1 Dec 2011

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

The Third Eye: Employers installing spyware at work?

Qatar eyes 2020 Olympics despite climate challenges

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9 21 19 National Assembly may be dissolved by Amir today Sheikh Sabah appoints defence minister as new PM from the editor’s desk

Telling right from wrong

By Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan

myopinion@kuwaittimes.net

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Two million strike in Britain over pension changes

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UK expels Iran diplomats after embassy attack

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eems like doing the right thing in Kuwait has become the wrong thing to do. The people who broke into parliament are being looked at as heroes rather than criminals! What have they achieved exactly? It’s not like it’s the first time the government has resigned after pressure from MPs and several grilling motions. Why on this occasion are they celebrating like it is the first time?

The sad part is that those who stormed parliament are being shown on TV as if they are the ones who liberated Kuwait from Saddam’s 1990 invasion.

Of course we all believe in democracy and political Continued on Page 13

By B Izzak KUWAIT: Well-informed sources and speculation swirling around indicate that HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah may dissolve the National Assembly today after an Amiri speech. Earlier yesterday Sheikh Sabah yesterday appointed defense minister in the outgoing Cabinet Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah as the new prime minister and asked him to form the Cabinet. Sheikh Jaber, a senior member of the ruling family, replaces former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad AlAhmad Al-Sabah who resigned on Monday ahead of a grilling on charges of corruption. According to sources, Sheikh Nasser insisted his resignation be accepted.

Sheikh Jaber, 69, has been a minister in the Cabinet since 2001 and he was also the first deputy prime minister. He also held the posts of interior and defense portfolios until 2007 when he KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets Defense Minister became the first deputy premier Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah after appointing him as the new prime minister yester- and defense minister. Sources day. — KUNA revealed that Sheikh Jaber will

Max 17º Min 09º Low Tide 10:18 & 22:22 High Tide 02:38 & 16:57

only head a caretaker government until the appointment of a new prime minister, for which former foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah is seen as the most likely candidate.

It was the first time that a Kuwaiti prime minister was forced to quit his post and politics since Kuwait became a democratic country in 1962. Sheikh Nasser, 71, was appointed to the post in Feb 2006 and since then he formed seven governments and was forced to resign each time under pressure from the opposition over allegations that he failed to run the countr y and implement development projects despite abundant wealth thanks to high oil prices.

A campaign to oust Sheikh Nasser was launched in March by the opposition and youth activists who staged several mass rallies.

The campaign intensified in August after allegations that 16 MPs in the 50-member Assembly had received large illegal deposits into their bank accounts worth KD 100 million as claimed by the Continued on Page 13

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Years

LOCAL

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah presenting prizes to winners of the Memorization and Recitation of the Holy Quran yesterday.

Amir graces closing ceremony of Quran Prize KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sponsored and attended the closing ceremony of the 15th Kuwait International Prize for the Memorization and Recitation of the Holy Quran yesterday, at Kuwait University’s Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah auditorium in Khaldiya.

His Highness was greeted upon arrival to the

venue by Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Mohammad Al-Noumes, the Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation Secretar y General Dr. Abdelmihsin Abdullah Al-Kharafi, and members of the prize’s standing committee.

The ceremony was attended by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-

Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi, senior Sheikhs, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Minister for Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, and a host of other senior officials.

The ceremony was inaugurated with a speech by the Awqaf minister, and the Awqaf public foundation secretary general also addressed the audience.

His Highness the Amir presented the awards to the winners of the different categories, and was also presented with a commemorative token marking the event. — KUNA

Confusing house numbers main reason behind wrong deliveries

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Some people receive parcels that are sent to them erroneously, or deliberately, in some cases. Others, on the other hand, don’t receive parcels that are sent to them. Dana, a 32-year-old woman who recently moved to Yarmouk, reported losing more than one parcel. “The reason is the confusing house numbers assigned by the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI).

This number is similar to our neighbor’s and the courier is easily mixed up. When I didn’t receive my package, I called up the courier company, who told me it was delivered. I hadn’t receive it. They claimed that the

recipient signature was received, but I have no clue who’s it is. I wonder where it has gone to?” she told Kuwait Times.

While waiting to receive her parcel one day, which she was informed she would receive, she accidently saw courier company’s vehicle halt in front of her neighbor’s house. The courier handed the box over to them. “My husband asked if they received my package, but the neighbor denied it.

Even when he showed the neighbor his signature, he still denied it. I lost the package.

My friends have asked me many times about who sent me invitations.”

