s shown what he can do against another top competitor. “I’ve gotten back to my old self,” Hansen said. “This has made me realize I can compete against the best in the world.”

Hansen needed a boost of confidence. After two straight disappointing Olympics, he walked away from the sport in 2008 and didn’t have any intention of returning. But he came back at the beginning of this year, unable to resist the urge of taking another shot at the individual gold medal that eluded him in both Athens and Beijing. “This really sets me up well for next year,” he said. “I’m really enjoying racing and competing so much.” Now, if someone can just figure out how to give the Americans better competition at Duel in the Pool.— AP

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Romo sparks Cowboy big win over Buccan

NFL result/standings Result and standings after Saturday’s National Football League game: Dallas 31, Tampa Bay 15.

National Football Conference American Football Conference NFC East Division AFC East Division Dallas 8 6 0 .571 348 W L T PCT PF PA NY Giants 7 6 0 .538 324 New England 10 3 0 .769 396 274 Philadelphia 5 8 0 .385 297 NY Jets 8 5 0 .615 327 270 Washington 4 9 0 .308 229 Buffalo 5 8 0 .385 288 341 Miami 4 9 0 .308 256 246 NFC North Division YZ-Green Bay 13 0 0 1.000 466 AFC North Division Detroit 8 5 0 .615 367 Baltimore 10 3 0 .769 320 202 Chicago 7 6 0 .538 301 Pittsburgh 10 3 0 .769 282 198 Minnesota 2 11 0 .154 274 Cincinnati 7 6 0 .538 285 270 Cleveland 4 9 0 .308 178 254 NFC South Division X-New Orleans10 3 0 .769 415 AFC South Division Atlanta 9 5 0 .643 341 y-Houston 10 3 0 .769 330 208 Carolina 4 9 0 .308 313 Tennessee 7 6 0 .538 266 251 Tampa Bay 4 10 0 .286 247 Jacksonville 4 10 0 .286 207 293 NFC West Division Indianapolis 0 13 0 .000 184 382 Y-San Francisco10 3 0 .769 307 Arizona 6 7 0 .462 253 AFC West Division Seattle 6 7 0 .462 246 Denver 8 5 0 .615 269 302 St. Louis 2 11 0 .154 153 Oakland 7 6 0 .538 290 354 X-clinched playoff berth San Diego 6 7 0 .462 324 299 Y-won division title Kansas City 5 8 0 .385 173 305

296 349 292 290

278 305 255 364

286 281 355 401 182 288 259 326

Tampa Bay loses eighth consecutive DALLAS: Tony Romo passed for three touchdowns and scored another as the Dallas Cowboys kept their NFC East title hopes on track with a 31-15 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday. Quarterback Romo stoked the Cowboys (8-6) to a 28-0 halftime lead as they moved a half-game ahead of the New York Giants in the NFC East. New York (76) can regain a share of the lead with a win over the Washington Redskins. “It was nice to go out there and play the way we did,” Romo told reporters. “Offensively we did a really good job but boy our defense played outstanding ball.” Dallas can claim the NFC East title with wins over Philadelphia and the Giants in the next two weeks. “It is going to be a good tough battle,” Romo said of the Jan. 1 return meeting with the Giants, who edged

the Cowboys 37-34 last week. “But we are going to be ready for it.”

Two consecutive defeats in which they blew fourth-quarter leads had dropped the Cowboys into a tie with the Giants, but they roared back behind their captain. Romo hit Miles Austin and Dez Bryant with eight-yard scoring strikes in the first quarter and threw a nine-yard pass to Laurent Robinson for another score in the second. He helped push the score to 28-0 with a one-yard sneak seconds before halftime. “I was just throwing the ball, finding the guys open and the guys did the rest,” Romo, who finished the game with 23 completions for 249 yards, said of the big first half. Tampa Bay (4-10), who lost for the eighth consecutive time, finally got on the board after a Romo fumble in the third quarter.

Defensive en Romo, forcing th Dekoda Watson yards for a touch goal before Josh a 75-yard drive c to Dezmon Brisc two-point conve the scoring. The ished with 17 o Dallas were pla back DeMarco M with broken an filled the void, r carries after gain New York. “He d “We are lucky to back position.” —

Spanish pair wins 470 gold at world champs

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim avoids a bouncer during the second day of the second cricket test match against Pakistan at Mirpur in Dhaka yesterday. —AFP

Umar steadies Pakistan in Bangladesh Test DHAKA: Taufeeq Umar closed in on a second successive half-century to steady Pakistan on the second day of the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka yesterday. The left-handed opener, who scored 61 in the opening Test in Chittagong, was unbeaten on 44 as Pakistan reached 87-1 in their first innings at stumps after bowling out Bangladesh for 338. Azhar Ali was 26 not out when play was called off due to bad light.

Pakistan lost in-form Mohammad Hafeez before Umar and Azhar put on 64 runs for the unbroken second-wicket stand, with Umar hitting eight fours in his 79-ball knock so far. Bangladesh paceman Nazmul Hossain, returning to the Test side after seven years, struck with his first delivery when he had Hafeez caught behind for only 14, a stark contrast to the opener’s 143 in the last Test. “Our target is to just go in there and carry on this partnership as long as we can. Our plan is to bat long,” said Azhar. “It was difficult to play spinners because the ball was turning a bit. But tomorrow it will be a new session and I think things will be easier after we spend some time at the crease.”

Bangladesh, resuming at 234-5, earlier lost well-set Shakib Al Hasan (144) and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (40) off successive balls before being bowled out in the afternoon session. The hosts were strongly placed at 305-5 before losing their last five wickets for 33, with Shakib’s dismissal starting the slide. Shakib was run out following a mix-up with his skipper as Umar hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end from mid-wicket, while Rahim was caught

down the leg-side by wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal off paceman Umar Gul. “It was great to score runs for the team.

It was sad the way I got out, but it’s part of cricket and it can happen to anyone. I didn’t have any specific goal to reach a double-hundred or so,” said Shakib. “I just wanted to bat as long as possible. Now our target is to get them out as soon as possible and the first session tomorrow is very important.” Left-handed Shakib and Rahim batted comfortably against Pakistan’s pace-spin combination, adding 82 runs for the sixth wicket. Fast bowlers Gul and Aizaz Cheema each took three wickets, while off-spinner Saeed Ajmal finished with 2-64. Former captain Shakib, 108 overnight, cracked 15 fours in a superb 242-ball knock for his highest score in any form of international cricket, while Rahim hit one six and six fours in his 102-ball innings.

Shahadat Hossain, dropped on five by Abdur Rehman at deep mid-wicket off Ajmal, remained unbeaten on 21 with the help of one six and two fours. Pakistan went wicketless in the morning session despite taking the second new ball immediately it was available as Shakib and Rahim helped their team add 51 runs to their overnight total after a delayed start due to fog. Rahim, five not out overnight, played some handsome shots in the morning as he slog-swept Ajmal over mid-wicket for the first six of the match and then cut left-arm spinner Rehman for a four in the next over. Pakistan lead 1-0 in the series after winning the opening Test by an innings and 184 runs. —AFP

Scoreboard DHAKA: Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the second and final Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Dhaka yesterday: Bangladesh 1st innings (overnight 234-5): Tamim Iqbal c Cheema b Gul 14 Mohammed Nazimuddin lbw b Cheema 0 Shahriar Nafees c Akmal b Gul 97 Mohammad Mahmudullah b Cheema 0 Nasir Hossain c Akmal b Cheema 7 Shakib Al Hasan run out 144 Mushfiqur Rahim c Akmal b Gul 40 Elias Sunny lbw b Ajmal 12 Shahadat Hossain not out 21 Nazmul Hossain run out 0 Robiul Islam lbw b Ajmal 0 Extras (lb3) 3 Total (for all out; 107.2 overs) 338 Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Nazimuddin), 2-16 (Tamim), 3-21 (Mahmudullah), 4-43 (Nasir), 5-223

(Nafees), 6-305 (Shakib), 7-305 (Rahim), 8-331 (Sunny), 9-332 (Nazmul), 10-338 (Robiul).

Bowling: Gul 28-1-102-3, Cheema 26-4-73-3, Hafeez 9-3-27-0, Ajmal 24.2-3-64-2, Rehman 19-0-66-0, Younis 1-0-3-0.

Pakistan 1st innings: Mohammad Hafeez c Rahim b Nazmul 14 Taufeeq Umar not out 44 Azhar Ali not out 26 Extras (nb3) 3 Total (for one wicket; 27 overs) 87 Fall of wicket: 1-23 (Hafeez) Bowling: Shahadat 2-0-15-0 (nb1), Robiul 7-124-0 (nb2), Nazmul 8-0-28-1, Mahmudullah 62-14-0, Shakib 4-1-6-0.

PERTH: Australia’s Tom Slingsby won yesterday’s medal race to clinch his fourth world title in the laser class at the World Sailing Championships off Fremantle. The top-ranked Slingsby entered the race with a commanding lead, needing to finish seventh or better to add to his three previous world championship gold medals.

The 27-year-old sailor won the race by more than 100 meters from Britain’s Nick Thompson and will go into next year’s London Olympics as an overwhelming favorite.

Thompson claimed the silver medal and New Zealand’s Andrew Murdoch took the bronze. Earlier yesterday, Australia’s top-ranked pair of Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen won the men’s 49er skiff class when they finished third out of 10 crews in the medal race. The Australians had taken a commanding 17-point lead into the final race and needed to finish midfleet to clinch the championship. New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke took the silver medal and Denmark’s Emil and Simon Toft Nielsen captured the bronze. “We’ve performed really well on the water at Weymouth, where the Olympics are going to be,” Outteridge said.

“For us now it’s about maintaining the level that we have and making sure we’re going to be the team to beat.” Slingsby’s gold medal was Australia’s third of the world championships following Outteridge and Jensen and Matthew Belcher and Malcom Page who won the men’s 470 class last weekend. European champions Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos of Spain held on to win the gold medal in the women’s 470 class. The Spanish pair finished eighth in the medal race, but had enough of a lead coming into the day to win their first world championship. “The others are really good and you have to do a hard job and finally we did it,” Betanzos said.

Pacheco and Betanzos finished with 63 points from 11 races, five points ahead of second-place Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark of Britain at 68. The British team led from start to finish yesterday to win the medal race.

“It wasn’t our goal for this week so we’ve definitely overpassed our goals but it’s all about next year for us really,” Clark said. New Zealanders Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie moved up from fourth place to take the bronze with 73 points. “We came here just to qualify the country (for the London Olympics), so to come away with a medal is a real bonus,” Powrie said. Dorian van Rijsselberghe of the Netherlands won the gold medal in the men’s RSX windsurfer class from Piotr Myszka of Poland and Nimrod Mashich of Israel. —AP

PERTH: Tom Slingsby from Australia celebrates after winning the gold medal race in the Laser class at the ISAF World Sailing Championships off Fremantle near Perth yesterday. —AFP

COURCHEVEL: Austria’s Marlies Schild (center) Women’s World Cup slalom race, celebrates on t placed Tanja Poutiainen of Finland (left) and third Austria, in Courchevel, France yesterday. —AP

Schild wins Cou slalom in domina COURCHEVEL: Marlies Schild dominated her rivals and the treacherous Courchevel course yesterday to win her second straight slalom race of the season, setting her up perfectly for a hat trick bid on home snow next week in Austria. Schild won by more than a second in Aspen, Colo., last month, and this time her margin of victory was even greater. She finished 1.87 ahead of Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen and a massive 2.19 clear of Austria’s Kathrin Zettel. “Not really surprised ... I know I can ski slalom very fast,” Schild said. “The second run was more difficult for me, but it worked really good. I like the slope here.”

Schild can make it three out of three in slaloms this season if she wins Tuesday’s race in Flachau. “Of course my goal is to win the race,” the 30-year-old Schild said.

“What makes me so fast? I always try to get a good feel for the race, every slope. I have a lot of experience over the last years, and maybe a good feeling.” Schild, who also won at Courchevel last year, would have been faster if she hadn’t wobbled halfway down the crumbly Stade Emile Allais course that claimed 18 racers in the first run, including overall World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn.

“Of course Marlies is really strong and a step ahead of us, but we will take up the challenge,” said Poutiainen, who was also second behind Schild at Courchevel last year. “I seem to like this place, it’s a good hill for me. We know it was not easy for organizers to get this race ready.”

Defending World Cup champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany was second in her first run despite jarring her knee, but lost her balance and fell in the second.

The second run started in bright, early afternoon sunshine with the temperature at 27 degrees and the snow still chalky and relatively soft.

Canada’s Marie-Michele Gagnon and Austria’s Bernadette Schild stood eighth and ninth respectively after the first run, but both had trouble at the same section halfway through their second. They were not alone. Slovakia’s Veronika Zuzulova, fourth after the first run, caught the inside of a ski on a gate and went wide and out of contention. The same thing then happened to Sweden’s Maria PietilaeHolmner, who was third after the morning run. Then it was Hoefl-Riesch’s turn to falter, her body swaying to the left as she mistimed a gate.

But this made little difference to Schild who, despite the cushion of a comfortable lead over Zettel and Poutiainen, still

attacked the outset. Pieti Aspen, with both missin lead in the considerable Poutiainen a Julia Mancus picked up a and wasn’t f to miss the e Vonn has approach to American loo top five. The ner was .68 s at the first ti second, but and missed up that they course becau bottom,” Von wet patch o slid, and it w was the pee top part of th fect, conside great job.”

Despite t encouraging ing on. “I’m looked at th tenths out o “It was defin ing) not (tra bad. I’m tryin form and so already has huge overa Rebensburg also tied for with Renate world down to wrestle b lost by three Riesch - prev before gettin The slalo Saturday to was not com the course w cracking ar labored over but it still se the better o Austria’s Ni Moelgg an Czech Repub ing. Hosp we shot up in th Zahrobska w gate near the

Italy’s Blardone hits form on hom ALTA BADIA: Italy’s Massimiliano Blardone won the men’s alpine skiing World Cup giant slalom yesterday on his favorite slope with Austrian duo Hannes Reichelt and Philipp Schorghofer in second and third. The 32-year-old local skier was notching up his third success at Alta Badia after winning here in 2009 and 2005 for his sixth career World Cup success. With half his World Cup haul coming here Blardone was always going to prove a danger to his rivals and so

it proved as he posted the sixth fastest time after the first leg to go on and prevail by .35s from Reichelt.

The American master of the discipline, Ted Ligety, led going into the second leg but the world champion faded to narrowly miss the podium in the second run. But he retained his comfortable 65 point lead in the World Cup giant slalom standings from Austria’s Marcel Hirscher who came in fifth.

After his success Blardone com-

mented: “Each win, each podium is special, even more so today with the number 19 bib. “ This morning I was highly motivated when I left the hotel but at the same time feeling calm and with the positive tension you need ahead of a big day.

“I felt the same as two years ago and my last (World Cup) win which was again at Alta Badia and again on December 18. “My return to form hasn’t happened in a flash, I believed in it and how can you

not b after and Runn got a the p traini of Sa enab of en point the s Frida at the

18

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

SPORTS

KUWAIT: Al-Kuwait football team pose after winning the sixth Kuwait Football Association (KFA) Cup yesterday. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Al-Kuwait win KFA Cup KUWAIT: Al-Kuwait football club clinched yesterday the sixth Kuwait Football Association (KFA) Cup after defeating Kazma 4-3 in the final match held at Sabah Al-Salem stadium in Arabi club. AlKuwait, winning their third cup title, won the final match after trailing 0-2 in the first half. In the sec-

ond half, Kazma scored their third goal thanks to the powerful shot by Abdullah Al-Dhufairi, AlKuwait had a magnificent run at it, enabling them to score four goals in 21 minutes.

The first goal by Al-Kuwait came from international Boris Landry Kabi of Ivory Coast at the 56

minute. Three minutes afterward, his team mate from Mali Lassana Fane scored the second goal.

Al-Kuwait scored their equalizer goal thanks to their Striker Abdulhadi Khamis at the 73rd minute, while their winning goal came at 77th minute by Kabi. Kazma’s goals came through in the first half,

by Striker Abdullah Al-Dhufairi at the 17th minute, followed by Omani international Ismail Al-Ajmi at the 43rd minute. The final match took place without main players from both teams, who are already engaged with the Kuwaiti National Team in the Arab tournament held in Qatar.— KUNA

Dutch League

PSV thrash Heerenveen 5-1

MOENCHENGLADBACH: Mainz’ Nigerian striker Anthony Ujah (2nd right) vies for the ball with Moenchengladbach’s Austrian defender Martin Stranzl (right) and Moenchengladbach’s Brazilian defender Dante during the German first division Bundesliga football match Borussia Moenchengladbach vs FSV Mainz 05 in the western German city of Moenchengladbach yesterday.— AFP

German League

Moenchengladbach beat Mainz 1-0 in Bundesliga BERLIN: Borussia Moenchengladbach completed its best first half of a season in 35 years by beating Mainz 1-0 yesterday in the Bundesliga’s last game before a four-week winter break.

Marco Reus wore a special boot after breaking his left-foot little toe on Nov 25 and set up the only goal in the fifth minute with an incisive ball for Patrick Herrmann to score through Christian Wetklo’s legs. Moenchengladbach stays fourth and in touch with the league leaders, one point behind Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, and four behind Bayern Munich which tops the standings with 37 points. The season resumes Jan. 20. Reus was causing regular problems for the visiting defense and Moenchengladbach might have had a penalty before the interval, when Roman Neustaedter appeared to be brought down by former Borussia player Eugen Polanski in the penalty area. Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel was sent to the stands early in the second half. Juan Arango should have made it 2-0 in the 67th when Wetklo denied the Venezuelan, before Tony Jantschke went close from the resulting corner. Reus limped off with an injury in the 83rd, holding his knee after a collision with Niko Bungert.

Mainz defender Zdenek Pospech appeared to be knocked unconscious after clashing heads with Arango in the 88th, but the Czech was able

to see out the game. Earlier yesterday, Kaiserslautern and Hannover drew 1-1 as each side prolonged its winless streak to seven games in the league. “At least we got our effectiveness back,” Hannover coach Mirko Slomka said. “We had one big chance and we took it.”

Mohammed Abdellaoue scored his ninth goal of the season for Hannover in the 13th when he capitalized on a mistake from Kaiserslautern defender Mathias Abel. Abel misjudged a hopeful ball forward from Sofian Chahed, allowing the grateful Abdellaoue to collect the loose ball and sweep it through the legs of Kevin Trapp.

For all of Kaiserslautern’s endeavor, RonRobert Zieler didn’t have a save to make until Alexander Bugera’s strong shot in the 65th. But Adam Nemec finally equalized three minutes later, when Christian Tiffert played the ball left to Olcay Sahan, who crossed for the Slovenian’s first goal of the season. Kaiserslautern striker Itay Shechter was sent off with three minutes remaining for kicking out at Manuel Schmiedebach. Kaiserslautern’s last success in the Bundesliga was a 1-0 victory over Freiburg on Oct 22, while Hannover hasn’t won since beating Bayern Munich 2-1 on Oct. 23. “We played brilliantly, but the goals were missing,” said Kaiserslautern coach Marco Kurz, whose side drops to the relegation playoff place.— AP

Mariners grab top spot in A-League SYDNEY: Central Coast Mariners stretched their unbeaten run to eight games and claimed top spot in Australia’s A-League with a 2-1 victory over champions Brisbane Roar this weekend. First half goals from Germany-bound youngster Mustafa Amini and Pedj Bojic secured all the points for the Mariners’ fifth straight win, while the oncetime invincible Roar crashed to their fourth consecutive defeat. The Mariners moved three points clear with a game in hand over Brisbane, who were beaten 2-0 midweek

by Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand.

John van’t Schip’s Melbourne Heart climbed to third, two points behind Roar, with a 2-1 win over Glory in Perth. The match looked headed for a draw after Matt Thompson’s 33rd-minute strike for Heart was cancelled out by Billy Mehmet’s effort two minutes later.

But Mate Dugandzic popped up with an 87th-minute winner for Heart’s fifth win of the season ahead of next Friday’s Melbourne derby clash with Victory. It was Perth’s sixth loss in their last eight games and left them in seventh spot. Sydney FC climbed to fourth with a come-frombehind 2-1 victory over the Newcastle Jets in Newcastle. Second-half goals to strikers Brazilian Bruno Cazarine and Finn Juho Makela gave Sydney FC victory after New Zealand international Jeremy Brockie had put the Jets ahead in the 25th-minute.

Melbourne Victory dusted off Wellington Phoenix 3-1 at home on Sunday to climb to fifth in the table.

Victory ripped Phoenix apart with three goals in the opening 21 minutes before Phoenix got a late consolation through Alex Smith. — AFP

ROTTERDAM: PSV Eindhoven thrashed Heerenveen 5-1 away yesterday to close to within one point of Dutch league leaders AZ Alkmaar who suffered a 2-1 defeat at NAC Breda. PSV settled the issue in their most convincing performance this season in six minutes in the first half when Ola Toivonen struck twice and Tim Matavz added a third, all after some fine football.

Early in the second half Georginio Wijnaldum headed home the fourth followed by a goal from Brazilian Marcelo before Rajiv van la Parra gave the hosts their consolation goal. Anthony Lurling put Breda ahead against Alkmaar with a sophisticated chip over goalkeeper Esteban after 31 minutes but on the stroke of halftime Brett Holman equalized.

In the final minute, Milano Koenders, on loan from Alkmaar, handed the ‘winter’ champions their third defeat this season. Alkmaar remain top with 38 points after 17 matches followed by PSV on 37. Twente Enschede, 3-2 losers at Feyenoord, are third with 33, ahead on goal difference of Ajax Amsterdam who cruised to a 4-0 win over 10-man ADO Den Haag. Christian Eriksen opened the scoring for Ajax on 19 minutes after Ramon Leeuwin was sent off and second half goals by Theo Janssen, Dmitry Bulykin and Miralem Sulejmani sealed the win.

Manchester City loaner John Guidetti opened the scoring for Feyenoord after nine minutes and completed his hat-trick with two goals within two minutes shortly before the interval to lift his season’s tally to 11. Nacer Chadli and Luuk de Jong scored for Twente in the second half but could not avoid their second loss this season.— Reuters

French League Roundup

PSG miss out on Ligue 1 top spot PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain were prevented from regaining top spot in Ligue 1 after being held to a 0-0 draw by defending champions Lille in an engaging game at Parc des Princes yesterday. Pre-match attention had focused on the rumoured presence in the capital of David Beckham, but in his absence, PSG were unable to break down Rudi Garciaís side in the last major head-to-head clash before the winter break.

The draw took PSG level on points with leaders Montpellier but they are in second place on goal difference, while Lille-unbeaten in 16 league games-crept above Lyon into third place via the same criteria. PSG were hoping to bounce back from the setback of their mid-week Europa League elimination, but they will still have the summit in their sights when they visit Saint-Etienne in their final pre-Christmas game on Wednesday.

The result means that only two points now separate Franceís top four clubs, meaning that Lille will also have designs on first place when they host Nice the same day.

Typically, PSG played on the counter-attack and procured the best chance of the first half, with Kevin Gameiro thrashing a rushed half-volley wide after being freed by Javier Pastore. That aside, the opening 45 minutes lacked drama, as a heavy downpour made enterprising football difficult.

Pastore fired a warning shot wide early in the second period and the game began to open up, with PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu forced to parry a Mathieu Debuchy header just short of the hour.

Lille finished the game strongly, and Sirigu displayed his trademark athleticism to tip over a rasping 25-yard effort from Idrissa Gueye before clawing away an injury-time curler from substitute Ireneusz Jelen. — AFP

AMSTERDAM: Ajax Amsterdam’s Vurnon Anita (left) vies with ADO The Hague’s Christian Kum during a Dutch league football match in Amsterdam yesterday. — AFP

Scottish Premier League

Celtic keep pressure on leaders Rangers GLASGOW: Ki Sung-Yeung helped Celtic keep the pressure on Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers with a crucial goal in the 2-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park yesterday. Neil Lennon’s side kicked off seven points behind Rangers after their Glasgow rivals’ late win over Inverness on Saturday. But two goals in four minutes from Gary Hooper and South Korean midfielder Ki midway through the second half ensured that gap was reduced to four points. Hooper broke St Johnstone’s stubborn resistance on the hour and Ki sealed the points moments later with his first goal in nine matches. The only downside for Lennon was the loss of Swedish defender Daniel Majstorovic, who had to go off in the first half with a suspected fractured cheek bone after a clash of heads with Saints midfielder David Robertson.

All eyes were on Celtic’s travelling supporters following the latest controversy involving a minority of the Parkhead faithful. Celtic will find out on Monday if they are to face any action from UEFA after a flare was thrown from the section holding their fans before Thursday’s Europa League game against Udinese at the Stadio Friuli. A banner which was insulting towards European football’s governing body was also unfurled, which led to condemnation from Lennon, chief executive Peter Lawwell

and chairman Ian Bankier.

However, there appeared to be nothing untoward coming from the away support who watched their side struggle in the early stages. They finally threatened when Georgios Samaras drew a fine save from Peter Enckelman with long-range strike.

Saints defender David McCracken was relieved to see his attempted header clear from Cha Du-ri’s cross loop over his own goal for a corner. Then Celtic striker Hooper missed a great chance to open the scoring.

He latched onto a pass by Cha inside the penalty area and dummied Enckelman but the goalkeeper somehow got his hand to the shot to push it past the post.

St Johnstone started the second half strongly and within a minute skipper Dave Mackay cut inside his Celtic counterpart Scott Brown and drove in a left-footed shot which Fraser Forster saved down low at his left-hand post. But Enckelman had to make another great save from Hooper in the 57th minute and Celtic’s increased pressure was rewarded in the 60th minute. Saints failed to clear a Charlie Mulgrew corner and Hooper squeezed his shot home from close-range. And Celtic doubled their lead four minutes later with a breakaway Ki goal after a flowing move involving Cha and Samaras ended with the South Korean slamming in from close range.—AFP

19

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

SPORTS

Liverpool too strong for Villa Villa 0

Liverpool 2

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli (right) tries to reach the ball under pressure from Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny during their English Premier League soccer match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester yesterday. — AP

City return to the top Man City 1

Arsenal 0

MANCHESTER: David Silva’s second half goal ensured Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League as Arsenal were defeated 1-0 in an entertaining game at Eastlands yesterday.

City’s nine-week stay at the summit came to a temporary end after champions Manchester United overcame Queens Park Rangers 2-0 earlier in the day. But Silva’s 53rd minute effort saw City leapfrog their neighbors as manager Roberto Mancini celebrated his second anniversary in charge of the world’s richest club with a win.

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal played their part in a wonderful game but the Londoners could have few complaints as City were denied a second goal when Pablo Zabaleta hit the post. The match saw Arsenal back in Manchester for the first time since suffering an 8-2 thrashing

by United on August 28. That Old Trafford defeat sent them to 17th in the Premier League table with the prospects of qualifying for the Champions League appearing difficult and their ability to mount a title challenge remote.

Yet Arsenal recovered from that humiliating experience to win nine of the following 12 league games, and they returned to Manchester in fifth position and back in contention for a berth in the top four after a run of seven wins in their last eight league outings. In recent seasons Arsenal have lost Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Kolo Toure to City, whose billionaire Abu Dhabi owners have built a squad capable of being serious contenders for the Premier League. Sergio Aguero and Silva teased and tormented

the Arsenal back four in the opening stages while Nasri, who was booed throughout by Gunners fans, looked in the mood to prove a point to Mancini, who has used him sparingly on the Premier League stage.

Yet it was City’s Joe Hart who was the busier keeper in the opening 20 minutes, the England international frustrating Gervinho, Aaron Ramsey and defender Thomas Vermaelen all in the space of 60 action-packed seconds. But it required a fine save by Wojciech Szczensy to deny Mario Balotelli his ninth league goal of the campaign after Per Mertesacker failed to deal with a delightful cross from Micah Richards midway through the first half. In a compelling free-flowing game, in-form Arsenal striker Robin van Persie was fairly anonymous in the opening half an hour.

However, the Netherlands forward flashed a 32nd minute header narrowly wide from 12-yards before referee Phil Dowd waved away Arsenal claims for a penalty after Toure’s challenge on Ramsey. It was City though who broke the deadlock early in the second half.

Arsenal’s defense was exposed down the right flank as Balotelli cut inside the area before gliding past Alex Song and forcing keeper Szczensy to spill the ball.

Silva was first to react-the former Valencia player hooking home from close range to claim City’s 50th Premier League goal of the season and 150th since Mancini took charge. As in an epic boxing match, Arsenal refused to hit the canvas as Theo Walcott and van Persie were denied by fine saves from Hart.

But City should have put the game out of sight with Aguero and then Nasri spurning chances before full-back Zabaleta rattled the Arsenal post from 25 yards in the 66th minute. Yet the hosts were forced to survive a couple of late scares before victory was confirmed-Vermaelen twice going close to an equalizer in the dying moments of a top quality contest.— AFP

English Premier League table LONDON: English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man City Man Utd Tottenham Chelsea Arsenal Liverpool Newcastle Stoke Norwich Aston Villa

16 16 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16

13 12 11 10 9 8 7 7 5 4

2 3 1 2 2 5 6 3 5 7

1 1 3 4 5 3 3 6 6 5

50 37 31 34 31 20 21 18 25 18

15 14 18 19 24 13 19 25 29 21

41 39 34 32 29 29 27 24 20 19

Fulham Swansea West Brom Everton QPR Sunderland Wolves Wigan Blackburn Bolton

16 16 16 15 16 16 16 16 16 16

4 4 5 5 4 3 4 3 2 3

6 6 3 2 4 5 2 4 4 0

6 6 8 8 8 8 10 9 10 13

18 16 16 16 15 18 17 15 23 20

18 20 24 19 28 19 30 30 36 38

18 18 18 17 16 14 14 13 10 9

BIRMINGHAM: Kenny Dalglish secured his first ever victory at Villa Park as a manager as Liverpool once again enhanced their aspirations of a top four finish with a 2-0 win yesterday.