Some companies accept responsibility in case wrongful deliveries are made, while

others blame the sender for providing them with the wrong address. “These cases are rare. When it happens, the person who received it returns it promptly. The package doesn’t leave the office unless the exact address and the sender ’s receipt is obtained. The recipient also contacts us if something goes wrong. If a mistake happens, it is human error. Our company makes sure to retrieve the package and deliver it to the correct address. If the wrong recipient refuses to return the package, we then report the case to the police,” stated Karen from the DHL. Sayid from the Q8Flowers.com, a company that specializes in delivering flowers, rec-

ollected an incident where an error was made. “In fact, the wrong addressee called our office to apologize and return the delivery. To avoid such situations, we always demand the phone numbers to verify in case we don’t have the correct address. In case a wrong delivery is made and the recipient refuses to return it, we take responsibility to deliver a fresh order,” he explained.

When the shipment is a food order that reaches to wrong address, the addressee accepts and pays for it. “I don’t remember such a case, we always provide the phone number to the driver so that contact can be easily established. The complaint we usually

receive are about orders delivered late,” stressed Omar from 6alabat.com, the website that specializes in delivering food orders. Wisam, from Edible Arrangements that delivers fresh fruits, bouquets and sweet boxes noted that his shop does not accept responsibility if the customer provides the wrong address. “Unfortunately we don’t compensate for wrong delivery. It’s the responsibility of the customer to provide the right address including block number, street, and house.

The courier confirms with the person who opens the door. If he lies, we can’t compensate for customer who provides the wrong address,” he pointed out.

ICM leader hails govt resignation

By A Saleh KUWAIT: The Secretary General of the Islamic Constitutional Movement(ICM) Nasser Al-Sane welcomed HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah’s acceptance of the Cabinet’s resignation. He called it a wise decision that will help put an end to Kuwait’s present crises and complies with popular demands witnessed in Irada Square. He said that the move should be followed by the constitutional dissolution of the Parliament.

After holding a meeting with the opposition bloc, MP Falah Al-Sawagh remarked that the new Cabinet should shoulder responsibilities and face corruption. He said, “We from the opposition bloc are trying our best to release prisoners, push towards dissolving the National Assembly.”

Legislator Naji Al-Abdelhadi said that the meeting was a precursor to a main one.

Following the resignation of the government, MP Waleed Al-Tabatabae is expected to appear in court for the hearing of two cases. The first accuses him of inciting firefighters to storm the director general’s office, and secondly for insulting officials after

speaking about Bahrain’s political events publically. In another development, the lack of coordination between ministries is the main reason behind the delay of projects carried out by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW ) such as constructing new buildings as well as maintenance operations. Chief Engineer at the Ministry’s Maintenance Engineering Department, Shareeda Al-Azmi, said this during a recent press conference held to discuss the department’s plan for the fiscal year 2011-12.

“The MPW is usually blamed for project delays when its job is exclusive to the executive part”, Al-Azmi said, explaining that in some cases, they had to deal with incidents in which the state department failed to provide necessary information regarding facilities that required maintenance. AlAzmi also indicated that around KD 60 million was spent on road and sewer network maintenance operations during the fiscal year 2010-11, while KD 50 million has been allocated for maintenance projects for 2011-12.

Al-Azmi assured that his department has taken all precautionary measures ahead of the monsoon season to prevent flooding incidents on main roads.

Kuwait wins organ donation prize in Argentina KUWAIT: Kuwait won an award for best research at the 2011 Organ Donation Congress, currently held in Argentina.

The paper submitted by organ transplant consultant at the Liver and Pancreas Surgical Unit in the Amiri Hospital Dr Hani Haider was chosen by the judging committee of the International Society for Organ Donation and Procurement (ISODP). The paper competed against hundreds of entries from around the world.

Dr Haider said yesterday that there were several scientific papers by Kuwaitis, which were well received by their peers. He added that Dr Mustafa AlMusawi, Head of Hamad Al-Essa Organ

Transplantation Center, also gave many lectures on organ donation and transplantation as well as on Kuwait’s pioneering role in this field during the congress.

The researcher praised the sponsorship and support of the Ministry of Health to Kuwaitis attending.

Dr Haider, who is also the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Kuwait Society for Organ Implants, noted that the society will soon launch a national media campaign on organ donation. The aim is to increase public awareness and increase the number of organ donors in Kuwait in order to shorten the waiting list and minimize the suffering of patients of renal failure in particular. — KUNA

KUWAIT: NBK Assistant General Manager Information Technology, Abdulaziz Al-Terki in a group photo with the students

NBK organizes IT tour for students KUWAIT: As part of its corporate social responsibility program, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) arranged a field trip at its Head Office for Information Science Students from Kuwait University. The trip aimed to introduce the students to the day-to-day duties of NBK’s Information Technology department.

Abdulaziz Al-Terki, NBK Assistant General Manager, Information Technology, said “The purpose of the field trip is to introduce the students to NBK’s Information Technology department and the professional services it provides in order to enrich their academic and theoretical studies.” “The field work program contained

Drug peddler arrested

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Police arrested a bedoon(stateless resident) yesterday with possession of 150kg of hashish and opium. The suspect was arrested while collecting the drugs from a shipment that was just unloaded. He claimed to have received the banned substance from Iraqi smugglers.

Police attacks woman An Iranian woman lodged a report with police stating that a traffic policeman attacked her.

She was reportedly intercepted at a check point near Sabah hospital, when a policeman asked her to pull over. She said that after some time the policeman entered her car and attacked her. The policeman denied charges. The case has been referred to higher authorities.

Kuwait marks World AIDS Day KUWAIT: Kuwait is participating in World AIDS Day which will be celebrated on Dec 1 to increase public awareness on this fatal disease and highlight achievements of prevention.

Head of AIDS combat committee at the Health Ministry Dr Hind Al-Shawmar said, in a press statement yesterday, that “Kuwait, will be represented by the Health Ministry at this international event.” “Kuwait always shows interest in taking part in such venues. It participated in a UN high-rank-

ing meeting in New York in 2011 to fight AIDS,” she noted. “During that meeting, Kuwait showed its achievements and contributions in The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.” She also mentioned that Kuwait issued decree 62 in 1992 concerning AIDS prevention and maintenance of confidentiality. The theme for World AIDS Day 2011 is “Getting to Zero”. This year’s focus is on achieving 3 targets: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths. — KUNA

a presentation about IT functions at NBK and a visit to IT facilities in the bank,” he added.

Commenting on the conclusion of the visit, the students expressed their sincere thanks to NBK for the opportunity they have been given to gain a better understanding of the function of the IT department at the bank.

News

in brief

Calcified coal ‘natural wealth’ KUWAIT: “Calcified coal is a natural wealth”: This is what the Kuwait government said through the state’s attorney in its statement in one of the cases. It also stated that it should be used legally by the state only.

State attorney and member of fatwa and legislation Khalid Al-Baker submitted a defense memo in favor of Public Authority and others, against Nasser Ali AlNaqi. It was obvious the state’s defense concentrated on affirming that calcified coal is a natural wealth and should be limited to state use.

Pay raise study KUWAIT: A study of the public sector’s payroll which is expected to enforce raises for certain professions will be completed in the near future, according to government sources within the Civil Service Council’s works.

The study will be sent to the Cabinet for approval to ensure that it is in line with stability conditions of the state’s budget. In the meantime, the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity indicate that even if the study is completed earlier, the pay raises will not be enforced until a new Cabinet is formed.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

local

The Third Eye: Employers installing spyware at work?

‘Remote Spy’ can monitor computers

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: Kuwait Army Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Ahmed Al-Khaled AlSabah receiving the Chinese Marine Fleet commander, Rear Admiral Guan Jianguo yesterday.

Govt set to address marriage problems KUWAIT: The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs is currently conducting a study in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice in order to detect reasons behind the decline in marriage rates among Kuwait’s youth community. The aim is to find a sustainable solution which could be adopted by the Cabinet in the future.

“The need for this study stems from the notable drop in the number of young men and women seeking marriage over the past few years, despite all the facilities the government provides to newly married couples”, said an MAIA insider who opted to speak on the condition of anonymity.

It is widely believed that the main reason behind this problem in the Kuwaiti society includes increasing dowry and wedding preparation demands, difficulties in obtaining proper accommodation as well as unemployment. “In addition to find ways to create more jobs, the solutions must include campaigns to increase young citizens’ awareness about the importance of marriage to not only their own stability but the society’s also”, the source said, adding that the awareness campaigns must also focus on encouraging families to avoid placing crippling conditions when it comes to dowry and wedding demands. — Al-Qabas

Stable weather during weekend KUWAIT: Director of Meteorology Department at Civil Aviation Mohammad Karam said the amount of rain on Tuesday was large and mostly in southern areas.

He said Wafra area registered the largest amount at 17 mm, followed by Jlaiah at 15 mm and Nuwaiseeb at 12 mm.

Karam expected stable weather during the weekend as winds were set to change to northwesterly with speeds between 15-30 km/h. He said low temp will be 7 degree C and may reach 4 degree C in the desert and open areas, adding that maximum temperature will not exceed 18 degree C. —Al-Watan

KUWAIT: A middle-aged expat working in a travel agency took her office computer to an IT expert who discovered that all her online communication, emails and personal data were compromised by spyware installed by the company’s management. Malicious spyware that spies on any computer at any given time of the day is a new tool in the Human Resources landscape in Kuwait. It can get an employee suspended or even fired. Another employee working in a small logistic company in Kuwait was asked by her boss to respond on an issue she discussed in her private correspondence on her office computer.

The employee who was provided details about her absence at work was suspicious about the access to this information. She turned to an expert and found out that the company had installed spyware to monitor what employees were doing during their office hours. A local IT expert working in a computer school in Kuwait says that installing spyware for the purpose of monitoring the employees is available in Kuwait.