Dalglish will probably not enjoy a more comfortable afternoon this season, with goals from Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel securing Liverpool’s fifth away win of the campaign as they moved to within sight of the leading quartet in the Premier League.

This canter also ensured a successful return for England international Stewart Downing, who will feel even more vindicated in his decision to move from the Birmingham club to Anfield in pre-season. Despite Villa’s win over Bolton Wanderers last weekend, these are increasingly fraught times for manager Alex McLeish and yesterday his team never looked like threatening the Premier League’s best defense.

The absence of England internationals Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor, through injury and suspension respectively, was glaring and only Charles N’Zogbia appeared capable of lifting the

gloom as Villa crashed to a third home defeat of the season.

Dalglish cannot have envisaged such a stress-free afternoon, after six previously fruitless visits.

Downing received a predictably frosty welcome at Villa Park, making his first appearance since his acrimonious £20 million move.

But the winger, who spent two years in the West Midlands, produced Liverpool’s first goalscoring chance when his low shot was saved by Brad Guzan before he was involved for the opening goal in the 11th minute.

Downing’s corner was flicked into the danger area by Jonjo Shelvey and though Guzan repelled Luis Suarez’s close-range effort, Bellamy could not miss the rebound from three yards.

Liverpool inched further ahead four minutes later after Villa’s defenders once again displayed a propensity to go absent without leave. This time it was Alan Hutton who was caught out as he allowed Skrtel to rise unopposed and nod Bellamy’s corner past a static Guzan. Villa did manage something of a response, however, with £9.5m signing N’Zogbia producing flashes of individual brilliance and drilling a shot into the side netting. But Liverpool’s pace always caused the hosts problems and it was merely a question of how many goals they would add. Suarez had one of his quieter afternoons but came close early in the second period, arrowing a drive against the upright.

BIRMINGHAM: Liverpool’s Luis Suarez (front) clashes with Aston Villa’s James Collins during the Barclays Premier League soccer match at Villa Park, Birmingham yesterday. — AP The Uruguay forward, still waiting on the outcome of an FA disciplinary hearing into allegations he racially abused Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, hit the woodwork for a second time just before the hour, sending an

exquisite chip over Guzan only to see it come back off the post.

Incredibly, it was the 17th time Liverpool have hit the woodwork this season. Villa battled to find a goal as time ebbed away but were well beaten.— AFP

Juventus lead Serie A MILAN: Unbeaten Juventus broke clear at the top of the Italian league with a 2-0 victory over struggling Novara yesterday as Udinese was held to a 2-2 draw at Lazio. Simone Pepe gave Juventus the best start when he scored in the fourth minute but the result flattered Juventus with veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pulling off a string of impressive saves.

Fabio Quagliarella secured the win 15 minutes from time. Juventus is two points clear of AC Milan and Udinese.

Inter Milan’s revival gathered pace as Andrea Ranocchia helped it win 1-0 at struggling Cesena.

Inter’s fifth win in six games moves it up to fifth spot - 10 points behind Juventus. After Milan had gone provisionally top with victory on Saturday the pressure was on Juventus and it didn’t disappoint. Antonio Conte’s team got off to the perfect start when Paolo De Ceglie crossed for Pepe to tap home from close range. Juventus sealed the points when Quaglierella headed in Andrea Pirlo’s corner for his first goal in more than a year. “We were very good in creating opportunities, but less so in finishing them off,” Conte said.

“They’re risking giving us heart attacks on the bench.”

In Rome, Udinese took the lead in the 27th minute when Giampiero Pinzi released Giovanni Pasquale down the left flank and he crossed for Antonio Floro Flores to score with a diving header. Lazio leveled two minutes from halftime when Senad Lulic controlled the ball well on the edge of the area before curling in a shot which was deflected into the bottom left corner. And the capital side were ahead six minutes after the break as Tommaso Rocchi headed the ball on for Miroslav Klose to volley in from the right side of the area.

Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic kept his side in the game with several crucial saves before Pinzi leveled in the 73rd minute, rushing onto Antonio Di

TURIN: Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (right) saves on Novara’s Marco Rigoni during a Serie A soccer match at the Juventus stadium in Turin yesterday. — AP Natale’s through ball before slotting into the far corner. In a game of few chances at Cesena, Inter made it three wins in a row thanks to Ranocchia’s second-half goal as he headed home Maicon’s freekick. “I’ve never seen my team miss so many passes like today,” Inter coach Claudio Ranieri said. “This is a game from which we have to just take the points. For entertainment, you had to turn on the TV today at 1130 to watch Barcelona.” Napoli slipped further down the table with a 3-1 loss to Roma. Walter Mazzarri’s team has now only won once in seven Serie A games.

It got off to a terrible start when goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis turned Erik Lamela’s cross into his own net in the third minute. Napoli should have been level before halftime as Marek Hamsik missed an open goal from six yards out, blazing over the bar when he seemed certain to score. Ezequiel Lavezzi also hit the post. Roma extended its lead on the hour mark, Osvaldo slotting home Francesco Totti’s cross

from close range. Hamsik got Napoli back into the game when he fired home from a tight angle eight minutes from time but it was too little too late. Fabio Simplicio sealed the victory in stoppage time. Lecce could have given its survival hopes a big boost as it looked to be on course for a 3-1 victory at Parma before letting the lead slip.

Parma was awarded a penalty in the 19th minute when Stefano Ferrario brought down Jonathan Biabiany. Sergio Floccari stepped up to the spot and sent Lecce goalkeeper Julio Sergio the wrong way, slotting the ball into the bottom left corner. Two rapid David Di Michele goals saw Lecce take the lead. And Lecce looked to have won the game when Juan Cuadrado extended its advantage eight minutes from time. But Graziano Pelle got Parma back in the game four minutes later and Daniele Galloppa grabbed the equalizer in stoppage time.

Catania beat Palermo 2-0 in what is likely to be Maxi Lopez’s last home game for the Sicilian side,

thanks to a penalty from the Argentine after Francesco Lodi had put the home side in front.

Maxi Lopez is likely to leave Catania in the winter transfer window - with a touted move to AC Milan - and the striker left the field in tears when he was substituted midway through the second half.

“I still don’t know what the future holds,” Maxi Lopez said. “I think Milan is the most important club in Italy and it would be a great joy for me to join them. But I’m at Catania now so we’ll see. “I got emotional today because it’s been a tough week, I didn’t know if I would play and then it was important for me to score because you don’t know what may happen. I left everything to come to this city, for this club and for my teammates.”Elsewhere, Bologna is further in trouble after losing 2-1 at Genoa. Gaston Ramirez leveled for Bologna after Marco Rossi had put Genoa in front. But Lucas Pratto scored his first Serie A goal five minutes from time.— AP

Atletico lose 2-0 at home; Valencia stun Malaga MADRID: Atletico Madrid picked up its first home league defeat of the season after going down 2-0 to 10man Real Betis yesterday to increase the pressure on coach Gregorio Manzano. Alex Pozuelo scored in the 54th minute and substitute Roque Santa Cruz added a second in stoppage time to give Betis a second straight victory and boost its own beleaguered coach, Pepe Mel. Pozuelo was sent off in the 72nd.

“We’ve played worse (today) than other days and won 2-0. But I’ve got enough (problems) at Betis without worrying about Atletico,” said Mel, whose team has just recovered from a 10-game winless slump in the league. Atletico is without an away win in seven Spanish league matches but its strong home form had given Manzano some protection. “If I’d seen the team lacked strength, if I’d seen the team had no soul, commitment, intensity, then we’d all be more worried ... but we have,” Manzano said. “You have to value the players’ attitude, the effort made. The result wasn’t fair today.”

This latest defeat leaves the Atletico coach in an increasingly precarious position. Atletico has a Copa del

Rey fixture against third-tier Albacete on Wednesday, aiming to overturn a shock 2-1 defeat in the away leg.

With the Christmas break approaching, anything but a win against Albacete looks likely to end Manzano’s time at the club he took over for a second time in June. At one point against Betis, home fans in the Vicente Calderon stadium chanted the name of Luis Aragones, the former European Championship-winning Spain coach, who is seen as a potential successor.

“It’s a culture that we should control because it doesn’t help the team,” Manzano said. “Today (there were chants) because the team was losing, but there have been protests at other times even when we’ve been winning.” Also yesterday, third-place Valencia emerged from a dip in form to beat European hopeful Malaga 2-0, Granada won 2-1 against Levante, Real Sociedad and Racing Santander drew 0-0 and Osasuna rallied to win 2-1 against Villarreal. Atletico started brightly against Betis, with striker Radamel Falcao spurning two early opportunities - first glancing a third-minute header wide when he should have scored, then hooking a vol-

ley round the post in the sixth.

Atletico winger Arda Turan saw his back-post volley pushed away by Betis goalkeeper Casto Barriga in the 44th, but the visitors improved in the second half.

Pozuelo controlled a pass from Ruben Castro before advancing past Alvaro Dominguez and firing into the roof of the net to open the scoring. Pozuelo got a second yellow card for handling the ball in the 72nd, but Atletico failed to find an equalizer despite heavy pressure. Barriga produced a flying one-handed save to keep Adrian’s header out of the net in the 75th and Santa Cruz scored Betis’ second after following up his own shot that hit the crossbar in the 91st.

Valencia had struggled during December, exiting the Champions League group stage, losing in stoppage time in the league to Betis and only managing a scoreless draw at third-tier Cadiz in the Copa del Rey. But Roberto Soldado scored in the 36th and 61st minutes to dispatch Malaga and keep Valencia within sight of the top two, four behind Barcelona and seven back from Real Madrid. Granada secured a 2-1 home win against

fourth-place Levante with a penalty from Guilherme Siqueira in the 35th and a second goal from Abel Gomez just before half time. Arouna Kone pulled a goal back for Levante on the hour mark, but Granada held on to claim its fifth league victory of the season and move into midtable. Osasuna came from behind to prolong Villarreal’s miserable season with a 2-1 win, moving to fifth spot.

Villarreal’s seventh league defeat left the club hovering just above the relegation zone and pushed Coach Juan Carlos Garrido’s name higher up the list of endangered coaches. Garrido studiously avoided talking about his future after the loss, preferring to compliment his opponent.

“Osasuna is having a very good season,” he said. Real Sociedad hung on for a 0-0 draw at Racing Santander despite losing Inigo Martinez to a red card in the 54th minute. On Saturday, a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid to a 6-2 romp at Seville to lead Barcelona by three points atop the standings. After yesterday’s fixtures, the Spanish league takes a three-week break.— AP

Man City retain top position

19

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

Liverpool too strong for Villa

19

Celtic keep pressure on leaders Rangers

Page 18

YOKOHAMA: Spain’s FC Barcelona’s players form a circle in celebration of the team’s victory over Brazil’s Santos FC at the final of the Club World Cup soccer tournament in Yokohama yesterday. — AP

Barca on top of the world Barcelona crush Santos, win Club World Cup YOKOHAMA: Lionel Messi scored two wonder goals as European champions Barcelona thrashed Brazil’s Santos 40 to win their second Club World Cup in swashbuckling style yesterday. Argentine wizard Messi put Barcelona ahead in the 17th minute, exquisitely clipping a left-foot shot over goalkeeper Rafael Cabral after a clever ball from Xavi. Only seven minutes later it was 2-0 when Xavi himself latched on to a pinpoint pass from Dani Alves, beating one defender before smashing the ball home.

Cesc Fabregas hit the post and then stabbed home Barca’s third on the stroke of halftime as the Spanish giants, winners in 2009, threatened to run riot in front of a crowd of 68,000 in Yokohama. The former Arsenal midfielder came within a whisker of another goal moments after the restart, forcing a magnificent save from Cabral. Player of the tournament Messi made it 4-0 eight minutes from time, bursting past Cabral at breath-taking speed to slip the ball into the net and complete the rout. Santos, who lifted their third Libertadores Cup in June almost 50 years after Pele led them to back-to-back titles in 1962 and 1963, had no answer to Barcelona’s brilliance.

“It may have looked easy but it certainly wasn’t,” said Barca captain Carles Puyol after his side became the first to win the Club World Cup twice sine it became a seven-team FIFA competition. “The early goals made it easier for us,”

added Puyol, who dedicated victory to Spain striker David Villa after he broke his leg in Barca’s 4-0 semi-final win over Qatar’s Al Sadd. “We never doubted ourselves and kept their forwards under control. It was a complete performance.” The quality and speed of Barca’s play was bewildering at times. “It’s impossible to stop Barcelona,” shrugged Brazil’s teenage sensation Neymar. “They are the best team in the world with fantastic players. “But we are the secondbest team in the world and for us that is a great reward.”

Qatar’s Al Sadd take third Asian champions Al Sadd beat Japan’s title holders Kashiwa Reysol 5-3 in a penalty shootout to finish third at the Club World Cup yesterday after a turgid 0-0 draw. Nadir Belhadj drilled home the decisive kick after Ryohei Hayashi’s effort was saved to complete an amazing 12 months for Qatar, who were named as hosts of the 2022 World Cup last December. Reysol struggled in attack on a chilly night despite being tidier in their build-up play with Al Sadd equally toothless. Shots were sliced horribly wide for throw-ins before Ibrahim Majid went close for the Qatari side with a dipping free kick in the 74th minute.

European champions Barcelona will face South American Libertadores Cup holders Santos in the final later on Sunday in Yokohama (1030 GMT). — Agencies

YOKOHAMA: FC Barcelona players and staff members toss their head coach Pep Guardiola as they celebrate their victory against Santos FC during the awarding ceremony after the final football match in the Club World Cup yesterday. Barcelona defeated Santos 4-0. — AFP

Quick-fire Rooney lifts United QPR 0

Man Utd 2

LONDON: A first-minute goal from Wayne Rooney sent Manchester United on their way to a 2-0 victory away at Queens Park Rangers yesterday and increased the pressure on Manchester City. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side arrived at Loftus Road knowing a win would lift them a point above City ahead of their local rivals’ clash with Arsenal yesterday. And the prospect of climbing to the head of the table for the first time since October proved to be a powerful incentive, with Rooney providing the visitors

with the perfect start inside the opening 60 seconds. Michael Carrick added a second in the 56th minute-his first goal in 70 United games-to provide a timely reminder of his qualities amid speculation Ferguson will strengthen his midfield options in January’s transfer window.

Any concerns about the squad’s strength were put on hold, however, by a convincing win against a Rangers side who remain three points above the relegation zone. Rooney started the move for the opening goal by heading a loose ball out to Antonio Valencia who worked the byline before crossing towards the England striker, who headed home in front of Rangers defender Luke Young. Moments later United again cut through the home defense when Nani released Danny Welbeck clear on goal and it took a good save from keeper Radek Cerny to deny the young forward.

LONDON: Manchester United’s goalkeeper David De Gea catches the ball under pressure from Queens Park Rangers Dudley Campbell (below) during their English Premier League soccer match at Rangers’ Loftus Road stadium yesterday. — AP

And when Nani called Cerny into action again in the ninth minute, it seemed United would wrap up the game long before the half-time interval. United appeared vulnerable, though, when Rangers did get forward and Jay Bothroyd could easily have cancelled out Rooney’s opening goal after James Mackie easily outpaced Patrice Evra to set up the striker’s shooting chance. That set the pattern for the first half with United failing to make more of a number of clear openings while Rangers appeared capable of cancelling out the slender advantage. United centre-back Jonny Evans headed against a post while Phil Jones was denied by another fine save from Cerny after being sent clear by Rooney.

And at the other end, United’s David de Gea matched his opposite number when he saved from Heidar Helguson with his feet. Although chances were coming frequently for Ferguson’s side, there was a growing concern they might pay the price for their failure to establish a more convincing lead. Rangers worked hard to contain their opponents but signs of tiredness began to creep in during the second half and Carrick took full advantage of a misplaced pass

by Joey Barton to add a second goal in the 56th minute. Carrick collected the ball on the halfway line and ran unchallenged to the edge of Cerny’s box where he finished beyond the keeper with a well-placed right-footed shot.

Rangers were deflated and could have fallen further behind when Rooney narrowly failed to connect with Valencia’s driven cross. And substitute Javier Hernandez almost made an immediate impact when he created another chance for Evans within second of his introduction.

Rangers refused to wilt and could have clawed they way back into the game when substitutes Adel Taarabt and DJ Campbell combined in the 75th minute. Taarabt curled in a low cross towards Campbell, who volleyed over from just five yards despite finding himself unmarked.

That was the last significant scare for United, who eased their way through remainder of the game and came close to a third goal, through Ashley Young. — AFP

Pavlyuchenko takes Tottenham into 3rd Tottenham 1

Sunderland 0

LONDON: Roman Pavlyuchenko’s first Premier League goal of the season was enough to ensure Tottenham Hotspur beat Sunderland 1-0 at White Hart Lane yesterday to go third in the Premier League. The Russian striker, who came on as a substitute for Aaron Lennon midway through the first half, scored just past the hour mark in a match Spurs won despite being without several attacking threats. Spurs started the match without Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale, missing because of a foot injury.

Bale’s absence meant Luka Modric was pushed out wide and therefore limited the Croatian playmaker’s impact. But with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson proclaiming on Sunday morning that Tottenham were the champions’ main rivals for the Premier League title, Spurs’ ability to grind out a win will not have gone unnoticed. Tottenham’s 11-game unbeaten run end against Stoke last week in unfortunate fashion. But they haven’t lost form at their White Hart Lane home since August 28, when Manchester City put five goals past them. Sunderland had reacted instantly to Martin O’Neill’s appointment as manager by beating Blackburn 2-1 in his first game in charge last week.

In the intervening days Nicklas Bendtner and Lee Cattermole were arrested for an alleged car-wrecking spree on Thursday, but the pair-coming back from injury and suspension respectively-were included on the bench. Modric’s influence was curtailed by the fact he was out on the left flank, but the first chance of the game came the minute he

drifted into the middle. He began a slick passing move that ended with Benoit AssouEkotto’s shot on goal, which would have gone in had Rafael van der Vaart not got in the way. Three minutes later van der Vaart put Sandro through, but the Brazilian screwed his shot wide of the far post.

Tottenham’s creativity was further hampered when Lennon limped off with what looked like a hamstring strain in the 26th minute.

Kieran Richardson had two chances to open the scoring for Sunderland, but he was denied by Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel in the 28th minute and then over-ran Sebastian Larsson’s cross from the right. Then, seven minutes before half-time, Larsson’s curling free kick drew Friedel into a superb diving save. The chance of the first half fell to Pavlyuchenko. Scott Parker crossed for the Russian, whose lack of league action-he has not started a Premier League match this season-was evident when he shot wide from barely three yards out. Spurs started the second half brightly and van der Vaart came close to breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute but chipped his shot wide of the left upright. But without Bale and Lennon, things weren’t quite clicking-and runs from both Adebayor and van der Vaart to meet crosses from Modric and Kyle Walker respectively ended in disappointment. But after an hour’s play, van der Vaart dropped back-and it was no coincidence Spurs scored directly afterwards. Wes Brown was at fault for giving the ball away, but Dutch midfielder van der Vaart’s touch was key to Pavlyuchenko’s first league goal of the season.

Six minutes later Modric missed an open goal, after Sunderland keeper Kieren Westwood had batted away Emmanuel Adebayor’s shot into the path of the Croatian, who kicked over the bar from eight yards out. Bendtner, a half-time substitute for Connor Wickham, blew a chance to equalize two minutes from time when he headed wide from close range. — AFP

y

A

Gulf portfolio allocations should look East now

e niv rsar n

Years

Page 22

Global economic woes drag down GCC bourses Page 23

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

Clegg eyes cooperation to end euro-zone crisis

Page 25

BOSE opens first store in Kuwait at The Avenues Page 26

MADRID: Passengers walk past closed check in desks at Madrid’s Barajas airport yesterday on the first day of a strike by Spanish airline Iberia pilots. Iberia’s pilots went on a strike yesterday to protest the company’s launch of a new low-cost airline. — AFP

Obama faces new gridlock over tax bill Boehner wants new bill cutting payroll tax WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama yesterday faced a new congressional gridlock over a payroll tax cut after he signed into law a $1 trillion spending bill, averting a government shutdown. House Speaker John Boehner said he opposes a Senateapproved bill extending a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for just two months and wants congressional bargainers to write a new measure that would last an entire year.

The US Senate passed the spending bill and a two-month payroll tax holiday extension on Saturday, punting that problem down the road, but not for long. Obama had initially sought a one-year extension for the tax cut and unemployment benefits.

The Ohio Republican said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday that the Senate’s two-month bill would be “kicking the can down the road.” He mentioned items in the House version of the bill that were not in the Senate legislation, including restrictions on Obama administration curbs on industrial pollution. Boehner’s comments came a day after the Senate easily approved a compromise payroll tax cut bill. But in a conference call among House Republicans later Saturday, many complained bitterly about the $33 billion Senate bill, saying it lacked serious spending cuts.

Al-Shamali: GCC CB at final stage RIYADH: Kuwait’s Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali said yesterday that the establishment of the GCC central bank is in its final phases, pointing out that the concerned states which joined the GCC union are implementing this agreement.

Al-Shamali told reporters following a meeting of the GCC finance ministers that the formation of GCC Customs Union is going ahead well and that a timetable has been set as of next year till 2015 to activate the union’s agreement.

Concerning the railroad network, AlShamali said that the network will be a reality and “you will see the train chugging off from Kuwait to Salalah,” according to what has been agreed upon.

The finance ministers submitted, during a joint meeting with the GCC foreign ministers, their recommendations to be referred to the GCC summit today.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr AlQorbi joined the meeting of the GCC foreign ministers currently convening here.

Diplomatic sources said that Al-Qorbi was carrying a letter to the council without revealing the nature of the letter. They expected that Al-Qorbi would extend his country’s thanks to the role of the GCC in ending the Yemeni crisis. —KUNA

brief remarks. “This bill will stop President Obama’s delaying tactics,” said Republican Senator Richard Lugar. “It is absolutely incredible that President Obama wants to delay a decision until after the 2012 elections apparently in fear of offending a part of his political base.”

The White House’s apparent concession in agreeing to legislative language requiring Obama to ostensibly reconsider it within two months will enrage environmentalists who lean Democratic and campaigned against the project. Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison acknowledged “stark” differences between the parties over how to pay for the tax cut extension, with some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle furious that the bill slashes inputs to the already creaky Social Security system. “We don’t think that we should defund Social Security,” Republican Senator Mark Kirk said alongside his Democratic colleague Joe Manchin. Both had voted against the measure. The House of Representatives, which earlier approved the spending bill, could take up the tax cut measure today, capping a frenetic period of maneuvering between the White House and its Republican foes.

But approval was far from certain.

According to The New York Times, a number of rank-and-file Republicans objected to the

The compromise tax measure further dented Obama’s authority by forcing him to revisit a contentious pipeline plan, and while the legislation passed easily, its short duration highlighted the inability of feuding lawmakers to bridge the divide on a more comprehensive deal. Obama told reporters he was “pleased” with the deal, but made it clear he was expecting more.

“While this agreement is for two months ... it would be inexcusable for Congress not to further extend this middle-class tax cut for the rest of the year” when they revisit the issue in early 2012, he said at the White House shortly after the Senate vote.

But Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that “in order to achieve something around here, you have to compromise.” The deal thrusts the contentious Keystone XL pipeline, to carry oil from Canada’s tar sands to the US Gulf Coast, back onto the political agenda.

Obama had put off a decision on the project, which pits environmentalists against labor unions and business interests in his political base, until after the November 2012 elections in which he is hoping to secure a second term. The move drew Republican howls. Instead, the bill gives him just 60 days to review the pipeline project, a deadline Obama did not mention during his

measures in a Saturday conference call with House Speaker John Boehner, indicating it would face a difficult battle.

“I would say it has a very steep uphill fight in our conference. It’s a joke,“ the paper quoted Representative Tom Graves of Georgia as saying about the legislation.

Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said Americans “should know that we fought hard to make sure that they get their checks and their deductions come January 1.” But Republicans crowed that they had forced Obama to take up the pipeline project, which they say will create 20,000 jobs, even after the president said he would reject any attempt to link it to the payroll tax holiday.

The agreement requires the State Depar tment to issue a permit for the Keystone project within 60 days unless Obama certifies that it is not in the US national interest. Such a finding would expose Obama to politically explosive Republican charges that he rejected the creation of 20,000 jobs at a time of high unemployment and in the middle of an election year. Seeking to stimulate the sluggish recover y, Obama had asked Congress to extend a payroll tax holiday for a year to give workers a $1,500 tax cut next year. — Agencies

Arabtec helps lift Dubai; Saudi rises MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Shares in Dubai contractor Arabtec surged nearly 5 percent to a 13-month high yesterday in bulk buying and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) helped lift the kingdom’s bourse. An individual buyer is looking to acquire a small stake in Arabtec, traders said. The construction firm said the company’s chief executive Riad Kamal has transferred his shares in the firm to his family, and denied market rumors of a stake sale. “Mr. Kamal has distributed his shares among his three daughters as part of his estate planning,” Chief Financial Officer Ziad Makhzoumi told Reuters.

“This has nothing to do with anyone buying or selling,” he said when asked about a stake sale.

Dubai’s index gained 0.4 percent, rising from Thursday ’s two -week closing low. Late Wednesday, influential index compiler MSCI said it would not upgrade the UAE to an emerging market status.

Losers outnumbered gainers nine to four. Emaar Properties slipped 1.1

percent and Drake & Scull fell 1.7 percent.

Mashreq Bank was the main support, surging 7.1 percent, but just 2,525 shares changed hands.

Abu Dhabi’s index slipped 0.04 percent. “ We have no reason to increase risk in UAE equity markets,” said Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments.

“After MSCI’s decision, we return to our correlation with international markets. There is no major catalyst for a move against (global) markets.”

World stocks were mixed on Friday as worries about downgrades of weaker euro zone countries curbed risk appetite. In Saudi Arabia, SABIC, the world’s largest chemicals producer, climbed 1.1 percent to rebound from Saturday’s two-week low after saying it would issue a 3 riyals-per-share ($0.80) dividend for the second half of 2011.

The index gained 0.2 percent, rising for a third straight session. Other petrochemical stocks also advanced,

with Saudi Kayan Petrochemical up 0.6 percent and Alujain climbing 2 percent.

The building and construction index rose 0.9 percent, also up for a third session with investors also betting on consumer-driven stocks to end the year strongly. “( The) consumer and domestic (sectors) are good areas to be in, like cement,” said Farouk Miah, Acting Head of Research at NCB Capital.

Government spending on infrastructure has boosted demand in the construction sector.

In Oman, the benchmark declined 0.1 percent, down for a second session since Wednesday ’s 12-week closing high as investors booked profits. Oman Telecommunications fell 0.2 percent and Renaissance S er vices shed 0.7 percent.

Heavyweight Bank Muscat dipped 0.3 percent.

Elsewhere, Kuwait’s index ticked up 0.2 percent, while Qatar’s bourse was closed yesterday for a National Day holiday. — Reuters

Russia firm signs up to develop Iran oilfield TEHRAN: Iran signed a deal reportedly worth up to $1 billion with Russia’s Tatneft yesterday to develop an oil field, a rare example of new foreign investment into the oil and gas sector of a country under ever tighter economic sanctions.

Oil Ministry website SHANA said the development at the Zagheh oil field, on the Gulf coast of Bushehr province, would produce 7,000 barrels per day (bpd) in its first phase, growing to 55,000 barrels in a second phase of the contract.

Iran, the world’s fifth biggest oil exporter, says it produces 3.5 million bpd. “This private company is one of the world’s reputable companies working in extraction of heavy oil which is why we wanted to use its experiences,” Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency. Qasemi declined to comment on the value of the contract, saying it would be revealed after two months when the technical details were finalized.

However, Naji Sadouni, the director of the state Petroleum Engineering and Development Co., who signed the memorandum of understanding with his Russian counterpart, said the value of the contract was around $1 billion.

“The oil field will start production within 24 months and its full production will be in 54 months,” Mehr quoted Sadouni as saying.

The president of the southern Russian republic of Tatarstan, the home of Tatneft, in Tehran for the signing, also visited Iran’s giant South Pars gas field and said he hoped for further economic cooperation with Iran. “The diversity of projects in South Pars is unbelievable ... I hope that in future Tatarstan becomes a place for comprehensive Iran-Russia cooperation,” Rustam Minnikhanov told the official IRNA news agency.

Iran has been hit by international sanctions over its nuclear program which the West suspects might be aimed at making bombs. Tehran denies the charge. Many Western companies have pulled out of Iran and few companies from elsewhere have shown enthusiasm to take their place.

Russia has criticized new US sanctions targeting Iran’s financial and energy sectors as “unacceptable” and said they would damage any chances of renewing negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program. But there are few signs Russian investors are rushing to replace Western ones. Iran said in October that it had “excluded” Gazprom from Azar, a major on-shore oil field for what it said was a failing to live up to its undertakings. — Reuters

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News

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

business

Gulf portfolio allocations should look East now

in brief

NBAD’s names new private banking head ABU DHABI: National Bank of Abu Dhabi has appointed Ghadeer Abu Hijleh as head of private banking for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, it said yesterday.

Abu Hijleh, who joined NBAD Private Banking in 2007, was most recently the regional head of business development in private banking with focus on the North Africa region. The move signals greater emphasis by the UAE’s largest bank by market value on tapping into the high net worth segment in its home market of Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest emirate in the country which also holds over 90 percent of its oil reserves. The region is one of the largest markets for global private banking businesses targeting high net worth clients and family offices, but international banks have so far been the dominant players. Now, more regional banks are eyeing expansion opportunities in this segment in their home markets.

TAQA to sell Canadian Oil and gas assets DUBAI: Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA) has reached an agreement to sell some of its oil and gas assets in Canada for an undisclosed amount, the company said yesterday. TAQA North, a unit of the company, expects to close the sale in March 2012, TAQA said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse. The assets in southeastern Saskatchewan have current production of about 4,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. TAQA, which is 75-percent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, has invested in a handful of Canadian companies in recent years. In October, it unveiled plans to invest C$46.6 million in Western Zagros Resources, giving the Canadian-based oil explorer much-needed financial breathing room as drilling draws near for its next big well in Kurdistan in northern Iraq. The power and energy firm also operates power plants in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, India and the US and aims to start oil and gas operations in northern Africa.