Spying me softly at work The only way out is ‘self-knowledge,’ the computer expert warned. Spying devices can be downloaded and sent via email or installed physically on any computer. “There are several spying software programs now that can be downloaded and installed without the knowledge of the users. Your best protection this time is your personal knowledge,” said a 35year-old expert who chose to stay anonymous.

He said, hundreds if not thousands of these spying programs are readily available that can be compared to a ‘virus’. One of the extremely powerful monitoring softwares is the ‘007 Spy Software’ which according to him allows users to “secretly record all activities of your computer activities.” The computer expert who is a deputy director of a known computer school in Kuwait City said: “Nowadays people should know more than just how to open or operate their Facebook, Twitter accounts or send emails. Users must understand the intricacies of how computers work, especially in this age of Internet which virtually connects anyone to everyone in the world,” he said. The ‘007 Spy Software’ programs, he explained, can monitor and record emails/webmails sent and received, websites visited, every keystroke (including login/password of all kinds of programs and

websites such as Facebook, Myspace and all webmails etc), file operations, both sides of online IM conversations such as ICQ, MSN, AOL, AIM, Skype, gTalk and Yahoo Messenger etc, and take screen snapshots at set intervals just like a surveillance camera directly pointing at the computer. In fact, a new edition of this type can run in completely invisible mode. The spy software’s website claims that even Windows Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) will not reveal it.

“Both Standard and Plus Edition have the most exciting features: remote log delivery via email or FTP, password protection, suspending on idle, monitoring schedule, etc. With this amazing spy tool, you will be able to see exactly what people have been doing online and offline just like you are looking at the computer monitor over their shoulders!”

The remote spy Another edition of the ‘Remote Spy’ can monitor computers from any location through the Internet - regardless of whether the target remote computer is online or offline. “It could be installed on a remote PC through an email attachment where no physical installation is needed, and you can remotely uninstall it very easily. All log-ins are password protected and securely stored on our server for your eyes only, so you don’t need to wait for the remote machine to sign-in to retrieve its IP address to monitor it,” it claimed.

Another program ‘NetVizor’, claimed to be the most powerful network surveillance software, allows organizations to monitor all computers from one centralized location. “NetVizor can be deployed over a business network in seconds and allows for easy centralized log viewing via one central networked PC/laptop. A user can just point and click different users to view their activities on their own computer! No physical presence is needed to monitor all employees,” the website claimed. “In that way, no one is 100 percent safe to hide their secrets anymore. But if you know something, you can be rightfully protected,” the Kuwait-based computer expert reiterated.

The pros and cons of spying He however argued that spying devices can affect organizations in a positive or negative way. “If you are an employer [using this device], you must have a positive or negative motive of your own, since it monitors everything you want. You can be monitored for related or nonrelated job activities on your computer. It can

monitor how much time you are spending on your ‘real job’ and how much time you are spending on your ‘extra jobs’ such as chatting via Yahoo messenger, Facebook or Twitter,” the expert says. “The employer can spy on their employees even as they are out of the country.

One positive outcome of the spying device is that employers can also benefit wisely,” the IT expert says elaborating that in this manner the boss will know how productive the employees are. “If an employee is not productive, they can probably send them to training or workshop programs to improve their skills,” he opined. But it can also strain employee or employer relationships. “If employees are being monitored, it can create a hostile environment. I don’t think companies will bother to invade their employees’ privacy. But if they are suspecting something, they can easily install that program since it is readily available anywhere,” he said.

Big brother devices A spy program can be installed on a company’s network/computer upon employer’s discretion. “A good employer will inform his employees that a spying program is installed.

They may also explain why it is installed and what its purpose is,” he said.

To avoid installing the program unknowingly though, he advised Internet users to never open doubtful files. “Even if you know the sender, don’t open ‘exe file attachments’,” he said.

Another device ‘Spectro Pro 2011’ is a spying program that can be installed. It monitors screen snapshots, keystroke typed, websites visited, email sent/received, chat-IM activities, Facebook or any social networking sites, online searches, and virtually all the programs used.

This program can be installed without anyone’s knowledge or can be sent via attachments to emails as well. “They can be sent to you via emails and if you open that attachment, it is automatically installed on your computer and bingo, you can be monitored anywhere!” he said.

To avoid others from being able to access your personal emails and accounts, he also suggested changing the passwords regularly.

“Don’t use your personal emails at your company; use your personal email separately and change your password constantly. Only give your laptops and computers to a trusted repairman as emails and passwords can be recorded unknowingly and your emails can be hacked at any point.”

Wataniya Telecom receives award KUWAIT: At this time last year, Wataniya Telecom was honored to receive the “Editors Award for Outstanding Achievement” at the 5th edition of the Annual CommsMEA awards. This year, Wataniya was again nominated at the Annual CommsMEA awards and has won the “Middle East Operator of the Year” award. The event was held on Nov 29, at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai.