SABIC sets 3 riyal-per share dividend for H2 JEDDAH: Petrochemicals group Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) plans to issue a 3 riyal ($ 0.8) dividend per share for the second half of 2011, the firm said in a bourse statement yesterday.

“SABIC board of directors, at its meeting held Saturday evening... decided to recommend to the general assembly... the distribution of 9 billion riyals in dividends to shareholders for the second half of 2011 at 3 riyals per share,” it said. The company paid 2 riyals per share for the second half of 2010. SABIC posted a record profit in the third quarter and is expected to announce fourth-quarter earnings in January. The world’s largest chemical producer by market value posted a 54-percent rise in its third-quarter net profit, beating analyst expectations on the back of high product prices and continued strong global demand.

S Korea’s Hyosung wins $233m Qatar deal SEOUL: South Korea’s Hyosung Corp said yesterday its unlisted affiliate, Hyosung Power & Industrial Systems Performance Group, has signed a 270 billion won ($233 million) contract to build eight electricity substations in Qatar. Under the contract, Hyosung Power and Industrial Systems, a leading electrical equipment and industrial machinery provider, will build six 220-kilovolt and two 66-kilovolt electrical transformer substations by the end of 2013. Hyosung added the affiliate will be responsible not only for the construction but also for engineering and procurement for the Qatar project.

KCIC INVESTMENT ANALYSIS KUWAIT: 75% of GCC’s savings are invested in Western G3 economies, which are saddled with structural deficits and low growth rates. Comparatively, Asia’s share of world’s GDP is expected to increase from the current 25 to 35% by 2020, while G3’s share will fall from 48 to 38%. Yet, only 11% of the Gulf’s outward investment was directed to Asia.

Allocating an additional 10% of the future oil proceeds to Asia (excluding Japan) would imply $600bn of new investments in the Asian region in the next decade.

Why is this graph important?

Compared to the rest of the world, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain - are set for a smooth 2012. While in the EU, Japan and the United States (known as the G3) a double-dip recession is becoming a real threat, analysts expect GCC’s GDP to grow close to 5% next year. The factors underpinning these expectations are: a) exports are the main driver of growth in the region; b) oil accounts for most of those exports; and c) oil price is likely to remain high over the next months. But, in a world where the three main economies are slowing down, how could oil prices remain high? The answer is Asia. The graph shows that, since 2000, the weight of Asia (excluding Japan) in GCC’s exports rose from 24 to 39%, whereas G3’s share decreased from 41 to 31%. The highly commodity-intensive Asian growth has come mostly from India and China, whose rapid expansion was initially led by exports to G3 but has been gradually switching to domestic demand and trade with the rest of the Asian region.

What does the indicator tell us?

The chart shows, in percentage terms, the breakdown of exports of GCC countries by destination. The first implication is that Asia has been gaining relevance as a trading partner for the GCC, while the most developed economies have been losing out over the last 10 years. In absolute terms, since 2000 the G3 has multiplied its oil and natural gas imports from GCC by 2.8, while Asia - excluding Japan has multiplied them by 6.1, with China and India increasing their imports twentyfold. The second implication comes from the fact that oil demand can be considered a leading indicator of growth. By definition, commodities are “fungible” across consumers. Supply tends to be relatively rigid in the short term and prices usually are very sensitive to supply and demand conditions. The rise of energy-starving China and India has been the most important single factor

pushing the price of commodities up in the world in the last years, and keeping the Gulf’s oil exports revenues growing consistently. Robust energy demand in Asia is strongly linked to its high GDP growth forecast of 7.5% for 2012.

Implications?

All world economies - and markets - are interconnected.

2011 has been a good example of how global macroeconomic conditions and jittery financial markets have moved together, producing negative returns in both developed and Asian economies. But the economic fundamentals are profoundly different between developed and emerging economies. The G3 faces the problem of an ageing population, while most of Asia, with already 60% of the world population, enjoys a healthy demographic structure and growing urbanization rates. G3 consumption rates are limited by high levels of private debt, whereas Asia’s consumption rates keep growing and will continue to do so as Asian countries put in place social security systems that will diminish defensive accumulation. As a result, Asia’s share of world’s GDP is expected to increase from the cur-

Report highlights GCC economic gains in 2011 RIYADH: An economic report issued recently on the occasion of the 32nd GCC summit, which kicked off here yesterday spoke highly about the achievements of the GCC countries in the economic and financial fields during the year 2011. The report issued by the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council proposals included a proposal submitted by the State of Kuwait on the need to adopt the budgets of the specialized organizations within the framework of the Cooperation Council by the Ministerial Council and the unification of financial supervision and standardization of accounting system and financial support to these organizations within the framework of the Secretariat of the Cooperation Council.

It also included the approval of the Committee on Financial and Economic Cooperation at its 91st meeting, which was held last October on the draft statute for the judiciary and the recommendation of the Ministerial Council and refer it to the Supreme Council at its 32nd session for adoption.

In the area of the Customs Union, the same Committee endorsed recommendation for the establishment of the customs union starting in the first of January 2012, in addition to approving the agenda of the unified customs tariff of the GCC countries 2012 and be applicable in all customs administrations of the GCC States in January next year. It also included the decision to extend the amended regulations to exempt inputs of national industry from taxes (duties) of the GCC States currently in force for three years starting from the beginning of January. With regard to cooperation in the fields of banking, the Technical Committee will work on studying a strategy to link the payment systems in the countries of the Council on the promotion and development of Gulf Network to link the networks of ATM in the GCC States. In the same context, it was agreed to adopt common standards for smart cards in the GCC countries in addition to work on studying modern communication methods to choose the best option for linking the Gulf with the ATM network. — KUNA

rent 25% to 35% by 2020, while G3’s share will fall from 48% to 38%. Enormous opportunities will arise for local and foreign companies catering to these new Asian consumers in need of infrastructure, healthcare, education, consumer goods, financial services and leisure activities.

These opportunities will materialize as the global macroeconomic uncertainty is left behind and fundamentals start playing again, and GCC investors can be a part of it via portfolio rebalancing.

Indeed, according to latest available data a high 75% of GCC’s savings are invested in developed economies like the US and the UK, that are saddled with structural deficits and low growth rates - which in the long run will affect the returns of those investments. Does it make sense to put your savings where growth is not happening any longer? Yet, only 11% of the Gulf’s outward investment was directed to Asia. Allocating an additional 10% of the future oil proceeds to Asia ex Japan would imply $600bn of new investments in the Asian region in the next decade.

Gulf portfolios in this century should have more of an Asian flavor. — Prepared by Francisco Quintana, KCIC.

Amlak deal would hit Dubai’s ENBD Tier 1 DUBAI: Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank by assets, could see its Tier 1 capital ratio fall by nearly 1.1 percentage points if it is forced to absorb embattled property lender Amlak Finance, HC Securities said yesterday.

ENBD, which is 56-percent owned by the government of Dubai, has already taken on one debt-ridden financial institution, Dubai Bank, at the behest of the authorities-resulting in a Tier 1 drop of 1 percentage point under the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) ratios, the brokerage said in a research note. “We expect a government solution for Amlak, which, due to its very sizeable property investment portfolio, is in an even worse position than Dubai Bank was,” HC said.

“However, even if ENBD were to acquire Amlak at the same terms as Dubai Bank (i.e. for virtually nothing), its capital ratios would suffer a substantial negative impact (1.08 percentage points on BIS ratio, 0.75 percentage points on Tier 1 under Basel II, and 0.65 percentage points on common equity Tier 1 under Basel III).” ENBD’s shares closed on Thursday at 3.17 dirhams ($0.86). — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2735000 .4290000 .3590000 .2940000 .2650000 .2740000 .0040000 .0020000 .0753230 .7338450 .3810000 .0700000 .7194030 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2774500 GB Pound/KD .4311710 Euro .361640 Swiss francs .2961990 Canadian dollars .2672540 Danish Kroner .0486970 Swedish Kroner .0400610 Australian dlr .2766590 Hong Kong dlr .0356330 Singapore dlr .2125010 Japanese yen .0035660 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0755690 Bahraini dinars .7362350 Jordanian dinar .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.598 5.337 3.154 2.436 3.341 213.250 35.672 3.580 6.336 8.873 0.271 0.273

.2810000 .4390000 .3690000 .3060000 .2750000 .2840000 .0070000 .0035000 .0760800 .7412210 .4030000 .0760000 .7266330 .0072000 .0520000

.2795500 .4344350 .3643510 .2984410 .2692770 .0490650 .0403640 .2787530 .0359030 .2144120 .0035930 .0053550 .0024650 .0031300 .0036450 .0761410 .7418070 .3954030

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.500 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.282 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.272 Tunisian Dinar 189.860 Jordanian Dinar 392.670 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.865 Syrian Lier 6.003 Morocco Dirham 33.814 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 277.950 Euro 370.650 Sterling Pound 431.930 Canadian dollar 268.420 Turkish lire 153.940 Swiss Franc 300.620 Australian dollar 277.000 US Dollar Buying 277.750 GOLD 315.500 159.000 81.500

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 Norwegian krone Omani Riyal

SELL CASH

281.700 741.200 3.880 273.500 547.400 43.800 49.800 167.800 48.040 367.300 36.510 5.650 0.032 0.211 0.242 3.680 395.800 0.189 90.300 46.600 4.290 215.700 1.806 47.900 723.930

3.300 6.730 77.100 74.410 215.300 36.010 2.655 436.700 41.300 301.900 5.100 9.330 198.263 75.990 279.400 1.330

10 Tola

GOLD 1,671.720

SELL DRAFT

280.200 741.200 3.465 272.000

215.300 46.359 365.800 36.360 5.290 0.031

723.750

300.400 5.100 9.120 75.890 278.700

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

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound

278.950 273.160 433.935 365.820 297.605 738.695 75.925 76.570 74.345 392.660 46.390 2.446 5.299 3.121 3.462 6.351 684.255 3.670 8.980 5.875

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro

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 Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

282.41 272.63 302.35 366.62

437.50 3.70 3.820 5.620 2.650 4.000 3.300 76.35 742.00 48.10 395.00 725.00 77.20 74.75

278.650 3.115 5.285 2.455 3.475 6.390 75.955 74.450 740.700 46.360 438.600 3.190 1.550 395.800 5.750 369.200 274.000 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange

UAE Exchange Center WLL Currency

436.20 3.64 3.474 5.282 2.446 3.313 3.109 75.85 741.20 46.29 396.43 724.19 76.84 74.40

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

394.920 0.188 90.300 3.320 214.200

3.125 6.360 76.670 74.410 215.300 36.010 2.444 434.700

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 434.700 278.700

Rate for Transfer

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

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

284.00 275.00 305.00 381.50

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar 278.250 Euro 365.600 Pound Sterling 434.500 Canadian Dollar 271.800 Japanese Yen 3.585 Indian Rupee 5.295 Egyptian Pound 46.290 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.445 Bangladesh Taka 3.445 Philippines Peso 6.347 Pakistan Rupee 3.120 Bahraini Dinar 741.000 UAE Dirham 75.800 Saudi Riyal 74.400 *Rates are subject to change

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Global economic woes hit GCC bourses KAMCO GCC Equity Markets Review KUWAIT: Deteriorating monetary and fiscal conditions in the euro-zone and US, increased efforts for centralized oversight over euro-zone fiscal policies and continued deterioration of global economic indicators remain the primary drivers for GCC and international equity markets performance. During November, six out of seven equity markets in the GCC region closed in the red with the exception of the Bahrain Bourse which ended the month with a gain of 1.35 per cent.

On the other hand, Muscat Securities Market was the worst performer with a 3 per cent decline followed by Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Dubai Financial Market which incurred losses of 2.26 per cent and 2.07 per cent, respectively.

The majority of GCC Bourses plunged during November under the pressure of a persistent European sovereign debt crisis and regional geopolitical developments. Regional markets are expected to remain weak in the coming months unless euro-zone leaders succeed in agreeing on convincing solutions and returning confidence to the markets.

Investors in the GCC region and across the globe are frustrated over the failure of euro-zone policy makers to forge credible solutions for the exacerbating debt crisis. Additional pressure on regional markets stems from the escalating Arab Spring developments as well as rising political tensions in other countries in the region.

With the possibility of a euro-zone breakup emerging from the debt crisis, GCC markets performance appears to be increasingly correlated with international events. A delay in the global economic recovery is reflected in most recent oil prices that have witnessed increased volatility and downward pressure.

Furthermore, with the absence of local market catalysts, GCC Bourses will increasingly look for global cues as a

guide for overall direction, however, markets’ performance over the past few months reflect a wait and see approach adopted by most investors.

Market Outlook In the short to medium term, GCC equities are expected to be influenced by euro-zone developments, full-year earnings season as well as the direction of oil prices. Regional markets extract its support from the most recent rally in oil prices while results for 9M-11 suggests moderate improvement to be witnessed in full year earnings. In addition, credit market improvements and increases in lending activities are expected to support performance of Saudi and Qatari banking stocks in the medium term while increased volatility in oil prices along with ongoing evidence of global economic softness are causing the petrochemical sector to lose its appeal.

Despite 2010 being a sluggish year, the outlook for the GCC equity markets

for 2011 was increasingly optimistic as the global economic recovery moved towards consolidation. However, the political instability that erupted in Tunisia & Egypt in the beginning of 2011, which later sparked off the Arab Spring, coupled with concerns over deteriorating debt profile in the euro-zone along with the US fiscal debt deal deadlock and its impact on the global economic recovery intensified investors’ worries dragging regional markets further down this year.

The protests that broke out in the Arab world since the beginning of the year took a major toll on investor confidence in the region. The political instability has resulted in outflow of capital from financial markets with investors fearing that the worst has yet to come.

The inability of national transitional governments to provide stability in the economies and restore confidence, negatively impacted market sentiment adding pressure to further potential market losses. Since the uprising of Arab

spring in December 2010, MENA stock markets lost in total $112bn of their market capitalization to reach $844bn at the end of Nov-11, mainly due to lack of investor confidence, flight of capital and bearish market sentiment that pushed trading activities to its lowest level over years. The 7 GCC bourses have lost $73bn of their market capitalization to reach $706bn.

Saudi Tadawul, the largest Arab bourse, lost $30.6bn of its market cap, while the Kuwaiti bourse wiped off $24.8bn of its market cap over the same period. The regional markets are directly affected by the lingering debt issues in Europe and the US, as its subsequent adverse impact on the world’s capital markets has become increasingly interconnected.

The eruption of global financial crisis in 2008 coupled with the Arab spring that has engulfed the region since early 2011, have led investors to become more cautious leading to heightened volatility

in regional capital. Furthermore, since the GCC states’ economies rely heavily on oil revenues, there is an impending concern that the ongoing debt crisis in Europe and the US, if not contained, would lead the global economy to plunge again into recession, leading to a drop in oil demand and a subsequent drop in prices and thereby hamper the growth prospects in the GCC region.

Confidence crisis in the euro-zone, recurring European debt issues, deteriorating sovereign credit profile within the euro zone, and sluggish global economic growth along with volatility in capital markets and political instability in the MENA region are the main themes that will persist throughout the first half of 2012 and fuel volatility in regional equity markets. Recovery may be witnessed in the second half of 2012 aided by the gradual revival in credit, healthy corporate earnings, solid governments’ finance and the possible stabilization of the political situation in the region.

China housing inflation falls as tightening bites New home prices fall in 49 cities

THESSALONIKI: Members of the ‘I won’t pay’ movement stand by a Christmas tree decorated with the power bills with the new emergency property tax during a protest in Thessaloniki yesterday.

Poverty in Greece has risen to new heights under a grueling recession exacerbated by austerity that has swelled the ranks of the unemployed, the homeless and the destitute, experts said.—AFP

Modification blunders bedevil US recovery WASHINGTON: Shirley Burnell, a community activist from Oakland, California, has been trying to get her subprime loan restructured since 2007. She never missed a payment, but the adjustable rate mortgage she got in 2004 shot up to a monthly payment she could no longer afford. First she provided documents without getting any response, then she was denied in April by her servicer, Bank of America, for not providing documents it never actually asked for. As one part of the bank appealed that decision and approved her for a trial modification, another part denied her again - twice - providing two new reasons in part based on inaccurate calculations, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. When asked about Burnell’s case, a bank spokesman said she was unable to qualify under “imminent default provisions,” a third reason that Burnell said she had never been given.

At one point, Burnell even received notice the bank would accelerate foreclosure proceedings, despite her perfect payment record and the letter itself saying the bank owed her $281.01. “They gave you a funky loan in the first place, and now they’re refusing to work with people to get it worked out,” Burnell said.

“It just keeps you upset all the time.”

Bank of America is “committed to keeping customers in their homes whenever the homeowner has the financial wherewithal to make reasonable payments and the desire to keep the home,” a spokesman for the bank said. Three years after the foreclosure crisis began, the process to apply for a loan modification remains a bureaucratic nightmare that is complicating the housing recovery and could dull the impact of any Obama administration initiatives in the works.

The administration’s biggest foreclosureprevention effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), targeted to help 3 million to 4 million homeowners, has reached only about a quarter of that since its 2009 inception. The program pushed mortgage servicers to cut interest, extend terms, or defer parts of a loan in an effort to reduce monthly payments and keep borrowers in their homes. But servicers have dragged their feet on providing wide-scale modifications.

They continue to lose documents, use inaccurate numbers to issue denials, or both

approve and deny applications at the same time, according to housing advocates.

“It delays resolution of the problem of defaulting loans and it is adding uncertainty to the market,” said Susan Wachter, a housing expert at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Around one in every 12 mortgages in the country is delinquent, and only a fraction of them have received modifications.

“Somehow the borrower is unreachable, or the servicer hasn’t found the right way to reach the borrower, but the fact is, we see (modifications) piercing maybe 10 to 25 percent of the potential population,” said Diane Westerback, a managing director of global surveillance analytics at Standard & Poor’s.

Banks have stepped up efforts to deal with the foreclosure crisis since 2009. Chase, for example, set up 82 centers around the country specifically to deal with struggling homeowners. Wells Fargo hosts one-day fairs for homeowners to bring in all of their paperwork and potentially get approved for a modification on the spot.

Bank of America says it has completed almost 1 million modifications since 2008, and Wells Fargo says it initiated or completed more than two modifications for every one foreclosure of owner-occupied homes in the past two years. But the majority of homeowners, advocates say, still get stuck in byzantine mazes, with no real enforcement mechanism to pursue under HAMP. “If you get a minor traffic ticket, you get a right to an impartial hearing, but if you are applying for federal home saving assistance, the bank is judge, jury, and executioner,” said Joseph Sant, a lawyer at Staten Island Legal Services who helps defend homeowners facing foreclosure.

It took nearly one year for Hakan Tale to convince his servicer, Chase, that it overvalued his house by more than $100,000 in rejecting a modification. Once he was able to convince Chase of that mistake, it rejected him again, dropping his monthly income by almost $4,000 and determining he didn’t make enough money to qualify, even though his actual income had not changed. In November, more than two years after Tale first sought a modification, Chase asked him to submit an entirely new application. — Reuters

BEIJING: China’s November housing inflation hit its lowest level this year, a victory for Beijing’s campaign to ward off property bubbles as it steadily eases monetary policy to ensure a soft landing in the world’s second-largest economy.

Average new home prices rose 2.2 percent in November from a year ago, the weakest rise so far in 2011, according to Reuters calculations of latest official data published on Sunday. Home prices rose 2.8 percent in October. A Reuters weighted index, based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), showed that average new home prices in China fell 0.2 percent in November from October, for the second month in a row.

The NBS, which tracks home prices in 70 major cities, stopped providing a nationwide home price index in January. The falling home price, in tandem with a sharp ease in China’s consumer inflation in November from July’s three-year peak, enables Beijing to tilt its policies more towards safeguarding economic growth, away from its top priority of calming inflation just a few months ago.

But analysts expect no let-up in Beijing’s fight against property speculation as top officials have vowed to drive housing prices back to “reasonable levels”. “The correction has neither reached the government’s satisfaction nor the extent seen last time,” said Hui Jianqiang, research head of property consultancy E-House China, referring to a brief but sharp property market downturn during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

The NBS said new house prices rose 1.3 percent in Beijing in November from a year ago, the lowest since July 2009. They were up 2.4 percent in Shanghai, the lowest in five months. New home prices fell in four cities, including Ningbo, Wenzhou, Haikou and Nanchong, in November from a year ago, while they only fell in two of the 70 cities in October. In month-on-month terms, new home prices dropped in 49 cities in November, up from 33 in October. They kept flat in 16 other cities and rose in the remaining six cities. Worried about a rebound in home prices, China’s leaders vowed earlier this week to maintain tightening steps against the property sector, including home purchase restrictions, curbs

of onshore and offshore fundraising options for developers and higher downpayments for multiple home buyers. “China will stick to property tightening policies, push home prices back to a reasonable level, and speed up construction of ordinary commercial homes to increase effective supply,” they concluded in the annual Central Economic Work Conference on Wednesday, which laid out a blueprint for the country in 2012. Beijing unveiled a massive stimulus pack-

credibility,” Hui said. Still, some analysts expect banks to extend more mortgage loans and lower mortgage rates as Beijing has started to finetune policy to prevent sharp growth slowdown amid the global economic malaise. China cut banks’ required reserves on November 30, earlier than market expectations, and its first such move in three years.

More and more cities have vowed to extend their restrictions on home purchases when they

BEIJING: A cleaner walks down steps before a luxury housing and office development in Beijing yesterday. Home prices in most major Chinese cities fell in November from the previous month, official data showed, as government efforts to cool the red-hot property market prove effective. — AFP age and encouraged home buying in late 2008 to counter the impact of the global financial crisis, which led to a sharp rebound in housing inflation in the middle of 2009. This time around, history will probably not repeat itself.

“A sudden rebound is unlikely this time.

Otherwise, it will greatly harm the government’s

expire at the end of this year. But some banks have lowered mortgage rates for first-home buyers as they charge benchmark rates rather than asking for a 5-10 percent premium on the benchmark as done previously, alongside a prolonged application period, according to domestic media reports. — Reuters

Slow recovery for flood-hit Thai plants AYUTTHAYA, Thailand: Piles of rubbish, rusting furniture and discarded machinery litter one of Thailand’s top high-tech parks, a former symbol of economic prowess laid to waste by weeks of flooding.

Many of the companies located in the country’s industrial heartland say it will be several months at least before their operations return to normal. Investor confidence in the kingdom is likely to take even longer to recover. At least one major manufacturer, Sanyo Semiconductor, is pulling the plug on its operations in hard-hit Ayutthaya province north of Bangkok altogether, while others are considering moving to safer areas.

“We’ve realized, obviously with hindsight, that we’re in the wrong place-we’re in a flood zone,” said Richard Han, chief executive of semiconductor maker Hana Microelectronics whose plant was

badly affected.

Even if large dykes were built around the industrial parks, production would have to be suspended if the area is flooded again because access to the site would become too difficult, he said. “My customers understand that,” Han added. “They are moving their business elsewhere.”

The disaster caused billions of dollars of damage and dealt a severe blow to the global supply chain.

There are also questions about whether insurers will continue to cover companies located in the floodprone region. Japanese high-tech giant Toshiba still has no idea when operations will resume at eight of its affected factories as new machines and parts are needed and electricity and telephone links have not yet been fully restored.

“We already destroyed more than 100,000 damaged goods in our ware-

house,” a spokeswoman said. At the Rojana Industrial Park, the more than two-metre-deep water that overwhelmed flood defenses in October and poured into a host of factories has receded, and a clean-up operation by a small army of workers is under way. On a recent day at Japanese auto giant Honda’s plant, employees in rubber boots and face masks were hosing down floors and walls stained brown by the water, while muddy vehicles were parked outside, an AFP reporter saw.

Further down the road at a factory run by electronics maker Pioneer, several windows were shattered, while at Panasonic workers were demolishing a perimeter wall damaged by the unstoppable mass of slow-moving water. In total seven major industrial estates in central Thailand fell victim to the kingdom’s worst floods in half a century, which left hundreds dead.

While many Japanese companiesa key pillar of the economy-have said publicly they remain committed to Thailand, in private there is frustration with the government’s handling of the crisis, particularly its confusing advice. “I wish the government had done more,” said the president of a local subsidiary of a Japanese textile producer, who had to rely on the media for information about the disaster. His factory, located in the northern suburbs of Bangkok, close to where the government set up its emergency response centre, was submerged in one and a half metres of water, despite the firm’s efforts to protect it with sandbags. “In the beginning Don Mueang was a flood relief and evacuation centre so the government said it would be OK... but they completely failed,” the Japanese businessman told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.—AFP

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Banks help KSE stocks eke out marginal gains GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) closed the first session of the week on positive note.

Major market indices got good support from the banking sector while most of the other market sectors ended yesterday’s session with marginal gains.

Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.36 percent, at 180.81 point. Market capitalization was up for the day reaching KD29.58bn. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,832.4 point, adding 9.1 points (0.16 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 108 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 39 equities advanced versus 23 that retreated. Trading activity was down yesterday. Total volume traded was down by 22.58 percent with 120.83mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD14.16mn (23.04 percent lower compared to Thursday’s session). Real Estate sector was the volume leader. The sector accounted for 34.29 percent of total shares exchanges. Abyaar Real Estate Development Company was the session’s most traded stock with 19.92mn shares exchanged. The services sector was the value leader, having 30.07 percent of total traded value.

In terms of top gainers, Al-Mazaya Holding Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 7.94 percent to its share value and closing at KD0.068. On the other hand, Industrial & Financial Investments Company shed 6.94 percent and closed at KD0.034 making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sector-wise During the session, six out of eight sector indices witnessed daily gains. Global Insurance index was a prominent gainer among the sectors, adding 1.04 percent to its value, driven by Al-Ahleia Insurance Company which rose by 3.19 percent, closing at KD0.485. Warba Insurance Company was another gainer in the sector. The scrip surged by 1.72 percent to close at KD0.118.

Global Banking Index followed, up by 0.70 percent as National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) and

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

business

Ahli United Bank rose by 1.79 percent and 1.25 percent, respectively, while all other bank stocks remained flat for the day. Elsewhere in the banking sector, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services reviewed its ratings on four Kuwaiti banks by applying its new ratings criteria and updated group methodology for banks.

The Industrial sector followed, netting 0.29 percent in gains. Boubyan International Industries Holding headed the advance in the sector with a 2.22 percent share value appreciation. Earlier, the BOD met and approved the company’s financial statements for the first quarter ended October 31, 2011. The company recorded a net loss of KD0.888mn in 1Q2011 compared to a net loss of KD0.889mn in 1Q2010. Heavyweight National Industries Group (Holding) also gave a great support to the sector index with its share price closing higher by 2 percent at KD0.255.

Although four real estate stocks appeared in the top gainers list during the session, the sector closed marginally down by 0.03 per-

cent. Heavyweight, Mabanee Company geared the index south as it closed down by 1.14 percent.

Non-Kuwaiti sector was the biggest loser during the day. The index was down by 0.18 percent. Egypt Kuwait Holding Company closed down by 1.79 percent at KD0.275.

Within the sector, heavy trading was seen on Gulf Finance House during the day with 8.64mn shares changing hands. The scrip closed up by 3.70 percent at KD0.042.

Corporate news Kuwait Real Estate Company announced that a fully owned subsidiary has sold one of its agricultural investments in the United States for a total value of $12.49mn, with an expected profit of $9mn, which will be reflected in the company’s financial statements for 4Q2011. The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $104.60pb on Thursday, compared with $106.88pb the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

Christmas not escaping belt-tightening in Europe PARIS: Europeans are tightening their belts and spending less on Christmas gifts this year as they struggle with incomes hit by austerity measures or fear the economy could worsen in 2012. Mother Nature is helping retailers in many countries this year as there have been no snow storms keeping consumers home and playing havoc with deliveries. However sharp spending cuts and tax hikes due to the debt crisis in countries such as Britain, Italy, Greece and Spain, along with fears of a recession next year, are leading many consumers to restrain their spending despite a flurry of promotions.

“Many shoppers this year find they need to consider their spending more astutely, reduce the number of people on their Christmas lists and turn to more practical and useful presents when gift giving,” said Deloitte in its annual Christmas spending survey.

The consulting firm estimated in September that overall Europeans would trim their spending on Christmas gifts, food and entertainment this year by an average of 0.8 percent to 587 euros, although the results vary considerably by country.

With the deepening of the crisis in the past two months the belt-tightening is likely to be even greater. This is something that many Chinese manufacturers who were left with piles of unsold toys and decorations discovered first hand. Jean-Emile Rosenblum, a cofounder and vice president of the Pixmania electronics and photo publishing website that operates in 26 countries, estimates a five to seven percent drop in the average sale amount as customers cut back. “ There has been a crisis effect, cheaper products are selling, consumers are looking for the cheapest prices,” he said. “There are countries where things are getting tougher and tougher,” added Rosenblum, citing in particular southern European countries. Greeks are celebrating this year their fourth Christmas in recession as the country’s economic contraction

accelerates under the effect of tax hikes and spending cuts imposed under its international bailout.

Dimitria, a retired state employee, said pension cuts and higher taxes had led her to settle for “less expensive gifts” this Christmas. In Spain, which has also imposed stiff austerity measures and where over a fifth of the workforce is unemployed, consumers are expected to cut back holiday spending by 17 percent to an average of 560 euros, according to the Spanish consumer federation FUCI. A “modest” Christmas or one “without presents”- In Portugal, which is also being bailed out and its being forced to impose cuts, many workers have lost special bonuses for buying Christmas presents.

Nuno Camilo, head of the retail association in Portugal’s second city of Oporto, predicts a “Christmas without presents” for many families.

Overall, he expects holiday spending to be down 500 to 600 million euros this year in Portugal.

Expectations that the crisis will worsen are leading two thirds of Italians to trim holiday spending, according to a study by the employers’ association Confesercenti. It estimated Italians would spend 1.2 billion euros less of their annual bonuses on celebrating the holiday.

Eight out of ten Italians said their Christmas this year would be “modest” in a survey conducted by the retail association Confcommercio. In Britain, where austerity measures are also biting at consumers, retail sales fell by more than forecast in November at 0.4 percent, which augurs poorly for Christmas.

Shops saw drops in the number of customers in the first week of December, which “shows festive sales are still on a knife edge”, said Stephen Robertson, head of the British Retail Consortium. A number of British retailers are already forecasting sales to be down. Retailers active in southern Europe, like Germany’s Metro and France’s Carrefour, have also lowered their forecasts. — AFP

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BUSINESS

Clegg eyes cooperation to end euro-zone crisis Britain seeks to calm economic war of words with France

WASHINGTON: Chuck Schumer, leaves after commenting to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington Saturday after the Senate passed legislation to extend Social Security payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for just two months, setting the stage for another fight in February. —AP

CEO says US pipeline debate may persist LINCOLN, Nebraska: The chief executive of a company trying to build a pipeline to carry oil through six states from Canada to Texas said the national debate over the plan has “gone off on tangents” that touch on larger issues of US energy and environmental policies.

TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said the proposed 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline has become mired in debates over topics ranging from global warming to US presidential politics. The US State Department delayed the $7 billion project last month largely because of concerns about its route, particularly though environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska.

“It’s mushroomed into this debate about all these social issues, which I don’t deny we have to address,” Girling said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his office in Calgary.

“We’re obviously in a migration from fossil fuels to alternative energy, which is why we’ve invested in the largest wind farm in Canada and one of the largest wind farms in Maine,” he said, referring to a 132-megawatt wind farm in Maine with the capacity to serve about 50,000 homes and two similar projects in Canada. “But it’s not going to occur tomorrow. It’s going to take decades.”

Environmental groups have argued that tapping the vast tar sands in Alberta would lead to a vast increase in the burning of carbon-intensive fossil fuels at a time when it should be trying to reduce the release of gases that contribute to global warming. “The one thing that has nagged me is how this debate has gone off on tangents,” Girling said. “Those aren’t the questions that need to be asked here. We should be asking, ‘Is the United States going to need fossil fuels for decades to come? Do you want to get it from Venezuela?’”

Members of Congress, especially Republicans, and GOP presidential candidates have criticized President Barack Obama for his administration’s decision to delay the project for a year. They argue that the pipeline would produce thousands of jobs and lessen the nation’s dependence on oil produced in nations that are often hostile to the United States.

Some also accused Obama of intentionally delaying the project until after the 2012 elections. The pipeline would pass through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Officials in most states support the project, but the pipeline ran into intense opposition in Nebraska from environmentalists, landowners, lawmakers and others who were worried because the pipeline would cross the Sandhills region. The expanse of sandy-soil hills sits atop the massive Ogallala aquifer, a major irrigation water source that sits beneath parts of eight states. Girling predicted that resistance to the Keystone XL would ease once Nebraska approves a new route that avoids the Sandhills region, but he said some opponents would never be satisfied.

“Our intent is to work on alleviating

those issues that were of primary concern to Nebraskans,” Girling said. “I do believe the opposition could dissipate.

That said, there are going to be those opposed to the burning of fossil fuels who will continue to oppose the project on that basis. I would hope that opposition would dissipate as well, but I’m not hopeful.” Nebraska lawmakers convened for a special session that Republican Gov. Dave Heineman called last month to address pipeline issues. Two laws were approved to provide greater state oversight of major oil pipelines, including the Keystone XL. TransCanada agreed to move the route away from the Sandhills and submit to a state environmental review.

Some environmental advocates remain skeptical. Jane Kleeb, director of the anti-pipeline group Bold Nebraska, said research hasn’t shown the effects of the tar sands oil on land, water or human health if a pipeline were to leak.

Kleeb noted that the state hasn’t enacted laws to shield landowners from oilspill liability or dealt with the prospect of eminent domain if they oppose a company’s offer to buy land for a project. “Our concerns have not been addressed, and the opposition is not going away,” Kleeb said. “We do not know the proposed route. We have no idea if the pipeline will cross the heart of the Ogallala aquifer, or areas where the pipe sits in the water table.” Kleeb and others also have noted there is no guarantee that the oil extracted in Canada and refined in Texas would remain in the US. Girling said companies expected to send oil through the line have no intention to deliver to anywhere but refineries in Texas. Some oil may go abroad once it’s refined, he said, but the US remains a net importer and will trade on global markets whether the pipeline wins approval or not. He said TransCanada has star ted talking with the State Depar tment and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality about a new route. The review process is expected to last six to nine months.

Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada’s president of pipelines, told a congressional panel this month that the US produces 5 million barrels of oil each day and consumes 20 million gallons a day of refined oil.

“The US is by far the largest consumer of refined products on the planet,” he said. “It is natural that the vast majority of this product will stay in the region with the highest demand.” Girling acknowledged that after last year’s oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico and Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, the public has grown distrustful of companies that produce and transport oil. He said TransCanada and the entire industry need to improve communication with the public.

Project opponents have “created this perception that we were going to poison drinking and irrigation water,” he said.

“We would still say that’s inaccurate, but water is a very sensitive issue for some people. If someone said to me that this was going to be contaminating my water, I’d be concerned as well.” —AP

LONDON: British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg sought yesterday to draw a line under a row with France over the state of their economies, insisting cooperation was vital to end the euro-zone crisis.

Clegg, leader of the europhile Liberal Democrats, also insisted Britain would work with Europe despite Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s veto of a new EU treaty to save the euro, which angered fellow EU leaders.

The economy row erupted when the French central bank governor and senior ministers lined up to attack the British economy, suggesting rating agencies should be mulling a debt downgrade of Britain rather than France.

The British deputy premier, who had led the fightback against the French criticism, yesterday said it was now time to end the “beauty contest” over their economies.

“Franco-British tit-for-tat language is something which crops up from time to time in our history and always has done,” Clegg told Sky News television.

“It’s always a bit of a tug of war relationship, but history shows that France and Britain always do best when we pull in the same direction which is exactly what I hope we will do.”

He added: “There’s no possible salvation for Europe and there’s no route out of these very acute economic difficulties that the whole continent faces unless we act together.”

The row has further strained Franco-British relations which were already tense after London and Paris clashed at the EU summit on December 9 over British demands, which led to London’s veto on a new EU treaty. Clegg also insisted yesterday that Britain would stay at the negotiating table for talks on a new fiscal pact, which was agreed by the other 26 EU states following London’s veto.

“When your national interest is to help the euro-zone sort itself out, then of course we need to be at the table as much as we can,” he said.

Britain’s EU veto has opened up a rift in the Conservative-led coali-

tion, in which the Lib Dems are the junior partner. Clegg attacked eurosceptic Conservatives, whom

he accused of talking about a potential euro-zone break-up with “glee.” —AFP

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

UK to ‘accept in full’ ICB bank reforms

TOKYO: Yuta Oki, owner of Sake maker in Fukushima (2nd R) speaks to potential investors in Tokyo while attending briefing of the Music Securities’ investment and donation of hopes for desperate Japanese families trying to rebuild their businesses destroyed by the March disasters. —AFP

Microfinancing lifts tsunami-hit Japan firms TOKYO: The world’s third largest economy might not seem the obvious place to find the need for microfinancing, but for businesses in tsunami-ravaged northeast Japan, it could be the key to revival.

Music Securities, a brokerage more used to raising cash for struggling musicians, has turned its expertise to building bridges between small businesses in the disaster zone and people with cash who want to help.

The model is based on that developed by Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, where small loans on easy terms are offered to the nation’s poor, with an emphasis on growth potential rather than creditworthiness.

The program and its founder Muhammad Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for the scheme, which allowed individuals to work for their living to regain their dignity. In Japan, investors with as little as 10,000 yen ($77) to spare are helping to rebuild enterprises as diverse as cafes, seafood producers and a 200-year-old soy sauce factory.

Alongside household names such as Toyota which suffered when the March 11 tsunami shattered their supply chains or knocked out their factories, hundreds of familyrun businesses were also badly hit. But unlike multinational car companies, these small businesses have neither deep enough pockets nor the available lines of credit to get back on their feet. “This is an area where public assistance has been insufficient, and where it is difficult for existing financial institutions to enter,” said Masami Komatsu, chief executive of Tokyo-based Music Securities.

“But there is a desperate need for capital in the region.

There are so many good businesses out there who could use help,” he told AFP. Some of those who ran businesses in the Tohoku region of Japan lost almost everythinghouses, factories, inventory and even their skilled workers-when the monster waves roared ashore, claiming 20,000 lives. With existing debts and nothing to offer as fresh collateral, even farmers with generations of success behind them have found it all but impossible to secure bank loans. —AFP

LONDON: The British government will give its full backing to a shake-up of the banking sector proposed by the country’s Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), British Business Secretary Vince Cable said yesterday.

“Our own financial services sector needs reform. Our big banks were at the very centre of the financial crisis, what the Europeans call Anglo-Saxon financial capitalism. It needs reform,” Liberal Democrat minister Cable told the BBC. “That’s why tomorrow, the government is going to launch this initiative on the banks accepting in full the Vickers commission. We’re going to proceed with the separation of the banks, the casinos and the retail business lending parts of the bank,” he added.

In September, the ICB - headed by Oxford University academic Sir John Vickers - said top British banks should “ringfence” or protect their retail banking operations from their riskier investment banking arms, in order to give better protection to taxpayers in case of future financial crises.

It said banks should hold core capital of 10 percent, plus a further 7 to 10 percent of capital that could take the form of “bail-in” bonds - debt that can take a loss or convert into equity to recapitalize a bank if it hits trouble. There would also be limits to the extent to which a bank could use money in its retail arm for its investment bank - a move that will increase funding costs for British lenders.

The ICB stopped short of seeking a full split of a retail and investment bank into two, separate companies. Instead, it said banks could keep their parent holding company but should set a “ring-fence” between the retail and investment arms.

Britain’s top banks - Barclays, HSBC , and part-nationalized lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds - have lobbied against much of the reforms.

They have argued they could be put at a competitive disadvantage to rivals in Europe, Asia and the United States, who do not face the same sort of shake-up.

The Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government set up the ICB after the 2007-2008 credit crisis saw Britain have to nationalize Northern Rock and partnationalize RBS and Lloyds, with 66 billion pounds of taxpayers’ money pumped into RBS and Lloyds.

The proposals would see Britain follow Switzerland and Sweden in setting a

benchmark in capital rules on banks, since the size of each of those countries’ bank sectors is greater than their national GDP (gross domestic product), thereby creating a greater risk for taxpayers.

The ICB has recommended that its reforms be adopted by 2019.

Its proposal for stricter capital requirements follows a similar move by the Basel committee of global banking regulators, who have also set a 2019 timetable on this.

But the banks have said the costs of the reforms could make it harder for them to lend to businesses and customers, and could therefore damage the overall economy.

They have said that the costs would be more than the top end of the 4-7 billion pounds ($6.21 billion - $10.87 billion)estimated by the ICB. The proposal on “bail in” debt has been attacked by HSBC and Standard Chartered , who have warned they could quit their London headquarters for rival business centres in Asia, where they make much of their profits.

HSBC estimates that holding ‘bail-in’ debt would cost it at least $2.1 billion a year, while Barclays said the cost would be at least 1 billion pounds.

Standard Chartered said the ICB’s proposals were “flawed in maths and logic” and that Britain should wait for international rules on bail-in debt.

Cable said the new banking legislation caused by the ICB’s reforms would be completed within the lifetime of the current parliament, namely before 2015.

“It’s got to be done. We can’t be in a position where the big banks are too big to fail. We just cannot risk having a repetition of that financial catastrophe that we had three years ago,” he said.

The issue of banking reform has caused tension between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, who lead the coalition. Cable has consistently been a fiercer critic of the banks than Conservative Finance Minister George Osborne.

Osborne is due to present the government’s formal response to the ICB in a statement to parliament on Monday afternoon. Conservative Mayor for London Boris Johnson warned against excessive ‘bankerbashing’, while admitting there was “something creepy” about bankers receiving huge bonuses while increasing numbers of Britons face unemployment. “Just don’t kill the goose,” he told the BBC. —Reuters

Hungary’s CB: A chink in Orban’s armor BUDAPEST: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is so secure domestically that he can ignore the current storm of foreign criticism, but moves to increase control over the central bank could be his Achilles heel. Since coming to power for the second time in mid-2010, this time with a crushing two-thirds majority in parliament, Orban has embarked on a path that critics say is taking the EU member in a distinctly undemocratic direction. A media law that came into force almost a year ago constitutes a major attack on press freedom, according to rights groups and governments abroad. Last week four Hungarian journalists went on hunger strike.

It obliges online media, for example, to provide “balanced coverage”, can force journalists to reveal sources on grounds of national security and creates a powerful new

media authority dominated by government appointees. Reforms to the justice ministry and a new constitution, meanwhile, prompted EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding last week to write to Budapest expressing her “serious concerns from an EU law perspective.”

Last Tuesday parliament elected a friend of Orban to head the judiciary in a move slammed by Transparency International’s Hungarian branch as making it “highly unlikely” that the judiciary can stand up to the executive. Orban has also placed close allies in key institutions like the public prosecutor’s office, the state audit office, the constitutional court and the national budget authority.

“Taken together, all this amounts to the re-establishment of authoritarian rule, under a paper-thin veneer of democracy, in the heart of Europe,” Nobel Prize-winning econo-

mist Paul Krugman said in the New York Times last week. A weakening economy has hit support for Orban’s Fidesz party, but analysts say that the opposition is too divided to profit. The only party that is winning popularity is the far-right, antiSemitic and anti-Roma Jobbik, according to polls.

In any case a new electoral law in the works looks set to tilt the system more in favor of Fidesz, according to Eva Balogh who runs the English-language blog Hungarian Spectrum. “In brief, Orban is trying to build a system in which there be an opposition giving the appearance of democracy, but where the opposition will be so weak that it will not be able to exert any influence,” Balogh said in a posting last week.

What may damage Orban though is his pressing need for outside financial support to prop up an

economy hit hard by a sharp fall in Hungary’s currency, the forint, and the euro-zone crisis hitting demand in its main export markets. Moody’s last month cut its rating on Hungarian debt to “junk” status and many experts see the government’s forecast of 0.5-percent economic growth in 2012 as optimistic, with the OECD for example predicting a 0.6-percent contraction. Having walked away from talks with the IMF in July 2010, Orban went back to the Washington lender cap-in-hand last month, seeking an IMF-EU credit line of some 15-20 billion euros ($19-26 billion).

But IMF and EU officials cut short on Friday a visit to Hungary because of concerns about another of Orban’s proposed areas of reforms-the central bank although Budapest denied any breakdown in negotiations. —AFP

LONDON: Britain’s top banks - Barclays, HSBC and part-nationalized lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds - have lobbied against much of the ICB bank reforms.

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business

KIPCO’s Group CFO wins first ICAEW CFO of Year Award KUWAIT: KIPCO, the Kuwait Projects Company, yesterday announced that its Group Chief Financial Officer - Pinak Maitra - has won the MENA region Chief Financial Officer of the Year award 2011.

The Middle East Accountancy & Finance Excellence Awards 2011 - organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales (ICAEW) - were the first awards the organization has made in the region. The prestigious CFO of the Year award 2011 was presented to Pinak at a ceremony on Dubai. A large number of company financial officers were nominated for the award from across the region. The recognition from the ICAEW follows Pinak’s award as the MENA Private Sector CFO of the Year in 2008.

Commenting on Pinak’s latest award, KIPCO’s Vice Chairman, Faisal Al Ayyar said: “During his 23 years at KIPCO, Pinak has made an outstanding contribution to the success of the company. He has done this by a combination of astute business sense, a belief in team culture and financial expertise. As a champion of financial transparency and good corporate governance he has also been instrumental in KIPCO’s development as a role model for Kuwait’s private sector. He is an excellent team leader and has provided invaluable support to his colleagues. We are delighted with this latest recognition of his talents and skills.” Accepting the award, Pinak said: “I receive this award on behalf of all my colleagues at KIPCO. I am privileged to be part of the long-standing team that has transformed our company into the group of companies it is today. I am also very honoured to be recognized by my fellow finance professionals in this way and feel very humble by this latest award.”

KUWAIT: The official opening ceremony of the first BOSE store at the Avenues Mall. James Scammon - Vice President Asia Pacific Bose Corporation, Ratish Pandey General Manager India, Middle East & Africa Bose Corporation, Alarabi Beji - Regional Sales Manager Bose Middle East and Kosay Al-Sokair — VP and General Manager of aDawliah Electronics Company attended the ceremony. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

BOSE opens first store in Kuwait at The Avenues New destination for high-tech sound enthusiasts KUWAIT: The Avenues Mall welcomed the first BOSE store in Kuwait on Dec 11, 2011 in a sophisticated classy event. The official opening ceremony took place in the presence of James Scammon -— Vice President Asia Pacific Bose Corporation, Ratish Pandey - General Manager India, Middle East & Africa Bose Corporation, Alarabi Beji - Regional Sales Manager Bose Middle East and Kosay Al-Sokair — VP & General Manager of aDawliah Electronics Company. The event was honored

by VIP guests, Mall management, media representatives, and senior management of aDawliah Electronics Co. The Kuwait Bose store launch comes after successful openings of other Bose stores in the GCC region, which reflects the attention Bose customers in Kuwait desire & deserve and the passion this brand has elevated in Kuwait.

Commenting on the occasion, James Scammon said: “The opening of Bose Store in Kuwait shows the commitment of aDawliah Electronics Co in building the Bose brand in the region. This store strengthens the 30 years partnership between the two companies, which has reflected very positively on the Kuwaiti market,

where the demand for premium sound systems is increasing significantly. Maher Abdelkarim - aDawliah Executive Director addressed the attendance saying: “The Avenues is an ideal location for Bose, as the mall houses the world’s best known brands. Tech-savvy enthusiasts will surely now find more excitement in their mall visit, as they are welcomed to spend as much time they need to check-out the latest of Bose Sound Products.”

Moreover, Ayman Hilal - aDawliah Marketing Director asserted the commitment that Bose has for its customers in Kuwait, saying: “This event marks the start of a new style of relationship management that our customers will experience with every visit to our Bose store, as we aspire to maintain Bose leadership in quality sound by creating extraordinary and lasting experiences for our customers. Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 in Boston Massachusetts by Dr Amar G. Bose; an Electrical Engineering graduate and then Professor of Electrical Engineering at the MIT. Since the foundation in 1964, Bose Corporation has maintained an exceptional commitment to Research and Excellence by reinvest-

ing 100% of its profits in Research, thus their unique edge is reflected in their slogan of “Better sound through research”. Such a philosophy, paved the way to better results, better performance and better products that improve people’s lives. Bose today is one of the world leaders in acoustics and sound systems, and now offers a unique personalized service concept of display for its profound products.

While many of Bose products are designed for entertainment and personal/ home audio solutions, one can find Bose sound is prevalent in both aviation and automotive industries. Bose automotive sound system can be seen now in many cars; such as Audi - Nissan and Infiniti - Porsche - Cadillac - Corvette and others. In addition, Bose has also designed professional Sound systems for many applications such as stadiums and auditoriums, retail businesses, department stores and restaurants. Bose is pleased to see all of Kuwait’s public availing of the chance to visit and enjoy the premium sound experience at its unique store in The Avenues Mall, where they can witness the true essence of “Better sound through research”.

Burgan Bank participates in 15th housing exhibition

KIPCO’s Group Chief Financial Officer, Pinak Maitra (right), accepts the ICAEW CFO of the Year 2011 award from KPMG LLP’s Chairman and CEO, Vijay Malhotra.

KUWAIT: Following the success of the previous years, Burgan Bank, amongst the leading financial institutions in Kuwait, took part in the 15th Housing Exhibition for the fourth year in a row to promote its products and services.

The event, which was under the patronage of the Minister of Islamic Affairs and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Mohammed Abbas Alnoumas along with the presence of the General manager of the Public Authority for Housing Welfare, Ali Abdul Karim Fawzaan, was held at the Regency Hotel. The bank introduced its existing as well as latest products and services to

the attending customers. Haneen Al-Rumaihi, Head of Marketing at Burgan Bank said “Our goal by participating in this exhibition was to cater to the evolving banking and investment demands in the local market by introducing distinct banking services and products to our customers.

Demand for real estate is a steadily expanding sector, and is considered the most stable in Kuwait. Burgan Bank will continue to support the development of the economy and offer selective professional products and financial solutions that meet the needs of its customers.

Ali Fawzaan -General Manager of the Public Authority for Housing Welfare at Burgan Bank booth.

HiLITE revolutionizes shopping and business spaces HiLITE the premier builders of North Kerala are set to change Kerala’s skyline with their ambitious projects. The HiLITE City is the first-ever township project, an infrastructural splendor spread over 15 acres of land at the NH Thondayad Bypass, Calicut.

Proposed to be built on 7 acres, HiLITE Mall will have 1.3 million sq.ft of total built-up area.

The Mall will house over 200 international branded outlets, a 3-star fine-dining hotel, 8screen multiplex, food-court and much more.

HiLITE Mall is envisioned to be Calicut’s ultimate lifestyle destination.

Upon completion, it will reflect the HiLITE trademark, characterized by aesthetics and architectural brilliance. With retail spaces ranging from 458sq.ft to 23,174sq.ft, the Mall will offer attractive investment opportunities for smart investors.

Another prestigious project is HiLITE Platino, a state-of-the-art business centre which will add a new dimension to the commercial land-

scape of Kochi. Strategically located at Vytilla, the most promising commercial hub on the NH Bypass Kochi, this unique property boasts ultra-premium amenities and world class infrastructure.

With the Kochi Metro taking shape and various infrastructural projects on the anvil, the city is poised for rapid growth strides.

HiLITE Platino is the perfect investment opportunity for people wanting to get the best returns on their investment.

VIVA branches location now available on foursquare Become a mayor and win a new iPhone 4S KUWAIT: Keeping in line with Kuwait Telecommunication Company VIVA’s commitment in being the pioneer to offer the latest social media technologies, VIVA has announced the launch of its commercial branches’ locations on foursquare as customers will now be able to locate any of VIVA branches on the foursquare app through their smart devices. Moreover, all of VIVA’s latest promotions and offers will be made available on this app.

Customers are invited to visit VIVA branches at the Kuwait International Airport, the Avenues Mall and 360 Mall on January 10th 2012 to benefit of becoming a “Mayor” to one of those branches and get the chance to win the new iPhone 4S that was recently launched by VIVA. In addition, VIVA will launch several offers and promotions

on the foursquare app to better interact with the customers.

Commenting on this occasion, VIVA CEO, Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Badran stated that “ VIVA is always keen to offer the best services and value in the telecommunication and social media field taking into consideration customers’ needs. Therefore, we are delighted to be the first Kuwaiti telecommunication company to use foursquare and share this wonderful experience with all of our customers”.

It is noteworthy to mention that foursquare has been able to attract a significant audience of interested people in Kuwait & around the world within few months of its launch, due to the large scale of services it provides, including the notifications about major companies’ offers.

UK audit body to probe sale of Northern Rock

Gold to drop in Q1 2012: Poll NEW YORK: Gold prices will fall below $1,500 an ounce over the next three months and are unlikely to retest September’s all-time highs until later 2012 at the earliest, according to a Reuters poll of 20 hedge fund managers, economists and traders.

The bleak forecast, coming after gold has lost 11 percent of its value so far this month, is likely to fuel fears that bullion is close to ending its more than decade long bull run and entering a bear market.

Almost half of respondents predicted bullion will fall to 1,450 an ounce in the first quar-

ter next year, with three seeing prices as low as $1,400 an ounce. The forecasts come after a dismal performance last week when prices hit a 2 1/2 month low of $1,560 and gold lost its safe haven status.

Selling was fuelled by a scramble by hedge funds for cash to meet client redemptions at the end of a difficult year and a run for cash by European banks seeking to raise capital.

“What is surprising is that in an environment where headline risk news is bigger than ever, gold has actually fallen from its highs,” said Christoph Eibl, CEO and founding partner

of the Swiss commodity hedge fund Tiberius.

“We believe that, in 2012, of all metals gold will be the worst performing,” Eibl said.

The market eked out small gains on Friday to trade just under $1,600, but showed little sign of strength even after a small bout of short covering took other financial markets higher.

The precious metal is now heading for its first quarterly loss for the fourth quarter after its second-worst rout since September 2008 when the global credit crunch was at its height. — Reuters

LONDON: Britain’s National Audit Office (NAO) is to probe the sale of nationalized bank Northern Rock to Virgin Money, the opposition Labor Party said, after the terms of the deal meant the taxpayer would effectively book a loss on the disposal.

The Labor Party said the National Audit Office had agreed to the probe following a call from Labor’s financial secretary Chris Leslie, who also urged Finance Minister George Osborne to delay the deal until the NAO had fully examined it.

In November, the British government agreed to sell Northern Rock to Virgin Money - the banking arm of billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Groupófor between 747 million pounds and 1 billion pounds ($1.2-$1.6 billion).

However, since Britain had to pump

1.4 billion pounds of equity into Northern Rock in order to support it through the credit crisis, the sale would effectively represent a loss of at least 400 million pounds.

“There is clearly strong evidence to suggest that this Northern Rock firesale represents poor value for money for the taxpayer and this investigation by the independent National Audit Office confirms that serious questions hang over George Osborne’s deal,” Labour’s Leslie said in a statement. “ The Chancellor should consider delaying the sale, due on 1st January, until the NAO can assure the public that it is the right way to proceed,” he added.

Northern Rock was fully nationalized three years ago after nearly collapsing during the credit crunch. —Reuters

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Downloads prove best console games aren’t in any store MUNICH: Some of the best console games can’t be found in any store.

Indeed, a quick peek through download sites reveals a broad mix.

The titles range from Limbo to Trials HD to Joe Danger to Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. There are some real pearls to be found. Even better, they won’t set you back as much as a standard store -bought game.

All the major consoles - Microsoft’s XBox 360, Sony’s Playstation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii - accept downloads. To find them, you have to go to the console’s platform. There’s the XBox Live Arcade (XBLA), Playstation Network (PSN) and Wiiware. Other games are available at manufacturers’ platforms, like Steam.

The main thread combining all of these games is that they are significantly cheaper than store versions,

and sometimes a bit more off the wall. “ Titles can be published here that would have never made it into normal stores due to development and marketing budgets,” explains Felix Petzel of Microsoft.

“Small teams of developers doing a lot of creative things are usually behind these games,” says Henry Ernst, an editor with the German magazine Gamepro. The games usually cost between 5 and 20 euros (7 and 27 dollars). But only Sony’s PSN relies on real cash. Nintendo and Microsoft use a point system, with 800 points at XBLA equivalent to about 10 euros.

Point accounts can be topped up with credit cards or gift certificates. A good internet connection is recommended for a smooth download. XBLA and PSN games often run up to 2 gigabytes, though most are only a few hundred megabytes. Wiiware games

tend to be on the smaller side.

One of the more creative games is Braid, which is available on the XBLA and PSN. Players have to manipulate time in a variety of ways in order to achieve their goal. One level allows players to make multiple copies of the main character. In another, they are allowed to rewind the last few seconds of time. On top of that, there’s an interesting story with twists, but only in text format.

The text limitation is common with download titles, says Ernst. “The low price of the games is most obvious with the presentation, because a lot of transition scenes are missing.” Limbo, available on the PSN and XBLA, turns this problem into a virtue, filling space between scenes with minimalistic black-and-white graphics and no sound or dialogue.

Limbo is one of the most successful

XBLA titles, according to Microsoft, as is Trials HD, where players take on the role of a stunt motorcycle rider fighting his way through a terrifying obstacle course complete with spectacular explosions, jumps and accidents. The equivalent on the PSN is Joe Danger, which relies more on upbeat comic graphics.

Another favourite niche on the download platforms are new versions of old classics, like Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. The PSN and XBLA versions have Pac-Man in his old labyrinth, but with jarring disco effects, complete with babbling electronic music and bright colours.

The Wii has two different download areas. The so-called Virtual Console has classics from older consoles.

Newer games are on Wiiware. Those include the family friendly adventure game LostWinds or Final Fantasy

Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, where players set up their own fantasy realm.

There are countless other games alongside these highlights. And every week more are added. “Even for professionals like us, it’s hard to keep an overview on the flood of new releases,” says Ernst.

Trade publications can help bring perspective. There are also gaming portals that thoroughly test the main titles. Ernst is also a big fan of demos.

“Playing yourself is the most reliable tool for making decisions when buying,” he says.

Limited demo versions are often posted on the platforms right next to the full commercial versions. That’s helpful, because buyers need to be sure about their purchases, since options for returning a game that doesn’t fully satisfy are limited. — dpa

Good printing jobs depend on the paper Laser printers have a problem with thicker paper

This image provided by Ultraviolet shows a screen image as it appears on their website, explaining the ultraviolet system. Warner Bros. is learning a hard lesson about launching an ill-conceived product in the age of social media. When Warner Bros. introduced its first titles on the new ‘UltraViolet’ standard in October, consumers were led to believe they could buy a DVD or Blu-ray, register their ownership of the movie on the UltraViolet website and then receive— at no extra cost — a digital version of the movie which could play on their PC, tablet or mobile phone. — AP NEW TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS

Tablet from Viewsonic BERLIN: The new Viewsonic tablet Viewpad 10e comes with a so-called IPS panel with IPS standing for In Plane Switching, allowing for users to have top picture quality when they are not looking directly at the 9.7-inch display. The device also has Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB memory.

Tablet acts as HD recorder A new tablet from Archos can act as a hard disk recorder. The Archos 48 can record telecasts onto its 500 GB hard disk with the aid of a separately available DVR station. In addition, the Android tablet has an 800 MHz processor, WiFi connectivity and a 4.8 inch touchscreen.