The prestigious award ceremony organized by CommsMEA, the leading telecom publication in the region, acknowledges operators and individuals who have taken a leadership role in the region’s fast growing and rapidly changing telecom sec tor. The awards were announced in front of the elite of the region with high ranking representatives and

key personalities attending the ceremony.

Scott Gegenheimer, GM & CEO of Wataniya Telecom was present at the ceremony to receive the award on behalf of Wataniya. He expressed his pride by saying, “It is with great pleasure Wataniya stands here for the second consecutive year to receive yet another distinguished award. We owe this award to our loyal customer base that has inspired us to constantly provide them with the most exclusive and up to date services and products. This award is an indication that our customers enjoy their experience with us and we will continue to offer them memorable interactions.

Gegenheimer also added: “I would like to thank CommsMEA for organizing this great annual

‘No pollution risks in Sabah Al-Ahmad area’ KUWAIT: The Sabah Al-Ahmad residential area is free of environmental problems that could harm citizens’ health, said a senior official from the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) in a statement on Tuesday, citing documents from the Environment Public Authorities and other bodies who gave the area a clean chit. “The PAHW makes sure to conduct necessary environmental studies on received lands before they are used for establishing new residential areas”, said the source while speaking on the condition of anonymity, adding that the studies focus on detection of air and soil pollution.

So far, the PAHW has distributed 500 out of 7,373 residential units in Sabah Al-Ahmad to citizens through a draw.

The establishment of new residential areas at previously unutilized zones usually raises concerns due to potential pollution risks from refineries, power plants or factories which mostly are located away from Kuwait’s metropolitan zone. The source insists that PAHW requires a green signal from environmental organizations before they can start construction—Al-Qabas

41 killed in fire incidents in three months KUWAIT: Forty one individuals died in 3,629 fire incidents that were reported in the country during July, August and September this year, a recent news item quoting quarterly statistics released by the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate(KFSD) stated. “The fatalities include one firefighter who died in a traffic accident,” said Lieutenant Colonel Khalil Al-Amir Public Relations and Media Director. At least 297 people, including 37 firefighters were injured in the incident, which also includes 18 gas leak incidents.

The report cites electric short circuits as the primary reason that triggers fires during the three-month period with 520 incidents. It is followed by 293 accidents that involved children. Fires caused by lit cigarettes account for 163 incidents. The report also indicates that the most number of incidents, 927 in all, took place in Farwaniya governorate. In Hawally, 799 cases were reported. In the Capital, 643 incidents were reported while in Al-Ahmadi 508 cases were reported. Also in Al-Jahra, 378 incidents and in Mubarak Al-Kabeer 296 incidents were recorded. — Al-Qabas

ceremony which drives us to excel and motivates us to accomplish more. I dedicate this award to the Wataniya team for their passionate work, and our customers for their unending support, without them Wataniya wouldn’t have been where it is today.”

The Annual CommsMEA awards honor companies that have invested in technology, implemented winning strategies and developed services to capture the hearts and minds of endusers. Most of all, the awards aim to recognize those organizations that have helped turn the communications sector in the Middle East and Africa into one of the most dynamic and vibrant in the world. This year’s 15 awards are divided into four main categories with the first segment recognizing innovative services and appli-

cations; the second focusing on specific aspects of operators’ businesses, and the third looking at progress achieved by operators in their entirety.

The last category aims to recognize operators and individuals who have demonstrated a level of commitment to the sec tor beyond the call of duty. Since its commercial launch 12 years ago and through its technological innovation Wataniya Telecom has revolutionized the telecom industr y in Kuwait and MENA region. Over the years Wataniya has become a leading operator in the Gulf because it focuses on creating products and services that enable its customers to enjoy experiences that go beyond the usual and strives to make their interactions with the brand memorable.

Scott Gegenheimer, GM & CEO of Wataniya Telecom, receiving the award

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

LOCAL in my view

Local Spotlight

Where do we go from here?

What awaits the new PM

By Fouad Al-Obaid

Muna Al-Fuzai

fouad@kuwaittimes.net Twitter: @Fouadalobaid n a new national trend, every citizen is now a constitutional expert! Merely weeks ago, had you asked at random about the Constitution, its articles, and its principles, few would have been able to answer. Today, it seems that everyone and anyone is voicing their constitutional pleas, with various means on how to move forward from our current political mess: and a mess it is. Stagnating politics has led us to talk a point where much talk happens, and little action is taken. Our problems in Kuwait are structural rather than cyclical in nature. We let ourselves indulge in goodies for far too long. Like a child at a Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, our country has thrown cash to solve every problem, which has alleviated some cosmetic issues. Money management is something that we are yet to maximize and capitalize on.

Both the government and the opposition are in an open contest for the hearts and minds of the citizen. The ongoing popular protest events in the country demand the immediate liberation of the imprisoned men who took part in the storming of Parliament, coupled with the multi-million check scandal along with a general feeling of desperation - lead up to the head of the ‘governmental pyramid’ HH Sheikh Nasser.