Sonos software runs on Android tablets The multi-room music sound systems by Sonos can now be controlled via Android tablets. With an update,

the necessary software Sonos Controller can run on all Google operating systems starting with 2.2 (Froyo).

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will not however be supported. Sonos Controller 3.6 is now available on the Android market as a free download.

New 6-inch reader PocketBook has introduced a new e-book reader with electronic ink (EInk). The PocketBook 611 offers a 6inch gray scale display (800 x 600 pixels with 166 dpi resolution) which weighs 175 grams and is less than 1 centimetre thick. Eighteen formats can be presented, including EPUB, PDF, TXT, DJVU, RTF, HTML, DOC and DOCX. Book files arrive via wireless or USB and are filed in the 2 GB internal memory. The device has an 800 MHz processor and its battery is expected to last for 8,000 page turns. The 12.3 x 17.6 centimetre reader comes in gray and white.

Broken laptop keyboard can be repaired at home MUNICH: You don’t have to rush to a repair shop if a key on your laptop’s keyboard breaks. Sometimes, with a few tricks and a little skill, you can fix the problem at home. Often the problem is a simple mechanical one, says Robert Tischer from notebookjournal.de. It might be as simple a problem as a few crumbs under the keyboard.

“Dirt or crumbs under the keyboard can block the mechanism,” he says. The problem is usually noticeable when the key can’t be depressed properly, or only comes back up with difficulty after being pressed. To fix the problem, try to pop the individual key out of the machine, remove dirt from underneath and check the individual components before putting everything back. But if a key stops

working suddenly, it’s not always a mechanical problem. “There might be a software problem, because there are problems with the driver,” says Tischer.

Check the problem by connecting a desktop PC’s keyboard to the laptop with a USB cable. If the keys there don’t work, then the problem isn’t with the laptop’s keyboard.

Hardware problems, like a cable problem, can be much harder to solve. The only solution might be to swap out the keyboard. A layman might be able to handle this job, says Tischer. “If the keyboard is just clamped in under the housing, you can remove it from the notebook just by unscrewing. But some keyboards have keys poking individually through the housing.” — dpa

LONDON: London mayor Boris Johnson rides on the back of a prototype new design London double-decker bus in London, Dec. 16, 2011. The first prototypes, which use hybrid fuel technology, are due to enter passenger service on February 20, 2012, and will serve the 38 bus route which runs from Victoria Station to Hackney. — AP

MUNICH: Whatever your print job, there’s the proper paper for it: High gloss or recycled, primed for laser or ink. Your choice of paper extends from the discount variety to luxury sheets that can endure for decades.

It’s important, because the paper plays just as important a role as the printer and the ink when it comes to deciding the quality of the printout. The problem is that the market for the right piece of paper is not very transparent. There is a slew of quality levels, special and photo paper and special materials for specific printers. But which paper is right for you and your job?

Basically, there are two kinds of printer paper: That for ink jet printers and that for laser printers. Key with laser printers is making sure the machine can process the paper in question.

“Laser printers tend to have a problem with thicker paper graded at more than 160 grams per square metre,” explains Torsten Neumann of German computer magazine Chip. “And paper with a plastic layer can melt in a laser printer and gum up the feed tray.”

But there is special paper out there for laser printers, says Neumann. “It’s a little thicker and the surface glistens, meaning the printout looks like it’s higher quality, both to the eye and to touch.”

But paper can’t really affect the basic quality of a laser printout. Normal copy paper is perfectly adequate for good print quality with laser printers.

Paper selection, however, plays an enormous role with inkjet printers. The right kind depends on the type of ink used. The packaging should tell you for which ink the paper is designed. For example, the dye-based ink used in most photo printers doesn’t stay on the surface. Instead, its absorbed into the paper.

“If the ink stayed on the surface, then you’d loose the glossy look, because dried ink tends to appear matted,” explains Neumann. But dye ink can run in normal paper. That can make borders and elements like letters appear sloppy. Pigmented ink printers should clear away this problem, but will produce more of a matted look. Combination printers are an attempt by manufacturers to compensate for the drawbacks of both kinds of ink. “Pigment ink is used for printing text on normal paper

while dye-based ink is used for photo printing on special paper,” says Neumann.

Next there has to be a decision about the grade of the paper, or its weight. “The question of weight depends on the kind of printing,” says Gregor Geiger of the German Pulp and Paper Association (VDP).

If you just want to archive some forms, then you can get away with standard copier paper with a grade of 75 to 80 grams per square metre. But if you’re printing ads or

The new web printer greeting cards with an inkjet printer, then you’ll want to consider inkjet paper, which has a weight of 90 to 100 grams per square metre.

That will include some brighteners, but also special layers to keep the ink from running.

For demanding print jobs, there’s photo paper or glossy paper. If you need even higher quality, then there’s fine art paper, which is supposed to endure for decades. Of course, that means it’s not cheap, with prices ranging from 1.88 to 3.50 euros (2.50 to 4.65 dollars) per page of A3-standard paper, according to the magazine Macwelt. But most high quality paper performs well in reviews.

On the cheaper end, discounters often

Paltel Group deploys scalable IT infrastructure with help from EMC DUBAI: EMC Corporation yesterday announced that it has been selected to complete a new mission-critical IT infrastructure for the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel Group), the telecommunications leader in Palestine. Paltel Group, which contributes to about 12% to the GDP of Palestine and is the number one employer in the private sector, will benefit from enhanced IT Infrastructure performance and availability by utilizing EMC(r) VMAX(tm) and Data Domain(r) deduplication storage systems, all with a multi layer security solution from RSA, The Security Division of EMC. The new EMC storage infrastructure is designed to reduce the total cost of ownership both from initial capital expenditure and ongoing operational costs by utilizing the latest EMC technologies such as FAST VP (fully automated storage tiering for virtual pools).

FAST is EMC’s market leading implementation of automated dynamic tiering functionality, which allows achieving higher performance and lower costs using an optimized mix of Flash (SSD) and SATA drives by intelligently managing data placement at sub-LUN level. Virtual Provisioning is EMC’s implementation of thin provisioning functionality, which allows achieving better storage utilization efficiency by reserving physical storage only when it is required by the application and at

have deals along the lines of 1,000 sheets of paper for 5 euros. That’s certainly an option for people who want to save money.

Otherwise, 500 pages of standard printer paper tend to cost between 6 and 8 euros.

Other people lay more weight on the environmental sustainability of paper. That means no bleach, which, in turn, means lower contrast. There are review guides that list the best kinds of such paper. The VDP also recommends virgin fibre paper. “Virgin fibre paper,

the same time reclaiming physical storage when it is no longer in effective use. The smart combination of these leading technologies makes the EMC storage infrastructure based on the flag-ship VMAX storage system extremely efficient with reduced physical footprint in the data centre and minimized power consumption and heat dissipation.

The end-to-end storage infrastructure is fully secured with leading technologies from RSA, making it a trusted infrastructure suitable for the most critical business environments. It combines multiple technologies at multiple layers from strong encryption at the disk-level, to advanced authentication mechanisms both at the admin and user levels, to policy-based security associated with VM’s, to an over-arching GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) framework.

The Patel infrastructure is protected

by Data Domain deduplication storage systems, which deliver advanced, next generation disk-based backup and recovery capabilities.

I ndustr y leading Data Domain systems use high speed inline deduplication technology to eliminate the storage of redundant backup d a t a a n d e n s u re r a p i d, re l i a b l e recoveries that meet the most stringent RPO (Recovery Point Objective) and RTO (Recovery Time Objective) requirements.

whose fibres come from sustainable forestry are all comparable,” says Geiger.

A lot of manufacturers also offer paper cut specially for their printer. But there’s no point to that, says Geiger. “The paper isn’t produced by the printer maker, but just marketed under their label.” Normal users have no reason not to try out other brands.

But that means testing which paper delivers the best results with which printer. And remember, warns Neumann, that laser printers can be damaged by the wrong paper.

“That’s why you always need to pay attention to instructions on the packaging and ask the manufacturer if there are questions.” — dpa

News

in brief

Google doing away with black navigation bar BERLIN: Say goodbye to the black navigation bar as Google has announced a fundamental re-design of its website. The black navigation bar across the top of the screen through which users navigate the various Google services will disappear. Instead, the Google Bar opens by rolling over the Google logo, sparking a menu to drop down with links to the services. Google wanted to unify the navigation of the various services as well as simplify the sharing of content through its new social network Google+.

The company did not say when the design change will be implemented.

Tablet computer as groove machine The tablet computer is becoming a music instrument as a number of apps allow it to be used as a keyboard and synthesizer. Many of the apps support Audio Copy & Paste (ACP), allowing for electronically produced music to be copied and used in another application, for example to mix other music tracks. If musicians would like to record the music live, the tablet can be connected by double jack plug to the audio port of a computer. Then music software on the PC or Mac can be started and the sound recorded, turning the tablet into a groove machine.

Nocturnal surfing If children spend a lot of time playing computer games, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is a case of addiction. But if time in front of the PC exceeds other interests, then parents should take notice. If the child surfs the internet long into the night or foregoes meals to remain on the computer it could be a sign of computer addiction, according to the German organisation Klicksafe.

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Years

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

US health panel takes heat on cancer screening advice Task force rethinks how it delivers message to public

AKRON: Kathy Ackerman, nurse manager of the Akron Children’s Hospital Heart Center, reads in the hospital’s library .

Growing up doesn’t mean children outgrow need for specialized care AKRON: When it comes to matters of the heart for children, growing up doesn’t necessarily mean a patient outgrows the need for specialized medical care.

National guidelines recommend about half the adult survivors of complex congenital heart disease receive lifelong care from a physician who specializes in heart defects that were present at birth.

However, a study recently published in the national professional journal Pediatrics found many parents don’t realize the need for their children to get ongoing care from a specialist into adulthood. Akron Children’s Hospital was among nine pediatric cardiology centers nationwide that participated in the study, led by Children’s Hospital Boston. The researchers surveyed parents of patients with complex heart problems-the type in which lifelong care would be recommended. Although the majority realized their child would need lifelong care, less than half (44 percent) thought the care should be provided by a cardiologist specially trained to treat adults with congenital heart defects.

Thanks to medical advances, children born with complex heart defects that would have been fatal decades ago are surviving into adulthood, said Kathy Ackerman, nurse manager for the Heart Center at Akron Children’s Hospital and one of the study authors. An estimated 1

million adults are living with congenital heart defects nationwide.

“Adult cardiologists would know how to fix a heart that was in bad shape because you ate too much, didn’t exercise and smoked all your life,” Ackerman said. “Those are acquired things.”

However, she said, adult survivors of congenital hear t disease can face unique problems and needs because of their condition and the surgery they underwent years earlier. “It’s so important that the message gets out and people get the care they need,” she said.

As an adult survivor of a congenital hear t defect, Denise Edington of Doylestown, Ohio, knew the importance of continuing specialized care for her son, Scott, who was born with a complex heart problem 23 years ago. Her son has had two heart operations and continues to be seen regularly by a congenital hear t specialist at Ak ron Children’s Hospital.

“The great thing is that there are now ways that these children can survive,” she said. “They just need to have followup care that is appropriate. It is crucial to have that education.” In fact, she said, he thinks the care is so important that he’s in his second year of medical school at the University of Toledo. His plan: to become a cardiologist who specializes in congenital issues.—MCT

WASHINGTON: Dr Ned Calonge knows firsthand how hard it is to tell Americans they’d be better off with fewer routine medical tests. A long-time family doctor in Colorado, Calonge presided over the US Preventive Services Task Force, an influential government-backed panel of health exper ts, when it said that most women under 50 could skip their regular mammograms. The recommendation two years ago challenged the conviction of many breast cancer patients that they sur vived precisely because they were screened early. It unleashed a public fury that has weighed on the panel’s deliberations ever since. “We blew the message,” said Calonge, now president and CEO of the Colorado Trust foundation. “The nuance was completely gone.”

Two men phoned in death threats to Calonge. Protesters showed up by the offices of the government agency that supports the panel, tucked away in a Maryland suburb. The furor slowed down work on a decision to limit prostate cancer screenings as President Barack Obama fought to pass his signature healthcare law and his Democratic party faced a mid-term election challenge in 2010.

“There was a lot of pressure from above to be more careful politically and orchestrate things better,” said Dr Kenneth Lin, who at the time was an officer at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a Department of Health and Human Services entity that supports the panel. “Everything with the word ‘cancer’ got shoved back.”

Calonge rotated off the panel this past March after eight years, while Lin quit AHRQ late last year in protest over the delay to prostate cancer screening guidelines that were only released in October. A White House official noted that Calonge has attributed the delay in a final decision on prostate cancer screenings to scheduling conflicts. Their experience shows just how difficult it will be to curb spiraling costs in the world’s most expensive healthcare system by determining what screenings work, based on a rigorous study of clinical evidence, and what can lead to unnecessary and risky procedures.

“More screening is not always better,” said Dr. Christine Laine, a general internist and editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine who is not part of the panel. “That message is lost in healthcare in general.” The US Preventive Services Task Force is right on the firing line. For much of its 27-year history, it helped convince millions of Americans to get screened early for disease.

Now the panel of primary care doctors, nurses and academics has reviewed a growing body of research that shows some early screening harms more people than it helps. But it has

struggled to convince patients and doctors.

In the wake of the mammogram guidelines, the rate of such screenings for women aged 40 to 69 was barely changed in 2010 compared with 2009, according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance. “We have a public health measure that we know is effective. Why is it continually being questioned?” said Dr Carol Lee, breast imaging commission chairwoman at the American College of Radiology.

Broaching the negatives The public at large is no less skeptical. A recent Gallup poll showed that nearly 60 percent of Americans believed that standard cancer screenings - including mammograms and prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood tests were performed often enough. Thirty-one percent thought they should be conducted more frequently. Only 7 percent said they were done too often. “It’s extraordinarily hard to give up the notion that there’s a way to protect yourself from dying from cancer... Our goal here is to make it a matter of evidence, not a matter of opinion,” said Virginia Moyer, a pediatrician from Baylor College of Medicine, who now chairs the 16-member panel.

“Our successes are measured in positives,” she said of the public’s growing awareness of screening in the last three decades. “We are just beginning to approach the negatives.” Burned by the experience with mammograms, the task force is looking for a better way to deliver the message, consulting with powerful consumer interest groups, hiring public relations professionals and reworking some of the language tied to its system of letter-based recommendations. “We’re spending more time paying attention to how we say things to make sure it’s understood well,” said long-time panel member and current co-vice chair Dr Michael LeFevre, a professor of family medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. “We have no interest in being some wizard behind the curtain.”

The panel now issues its recommendations in draft form first and solicits public comment before making them final. In about a year, the public may have a chance to chime in early on the evaluation process, including posing questions for researchers and reviewing the evidence report draft used by the panel.

Task force officials concede that the comments are unlikely to change the recommended letter grade, unless they introduce crucial new evidence. But they can point to misunderstandings and help the panel better craft its message.

In late October, the panel met with consumer interest groups, including retired persons lobby AARP and the Consumers Union, to get input on

how to frame recommendations that was once reserved for patient advocates. The public’s participation has been unprecedented. The panel is now finalizing its PSA prostate cancer recommendation and public comments on the subject have reached into the thousands, LeFevre said.

Weighing the evidence The 2009 mammogram guidance from the task force was based on the panel’s assessment of new research that showed most women over 40 face a 3 percent risk of dying from breast cancer if they have not been screened.

Beginning mammogram screening at age 50 and following up every other year reduced that risk to 2.3 percent, compared with 2.2 percent risk starting at age 40.

An extra decade of screening could invite harms such as unnecessary biopsies and tests, the possible treatment of non-deadly cancers and radiation. Women in their forties are also more likely to receive false positive results.

Another view of the data showed that starting screening at age 40 led to 5,000 more mammograms, 500 false positive results and 33 biopsies for ever y breast cancer death prevented, according to LeFevre.

“If it was just how many deaths do you cause versus how many deaths you prevent, that would be too easy, that would be simple math,” LeFevre said. “We start with somebody who feels well, and we risk making them feel worse.”

The panel voted on a “C” recommendation, which calls for patients to decide on the screening with their doctor. But when the recommendation came out in November 2009, it started with a sentence saying the panel “recommends against” routine mammograms for most women under 50, and that language triggered the controversy. Under pressure, the task force dropped the phrase “recommends against” a month later.

Its rating on mammograms remains a “C.” The American Cancer Society questioned the evidence, saying the panel focused on gold-standard clinical trials but weeded out newer observational studies that showed better results.

“Screening is not perfect and it’s not errorfree, but the question is... do you take protective measures against the unlikely probability that you develop cancer... or do you take your chances?” said Robert Smith, director of cancer screening at the ACS. That calculation still appears to be guiding doctors, either out of concern of missing an early sign of disease or fear of lawsuits, health experts said. “Shared decision-making (between doctors and patients) sounds nice, but in practice usually you just end up doing the MORE.—Reuters

Heading to Mexico for health quality CHICAGO: Banking on worries over rising health costs, government and hospital officials in Mexico City are courting US residents who are searching for affordable medical care. On Wednesday, about a dozen Chicago health professionals and several others embarked on a health care tour of Mexico City, part of a campaign to raise that city’s profile as a center for medical tourism. The campaign is aimed at residents in cities with large Mexican immigrant populations who need cancer treatment, heart surgeries, dental procedures and other health care.

“We have many hospitals of great prestige,” said Dr Ricardo Garcia Cavazos, the under-secretary of health for Mexico City, whose agency has sent delegations to meet with health care providers in Chicago several times in the past year. He said the marketing campaign is focusing on Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans in the US, starting in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego.

But not everyone interested in Mexican health care has roots in the country. Anna Levit, 44, who was born in Ukraine, is going on the tour and hopes to get much-needed dental work while she’s in Mexico. “The health care is really good here,” said her son Eugene Levit, who answered questions for her because he speaks better English. “But people cannot afford it.” The campaign is part of a burgeoning medical tourism trade that is enticing Americans to seek medical care in Mexico and other countries, including India, Thailand and Costa Rica.

It’s projected that as many as 1.6 million Americans will travel overseas for dental or medical care in 2012, according to a report by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, which studies emerging trends, challenges and opportunities in health care. The reasons include skyrocketing health care costs, comparable standards of safety and quality of care at some health facilities outside the US and a willingness of Americans to travel for care that is both safe and less costly, the Deloitte repor t said. Though he didn’t have statistics on how many US patients travel to Mexico City for health care, Garcia said the numbers have been climbing since Mexican health officials traveled to Chicago and other US cities earlier this year to promote the program.

Taking the tour in Mexico City this week will be Dr. Tariq Butt, a family practice physician who said a number of patients treated at clinics operated by Access Community Health Network already are traveling to Mexico for some of their medical

care. In many cases, they have family there. “ We are aware of other options in other countries, Mexico specifically,” said Butt, deputy medical officer for Access, which operates more than 50 community health centers in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. “In the cases where people go to Mexico for treatment, we invite transparenc y with other health care providers, so that information is shared both ways, so both sets of clinicians are in tune with that par ticular patient ’s health care needs and procedures

and a legal system that you know will provide some recourse or at least will treat you the same regardless of where you are treated. This is something you (might) take for granted when you leave US jurisdiction,” said Nathan Cortez, an expert in health law. “Most patients will go to quality facilities in Mexico, but at the same time. ... this is something that is not without risks, and patients need to educate themselves,” said Cortez, an assistant professor at Southern Methodist University Law School in Dallas. Among the services being

CHICAGO: Anna Levit of Arlington Heights, Illinois, will be leaving for Mexico to have extensive dental treatment.—MCT that may have been done.”

Establishing a system of communication will be critical to ensure that patients receive adequate and timely follow-up care when needed, he said.

Garcia said patients who experience complications will be able to consult with their doctors by phone and will be flown back to the hospital for follow-up treatment in the event of serious problems.

Going outside of the US for health care is not without risks. No one tracks complication rates or whether patients are harmed by medical malpractice at higher rates than in US hospitals. “In the United States, you know you are dealing with overlapping state and federal regulations

promoted in Mexico City are organ transplants, diabetes care, gastrointestinal procedures and fertility treatment, with the costs 40 to 80 percent cheaper than those in the US, Garcia said. Hospital officials said the care they provide is as good as or, in some cases, better than what patients can get in Chicago. “If a patient were to come to Mexico City, he would receive the same quality of care and safety standards because we are Joint Commission-accredited just like the hospitals in the US,” said Nancy Stich, public relations and marketing director for American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City. “In some cases, it’s a higher standard of care.”

Health professionals taking the tour say they want to judge for themselves. Angie Millan, president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, said she and her colleagues hear about patients going to Mexico all the time. “Here in California, our patients cross the border frequently to see a dentist and get regular medical care,” said Millan, nursing director for children’s medical services for the Los Angeles County public health department.

“So I’m curious to see if it is equal and the same quality and if they hold the same standards. They believe they have world-class facilities there, so I’m interested in seeing for myself.”

Although she said Mexican health care can be an option for some patients, Millan finds the situation sad because many of those who cross the border are uninsured. “I think having insurance should be a right,” she said. “It shouldn’t be a privilege.” Although uninsured and underinsured patients are more likely to consider traveling to Mexico City, hospital officials also are appealing to those who have private insurance with high deductibles.

Last year Aetna’s chief medical director for the Midwest visited Mexico City at the invitation of government officials who were eager to tell her about their plans for outreach to the US and wanted input from American insurance companies, said Scot Roskelley, communications director for Aetna’s north central region. The company started a crossborder plan in 2008 called Vitalidad Mexico con Aetna for certain California policyholders getting health care in the Mexican cities of Mexicali, Tecate and Tijuana.

Roskelley said employers are not clamoring for such programs but “there is a certain segment of the population that will be interested in it.” During the Mexico City tour, potential patients and health care providers will be guided through hospitals owned by nation’s two largest private hospital networks, Hospital Angeles and Medica Sur, which have Holiday Inn hotels adjacent to their campuses, Garcia said.

“There, they’ll be able to see the hotel rooms and talk directly with doctors,” Garcia said. The tourists also will be shown some of the city’s 33 public hospitals, though those are not part of the medical tourism program, Garcia said.

Anna Levit, of Arlington Heights, Ill., has scheduled a bone graft in her jaw during the trip, the first phase of extensive dental work. She has been told her care would cost about $40,000 in Chicago but closer to $13,000 in Mexico City.—MCT

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Barre workouts creating a buzz MINNEAPOLIS: A ballet-inspired “barre” workout has been sweeping the nation. Its popularity is driven by women wanting to achieve a dancer’s physique and strength — with or without tutus and ballet slippers. At Align Pilates in Minneapolis, noses drip with sweat, muscles quiver with exhaustion, and Beyonce blares from the speakers as class instructor Adrienne Fitzmaurice affirms what everyone is thinking: “Yes, this is hard!” she hollers, encouraging the women to pulse — or make tiny movements — and hold each pose for just three, five or 10 more seconds. “Especially if this is your first class ... you probably think this is crazy!” Crazy hard, anyway.

That’s the verdict reached in the dressing room following the 60-minute class where a combination of Pilates, yoga and ballet movements, along with bursts of cardio and the use of a ballet barre for support and resistance provides a high-energy, full-body workout.

“Everyone’s been talking about getting their butts kicked in barre class,” said Sarah Pepin, 35, Minneapolis. “I’ve never worked every muscle that way before. I could hardly walk the next day.”

Barre is abuzz in the US, but the idea originated in London 50 years ago with famous German dancer Lotte Berk. The method was refined in the United States in the 1970s, and since then, fitness enthusiasts on the East and West Coasts, as well as celebrities like Madonna have caught on.

In the last year alone, at least a half-dozen barre programs have launched in the Twin Cities, mostly by women who experienced the workout elsewhere. Rachel Warford wanted to move back to the Midwest, but was unable to find the barre classes she had loved in New York. So in November, she and sister-in-law Paula Warford opened the Barre in downtown Wayzata, Minn.

The same month, Tina Dunlap opened Balanced Barre and Pilates just a block away. “I always said it would be a matter of time before barre came to Minnesota,” said Dunlap. “It just so happens it hit at the same time and now it’s really booming.” Dunlap, an avid marathoner and triathlete, had her first barre experience last January in California and became “addicted.”

“It was the most challenging exercise I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. “I’d planned on running home from class and had to have my husband pick me up because I was so exhausted.” Several national franchises have formulated barre work-

outs, but independent studios often follow the original Lotte Berk Method or create their own.

Some are more cardio-based, while others focus more on dance elements, but the principles are the same. Barre class typically starts with stretching and a warm-up on a yoga mat to get the heart rate up, then incorporates a combination of Pilates, yoga and ballet movements to sculpt and tone every muscle in the body. It’s basically a series of tiny isometric movements that cause the muscles to shake to the point of exhaustion.

Oh, yeah, and close attention must be paid to your posture and alignment, which the instructor often checks during class. At Align Pilates, cardio is added to the barre workout, making it the most

rigorous class offered, and the most popular. The classes are heavily populated with women in their 20s and 30s, but the men who show up are usually surprised by how challenging the workout is.

“I was a sweaty mess by the end,” said Ryan Brown, 32, Minneapolis. “Pro athletes use ballet to work on their strength, balance and core, so I thought I’d give it a try.” For people who are less fit, it’s easy to make modifications while keeping up with the class. Participants are encouraged to work at their own pace.

Yoga attire is suggested for barre class, or other form-fitting clothes so that the class instructor can check for correct body position. Class participants wear socks or go barefoot, but serious

dancers prefer to wear ballet slippers and leotards in some classes. Ballet Royale in Lakeville, Minn., has added barre fitness classes to cross-train ballet students and adults-mostly moms of studentswho want to learn the basics of ballet. The classes incorporate core Pilates exercises, but the focus is on proper ballet techniques. Classical music plays and everyone wears ballet slippers.

The YWCA-Uptown also offers a dance-centric barre class. Participants range from 18 to 70 years old and many are former dancers. “I used to dance as a kid and I get to relive those days in barre class,” said Tivi Radder, 35, Minneapolis. “It makes me nostalgic for my childhood. It’s a really great workout, too. That’s the icing on the cake.”—MCT

MINNESOTA: (Left) Co-owner Emily Easton, far right, and studio manager Danielle DeRemer, second from right, share a laugh during the Align Barre Class at Align Pilates. (Right) A ballet barre is used for balance and strength building during exercises .—MCT photos

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Greetings

Happy Birthday, Harriet! Many many happy returns of the day! Best wishes from your loving mum and dad (Jessy, George) Leah, and Bibin.

Regency Hotel holds Annual Gala Dinner

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Wishing Salwa and Mohammed a very happy birthday. May Almighty Allah bless you with good health and happiness. Best wishes for a bright future come from Sherif and family.

Celebrate the festive season and be captivated at Swiss-Belhotel Plaza

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ather your family and friends this Christmas at Swiss-Belhotel Plaza Kuwait and feel the true essence of Christmas with delightful treats, sumptuous buffet, and special packages waiting for you. Christmas is a time of giving, grab up your mouthwatering Yule logs, with enticing gingerbread house display, festive cakes and Christmas cookies sale at our cafe. Boost your appetite with the culinary celebrations at Al Dallah restaurant with our luscious international buffet and live cooking stations with the host of regional and traditional favorites for Christmas Eve dinner.

Carry on the next day with your cravings from roast turkey to Christmas pudding and lots of delectable treats only at Swiss-Belhotel Plaza Kuwait!

he Regency Hotel hosted its Annual Gala Dinner on Thursday, December 15th. The sumptuous dining experience and the entertaining ambience turned the evening into an occasion that served as a tribute to the attendees ranging from dignitaries, ambassadors, diplomats and corporate clients to local media representatives. On the occasion of the event, the General Manager of The Regency Hotel, Riaz Mahmood said: “We were extremely delighted to host our friends and partners for an evening that combined the ultimate in food, entertainment and style. We wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the season with our partners and to demonstrate again our Arabian hospitality.”

Mahmood added: “We are very grateful to the support of the media, the local community and the unrelenting endorsement of all those who contributed to our success in positioning The Regency Hotel among the finest properties in Kuwait”. He further concluded:

“We are very proud to have gained such high level of recognition in a very short time after the renovation. The local and international demand for our Hotel demonstrates appreciation for the efforts and hard work put together by all our associates”.

The celebratory dinner which was held at the relaxed setting by the poolside created the perfect environment for the hotel’s culinary team to showcase their talents. The menu for the event highlighted some of The Regency Hotel’s gourmet delights and the finest festive cuisine treats.

The Executive Chef Austen Reid created masterpieces exclusively for the evening. A rich selection of sweets by Chef Raffaele Grasso and his team brought an end to a delightful evening spent with friends. Set in the superb tranquil poolside area, the annual gala has become a part of The Regency Hotel’s tradition to organize a mega event welcoming all the partners of the hotel and thanking them for their constant support.

Youth Chorus Christmas Carol program

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ellifluous and timeless Christmas carols will be rendered at the Fifteenth Annual Christmas Carol program on the 22nd of December 2011 at the Indian Central School Auditorium, Abbassiya at 6:15 pm organized by the Youth Chorus.

11 Choirs from various churches in Kuwait, Youth Chorus, United Indian School and Indian Central School will usher in the spirit of Christmas at the three-hour long Christmas Carol Service with a wide repertoire of classic Christmas carols.

Dr Abraham Mar Seraphim Metropolitan will inaugurate the program. Mathews Mar Theodosius Metropolitan will deliver Christmas Message.

Respected Bishops, Priests and other Elders of the different churches will attend and lead the program. The prizes of the International Quest Examination 2011 and Prizes of the 6th Group Song Competition will be distributed on the occasion. Youth Chorus welcomes one and all to join this wonderful celebration.

Upcoming events New Year Hangama The RAK Dance Academy (RDA) Kuwait, is planning to put a charity event in celebration of its New Year Hangama 2012, on 31st December, 2011, from 6 pm onwards, at Carmel School Khaitan. All participants are well known artists from Kuwait. The main purpose of this celebration is to collect donations and raise money for supporting handicapped children in India. contributions from you. Your attendance is your donation. Please join for an evening for a good cause. Call 99692266, 65925730 for details.

KVG College of Engineering, Sullia Alumni Association, Kuwait celebrated Spectrum’11

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he cultural extravaganza “Spectrum’11” under the auspices of KVG College of Engineering, Sullia Alumni Association, Kuwait chapter was conducted as their 7th Mega event with pomp and splendor at Indian Community School, Khaithan.

The program kick started with the prayer song by in-house kids. Pradeep Kumar the Program Convener welcomed the gathering followed by the Presidential address of Biju Chacko and ceremonial lighting of the lamp by the Chief Guest Pancily Varkey, Country Head of UAE Exchange. Celebrity Guest Khalabhavan Prajod, the Special Invitee

Guests BS Pillai & Vijayan Karayil, Vice President Manoj Naliath, General Secretary George Joseph, Program Convener Pradeep Kumar & Souvenir Convener Tibu Varghese offered felicitations.

Souvenir for the Spetrum’11 was lounged by Kalabhavan Prajod and presented a copy to Main Sponsor MARK Technologies Company, represented by Janarthanan with the presence of Souvenir editor Tibu Varghese.

Mementos were distributed to Chief Guest, K Sigamani, represented by Main sponsor, Celebrity guest, Hussain Ali, represented by special sponsor, Prasanth.S

and special invitee guests. The Presence of Kalabhavan Prajod added vibrancy to the event and he enthralled the show with Spectrum of entertainment.

The highlights of the show were “Oppana” a group dance by the Ladies of KVGCE family which showcased their unmatched talents, “Rio dance “ by cute kinder kids, “Arabic dance” by the budding kids were colorful and splendid which was well appreciated and applauded by the Kuwaiti guests. “Marathi dance” by KVGCE vibrant and talented young girls displayed traditional folk of Maharashtra.

“Mime” by young boys was a variety program with theme of Japan’s recent disas-

ter which created some drops of tears in everyday’s eyes. The main attraction was “Three Thanthonees” the Skit by talented actors of KVGCE members brought in laughter and praise. As usual, the “Magic show” in the end of the cultural program entertained all kids as well as adults.

The theatre was packed with audience enjoying every single moment of the program, especially the music program conducted by Rafi Kallai and team. The curtains were pulled down by George Joseph offering vote of thanks. Gifts were distributed to the participants and well wishers.

Delicious dinner was served and enjoyed by everyone.

Aware Center Arabic lessons The AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Winter 1 Arabic language courses will begin on November 20th, 2011 until January 12th, 2012. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind.

The environment is relaxed and courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector. Arabic classes at the AWARE Center are unique because students are provided with the chance to practice their Arabic through various social activities that aim at bringing Arabs and Westerners together.

AWARE Arabic courses highlight: lIntroductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics lBetter prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic lCombine language learning with cultural insights lTaught in multi-nationality group settings lProvide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105/104/0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.

Preschool-Kinder-Heart Winter Concert at Kuwait National English School

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he very little ones from the Preschool-Kinder-Heart at Kuwait National English School held yesterday their own winter concert. Emotion, confidence and happiness were the general atmosphere of this friendly, musical and seasonal performance. Congratulations to staff, parents and children from Kinder-Heart Preschool at Kuwait National English School. Celebrating 20 Years of Service to the Community. Accredited by CIS (Council of International Schools) & NEASC (New England Association of Schools & Colleges).

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Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) 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 Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

Courtyard by Marriott holds Poolside Barbeque Night for premier clients, media

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he Courtyard by Marriott Kuwait City hotel recently held an event for its esteemed clientele and media partners to mark the launch of the hotel’s Poolside Barbeque Nights at their 10th floor outdoor pool.

The guests were introduced to a deliciously prepared menu specially designed to offer a unique and lasting impression befitting the enchanting environment of the evening. In addition to the mouthwatering barbeque options to choose from, a live musical performance kept the guests entertained while relaxing under the wintery night sky. A breathtaking view from the roof top of the hotel and a warm embrace of cozy dining in the company of family, friends and the hotel management added to the magical experience.

While the location was enviable

as the best in town, the highlight of the evening was the fantastic variety of food options on offer. From lamb cutlets with mint and thyme marinade, grilled shrimps marinated with lemon grass to side orders of fried rice, assorted grilled vegetables skewers and baked potatoes, to cold buffets that include artichoke salad, sweet red cabbage with sultanas, grilled chicken and avocado salad - the list of offerings seemed endless.

The healthy salad bars featured seasonal mixed green leaves, tomato, cucumber, grated carrot, peppers, broccoli, baby corn, mushroom and spring onion.

Additionally, scrumptious assortments of desserts were available to tantalize the customers taste buds, ranging from créme brule with pistachios, cherry, chocolate and Vanilla tartlets to a delectable

assortment of chocolate brownies.

“It was our pleasure to host a relaxing evening of fine food and entertainment for our customers to demonstrate our appreciation and showcase our world-class hospitality. We are positive the newly launched Barbeque nights at Courtyard will prove to be refreshing and memorable during the intimate wintery season and would make an excellent outdoor dining option for the whole family during the holidays,” said Ziad Watfi, Director of Food & Beverage at the hotel.

The Poolside Barbeque Nights at the Courtyard by Marriott Kuwait City will offer barbequed fresh meats, seafood and a variety of delightful salads in a warm and relaxing ambience every Thursday and Friday from 7:30pm onwards at their 10th floor outdoor pool.

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EMBASSY OF GERMANY

Harvard Business School presents program in collaboration with IBS

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heikh Salem Abdul Aziz Al-Sabah, Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Institute of Banking Studies (IBS), announced that the Kuwait IBS will work with Harvard Business School for the third year in a row to present an executive education program for banking and finance executives in the GCC region. The Governor pointed out that the program is one of the strategic developmental projects the banking sector is pursuing, led by the Central Bank of Kuwait, organized by the IBS and financed by the IBS member banks-Central Bank of Kuwait, National Bank of Kuwait, Gulf Bank, Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Burgan Bank, AlAhli Bank of Kuwait, Ahli United Bank, Kuwait International Bank, Industrial Bank of Kuwait and Boubyan Bank. The program, said the Governor, aims to upgrade the skills of the GCC national workforce, of which executives comprise the key component. He mentioned that the program was conducted for the first time in 2010 as an exclusive event for the Kuwaiti banks. After the tremendous success of that first program, several GCC Banking Institutes showed keen interest in a repeat event. With the Harvard Business

School showing interest in a GCC level event, the second program was conducted in 2011 addressed to the GCC banking and financial sectors. That program was held in Dubai. Banks who

sponsored participants to the program included National Bank of Fujairah, Qatar Central Bank, Central Bank of Oman, Bank Muscat, Al Rajhi Bank, Bangue Saudi Fransi, the Kuwait Finance House and banks who are members in the Kuwait Institute of Banking. The 2012 program will be held in Doha,

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.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca.

The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

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

Qatar. The plan is to move the venue every year to one of the GCC capitals.

The Governor pointed out that communication with Harvard Business School started in 2009 to organize the school’s first custom program in the GCC region. The Governor affirmed that the Harvard Business School is very selective in conducting custom programs, especially those beyond its campus in Boston, USA. The School’s desire to continue to work with IBS, Kuwait on these projects reflects how satisfied the school is with this collaboration.

Considering the design of the first and second programs proved to be extremely successful, this year’s program, the Governor explained, will have a similar design. The program title “Managing Strategically, Leading for Results” captures the program two integrated themes: ‘Strategic Management’ and ‘Leadership’. The program will be held during March 3 - 8, 2012 for six consecutive days. It is aimed at upper middle executives of levels such as department heads.

Sheikh Salem affirmed that executive education programs held by Harvard Business School in the GCC region adhere to the School’s high standards

thus ensuring that participants and their banks will be provided with the same quality of learning experience for which the school is so well known. At the end of the program, participants will receive a Harvard Business School certificate, verifying that they have completed the program. The Governor elaborated that the world-famous Harvard Business School case studies will be the main learning tool in the program; these case studies are written by the school’s faculty and are used in numerous universities and executive development centers.

Besides selecting banking and finance cases, the faculty have also chosen some that focus on other industries to diversify participants’ learning experience.

In conclusion, the Governor stressed that executive development will remain a strategic priority considering the role of executives in developing their organizations. He went on to explain that collaboration amongst the GCC countries in areas of common interest such as training and development has always been and will remain an item of top priority. He expressed his gratitude for GCC Central Banks Governors and Banking and Finance Institutes for supporting the Harvard Business School programs.

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (AlBabtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed December 25, 2011 (Sunday) “Christmas Day”. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy. We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area - Block 6 - Street 9 Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax- 25387719.

Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk nnnnnnn

Glasgow Celtic FC coaches visit PGA Kuwait

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he Premier GOAL Academy, sponsored

by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company, is pleased to announce the visit of Glasgow Celtic FC coaching staff to Kuwait from 25 to 28 November, 2011. Dave Cook, ex Everton FC , and now with Scottish giants Celtic will be accompanied by Greig Robertson, the International Academy Development Officer and Senior Youth team coach. Dave and Greig are visiting Kuwait as part of their role to develop strong working relationships with clubs and associations globally, focussing on key elements such as coach education, talent identification, facilitating tours and parent education. Both Dave and Greig hold elite level coaching positions at Celtic FC , working with some of the very best young players in the country and focussing on development of technique and game awareness. They will be leading this weekend’s coaching sessions with over one hundred and fifty youngsters at the Premier GOAL Academy based at

Shaab Park. In addition they will be providing certified Coach Education sessions for the PGA and other nominated football coaches from within Kuwait. Currently Celtic FC have formed football relationships in many countries including USA, Canada, India, Australia and Ireland, bringing cutting edge coaching and training methodologies to clubs and associations worldwide.

The support and active involvement of Scottish Premier League and European Club giants Glasgow Celtic FC , alongside the association with Everton Football Club from the English Premier League, ensures that players at the Premier GOAL Academy receive the very best football development programme available in the State of Kuwait. The visit is being supported by GOAL!, Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Ministry of Education.

For further details contact Academy Director Mike Finn on 99981327, Executive director Baker Al Nazer on 66918666, or email; premier_fa_kuwait@yahoo.com

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EMBASSY OF RUSSIA Embassy of the Russian Federation invites all the Russian residents in Kuwait to visit the Consulate for registration and updating your database. This information is necessary for promptly notice, assistance and warning in case of emergency. The consulate reception hours: 10:00 - 13:00, Sunday - Wednesday.

The Embassy is located in Kuwait City, Daiya, Block 5, Diplomatic campus, Plot 17. Tel: (+965) 22560427, 22560428. Fax: (+965) 22524969, email: rusposkuw@mail.ru, consdepkuw@mail.ru Information also available on the website: www.kuwait.mid.ru nnnnnnn

AUK Wins 2nd, 3rd place in Inter College Environmental Public Speaking Competition

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wo teams from the American University of Kuwait (AUK) competed in the 11th Environmental Speech Competition in Dubai winning 2nd and 3rd place. Coached by Professor Don Prade, Senior Instructor of English at AUK, Luke Rangel, assisted by Marie El Neaman, won 2nd place in the speech competition on “Development without Destruction: Is it Possible?”, a category with 14participating universities from the GCC countries. In the other competition on the topic, “Recycling: Does it really Matter?” our speaker Helene El Neaman, ably assisted by her sister, Marie El Neaman, won 3rd place. There were 12 universities entered in this category.

The Inter School Public Speaking Competition, which is organized by the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) is the first and only of its kind in the GCC that brings together the public and private sectors as well as boys and girls on a common platform to discuss and debate environmental and sustainability issues.This year, the contestants debated and discussed the four topics. Each team participating in the event consisted of 5 members, 4 for the research and preparation and one who presented it.

The tournament, which attracted the participation of more than 50 universities from the GCC, had four categories which were all hotly contested. AUK how-

EMBASSY OF PERU Peruvian Permanent Expo will be temporary close from December 2lst 2011 to January 21st 2012. The Expo will reopen on January 22nd 2012 and offer once again “Peruvian Private Gastronomy Tasting Lunches” and much more like Peruvian culture, tourism, trade and great possibilities of investment.

ever, emerged in the spotlight once again as the coach of Prince Sultan University in Saudi Arabia put it, “Every time we see the name AUK in the contest, we worry and expect a tough fight!”

The American University of Kuwait (AUK) is an independent, private, equal opportunity, and co-educational liberal arts institution of higher education.

The educational, cultural and administrative structure, methods and standards of AUK are based on the American model of higher learning. The language of instruction is English. More information on the American University of Kuwait can be found at www.auk.edu.kw

EMBASSY OF US The United States and Kuwait enjoy a long-standing and fruitful relationship with higher education. As evidence of this enduring partnership, the number of Kuwaiti students enrolled in US institutions of higher education in 2010/11 increased from 2442 to 2998, a 22.8% increase compared to the previous year. Kuwaiti students study in 45 states. This year, embassies and institutions around the world will be celebrating International Education Week the week of November 14-18. In honor of International Education Week, the US Embassy s Mobile American Corner will be at the Marina Mall on Wednesday evening, November 16, and at the Avenues Mall on Thursday evening, November 17. Information about higher education in the US, English language classes and the student visa application process will be available, and staff will be present to answer questions about study in the USA from the general public.

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Untamed & Uncut Dogs 101 Shark Attack File Speed Of Life Whale Wars Dogs 101 Animal Cops Phoenix Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Natural Born Hunters The Really Wild Show Breed All About It Bad Dog Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Animal Cops Specials 2009 Bondi Vet Wildlife SOS Last Chance Highway Animal Cops Phoenix Monster Bug Wars Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Talk To The Animals Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 My Cat From Hell Bondi Vet Breed All About It Dogs 101: Specials Monster Bug Wars Must Love Cats Untamed & Uncut

00:20 Conviction 01:15 As Time Goes By 01:45 The Weakest Link 02:30 The Fixer 03:15 Return To Cranford 04:10 My Family 04:40 3rd & Bird 04:50 The Large Family 05:00 Boogie Beebies 05:15 Poetry Pie 05:20 Tweenies 05:40 Balamory 06:00 3rd & Bird 06:10 The Large Family 06:20 Boogie Beebies 06:35 Poetry Pie 06:40 Tweenies 07:00 Charlie and Lola 07:10 Balamory 07:30 Little Robots 07:40 The Large Family 07:50 Boogie Beebies 08:05 Poetry Pie 08:10 Tweenies 08:30 Charlie and Lola 08:40 Balamory 09:00 Little Robots 09:10 The Large Family 09:20 Boogie Beebies 09:35 Poetry Pie 09:40 Poetry Pie 09:45 Tweenies 10:05 Charlie and Lola 10:20 Balamory 10:40 My Family 11:40 The Weakest Link 12:25 The Inspector Mysteries 13:20 Doctors 13:50 As Time Goes By 14:20 Coast 15:25 My Family 15:55 My Family 16:25 The Inspector Mysteries 17:15 The Weakest Link 18:05 Doctors 18:35 As Time Goes By 19:05 Coast 20:10 The Inspector Mysteries 21:00 The Weakest Link 21:45 Doctors 22:15 EastEnders 22:45 Holby City

00:00 BBC World News 001:10World Features

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Lynley

01:30 BBC World News 02:10 The Health Show 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 BBC World News 03:30 India Business Report 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 06:30 Asia Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 Newsday 07:30 Hardtalk 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 World Business Report 11:45 Sport Today 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 Hardtalk 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 World Business Report 14:45 Sport Today 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 15:30 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report

00:15 Samurai Jack 00:40 Megas XLR 01:05 Robotboy 01:30 Squirrel Boy 01:55 George Of The Jungle 02:20 Cramp Twins 02:45 Chop Socky Chooks 03:10 Best Ed 03:35 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Generator Rex 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 05:40 Chowder 05:55 Powerpuff Girls 06:30 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:55 I Am Weasel 07:20 Squirrel Boy 07:45 Cow & Chicken 08:00 Eliot Kid 08:25 Angelo Rules 08:50 Best Ed 09:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 09:40 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 10:05 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 10:30 Courage The Cowardly Dog 10:55 Cow & Chicken 11:20 I Am Weasel 11:35 Adventure Time 12:00 Ben 10 12:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 12:50 The Secret Saturdays 13:15 Samurai Jack 13:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 14:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 14:30 Skunk Fu! 14:50 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 15:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 15:40 Ed, Edd n Eddy

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

TV PROGRAMS 16:05 Camp Lazlo 16:30 Chowder 16:55 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 17:25 Cow & Chicken 17:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 18:15 I Am Weasel 18:40 George Of The Jungle 19:05 Billy & Mandy Save Christmas 19:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 19:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 20:20 Generator Rex 20:45 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 21:10 Sym-Bionic Titan 21:35 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 22:00 Hero 108 22:25 Adventure Time 22:50 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 23:00 Ben 10 23:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers

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

Kim Possible Replacements Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic Stitch Kim Possible Emperor’s New School Stitch Hannah Montana The Suite Life Of Zack And Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Avalon High Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Dadnapped So Random Fairly Odd Parents Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:00 Programmes Start At 7:00am KSA 07:00 Kid vs Kat 07:10 Phineas And Ferb 08:20 Have A Laugh 08:25 I’M In The Band 08:50 Kick Buttowski 09:15 Rekkit Rabbit 10:55 Phineas And Ferb 11:20 Zeke & Luther 11:40 Have A Laugh 11:45 I’M In The Band 12:10 American Dragon 12:35 Kid vs Kat 13:00 Even Stevens 14:35 Zeke & Luther 15:00 Kick Buttowski 15:25 I’M In The Band 16:10 Have A Laugh 16:15 Zeke & Luther 17:05 Phineas And Ferb 17:30 Phineas And Ferb 18:20 Pair Of Kings 18:45 Escape From Scorpion Island 19:10 Rekkit Rabbit 19:35 Spiderman 19:55 Have A Laugh 20:00 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 20:25 Phineas And Ferb 20:50 Kid vs Kat 21:15 Zeke & Luther 21:40 Kick Buttowski 22:05 Phineas And Ferb 22:30 American Dragon 22:55 I’M In The Band 23:20 Zeke & Luther

ACROSS THE HALL ON OSN ACTION HD

00:40 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:45 09:10 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Ultimate Survival Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ How Stuff’S Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Scrappers Coal Deadliest Catch Cake Boss Border Security Scrappers How It’S Made How Stuff’S Made Cash Cab Us Coal Deadliest Catch Gold Rush: Alaska

00:40 Bang Goes The Theory 01:05 The Tech Show 01:30 How Techies Changed The World 02:20 The Future Of...

06:40 The Tech Show 07:10 Science Of The Movies 08:00 Scrapheap Challenge 08:50 Moon Machines 09:40 The Tech Show 10:10 Weird Connections 10:35 The Gadget Show 11:00 The Gadget Show 11:25 Brainiac 12:20 Sci-Fi Science 12:45 How Stuff’s Made 13:15 Futurecar 14:05 Moon Machines 14:55 One Step Beyond 15:20 Stunt Junkies 15:50 Kings Of Construction 16:40 Weird Connections 17:05 Scrapheap Challenge 18:00 Moon Machines 18:50 Sci-Fi Science 19:15 The Tech Show 19:40 Mega World 20:30 Mighty Ships 21:20 Moon Machines 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Gadget Show 23:00 Mega World 23:50 Mighty Ships

00:40 Kid In A Candy Store 01:05 Unique Sweets 01:30 Gourmet Farmer 01:55 Unwrapped 02:45 Lidia’s Italy 03:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 04:25 World Cafe Middle East 05:15 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 05:40 Unwrapped 06:05 Chef vs Britain 06:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 06:50 Food Network Challenge 07:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 08:00 Chopped 08:50 Guy’s Big Bite 09:15 Everyday Italian 09:40 Barefoot Contessa 10:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 10:55 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 11:20 Kid In A Candy Store 11:45 Gourmet Farmer 12:10 Unwrapped 12:35 Paula’s Party 13:25 Everyday Italian 13:50 Paula’s Best Dishes 14:15 World Cafe Asia 14:40 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 15:05 Barefoot Contessa 15:30 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 15:55 Unwrapped 16:20 Good Eats - Special 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Guy’s Big Bite 18:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:25 Kid In A Candy Store 18:50 Unique Sweets 19:15 Gourmet Farmer 19:40 World Cafe Asia 20:05 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 20:30 Food Network Challenge 21:20 Barefoot Contessa 21:45 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics

00:20 Special Agent Oso 00:50 Jungle Junction 01:15 Little Einsteins 01:40 Higglytown Heroes 02:10 Jo Jo’S Circus 02:30 Special Agent Oso 03:00 Jungle Junction 03:25 Little Einsteins 03:50 Higglytown Heroes 04:20 Jo Jo’S Circus 04:40 Special Agent Oso 05:10 Jungle Junction 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Higglytown Heroes 06:30 Jo Jo’S Circus 06:50 Jungle Junction 07:15 Higglytown Heroes 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Jungle Junction 08:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:10 The Hive 09:20 Handy Manny 09:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:05 The Hive 10:15 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 10:25 Timon And Pumbaa 10:45 The Hive 10:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:15 The Little Mermaid 11:45 Little Einsteins 12:10 Imagination Movers 12:30 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 12:45 Lazytown 13:10 Handy Manny 13:25 Jungle Junction 13:40 Imagination Movers 14:05 The Hive 14:15 Special Agent Oso 14:25 Lazytown 14:50 Lazytown

15:15 15:40 16:05 16:30 16:40 16:55 17:20 17:45 18:00 18:20 18:30 18:55 19:25 19:50 20:05 20:25 20:40 20:50 21:20 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:35 22:50 23:15 23:25 23:40 23:55

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Lazytown Jungle Junction The Hive Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Little Mermaid Special Agent Oso Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jungle Junction The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Imagination Movers Little Einsteins Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Timmy Time Handy Manny Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

00:25 Style Star 01:25 E!es 02:20 E! Investigates 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Reality Hell 05:30 Wildest TV Show Moments 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 10:15 THS 12:05 Style Star 12:35 Fashion Police 13:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Dirty Soap 22:25 The Soup 22:55 Fashion Police 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:00 Cowboy U 00:50 Wrestling With Reality 02:05 Aiya TV 02:30 Ed’s Up 03:20 Glutton For Punishment 04:35 Untracked 05:50 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

07:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 09:00 The Alli Show 09:25 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 11:55 Fantasy Factory 12:45 Gumball 3000: 2008 13:35 Dragrace High 14:00 Dragrace High 14:25 Mantracker 15:15 World Combat League 16:05 Fantasy Factory 16:55 Gumball 3000: 2008 17:45 The Alli Show 18:10 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 20:15 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 20:40 Mantracker 21:30 Dragrace High 21:55 Dragrace High 22:20 Ed’s Up 22:45 Ed’s Up 23:10 World Combat League

00:40 Couples Who Kill 01:30 True CSI 02:15 Nightmare Next Door 03:05 I Faked My Own Death 03:50 Couples Who Kill 04:40 True CSI 05:25 On The Case With Paula Zahn 06:15 Disappeared 07:10 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 08:00 FBI Files 08:50 Forensic Detectives 09:40 Fugitive Strike Force 10:25 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 11:10 Real Emergency Calls 11:35 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

11:55 On The Case With Paula Zahn 12:40 Disappeared 13:25 Fugitive Strike Force 14:15 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 15:00 Real Emergency Calls 15:25 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

15:50 On The Case With Paula Zahn 16:35 Disappeared 17:20 FBI Files 18:10 Forensic Detectives 19:00 Fugitive Strike Force 19:45 Real Emergency Calls 20:10 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries

00:00 Travel Madness 00:30 Latin America On A Motorcycle 01:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 02:00 Exploring The Vine 03:00 Word of Mouth 03:30 Banged Up Abroad 05:30 Destination Extreme 06:00 Travel Madness 06:30 Latin America On A Motorcycle 07:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 08:00 Exploring The Vine 09:00 Word of Mouth 09:30 Banged Up Abroad 11:30 Destination Extreme 12:00 Travel Madness 12:30 Latin America On A Motorcycle 13:00 Banged Up Abroad 15:00 Eccentric Uk 15:30 Deadliest Journeys 16:00 Ultimate Traveller 17:00 Long Way Down 18:00 Racing To America 19:00 Banged Up Abroad 21:00 Eccentric Uk 21:30 Deadliest Journeys 22:00 Ultimate Traveller

ALL ABOUT STEVE ON OSN MOVIES HD 20:00 Killing Bono-PG15 22:00 Serial Mom-18 00:00 Fatal Secrets-PG15 02:00 Don’t Look Up-18 04:00 Empire-18 06:00 Universal Soldier: Regeneration-PG15 08:00 2012-PG15 11:00 Across The Hall-PG15 13:00 Legendary-PG15 15:00 2012-PG15 18:00 Rocky IV-PG15 20:00 Largo Winch 2-PG15 22:00 The Losers-PG15

01:15 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:15 15:00 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:00

Brotherhood-PG15 The Greatest-PG15 Bustin’ Down The Door-PG15 Make It Happen-PG15 Stone Of Destiny-PG15 Secretariat-PG15 How To Train Your Dragon-PG Love The Beast-PG Secretariat-PG15 I Am Number Four-PG15 Winter’s Bone-18 Due Date-PG15

00:00 The Ricky Gervais Show 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 South Park 03:00 Friends 04:00 Will And Grace 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Two And A Half Men 06:30 Just Shoot Me 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Will And Grace 08:30 Friends 09:00 Seinfeld 09:30 How I Met Your Mother 10:00 State Of Georgia 10:30 Just Shoot Me 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Two And A Half Men 12:30 Will And Grace 13:00 Friends 13:30 Seinfeld 14:00 Just Shoot Me 14:30 State Of Georgia 15:00 How I Met Your Mother 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Outsourced 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Friends 19:00 How I Met Your Mother 19:30 Traffic Light 20:00 Mad Love 20:30 The Ricky Gervais Show 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition

01:00 Maximum Risk-18 03:00 Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Night-PG15 05:00 Bad Guys-18 07:00 Bangkok Adrenaline-PG15 09:00 Patriot Games-PG15 11:00 Double Impact-18 13:00 Rocky-PG15 15:00 Patriot Games-PG15 17:00 Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time-PG15 19:00 Killshot-18 21:00 The Losers-PG15

01:00 03:30 05:30 07:30 09:30 11:15 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Funny People-18 The Box-PG15 Valentine’s Day-PG15 Flash Of Genius-PG15 All About Steve-PG15 My Sassy Girl-PG15 Flying By-PG15 The Chaperone-PG15 All About Steve-PG15 Grown Ups-PG15 Killing Bono-PG15 Blue Valentine-18

00:00 The Enchanted Mountain-PG 02:00 Christopher Columbus-PG 04:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas 06:00 Furry Vengeance-PG 08:00 Columbus III: The New World 10:00 Nativity!-PG 12:15 The Prince Of Dinosaurs-PG 14:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas 16:00 Barbie: Princess Charm School-PG15 18:00 Nativity!-PG 20:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG

00:00 WWE SmackDown 02:00 WWE Bottom Line 03:00 WWE NXT 04:00 WWE Vintage Collection 05:00 Trans World Sport 06:00 Powerboats F1 07:00 ISAF World Sailing Championship 13:00 Trans World Sport 14:00 WWE SmackDown 16:00 Powerboats F1 16:30 Volvo Ocean Race 18:00 ISAF World Sailing Championship

03:00 European Challenge Cup 05:00 European Challenge Cup 07:00 Darts PDC World Championship 12:00 World Cup of Pool 13:00 World Pool Masters 14:00 Ping Pong World Championship 15:00 Masters Football 18:00 Scottish Premier League 20:00 Trans World Sports 21:00 SPL Highlights 21:30 Futbol Mundial 22:00 Live Darts PDC World Championship

01:00 Asian Tour Golf 05:30 Trans World Sport 06:30 ICC Cricket World 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Asian Tour Golf 12:30 Scottish Premier League 14:30 European Challenge Cup 16:30 Darts PDC World Championship 21:30 Scottish Premier League 23:30 European Challenge Cup

00:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 00:00 When In Rome-PG15 11:00 02:00 All Night Long-PG15 12:00 04:00 Dr. Dolittle-PG 13:00 06:00 Dr. Dolittle 2-PG 08:00 Not The Messiah: He’s A Very 16:00 17:00 Naughty Boy-PG15 18:00 10:00 Tom And Huck-PG15 19:00 12:00 Chasing Papi-PG 19:30 14:00 My Father The Hero-PG15 20:00 16:00 When In Rome-PG15 23:00 18:00 Mr. Wrong-PG15

UFC 140 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Speedway UFC Unleashed WWE Bottom Line WWE Tough Enough Speedway Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Championship Prizefighter WWE NXT WWE Tough Enough Speedway FIM World Power Boats UIM Power Boats UIM UFC 130 Prizefighter

00:00 Warriors 01:00 American Pickers 03:00 Pawn Stars 03:30 American Restoration 04:00 Chasing Mummies 05:00 Battles B.C. 06:00 Warriors 07:00 American Pickers 09:00 Pawn Stars 09:30 American Restoration 10:00 Chasing Mummies 11:00 Battles B.C. 12:00 Warriors 13:00 American Pickers 15:00 Pawn Stars 15:30 American Restoration 16:00 Chasing Mummies 17:00 Battles B.C. 18:00 Tsunami 2004: Waves Of Death 19:00 American Pickers 20:00 How The Earth Was Made 21:00 Ice Road Truckers 23:00 Ax Men

00:05 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 01:00 Open House 02:00 Videofashion Daily 02:55 Videofashion News 03:25 How Do I Look?

04:20 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

05:15 Married Away 06:10 Homes With Style 06:35 Area 07:05 Clean House 08:00 Videofashion News 09:00 Videofashion Daily 10:00 Open House 10:55 How Do I Look?

11:50 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

12:50 Clean House: Search For The Messiest...

13:50 Clean House 14:45 Videofashion Daily 15:45 How Do I Look?

16:40 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 17:35 Jerseylicious 18:30 How Do I Look?