In the context of the events unraveling, the highest authority has lost its legitimacy in the eyes of many. The government though given plenty of chances has not been able to deliver, let alone give the impression that is in complete control of events. It’s lack of proper planning; despite the supposed attention given to the much-needed mega-project despite the passing of multi-billion funding further is an issue.

Many citizens are feeling angry at the governments’ perceived incompetence fueled by the ruling family’s infighting’s at a time of major revolt and change throughout the Arab world which Kuwait seems unable to detach itself from. Though it is true that we have been the exception in a rather brutal neighborhood, the imprisonment of protesters who stormed the Parliament and the massive popular support towards it is reminiscent of the 1990 invasion and the still unknown fate of our prisoners of war. Not dissimilar is the ‘Yellow Campaign’ launched on twitter serves as a vivid reminder to all Kuwaitis, of a time of national tragedy. It also reminds Kuwaiti’s of a time of great unity and aspiration for a brighter future.

The unity found last night at ‘Determination Square’ is powerful. The unity of Kuwait with all of its various divisions and across social rungs has ignited the minds of many, and has been perceived in a positive light in Kuwait and throughout the region. Change is natural, and in politics it is necessary. Change that brings about positive outcomes is today a question of survivability of the state in the long-term. In the nation building process of ours, many faults have been made, errors committed, dangers left unchecked.

One thing is for sure, the massive show of support shown by Kuwaitis towards one another on 28 November 2011, is something that for always will be remembered.

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kuwait digest

We need a new Parliament

muna@kuwaittimes.net

A kuwait digest

From the frying pan into the fire

By Ahmad Al-Sarraf am often asked why I avoid writing about the cur- as a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister. It rent political situation in Kuwait. First, politics is not should be noted here that the suspected lawmakers are my main field of interest as a columnist, and second, a part of the pro-government majority in the I have to admit that I’ve been a little uninformed about Parliament, who would be naturally eager to foil efforts local happenings owing to my constant travel. But it to debate a grilling motion regarding the graft scandal. seems that the situation has reached a very critical This whole issue escalated to serious proportions and point, especially with regard to the relationship led to an unfortunate development such as the stormbetween the government and some political forces. In ing of the Parliament. the end, one side must be victorious, because the The other main problem here as well is the fact that country needs a final soluat least most members of tion that uproots the conthe opposition, who are Almost one-fourth of the fighting to uncover the stant source of tension.

However, neither of the Parliament’s members are currently mystery behind the graft options at hand is easy. I are not really 100 accused of receiving suspicious mul- scandal, personally feel confused percent ‘clean’. A lot of them timillion-dinar deposits; a case made it to the Parliament in about what would be the best solution for the curwhich sparked speculation that law- the first place through illerent situation. On one by-elections, while othmakers have been bribed to support gal hand, there are unconers previously admitted the Cabinet in crucial voting sessions receiving thousands of firmed accusations made

by MPs who claim that they such as a vote of no-confidence dinars illegally. Some of have documents proving are also rumored to against the prime minister. It should them that the Central Bank of have mediated for the be noted here that the suspected release of suspects in the Kuwait was ordered to transfer millions of dinars lawmakers are a part of the pro-gov- past, as well as for hiring of state funds to foreign personnel in ernment majority in the Parliament, unqualified accounts to serve the intercertain state departments. who would be naturally eager to foil So, if the opposition est of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh efforts to debate a grilling motion emerges victorious in their Nasser Al-Mohammad Albattle against the Cabinet, regarding the graft scandal.

Sabah. This case is specuthis could mean that the lated to be behind the rescountry has simply just ignation of former Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

Mohammad Al-Sabah, who reportedly stepped down In my opinion, the only solution for the current situafter finding out that the suspicious transactions were ation is dissolution for both the Parliament and made behind his back.

Cabinet, while leaving the Public Prosecution to investiIn the meantime, almost one-fourth of the gate all suspicious activity with regard to the graft and Parliament’s members are currently accused of receiv- transfers scandals. In the meantime, all individuals ing suspicious multimillion-dinar deposits; a case which under suspicion should be prevented from being resparked speculation that lawmakers have been bribed elected or re-appointed. After that, the nation can have to support the Cabinet in crucial voting sessions such a better opportunity to judge. — Al-Qabas

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kuwait digest

By Dr Ahmad Al-Duaij t is not enough that the government has resigned, a new Parliament that helps the new government to clean up the political arena in Kuwait from corrupt practices is needed. Kuwaiti people are fed up of corruptive practices that spread far and wide with the blessings of previous governments. Many have been vociferously clamoring for the government’s departure that did not help develop Kuwait.

People had their say at Irada Square on the night of Nov 18. A new prime minister should formulate new policies that cater to Kuwait’s interests.

He should elect his team carefully during the coming period, and it is a must that no former minister be reappointed, especially those that contributed to Kuwait’s deterioration. The new prime minister must realize that they were ignored by previous governments, and should benefit from the lesson learnt from the protests by tens of thousands of free Kuwaitis at Irada Square. It is for sure that MPs who received bribes will run for the coming parliamentary elections, because they are shameless. In fact, they may raise slogans demanding confrontation of the corrupt when they are its true pioneers.

With Allah’s grace, honest voters, men and women, will stand against them and expose them. The members of the new parliament must begin the supervisory aspect of parliamentary duties by closing the curtain on the last chapter of the tragedy of Kuwait. It cannot be changed unless bribe-taking MPs are held accountable, making sure that the use of political money is not repeated.

The credit for standing up against the political situation which has became more dangerous goes to the enlightened youth who were worried about Kuwait and feared about what will the future brings. If things continue as they are, we can thank them for their services. They are aware that the Kuwaiti people will never give credit to those “who love to be thanked for what they did not do.” Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al Salem Al-Sabah, the information minister with the former government did something good by allowing satellite channels to operate. Kuwait TV broadcasted “titanic rally staged at Irada square. Today, no one can hide the truth from others, as technology makes tremendous advances. No one can censor news anymore! — Al-Watan

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huge task awaits the new prime minister. Will he be able to deal with myriad problems that he sets to inherit? It will definitely not be a pleasant journey, trying to find a way out of this.

Who will be the new prime minister? This subject is still under speculation. ‘Expect the unexpected,’ many say.

Only one fact is for sure: there really is a lot of confusion and vagueness prevailing over the issue. Accepting this duty is no picnic thanks to all the chaos, dusty, old files and power mongrels hovering about.

Unless the prime minister is a superhero, the people can be in serious trouble. Our future is at stake because we can’t afford to make mistakes. No one wishes to be held captive by ‘hidden powers’ to determine the path laid down for citizens and individuals. I don’t want to be ruled by vested interests lurking around in the National Assembly.

Fresh elections are a possibility. It will not usher in change. The risk here is that those who amassed wealth during this period will use it to buy votes. It is not a bother for them because after all, it was not their money.

First time candidates should make wise assessments on their possibilities. I wonder if they will be able to compete with the ‘pack of wolves’ out there. The situation is really messy now.

I think people should be careful. There are no real reasons to celebrate, regardless of who is in power. We are about to weather another difficult time. This chapter is not over yet.

The next important step

By Dr Mohammad Al-Muqatea he long overdue resignation of Sheikh Nasser ernment that fully implements voting regulations in Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah’s seventh Cabinet order to tackle vote-buying. marks the beginning of a new era in Kuwait that Kuwaitis are eager to see the law fully implementcitizens of all backgrounds and social categories have ed again in their country, for they realize that the lack been looking forward to. These calls were not made of commitment to law enforcement is the reason out of personal problems with Sheikh Nasser himself, behind the spread of corruption and bribes, illegal but reflect a collective case of frustration from the mediation, political production and restrictions on repeated failures of his Cabinets which made the freedom of expression. The government played a Kuwaiti people think that he was no longer fit for the major role in this situation, which left people feeling premier’s post at this particular stage. insecure about the sustainability of social equality Kuwaitis today turn a new page and look forward standards in the society. to a new political era In order for Kuwait to where a Cabinet is led by turn over the page of A parliamentary dissolution and fresh competent premier and improper law enforcepolls become a necessary step today in ment, the people must ministers, and is clear of order to allow the people to have their be allowed to make their any corrupt individuals. In the meantime, Kuwaitis say and express their free will to vote for voices heard through also anticipate a similar whoever they deem suitable to represent fresh elections in order significant step to the to elect a new Parliament them. The elections phase also requires that works side-by-side Cabinet’s resignation, reforms which include being supervised with a Cabinet led by a which is the dissolution by a transitional government that fully prime minister capable of the Parliament. In its current form, the implements voting regulations in order of handling all chalParliament is no longer a lenges of the upcoming to tackle vote-buying. true representative of the phase. people when a large When citizens feel number of its members are suspects in the multimil- concerned and make demands for their rights and lion-dinar deposits scandal. the release of politically detained citizens, it’s an indiA parliamentary dissolution and fresh polls cation of the state of law. become a necessary step today in order to allow the Therefore, it is important that complaints made people to have their say and express their free will to with regard to a political incident such as the vote for whoever they deem suitable to represent Parliament’s storming, be dropped, in order to prothem. The elections phase also requires reforms tect the legal system from being affected by political which include being supervised by a transitional gov- struggles.— Al-Qabas

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0p-ed

An instrument of sustainable development

By Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah Minister of State for International Cooperation in Qatar ur world has been, and is everyday, shaken and unstable. Uncertainty has become the last universal principle in our modern societies; the year 2011 has demonstrated it well. Despite this context, the 2000 Millennium Declaration and its objectives of peace and development have to be pursued until the 2015 deadline. The 4th Forum of the UNAOC which will be organized for the first time in an Arab country, in Qatar, between Dec 11 and 13, will provide tools to complete these ambitious goals. More precisely, the Doha Forum will reintroduce cultural matters at the core of the decisional process by tackling — among other topics - education, gender and sustainability issues.