19:25 Tia And Tamera 20:25 Open House 21:20 Clean House: New York 22:15 Elements Of Style 23:10 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane

00:00 Globe Trekker 01:00 Wild Camping 02:00 Third Class Traveller 03:00 Luxury Train Journeys Of India 04:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 05:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Intrepid Journeys 10:00 Rivers Of The World 11:00 Floyd Uncorked 11:30 Glutton For Punishment 12:00 Top Travel 13:00 Globe Trekker 14:00 Planet Food 15:00 Wild Camping 16:00 Think Green 17:00 Globe Trekker 18:00 Top Travel 18:30 Top Travel 19:00 Planet Food 20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Globe Trekker 22:00 Rivers Of The World 23:00 Going South 23:30 Essential

01:25 03:05 04:30 06:15 07:50 10:00 11:35 13:05 14:40 17:00 18:50 20:25

Dead Of Winter The Curse Of Inferno-PG Semi-Tough Convict Cowboy-PG Man Of LA Mancha-PG Dirty Dozen: Fatal Mission-PG Ghoulies II A Matter Of Justice-PG Irma LA Douce-PG Electra Glide In Blue-PG The Spree-PG Delirious-PG

Classifieds MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

55427307. (C 3784) 19-12-2011

ACCOMMODATION A separate room available with separate bathroom in a sharing flat in Mahaboula.

Contact: 66216713.

Mitsubishi Nativa 2008, 66564 kms, black color, excellent condition, KD 3,560/-, negotiable.

Contact: 60306273.

(C 3779)

Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya with Keralite family. Keralite family or working ladies preferred. Contact: 99509436.

(C 3782) 17-12-2011

Mercedes Benz 1998 (E 200), color beige, running condition, registration till May 2012. Price KD 600.

Contact: 97277135.

15-12-2011

Hindi. Proficient on MSOffice, Tally, Accpac, Focus etc., Article # 18 transferable. Contact: 66516791.

(C 3785) 19-12-2011

SITUATION VACANT Wanted English speaking maid / nanny. Contact: 99824597. (C 3781) 17-12-2011

CHANGE OF NAME SITUATION WANTED FOR SALE Toyota Corolla 1.8XLI, model 2006 color white, excellent condition, 88,000 km, Price KD 2,300/-, area Salmiya.

Contact:

Indian male 29 yrs, B.Com., MBA having six years rich experience in finance and investment in Kuwait, seeking suitable placement.

Fluent in English, Arabic &

I, Moidin Kunhi Badiyar Husan S/O Husan Kunhi Urmene Moidin, holder of Indian Passport No: F4932532 have changed my name to MOHAMMED MOHIDEEN for all purposes.

(C 3786) I, Marshal Agnelo Lawrence, holder of Indian Passport No. F5623328 hereby change my name to Marcelo Agnelo Lourenco.

19-12-2011 I, Shaikh Vali, Shaikh Imam holder of Indian Passport No. 3972054 hereby change my name to Shaikh Mettala Vali. (C 3783) 18-12-2011 I, Habeeb Mohammed Abdur Rahman Baageel Indian Passport No. G9948258 hereby change my name to Habeeb Mohammed Abdur Rahman Ba Aqeel. (C 3778) 13-12-2011 I, Santhana Rego holder of Indian Passport No: A9871318 hereby change my name to Santana Rego. (C 3773)

Two RB? Or not two RB? That is the question.

It’s the same every year: 12 of the top 15 picks in your fantasy draft are running backs, with the exception of the lone Peyton/Brady fan and the contrarian who picks two receivers with his bookend picks at the end of Round 1. (You know who you are.)

This year, with more NFL running back platoons than ever, even more fantasy owners will be contemplating the possibility of heading into Round 3 with the adequate yet uninspiring foundation of Frank Gore and Shonn Greene.

Except for this: You shouldn’t.

Take away the top four running backs — Tennessee’s Chris Johnson, Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, Once you get past the top four rushers, it’s time to Baltimore’s Ray Rice and Jacksonville’s Maurice turn your eye to a top Jones-Drew — and you’re left with 10 to 12 guys receiver like Andre Johnson. who will likely finish this season with similar numbers. Want to win your fantasy league? Let others get mired in middling RBs. At quarterback, there are five elite possibilities before a likely drop-off in numbers. At wide receiver, there are four who separate themselves from the pack.

The best fantasy play? It’s grabbing as many elite players as early as you can — including one strong RB — then loading up on running back platoons with the assurance that injuries and performance will produce some true starters later.

When that happens, your small risk in August will make you a happy — Peter St. Onge, McClatchy Newspapers owner in December.

1. Chris Johnson, Tenn.

2. Adrian Peterson, Minn.

3. Ray Rice, Balt.

4. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac.

5. Michael Turner, Atl. 6. Steven Jackson, Stl. 7. Frank Gore, SF 8. Shonn Greene, NYJ

9. DeAngelo Williams, Car. 10. Ryan Grant, GB 11. Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt.

12. Beanie Wells, Ari.

Overrated: DeAngelo Williams, Car.: Jonathan Stewart, poor Panthers D will conspire to limit his carries.

Underrated: Justin Forsett, Sea.: If he can take the bruising, there’s no timeshare holding him back this year.

Late-round flier:

1. Aaron Rodgers, GB 2. Drew Brees, NO 3. Tom Brady, NE 4. Matt Schaub, Hou. 5. Peyton Manning, Ind. 6. Philip Rivers, SD

7. Joe Flacco, Balt.

8. Tony Romo, Dal. 9. Donovan McNabb, Wash.

10. Jay Cutler, Chi. 11. Eli Manning, NYG 12. Matt Ryan, Atl.

Overrated: Kevin Kolb, Phi.: 130 total NFL passes, few weapons to work with, and he’s among the top 10 QBs drafted?

1. Andre Johnson, Hou. 2. Randy Moss, NE 3. Calvin Johnson, Det. 4. Larry Fitzgerald, Ari.

Marshawn Lynch, Buff.: Currently buried on the Bills depth chart. Will end up somewhere else, with more opportunity.

Underrated: Matt Schaub, Hou.: Draft a good backup for the inevitable ding. But otherwise, he’s elite.

Late-round flier: Matthew

5. Greg Jennings, GB 6. Roddy White, Atl. 7. Brandon Marshall, Mia. 8. Reggie Wayne, Ind.

9. Miles Austin, Dal. 10. Sidney Rice, Minn.

11. Marques Colston, NO 12. DeSean Jackson, Phi.

Stafford, Det.: Will have more time to throw, fewer games in which he has to.

A big step forward.

Underrated: Hines Ward,

Boldin, Balt.: Someone will overpay for the inevitable hamstring pull.

Pitt.: He keeps catching passes. Let others go young and trendy.

Devin Aromashodu, Chi.: Clicked with Cutler in late 2009.

1. Antonio Gates, SD 2. Dallas Clark, Ind. 3. Jermichael Finley, GB 4. Vernon Davis, SF 5. Jason Witten, Dal. 6. Tony Gonzalez, Atl.

7. Brent Celek, Phi. 8. John Carlson, Sea. 9. Greg Olsen, Chi. 10. Visanthe Shiancoe, Minn.

11. Owen Daniels, Hou 12. Zach Miller, Oak.

Overrated: Kellen

Underrated: Zach Miller,

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Overrated: Anquan

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Departure Flights on Monday 19/12/2011 Airlines Flt Route Time BBC 44 CHITTAGONG/DHAKA 0:01 UAL 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 0:45 AXB 390 MANGALORE/KOZHIKODE 0:50 AIC 982 AHMEDABAD/HYDERABAD 1:05 DLH 637 FRANKFURT 1:20 PIA 206 PESHAWER/LAHORE 1:25 KLM 447 AMSTERDAM 1:45 ETH 2621 ADDIS ABABA 2:15 KAC 283 DHAKA 2:40 ETH 621 ADDIS ABABA 2:45 THY 773 ISTANBUL 3:15 FDB 68 DUBAI 3:45 UAE 854 DUBAI 3:50 DHX 371 BAHRAIN 3:55 ETD 306 ABU DHABI 4:00 QTR 139 DOHA 4:55 JZR 164 DUBAI 6:55 GFA 212 BAHRAIN 7:00 FDB 54 DUBAI 8:25 KAC 545 ALEXANDRIA 8:30 BAW 156 LONDON 8:40 KAC 549 SOHAG 8:55 JZR 256 BEIRUT 9:00 JZR 534 CAIRO 9:15 UAE 856 DUBAI 9:40 ABY 126 SHARJAH 9:45 ETD 302 ABU DHABI 10:00 FDB 56 DUBAI 10:05 QTR 133 DOHA 10:10 GFA 214 BAHRAIN 10:40 RBG 3558 SOHAG 11:25 KAC 165 ROME/PARIS 11:45 KAC 541 CAIRO 12:00 KAC 103 LONDON 12:30 RKM 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 12:50 MEA 405 BEIRUT 12:55 IRC 6522 LAMERD 13:00 MSR 624 SOHAG 13:30 KAC 785 JEDDAH 13:40 JZR 176 DUBAI 13:50 MSR 611 CAIRO 13:55 FDB 58 DUBAI 14:35 KAC 551 DAMASCUS 14:40 SYR 342 DAMASCUS 14:45 KAC 673 DUBAI 15:05 KNE 746 JEDDAH 15:10 OMA 646 MUSCAT 15:15 UAL 982 BAHRAIN 15:20 RJA 641 AMMAN 15:35 SVA 501 JEDDAH 15:45 KAC 617 DOHA 15:55 KAC 773 RIYADH 16:25 QTR 141 DOHA 16:30 KAC 743 DAMMAM 16:40 ETD 304 ABU DHABI 17:35 JZR 538 CAIRO 17:40 QTR 135 DOHA 17:45 VOS 82 BAGHDAD 18:00 UAE 858 DUBAI 18:10 GFA 216 BAHRAIN 18:15 RBG 3556 ALEXANDRIA 18:20 ABY 128 SHARJAH 18:25 SVA 511 RIYADH 18:35 JZR 134 BAHRAIN 19:05 ALK 228 DUBAI/COLOMBO 19:10 FDB 64 DUBAI 19:20 JZR 184 DUBAI 19:55 FDB 62 DUBAI 20:40 DHX 171 BAHRAIN 21:00 KAC 331 TRIVANDRUM 21:00 KAC 351 COCHIN 21:05 JAI 571 MUMBAI 21:10 MSR 619 ALEXANDRIA 21:45 KAC 543 CAIRO 21:55 DHX 373 BAHRAIN 22:00 MEA 403 BEIRUT 22:20 GFA 218 BAHRAIN 22:25 QTR 6056 DOHA 22:25 FAH 102 DUBAI 22:30 QTR 137 DOHA 22:35 KAC 301 MUMBAI 22:45 UAE 860 DUBAI 22:50 KAC 205 ISLAMABAD 23:00 KLM 445 BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM 23:05 TAR 327 DUBAI/TUNIS 23:35 JZR 528 ASSIUT 23:35 KAC 411 BANGKOK/MANILA 23:55

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Time 0:20 0:25 0:30 0:45 0:50 1:15 1:45 2:15 2:35 2:40 2:55 3:05 3:10 3:15 4:40 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:20 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:55 10:35 10:45 11:20 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:30 12:55 13:45 13:50 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:40 15:00 15:00 15:15 15:20 15:25 16:25 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:35 17:40 18:00 18:15 18:40 18:50 19:10 19:15 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:25 20:45 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:05 22:35 23:00 23:45 23:50 23:55

M

Arrival Flights on Monday 19/12/2011 Airlines Flt Route JZR 185 DUBAI PIA 205 LAHORE KLM 447 AMSTERDAM/BAHRAIN JZR 267 BEIRUT JZR 539 CAIRO ETH 2620 ADDIS ABABA ETH 620 ADDIS ABABA THY 772 ISTANBUL UAE 853 DUBAI QTR 138 DOHA DHX 370 BAHRAIN FDB 67 DUBAI ETD 305 ABU DHABI GFA 211 BAHRAIN KAC 544 CAIRO DHX 170 BAHRAIN FAH 201 DUBAI JZR 503 LUXOR BAW 157 LONDON KAC 412 MANILA/BANGKOK KAC 206 ISLAMABAD FDB 53 DUBAI KAC 352 COCHIN KAC 302 MUMBAI KAC 362 COLOMBO UAE 855 DUBAI ABY 125 SHARJAH QTR 132 DOHA ETD 301 ABU DHABI FDB 55 DUBAI GFA 213 BAHRAIN KAC 344 CHENNAI RBG 3555 ALEXANDRIA JZR 165 DUBAI RKM 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH MEA 404 BEIRUT IRC 6521 LAMERD MSR 623 SOHAG MSR 610 CAIRO SYR 341 DAMASCUS FDB 57 DUBAI UAL 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES OMA 645 MUSCAT QTR 140 DOHA KNE 745 JEDDAH SVA 500 JEDDAH RJA 640 AMMAN KAC 284 DHAKA JZR 257 BEIRUT KAC 550 SOHAG KAC 546 ALEXANDRIA QTR 134 DOHA JZR 535 CAIRO ETD 303 ABU DHABI KAC 118 NEW YORK UAE 857 DUBAI GFA 215 BAHRAIN SVA 510 RIYADH RBG 3557 SOHAG ABY 127 SHARJAH ALK 227 COLOMBO/DUBAI JZR 177 DUBAI FDB 63 DUBAI KAC 542 CAIRO KAC 19/1 JEDDAH KAC 618 DOHA KAC 674 DUBAI KAC 744 DAMMAM AIC 975 CHENNAI/GOA KAC 104 LONDON KAC 774 RIYADH FDB 61 DUBAI KAC 552 DAMASCUS JAI 572 MUMBAI QTR 6056 AMSTERDAM MSR 618 ALEXANDRIA DHX 372 BAHRAIN VOS 81 BAGHDAD MEA 402 BEIRUT GFA 217 BAHRAIN QTR 136 DOHA UAE 859 DUBAI JZR 135 BAHRAIN KLM 445 AMSTERDAM TAR 327 TUNIS UAL 981 BAHRAIN BBC 43 DHAKA DLH 636 FRANKFURT PIA 239 SIALKOT

Winslow, TB: One score in last 11 games, and he’s coming off knee surgery.

Oak.: Jason Campbell will get him scores to go with his yardage.

Heap, Balt.: A more potent offense brings new opportunity for old glory.

Late-round flier:

1. N.Y. Jets 2. Minnesota 3. Green Bay 4. Baltimore

1

Who’s No. 5? (After the Big 4 of Chris Johnson, AP, MJD and Ray Rice) Reid Creager: Frank Gore. He’s a threat

running and catching; the team figures to be better offensively; and the offensive line is improved.

Eric Edwards: Andre Johnson.

Assuming some sort of points per reception he’s the top hands this year.

Trevor Freeze: Michael Turner R. R. Trentham Roberts: Drew Brees. (I’m in a league where QBs go way too early.)

Peter St. Onge: Aaron Rodgers. I want the No. 1 QB instead of the No. 5 RB.

2 What’s your Golden Drafting Rule?

R.C.: You can never have too much depth

at running back.

E.E.:

Never draft Patriots running backs.

T.F.: Draft two of the top 5 WR Patriots RB Kevin Faulk (and you is taken down. have instant trade bait all year).

R.T.R.: Don’t sweat your No. 3 WR. P.S.O.: Don’t mess with rookie WRs.

3

Which No. 2 platoon running back will be a No. 1 by season’s end?

R.C.: Donald Brown, Ind. E.E.: Beanie Wells, Ari. T.F.: Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG R.T.R.: Felix Jones, Dal. P.S.O.: Thomas Jones, KC

4

Who are your Poison Players — high draft picks who chronically disappoint?

R.C.: Carson Palmer E.E.: Laurence Maroney, Marshawn Lynch, Eli Manning T.F.: Frank Gore, Carson Palmer, Brandon Jacobs R.T.R.: Roy Williams, Kellen Winslow and any Palmer Detroit running back P.S.O.: Steve Smith, the Panther

5

Who are the best three players who will go undrafted?

R.C.: Donald Brown, Earl Bennett and

Ryan Leaf. (Two’s enough. My league hasn’t drafted yet. Do your own work, guys.)

E.E.: Julian Edelman, Glen Coffee, Kevin

Boss T.F.: Chad Henne, Earl Bennett, James Jones R.T.R.: Larry Johnson, Mike Bell, Dexter McCluster P.S.O.: Eddie Royal, Dexter McCluster, Jermaine Gresham

6

Who’s the guy you just won’t draft — for non-performance reasons?

R.C.: Terrell Owens. Chad Johnson

Late-round flier: Todd

1. Stephen Gostkowski, NE 2. Nate Kaeding, SD 3. Garrett Hartley, NO 4. Mason Crosby, GB 5. Rob Bironas, Tenn.

6. Jay Feely, Ari.

And a few answers from the authors of the Fantasy Football Owner’s Manual blog.

7. David Akers, Phi. 8. Matt Prater, Den. 9. Ryan Longwell, Minn.

10. Jeff Reed, Pitt.

11. Lawrence Tynes, NYG 12. Robbie Gould, Chi.

5. Pittsburgh 6. Philadelphia 7. San Francisco 8. Denver

9. Cincinnati 10. N.Y. Giants 11. Dallas 12. Miami

(that’s what his parents named him, and that’s good enough for me). Tom Brady.

Steve Smith (Carolina) and any other end zone clown. Any Pittsburgh Steeler.

Anyone with an “e” in his name.

E.E.: Ronnie Brown — I have an irrational mistrust of Miami’s running backs. Brown has been a top performer but I look at him and for some reason I see a guy who is 5 minutes from a career-ending injury.

T.F.: Aaron Rodgers. Falls under the No Packer Rule.

R.T.R.: Ben Roethlisberger. And that was even before the latest episode.

P.S.O.: I’ll draft anybody. I have no standards.

Get answers to your fantasy football questions from “Fantasy Football Owner’s Manual,” at http://ffownersmanual.blogspot.com.

A L L P H OTO S M C T

34

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 532

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Giving a lecture or teaching a class is where your energies are best spent this Monday. Ideas and thoughts will have greater meaning and form for you just now. You may be quite eloquent or forceful in speaking or communicating. Those around you are going to find it very easy to understand exactly what you mean when you speak. This afternoon is a good time to read a romantic novel or to take in a movie. Knowing how you really feel about your place in life should be easy, as this is a good time to reflect on your own situation. Your emotions in particular or the feelings of those around you may be very clear. Being with others in an atmosphere of relaxation should be quite pleasant. Your life focus seems very clear at this time.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) There is a decision to change some habit or situation at this time; every detail is considered. Then, every possible path to the end result or change is detected as every step is planned. Finally, when the change is completed, you make new plans for the next progress and growth spurt. If you are married and these changes involve home there will be much consideration toward updating your home for investment as well as comfort. There is time for shopping this afternoon and you may find your loved one wants to come along. One of you will want to purchase an art object, antique or other collectible. Money agreements are easily reached. This evening is a time of lovely togetherness. Tonight there are decisions made regarding entertainment.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. (computer science) A measure of how densely information is packed on a storage medium.

4. A salesman who travels to call on customers.

10. The month following September and preceding November.

13. An implement used to propel or steer a boat.

14. Conduit that carries a rapid flow of water controlled by a sluicegate.

15. The 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet.

16. Singing jazz.

18. Thickening of tissue in the motor tracts of the lateral columns and anterior horns of the spinal cord.

19. The act of scanning.

20. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

22. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

24. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

25. An emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that signifies your status (rank or membership or affiliation etc.).

26. (folklore) A corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living.

28. An extreme state of adversity.

31. Advanced in years.

33. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

35. Minute freshwater crustacean having a round body enclosed in a transparent shell.

39. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

42. The lower house of the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

43. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

44. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

46. Top part of an apron.

47. An important seaport on the Island of Cebu in the Philippines.

49. A state in northwestern North America.

51. The dialect of Malay used as the national language of the Republic of Indonesia or of Malaysia.

58. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

59. Cause to lose one's nerve.

62. Any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses.

63. A doctor's degree in theology.

64. Above the surround or above the normal position.

66. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

67. A pilgrimage to Mecca.

68. Any of various plants of the genus Althaea.

69. An adult male person (as opposed to a woman).

DOWN 1. (of persons) Highest in rank or authority or office.

2. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

3. A theocratic republic in the Middle East in western Asia.

4. A bachelor's degree in science.

5. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

6. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

7. Lead someone in the wrong direction.

8. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

9. A colorless odorless gaseous element that give a red glow in a vacuum tube.

10. English scholastic philosopher and assumed author of Occam's Razor (1285-1349).

11. An African river that flows northwest into Lake Chad.

12. Infections of the skin or nails caused by fungi and appearing as itching circular patches.

17. A sock with a separation for the big toe.

21. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

23. A city in northwestern Syria.

27. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

29. In bed.

30. An informal term for a father.

32. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

34. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

36. Tag the base runner to get him out.

37. Being one more than two.

38. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

40. A ruler of the Inca Empire (or a member of his family).

41. A pause or interruption (as in a conversation).

42. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

45. The cry made by sheep.

48. Obvious and dull.

49. The act of slowing down or falling behind.

50. A group of African language in the Niger-Congo group spoken from the Ivory Coast east to Nigeria.

52. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

53. A pilgrimage to Mecca.

54. Hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella.

55. Starch resembling sago that is obtained from cuckoopint root.

56. God of love and erotic desire.

57. A Kwa language spoken in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

60. An engineering university in Cambridge.

61. The residue that remains when something is burned.

65. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You may feel a strong need to be in total control of many situations that come to your attention. Being assertive never hurts unless you become too domineering. Remember, others have their opinions too—you may need to listen to their points of view. Later today you may find an opportunity to meet someone quite charming. Areas of sensuality could be emphasized at this time and you could be the one taking the first step toward a new friendship. With company expected in the near future, you begin your list of the necessary preparations.

Surround yourself with youthful energy this evening. Keep an eye open for activities to have at your event that are of a different nature than the regular charades. You may discover some new talent.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Everyone will be talking about your attitude. Your positive viewpoint about things is admirable. You truly take problems as valued lessons that they represent, rather than as perceived obstacles. You feel a love of law and order and find a deep appreciation for responsibilities and duty.

Nurturing is a larger than usual component in your life. Caring for others or having them return the favor is essential to your well-being. If you can successfully fit the two together in good order, it should all work out well. Managing and directing others is your specialty at this time, and someone in authority recognizes your talent in that area. You may be sought out as the perfect person for a new and productive job. You could be making a movie!

Leo (July 23-August 22) You could be looking to add some color to your life—allowing your rather unique and unusual qualities to surface. Perhaps you will look through the newspapers to find a special sale, entertainment or opportunity.

Ideas come to you quickly and it would be wise to keep a notebook with your ideas inside—making it easier to plan. It may surprise you to learn that someone close to you understands you better than you thought and is supportive of your ideas. You could establish some new solutions or stumble onto something very inventive.

Allowing your creative and intuitive talent to evolve can bring you many nice surprises. You are not afraid to take risks and try new activities. Optimism and faith are the two guiding words in your life now.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This morning’s planetary energies indicate positive results from a new project. Until the noon meal, your family members may find you creating an herb garden or learning how to play the piano. You may be thinking about comfort this afternoon—you realize that in order to be comfortable, you must feel cared for and needed. To squelch these feelings can cause instinctive feelings of restlessness. Those relationships that are close to you seem to take on more emotional depth and importance. This is a good time to make the effort to bring those you love close to you. Keep notes of the birthdays and anniversaries and acknowledge their accomplishments. Your feelings could be a bit on the introverted side just now. Plan more time with loved ones.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) The emotions that you have or the way that you feel should now be very clear. It’s a great time to understand your own situation, just how you feel about yourself. Things seem to be working especially hard to show you off at your most elegant, particularly in social situations. You seem to truly understand anything of an academic nature and know just how to present or communicate this to others. You may be elected to direct a play. Your outlook is optimistic and you can easily be a mentor to young people and should consider teaching or helping to mentor where needed. Somehow, knowing that if you establish some workable goals and put your best foot forward, you can obtain just about anything that you wish out of life. You have a good frame of mind.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) It should be a breeze for you to do any kind of work that requires discipline or organization. There may be some very serious or meditative moments and you may find yourself in a methodical mood. Thoughtful and perceptive analysis, especially with a group or in relation to your circumstances, may be in order. Someone could be seeking you out for your sidewalk psychology today. Sharing information is much more emotionally significant to you at this time.

Interacting with your neighbors or siblings satisfies a deep emotional necessity.

Communicating your thoughts is easy. Do not let some unanswered question(s) about love or friendship separate you from others. A heart-to-heart talk will quickly resolve matters.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

This is a time when it comes to ideas and thinking that your imagination and creativity will be in full force. This, along with your ability to put your thoughts into words, will allow you to captivate and spellbind. You may find enjoyment in a good book or movie—or in writing. You could be feeling that anything is possible. Being optimistic and having faith in yourself, along with not being afraid to take chances, is what will guarantee your success. This could mean you decide to become an actor or just simply set up a future ski trip. You are ready, willing and able to take on new experiences. This could mark a time when your life path is changing—you could be headed in new directions—professionally or personally. A relationship intensifies.

The accent is on recreation today. If you have kids and you work, you know that it is difficult to find some fun time to spend together when they are not doing homework or involved in their own projects. If you are a grandparent, you may be able to help the parents a great deal by taking the kids shopping or just reading together. Teach them how to compare prices and how to find reasonably priced products. If you are the parent, this may be a good time to visit friends and family members together. There is a positive accent on happiness in love.

Your bond with a romantic interest will deepen. Good advice and encouragement are available for you, if you need it. Tonight finds you enjoying a new piece of music, an object of beauty or a new pet.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) An emphasis on close relationships is important to you at this time. Perhaps during the holidays you will be able to arrange a gettogether of past friends and have a mini-reunion at your place or perhaps a nearby restaurant. You will have fun gathering pictures to show off to your friends or you could have people send pictures ahead so that everyone will have some insight into the progress of everyone else’s life. A quiet walk in the out-of-doors this afternoon will help to increase your energy as well as afford you time for thinking and planning; take a small recorder for your thoughts. Tonight you could find yourself enjoying a long conversation over the phone, writing a letter, or making special plans, particularly for a baby sitter to be on-call.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You should be feeling quite healthy and natural. Everything points to your taking the initiative in some project today. This could mean helping or rounding up people to help in a soup kitchen at this time of year . . . you can do it. You may find that this project is for next weekend and you have this day to gather your group together. You may feel that it would be easy to find assistance from those around you, but be flexible. With your optimism, you may feel that there is nothing that you cannot accomplish. This is a time that you will later come to look back on with pride and fondness—you may want to make this something you do every year. This evening there is time for sharing with those you love. Catch up on family activities and listen to the children.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

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

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

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

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

PHARMACIES

AIRLINES

ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

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

Hawally

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

Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

171 177 22924455 22414400 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22921555 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/ 2433141 22456700 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

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Johansson dating UK musician carlett Johansson is reportedly dating British musician Dan White. The ‘We Bought A Zoo’ actress met the Tribes guitarist when she was shooting in London recently and pals say the pair are smitten and determined to make their long distance relationship work. A source told the Sunday Mirror: “They met in London recently. Scarlett was shooting the film ‘Under The Skin’ in the UK and they were introduced at a club night in town. “They got on like a house on fire and Scarlett was into his band’s music. There was an instant

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connection. They’ve been seeing each other for a good few weeks. Dan’s proper happy about it- and what guy wouldn’t be? He already thinks the world of Scarlett.”Dan thinks she’s an amazing girl. They both have incredibly busy lives but are going to see where things go. Dan’s band Tribes is only just taking off and Scarlett has a lot of work on. So who knows?”

Although Scarlett split with husband Ryan Reynolds in December 2010, she admitted her union with the ‘Green Lantern’ actor - who is currently dating Blake Lively - was the “best thing”

she ever did. She has previously said: “It was the best thing I ever did. I’m a big believer in instinct. Getting married was the right thing to do because it was natural. It grew out of romance and love and a desire to have a future with somebody, and I was very fortunate that I married somebody who turned out to be the person I thought he would be.”

Beckhams to leave Los Angeles avid and Victoria Beckham are considering leaving Los Angeles. The soccer star is in talks with French club Paris Saint-Germain and a number of UK teams and rather than Victoria and their four children Brooklyn, 12, Romeo, nine, Cruz, six, and four-month-old daughter Harper remaining in Los Angeles while he plays in Europe, the entire family may relocate with the couple already lining up possible schools for the boys. A source told the Mail on Sunday: “David is on the brink of committing to either Paris SaintGermain or a UK club. He’ll make the announcement just after the New Year.

“They are preparing to be back in Britain and have been looking at schools for the boys. David is keen on one particular school because it’s the area where he grew up and when he was a child he always wished he could have gone there.”

Although Victoria was initially reluctant to move, the hugely successful fashion designer is now “excited” about returning home. The source added: “David has always been adamant he wants to end his career in Europe and Victoria is totally behind the move. She is using the opportunity to work on her fashion profile in Europe and the boys will be privately educated. They are all very excited. “Victoria wants to come back to London and live between the capital and Paris but she won’t give up the place in LA. The advantage of being over here is they can spend more time with their families. But they love LA so it’s likely they’ll be back.”

D Jay-Z to protect unborn baby ay-Z is planning to splash out on an armored vehicle to protect his unborn baby. The rapper’s wife Beyonce Knowles is pregnant with the couple’s first child and Jay-Z is so determined to keep the child safe, he has asked Tom Cruise for advice on the safest mode of transport for the family. A source said: “Jay is looking at action-movie style vehicles like Tom’s and wants to make sure they are bulletproof and 100 per cent safe. He won’t be taking any risks that’s for sure.” In addition to the armored car, Jay-Z, 41, is also planning to splash out on a new home for him and his family in Florida and has told Beyonce money is not an object. The source added to Britain’s OK! magazine: “They went house hunting together last week and he made it clear that she can pick whichever one she likes. All Jay will care about is that it’s secluded and very well protected. Other than that so long as Bey loves it, he will too. “He said to her that even if the house of her dreams costs him £12 million, he’ll buy it. He sees it as a thank you for making his dream to be a father come true.”

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Helderslearning to play the guitar Williamshorrified at Heath movie

rctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders is learning to play the guitar.

The drummer is taking some time off from touring and recording over the festive period, and is planning to devote some time to learning a new instrument and master a few riffs. He said: “I need to learn the guitar too, I may do that over Christmas. I can’t play any chords, but I can play a few riffs.

Who needs Chords?” As well as devoting some time to improving his skills as an axe man, Matt is also going to be training up on another instrument, the auto harp, on which playing chords is much easier. He told NME magazine: “It’s like a piece of wood with strings on it, and you press this button down on the side that tells you what chord it is and you just strum it. So you don’t actually have to do anything!” Arctic Monkeys latest album ‘Suck it and See’ is out now.

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ichelle Williams is horrified at plans for a movie based on the days leading up to Heath Ledger’s death. The ‘My Week With Marilyn’s former boyfriend - the father of her six-year-old daughter Matilda died from an accidental overdose in 2008 and Michelle is said to be furious that the film based on his last days is being touted. A source said: “Michelle was horrified to hear talk of plans for such a grim film. She hates the thought of re-opening old wounds and finds it distasteful that people are trying to make money off his legacy. She never thought the film would get the green light but it looks like her worst fears could come true.” Michelle and Heath met on the set of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ in 2004 with Matilda born on October 2005 and friends say it is the young girl Michelle is most worried about. The source added: “It’s all about Matilda. She doesn’t want their daughter to be constantly reminded of the circumstances surrounding his death for the rest of her life.”

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Cooper tried to date every girl in school radley Cooper used to try and date every girl in high school. The Hollywood heartthrob says he was never part of any group when he was growing up and just used from one gang to another as it helped him romance as many girls as possible. He said: “I was like most kids. You’re trying to figure out who you want to be, who you are pretending to be, who you are, but I was never in one group. I never really had a home, a clique. I was freelance and tried to date women in every group.” Bradley - who was recently linked to Jennifer Lopez and has previously dated Renee Zellweger and Jennifer Aniston - is still a hit with the ladies but admits his habit of chewing tobacco can put them off. He told Reveal magazine: “My favorite habit is chewing tobacco. I quit it, but for some reason, no matter how many women tells me it’s disgusting, deep down I still think, ‘You love it. You want a real man.’ “

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Will Youngwants to take a career break he singer-and-actor would love to take a year off work, but is too busy so is trying to schedule a three-month holiday, though he admits he is astonished by how “lazy” he gets after a few days off. He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “I want to take three months off at least. Ideally, I want to take a year off, but I don’t know if I can, so three months. “I absolutely love taking time off. It’s really important. After a few days off, it’s amazing how lazy you can become. It’s slightly terrifying. I used to have a problem switching off, but now I don’t have a problem at all. “ While he enjoys being lazy, the ‘Come On’ singer also wants to use his time off to visit new places and return to some of his favorite destinations.

He explained: “I like travelling, I like going to see different places, so it’s still interesting. My favorite continent is Africa. I think the people of the Cameroon are amazing and beautiful. Namibia is stunning, and Mozambique is really beautiful, so it would be hard to pick between those three. They’re just amazing people in Africa. I’m hoping to go again. There’s something really magical about Africa. “I want to go whale watching, I think it would be amazing. I want to see the Northern Lights, but I don’t know if I’ll get chance because you’ve only got until March so I don’t know if I’ll have time. I want to do one trip to somewhere, Scandinavia, the Arctic, that sort of area.” —Bang Showbiz

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Cape Verde’s ‘barefoot diva’ Evora to be buried Tuesday egendary Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora, who died on Saturday aged 70, will be buried on Tuesday on her home island of Sao Vicente, officials said yesterday.

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File photo shows Legendary Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora, nicknamed the “barefoot diva,” performing during a concert. —AFP

ichael Fassbender’s last movie might be called “Shame,” but the GermanIrish actor has nothing to feel bad about as he rides a wave of success and aims at Hollywood gold this awards season. The 34-year-old’s big-screen career has exploded with a string of movies in the last four years, before his Golden Globe nod last week for his role as a tortured sex addict in “Shame,” his latest film with director Steve McQueen. His meteoric rise has included an award-winning role as Northern Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands in 2008’s “Hunger,” as well as turns in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds” and

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File photo shows cast member Michael Fassbender arrives at a screening of “Shame” during AFI FEST 2011, in Los Angeles. —AP the latest “X Men” blockbuster this year.

Fassbender’s latest movie sees him play another typically intense role as Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung in David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method.”“I spent a lot of time out of work. Now I’m trying to make hay while the sun is shining,” the chiseled actor, who lives in London, said of his success of recent years. Born on April 2, 1977 to a German father and a Northern Irish mother in Heidelberg, Germany, Fassbender moved with his family moved to Killarney, County Kerry, in southwest Ireland, when he was two years old.

After dropping out of London’s Drama Centre, his career began on the small screen when he was 24, including an early credit in 2001 in the World War II series “Band of Brothers,” executive produced by Steven

The body of the singing star nicknamed “the barefoot diva” will remain at her family home in Mindelo on Tuesday until it is transferred to the local town hall and then to the cemetery for the burial at 4 pm (1700 GMT).

Flags were flying at half mast yesterday on all public buildings throughout the archipelago’s nine islands, in the Atlantic, 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the Senegalese capital Dakar and will remain so until Tuesday.

The Cape Verde government on Saturday declared a 48-hour official period of mourning for the singer, who President Jorge Carlos Fonseca acclaimed as “a major cultural reference” for Cape Verde. The singer, who won international acclaim for her sultry voice and melancholy ballads, retired three months ago due to ill health, having undergone open heart surgery in May last year. “I infinitely regret having to stop because of illness, I would have wanted to give more pleasure to those who have followed me for so long,” she said in an interview with Le Monde when she retired.

Evora has sung the blues-influenced “saudade” of her native Cape Verde since a young age, but came to world fame late in life in 1992 after three decades performing in the bars of Mindelo. Her third album Miss Perfumado, which came out that year, was a worldwide hit selling more than 300,000 copies to date. —AFP

Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Other television roles included stints in the series “Murphy’s Law” in 2005, playing 17th century Catholic activist Guy Fawkes in a TV movie and even starring in a music video before switching to the big screen for “300” in 2006 and “Angel” the following year. But his big break arguably came three years ago with “Hunger,” directed

by McQueen, a role for which he lost 31 pounds to play Bobby Sands in an Irish Republican Army hunger strike in Northern Ireland’s Maze prison.

The role won him British Independent Film best actor and caught the eye of Tarantino, who cast him as British officer Lieutenant Archie Hicox helping Brad Pitt’s Nazi-killers in “Basterds”-a role that let him put his fluent German to use. The Tarantino film also won a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award for best movie cast, just one of a growing mantelpiece worth of gongs he has picked up 19 wins and 10 nominations in all so far, including for 2009’s “Fish Tank.” This year has seen critical success with “Jane Eyre” and “Shame,” co-starring Carey Mulligan, in which he plays handsome but desperate 30-something New Yorker Brandon Sullivan grappling with sex addiction.

The movie won best film and best actor for Fassbender at the Venice Film Festival in September, and secured a Golden Globe best actor nod this week, pitting him against George Clooney, Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Leonardo DiCaprio. Although the film was left out of of the SAG nominations, the movie could legitimately hope to be shortlisted when the Oscars nominees are announced on January 24. Having a neuropsychologist-older sister Catherine-in the family surely helped Fassbender in his role as Jung in “A Dangerous Method,” about the significant influence Jung and Sigmund Freud had on each other and how their friendship gave birth to psychoanalysis.

Confirming his reputation as a top-tier actor who is also bankable, Fassbender will also soon star in Steven Soderbergh’s action thriller “Haywire,” as well as Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus,” currently in post-production.

Next year will also see his third team-up with McQueen in “Twelve Years a Slave.”Whether or not he is destined for Hollywood awards success in the next couple of months, Fassbender says he will always remain inspired by one fellow Irish actor.”For me, Daniel Day-Lewis is in a league of his own,” he said of the British-Irish star who won best actor Oscar in 1990 for “My Left Foot.”I think he’s amazing... he’s always been a benchmark of excellence.” —AFP

Spanish singer Julio Iglesias, poses with Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal after receiving two awards from Nadal in Madrid, Friday. The awards were given to Iglesias for the Latin artist with the World’s highest album sales in history and for the artist with the highest album sales in Spain. —AP

In this film image released by Sony Pictures, Rooney Mara, left, and Daniel Craig are shown in a scene from “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.” —AP

‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ readies Hollywood debut ollywood’s first take on the bestselling Millennium trilogy, the blockbuster “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” opens in the United States next week, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. The film, directed by David Fincher, is the first US interpretation of a book series by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson that has captivated the world since its posthumous publication in 2005, a year after his death, selling 65 million copies in 46 countries. Britain’s Craig, the latest actor to portray the classic spy character “James Bond,” plays magazine publisher in disgrace Mikael Blomkvist in the US version.

He is joined by young US actress Mara as talented hacker Lisbeth Salander. Mara’s powerful performance earned her a Golden Globe

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nomination for best actress in a drama this week. “I had read all the three books and I had a real clear picture of who this girl was,” Mara said at a press conference in New York on Saturday, The actress, who had small role in the Facebook movie “The Social Network,” also by Fincher, said the director gave her a long to-do list for the role. “I have to become a smoker, to have piercings, to ride a motorcycle, just stuff like that,” she said. Craig, for his part, said it was important for him to get away from what millions of Millennium readers have in mind about the story.

“The less you think about what other people think about, the more original you can be,” he said. And the Hollywood remake is an “everybody wins” opportunity for Craig to

allow even the biggest fans of the Millennium legacy to feel like they are discovering it for the first time.

Filmed in Stockholm and other parts of Sweden, as well as in Zurich, the film features extraordinary winter landscapes, recreating the atmosphere of isolation and mystery showcased in the novel. As in Fincher’s “The Social Network,” the film’s eerie, pulsating score is brought by Trent Reznor, the leader of Nine Inch Nails, and Atticus Ross.

“This is one of the busiest times of the year for movie going and we can’t wait to share this outstanding thriller with audiences all over the world,” said Sony Pictures director of global marketing and distribution Jeff Blake. The film is due for release Tuesday in the United States in a bid to get an early start on the

competition. It goes on wide release in Britain on December 26, traditionally known as “Boxing Day” and a big time for cinema-goers.

Global release is due in January for Europe, Australia and Latin America.

Swedish film versions of the three novels were released in 2009 to much world acclaim. They all starred Noomi Rapace as Salander and Michael Nyqvist as Blomkvist, who investigates an unresolved murder in northern Sweden.

Crusading journalist Larsson was 50 when he died of a heart attack in November 2004, shortly before his Millennium trilogy became the biggest global publishing phenomenon of the 21st century. —AFP

Mexican band Mana’s singer Fher performs during the “Drama y Luz” (Drama and Light) world tour on December 17, 2011 in Montevideo. —AFP

Lana Del Rey, music buzz of 2011 — but is she ‘real’?

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oneyed vocals, a cinematic pout and a haunting, David Lynch-inspired video clip posted on YouTube was all it took to propel Lana Del Rey to global stardom, hailed as the musical revelation of 2011. But a just-as-swift backlash has threatened to bring down the New York singer before her first album even hits the shelves next month, after bloggers attacked the 25-year-old as an industry-backed “fake”, posing as self-made artist. Lana Del Rey’s story began early this year when, like thousands of would-be singers, the unknown American posted a track called “Video Games” on YouTube, an edgy, melancholy tale of unrequited love delivered in slow, sultry tones.

A collage of vintage footage, cartoons and contemporary images, the clip evokes the gauzy, nostalgia-tinted worlds of filmmakers like Lynch or Sofia Coppola. “We fell in love with its fragile, surreal, 50s-soap opera beauty,” wrote the British music magazine NME of “Video Games”, which went viral clocking up 15 million online views. A second clip, “Blue Jeans”, was posted a few weeks later as Lana Del Rey wowed music critics worldwide, hailed as much as a musical revelation as a style icon, with spots in Vogue and Rolling Stone.

The singer’s world is an artful blend of modernity-hip hop tinged lyrics, jewelry and bling false nails-and retro-tinged Hollywood glamour, in the spirit of the cult TV series “Mad Men”. “Somewhere between Hollywood icon and postmodern ‘It Girl’, she is perfectly in tune with the Zeitgeist,” wrote the French rock magazine Les Inrockuptibles. “The gangsta Nancy Sinatra,” is how she has summed up her persona, leaving critics struggling to find a neater turn of phrase.

‘A failed mainstream artist’ But her stellar rise soon enough gave way to a backlash, after some digging by indie bloggers unearthed a past life as plain old Elizabeth Grant, the author of two earlier, unsuccessful albums.

“She was basically a failed mainstream artist who is being ‘rebranded’ behind major label dollars,” read a scathing piece on the Hipster Runoff blog in September, claiming to “expose” the singer’s

past. As much as her background story as DIY artist, who may or may not once have lived in a trailer park, the controversy has zeroed in on the authenticity of her generous lips: a fake in both looks and substance, runs the argument.

Widely echoed in the music press, the backlash, wrote the Globe and Mail, “is threatening to bring down the It Girl before she has even has time to ‘break’.” The Del Rey controversy has also

matters a great deal whose idea ‘Lana Del Rey’ was,” considering the languid, submissive feminine type she embodies through her looks and lyrics alike. “Pop is a feminist issue, especially since it is stuffed with women who seem to be the playthings of overwhelmingly male creative and label execs,” argued the writer, Kitty Empire. The bottom line, critics agree, has to be the music. In October, a record deal with the label Interscope, a

US Singer Lana del Rey performs on stage during a concert in Amsterdam on November 10, 2011. —AFP left music critics red-faced, since many pride themselves on their flair for original new talent.

“People wailing about the ‘in authenticity’ of Lana Del Rey,” wrote Alexis Petridis in The Guardian, “would presumably, have recoiled from David Bowie in the 1970s, horrified that he wasn’t actually a gay Nazi demagogue from outer space.” But another critic in the paper pointed out that “it

subsidiary of Universal, was made public, and a late January release date set for her first album “Born to Die”. The video of its title track was “leaked” online last week. Shot by Woodkid, a hot French director, the clip confirmed that-however Del Rey’s story began-industry muscle is now firmly behind her. —AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

A Filipino woman looks forward as others raise their gifts during an attempt to break a Guinness world record for the biggest, simultaneous exchange of gifts, or kris kringle, in Manila, Philippines yesterday. —AP

Treasures from Jackson’s last home go under hammer A

bedroom mirror on which Michael Jackson scrawled a self-motivating message in the last months of his life sold for some $19,000 Saturday, as the contents of his last home went under the hammer. Fans of the King of Pop joined serious collectors at the Beverly Hills auction, which saw a shower bench on which Jackson drew a series of stick figures apparently dancing go for $4,480. There was a burst of applause when a phone bidder won the auction for the mirror, part of an armoire, on which Jackson had written a message to motivate himself as he rehearsed in LA for a series of doomed comeback shows in London.

“Train, perfection, March, April, Full out (underlined) May” said the handwritten scrawl, in an apparent reference to the gradual escalation of pace in rehearsals for the “This is It” shows. The armoire went for $18,750, more than twice its estimated price of $6,000-8,000 at the sale, by celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien, who handled the sale of the contents of Jackson’s Neverland ranch in 2008. Overall the one-day auction made nearly $1 million, well in excess of the pre-sale estimate of $200,000-$400,000, according to an end-of auction statement by Julien’s. The items come from the rented six-bedroom mansion in the plush Holmby Hills district of LA, where Jackson died on June 25, 2009 of an overdose of anesthetic propofol, taken to help him battle insomnia.

His personal doctor Conrad Murray, hired for

$150,000 a month to care for the singer during the London shows, was found guilty of involuntar y manslaughter last month and sentenced to the maximum four years in prison. The contents of 100 North

Carolwood Drive mansion are being sold at auction by the owners of the home rented to Jackson. But several items have drawn attention from Jackson fans, including the mirror, shower bench and an ornament with a

In this dated December 12, 2011 filed photo shows a man walking past a re-created scene of Michael Jackson’s bedroom during a press preview for the sale of fine art and furnishings from Jackson’s 100 North Carolwood Drive home at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California. — AP

chalkboard on which one of his children had scrawled: “Love daddy, I (heart) you daddy, Smile, it’s for Free.”

The ornament went for $5,000 on Saturday. For fans, the auction triggered mixed feelings. “I’ve followed him for many years ... I’ve always loved his style, anything about him made me happy, so that’s why I came today,” said Satya Vanii, a 28-year-old actress living in LA but originally from Kuwait. “It’s kind of weird because he’s gone, and it’s mixed feelings, but it would be nice to have something that I can keep that he had in his house,” she told AFP as the auction got underway. Actor John Tobin, who played Humphrey Bogart’s double in a video sequence part “This is It”-the movie released after Jackson’s death, including rehearsal footage-said the memory still stirs up strong feelings.

“I was surprised at how emotional I got when I got here, I was very overwhelmed,” said the 56-year-old, calling the time he spent working with Jackson “my best acting job ever.”

Julien’s Auctions Irish-born executive director Martin Noland said response to the auction had been astonishing, “We have people from all over the world, we have people that flew in from Japan, from South America especially to be here for the auction,” he said.

One item withdrawn from the sale, announced last month, was the headboard of the bed in which Jackson died, after the Jackson family objected to selling what would have become morbid memorabilia of the late King of Pop.—AFP

Winter queen symbolizes season’s solstice

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n the Northern Hemisphere, the first day of winter, called the winter solstice, occurs when the sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, making it the shortest day and longest night of the year. This year, the winter solstice will occur at 5:30 am Dec 22.

Early winter solstice celebrations, which are believed to have started during Neolithic times about 10,000 BC, were marked by people with trepidation. Ancient people knew if they had not adequately prepared for the event during the nine months before the solstice, they would very likely face starvation and not survive the winter.

Until they saw the days grow longer, people had no science to understand that the sun would once again shine brightly on their crops during the growing season.

In temperate climates, the festival would be the last one celebrated before deep winter, a time of famine, set in.

Today, many people note the day with relief that the cycle of dark days begins to reverse and the sun begins to stay above the horizon, giving us a bit more daylight each day. Using science, today we also know that the event occurs because the Earth sits at a 23.5-degree tilt as it revolves around the sun each year. Those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere receive less direct sunlight during the winter.

I made a winter fairy queen to celebrate the winter solstice with directions I found at http://twigandtoadstool.blogspot.com/2010/11/queen-winter.html. You can go there to see step-by-step photos of the project.

Younger children will need help from an adult to do this craft.

Supplies you will need: Wooden doll pin and stand.

1 white Chenille stem.

Cotton or purchased doll hair.

White felt.

White tulle.

1 white silk flower.

1 acorn top.

1 white feather.

Low temperature glue gun.

Wrap the pipe cleaner around the body (twisting it once in the back to hold better) just below the head and trim to arm length.

Cut a 6-inch-by-5-inch rectangle from white felt. Fold in half, matching the two

Make a winter fairy queen to celebrate the winter solstice. —MCT shorter sides together. Cut a small hole at the fold in the center to slip over the top of the clothespin. Cut two slits in the front and back from the bottom edge to about two inches from the fold. Make it wide enough to wrap around the pin and glue front to back.

Make two diagonal cuts from the bottom outside corners up to the top of the slits for sleeves. Glue the edges together.

Draw a circle five inches in circumference for a skirt and cut out. Cut a hole in the center and slip up over the clothespin.

Bunch the tulle around the pin under the skirt and glue in place.

Cut four petals from a silk flower and glue to the back of the clothespin.

Glue some white cotton to the top of the pin for hair and glue the acorn top on top.

Wrap a feather around the pin at the waist and secure in back with glue.

Place the pin inside a stand. Glue in place to hold.

— MCT

In this photo Princess Charlene of Monaco delivers a speech after receiving the ‘Golden Heart’ award during the ‘Ein Herz fuer Kinder’ (A Heart for Children) TV charity telethon in Berlin, Germany, Saturday. —AP

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These double-sided tribal earrings, are replicas of the earrings worn by Rooney Mara in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo;’ exclusively at H&M shops, Manhattan.

Rock on in Dannijo’s spiked Cosima necklace, in silver plate with Swarovski crystal.

—MCT photos

It can get cold solving crimes in the dead of a Swedish winter, so best you’re prepared with this cotton-blend gray knit snood; exclusively at H&M shops, Manhattan.

Guys don’t necessarily have to be left out of the ‘Dragon Tattoo’ trend, especially if they slip on a look from John Hardy’s ‘Naga’ collection, like this Black Woven Leather Dragon Bracelet, in sterling silver, handcrafted in Bali; at Bloomingdale’s, Garden City; and Bloomingdales.com.

Leather bracelet with studs at Esprit stores in Garden City, Lake Grove, Manhattan; and espritshop.com.

‘Dragon Tattoo’ style inspires new fashion including this cotton twill denim jacket with faux leather sleeves; exclusively at H&M shops, Manhattan.

Costume designer Trish Summerville fits right in amongst the Lisbeth look-alikes wearing outfits from her new, 30-piece Dragon Tattoo line designed for H&M.

isbeth Salander may be the most memorable Swede since Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman. Not bad for a fictional character. Salander, a computer hacker and loner, is the heroine of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” the first book in Stieg Larsson’s bestselling trilogy, and soon of a new film, starring newcomer Rooney Mara.

She also inspired H&M’s Dragon Tattoo Collection by Trish Summerville, a hotly anticipated line hitting stores in Manhattan this week.

Call it nocturnal style, says Summerville, who designed the film’s costumes and the H&M line. “Sweden in winter has, like, two hours of daylight, so, as a computer hacker, she’s up all night. She’s not trying to be stylish.” Her film wardrobe, in fact, features dirty and distressed skinny jeans, leather jackets and torn tees. For H&M, Summerville cleaned things up. Yet, she’s right on trend. Tough-girl chic was a major fall look from lines like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Alexander McQueen.

As fashion editor and Italian style icon Anna dello Russo said earlier this year, “This season it’s all about feta cheese.” Huh? About “fetishes,” she clarified, through a thick Italian accent. Swell — but you’re not that wild, you say?

“I didn’t want to do crazy goth clothes,” Summerville says.

“I wanted to show how you can take a few key pieces and make them your own.” Like a denim jacket with faux leather sleeves that Summerville pictures atop a dress. Or Army pants with calf zippers — perfect with high heels and a blazer, she says.

Here are some fave pieces from the line, plus tough-girl items from other brands. “We all wish we had a little piece of Salander, whether it’s her ferociousness, her drive or moral code,” Summerville says. Or, at least, her denim. And maybe her leather.

Where to buy H&M’s Dragon Tattoo Collection by Trish Summerville will be sold at shops in only four US cities; for more information go to www.hm.com. —MCT

A motocross Agyness Jacket part of a new ‘Ponte-Knit Collection’ from Yummie by Heather Thomson; at yummielife.com.

Paper Magic Skull Cuff; at Ricky’s, East Hampton; and rickysnyc.com.

The ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ look is all about layers, so why not slip into this Material Girl vest ; only at Macy’s stores.

Joe Boxer’s poly blend Women’s Knit Fingerless Mittens, fold over to keep you warm after you’ve finished hacking into computers all day long, a la Lisbeth Salander; at Kmart stores and kmart.com.

Cotton asymmetric hooded cardigan in burgundy; exclusively at H&M shops, Manhattan.

Tough gal chic starts from the ground up, so slip into the Women’s Faux-Leather FoldOver Ankle Boots, or these taller versions; at Old Navy stores and oldnavy.com.

Steve Madden’s distressed leather Torrii boot look slick whether you’re speeding on a motorcycle down the streets of Stockholm, or in your minivan on the Sagtikos or Southern State; at piperlime.com.

‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ readies Hollywood debut

37

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

Dutch violinist Andre Rieu and his orchestra perform during their Christmas concert in the Gelredome stadium in Arnhem, on December 17, 2011. —AFP

Glittering

Christmas

creches enchant in Poland

New cookbook offers F taste of

Mandela’s table

C

ookbooks are competing with more serious works on Nelson Mandela in South African bookshops this Christmas, after the icon’s personal chef has published a collection of her choicest dishes. Xoliswa Ndoyiya’s book, “Ukutya Kwasekhaya (home cooking) - Tastes from Nelson Mandela’s Kitchen” gathers 62 recipes with short family anecdotes about the hero. The book offers recipes from lemon Brussels sprouts to curried mango rice salad, paella, nine kinds of soup, orange turkey, various chicken dishes, and mama’s meatballs.

“Those are not all my recipes. I do have more than that!” said the 49-year-old chef, smiling. Also known as Xoli, she caught the cooking bug from her grandmother, who cooked for a white family. Xoli’s story sadly is typical of many black South Africans. Brought up in a rural township, she found a job as domestic worker first with a white family in Johannesburg, then in a Jewish old age home. Her first husband was killed in the township violence between Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) and a rival contender for power, the Zulu Inkhata Freedom Party (IFP), in the early 1990s right before the end of apartheid. Her second husband died in a car accident.

The chef’s four children were raised in the countryside by her mother and sister, 800 kilometers (500 miles) from

or generations, a competition for the best nativity scene has been drawing artists to Poland’s historic royal capital Krakow, in a Christmas tradition that has become one of the city’s greatest. The cribs are made entirely by hand, from a glittering rainbow of colored aluminum foil, wood, cardboard, lace and in a sign of the times, using eco-friendly materials like beans, dried orange slices and bay leaves or as digital animations. The scenes which come in all sizes, are intricately detailed feats of small-scale

Johannesburg. But then Xoli met Mandela.

A friend pulled a few strings and she got the job as his cook in 1992, two years before Mandela won South Africa’s first multiracial general elections and became president. Since then, Xoliswa Ndoyiya has fed not only the statesman, but also his family, ANC leaders, foreign heads of state and famous visitors like Michael Jackson.

American talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey was especially fond of Xoli’s creamy potatoes, it seems. Home cooking is Xoli’s trademark, as the book’s title suggests.

‘He eats whatever I cook’ Like Mandela, now 93-year-old, frail and living back in the Eastern Cape village he left as a youngster, she too is Xhosa and also hails from this impoverished province in the south of the country. And she followed him when he left Johannesburg in July to return to his home town of Qunu. “Wherever he goes, I am going with him,” she said. The Mandela family adopted Xoli as one of their own, and she even mothered the grandchildren “Madiba”-Mandela’s tribal name-had living with him, while her own children were far away. Under her watch, Mandela’s table turned into a culinary melting-pot, integrating traditional Xhosa cuisine, South African classics like sour milk (amasi) and Jewish dishes she learnt from her previous employers. —AFP

Nelson Mandela’s personal cook Xoliswa Ndoyiya poses in Johannesburg after the release of her cookbook entitled “Ukutya Kwasekhaya: Tastes from Nelson Mandela’s Kitchen” featuring the former South African President’s favorite food. —AFP

A nativity scene made by kindergarden children is shown on December 4, 2011 in Krakow.

A nativity scene featuring late Pope John Paul II. —AFP photos engineering, capturing the hallmarks of Krakow’s architecture and folklore, including an historic church bell tower, the Wawel royal castle and ancient city walls, mythical dragons and horsemen.

A Krakow-based engineer in precision mechanics, Leszek Zarzycki is entirely in his element when it comes to dreaming up and building these scenes, and at 57 has already won the competition grand prize 11 times. “Each nativity scene has its own heart and soul, its own beauty.

They may seem to look alike, but each one is different and unique. Each has its own magical charm, which delights and amazes. Each year we strive to make them even more beautiful,” he told AFP. Nativity scenes, cribs or creches, as they are also known, can measure up to two meters (6.5 feet) in height or be tiny miniatures. Each year, the displays draw legions of visitors, including tourists from far afield who have never seen anything like it before. “Fantastic, absolutely fantastic. We don’t have anything like this in England.

Nothing like it at all,” chime Beryl Chetwynd and Trudy Hall, two British pensioners visiting Krakow. “It’s wonderful to keep up traditions,”

The winning nativity scene made by a Krakow-based engineer in precision mechanics, Leszek Zarzycki, is exhibited at a competition in Krakow. they added, noting Poland’s Catholic heritage. It was the Roman Catholic order of Franciscan friars who imported the tradition to Poland back in the 13th century.

Creche custom entering cyberspace Over time, Poles have made it their own by including national heroes like Polish-born Pope John Paul II or Nobel-winning physicist and

chemist Maria Sklodowska-Curie in the scenes alongside angels, the baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Joseph and the Three Kings. Current affairs are also woven into the Christmas tradition. The country’s presidency of the European Union or the upcoming Euro 2012 football championships which Poland will co-host with Ukraine got a nod this year. Breaking with the cheerful Christmas mood, Poland’s often painful history is also highlighted.

This year, some marked the 30th anniversary of the brutal communist-era martial law crackdown by then president General Wojciech Jaruzelski on December 13, 1981 on the freedom-fighting Solidarity trade union. Symbols of Polish patriotism including a white eagle and its red-and-white flag feature prominently in certain creches. “Some nativity scenes are too political for me, they should really convey a religious message,” says Anna-Marczyk Stankowski, 33, mother of the little Natalka who also made a creche for the children’s competition. School children participating in the special category make nearly half of the nativity scenes in the overall competition and are most fond of scenes including the legend of the dragon of Krakow’s royal Wawel castle or the “Lajkonik” horseman, a folk character harking back to the 13th-century Mongol-Tatar invasion of Krakow. Some nativity scenes hail from as far away as the United States, with Polish-Americans sending their entries to the competition as a way to keep up traditions.

And in the digital age, this much-loved custom is also entering cyberspace. Three years ago, competition organizer, the Krakow Historical Museum, launched a contest for the best digitally animated cyber-creche. But veteran competitor Leszek Zarzycki isn’t swayed by the novelty.

“A virtual nursery will never win with ours,” which, he insists, work their own special Christmas magic on young and old alike. — AFP