Our common past has demonstrated that political, economic and religious fields could not serve as common factor. The Qatar Committee is convinced that dialogue should be founded on cultural elements. Only culture and more precisely values can build bridges between nations, societies and peoples. Agreeing on peace, tolerance and collaboration is the first step of a constructive cultural dialogue; necessary element for reaching and pursuing sustainable development.

The recent years have demonstrated that there will be no clash of civilizations and no unique model to be followed. Indeed, history has not come to an end but it is more than ever in progress as the Arab Spring demonstrated. Our modernity is full of diversity which has to be seen as a precious asset of humanity for its innovative and creative aspects.

At a time of constant questioning, the global discussion should find a starting point, a place where humanity can meet and build together this multicultural and diverse modernity. This is UNAOC’s mission: to contribute to promote human dignity equity and equality at a global level. With 130 countries and an impressive diversity of contributors (Youth, NGO, business leaders, foundations, academics, etc) it indicates the path to be followed, from 2005 and this year in Doha.

Because no unique model is driving the world, our collective mission is to reinforce and ameliorate the quality of the dialogue between cultures. The Alliance of Civilizations will stand in Doha as a platform for the common values expressed during the so called ‘Arab Spring’: Human Dignity, Democracy, Justice, Fairness and Rights.

Moreover, these popular revolutions also changed the way we must think of the development. It appeared clearly that the Youth, the civil society and the media must play a greater role to foster the dialogue. The Forum will offer the opportunity to discuss the emerging role of this — for so long unassuming — majority. I, as the President of the Qatar Committee, confirm this commitment. For many years, Qatar has succeeded in including dialogue and exchange in its DNA for diplomacy and development policies. Few weeks before the opening of this meeting we are convinced of the potential of this 4th Annual Forum especially because it will be result-driven.

It is now time to build our common future and to take constructive initiatives. The beginning of this new century demands dialogue to build a common future for humanity. The Doha forum of the UNAOC will offer the opportunity to do so.

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Waleed Huwailleh, Senior Manager, Consumer Banking Group, Roger Abboud, Assistant General Manager, Consumer Banking Group and one of the lucky winners.

Aly Shalaby, General Manager, Consumer Banking Group, Roger Abboud, Assistant General Manager, Consumer Banking, Emiranda Winter, Assistant General Manager, Consumer Banking, during the draw.

Aly Shalaby, General Manager, Consumer Banking Group interacting with guests at the event.

Gulf Bank unveils winning service for merchants KUWAIT: Gulf Bank recently hosted an event for around 200 merchants at the Holiday Inn, Salmiya, to announce the launch of its dedicated Merchant Services Campaign.

As part of the campaign, all merchants have the chance to get transaction commissions refunded for three months from Nov 1 to Jan 31, 2012. The promotion aims at encouraging new business through Point of Sale (POS) terminals and online Payment Gateways (PGW). Gulf Bank already provides merchants with a 24 hour support service and the facility to process multiple transactions simultaneously so that they can get a return for their goods as quickly as possible. Merchants can also monitor their daily sales and seek technical advice online, thus increasing the merchants control to maximize their business.

Attending the event, Aly Shalaby, General Manager, Consumer Banking Group at Gulf Bank, said: “This is the first time we host an event for our merchants and it is truly a great opportunity to meet merchants informally and to share these exciting developments. Gulf Bank is thoroughly committed to helping its merchants’ develop their business revenue by promoting POS and PGW payment

methods. The Bank has one of the largest support teams in Kuwait and we also credit merchant’s transactions seven days a week, including holidays and weekends. Our team provides high-quality

service to meet merchants’ expectations and we hope that this exciting new promotion will encourage merchants to boost their sales in a safe and efficient way with Gulf Bank.”

Gulf Bank management with guests.

The evening was filled with entertainment, with a violinist serenading the crowds, followed by an official welcome speech from Roger Abboud, Assistant General Manager, Consumer Banking , who welcomed the guests to the event and Waleed Al Huwailleh, Senior Manager, Consumer Banking at Gulf Bank, who gave a brief presentation on the latest products and services. The evening drew to a close when Aly Shalaby came on stage to do the prize draw for 18 lucky winners, who won amazing prizes sponsored by: Wataniya International Holidays, 1 Box Office, Movenpick Hotel- Free Trade Zone, Genki Sushi Restaurant, and Joyalukkas, followed by a buffet dinner. Gulf Bank provides Merchant s with the latest web portal to manage and control all POS and PGW related issues within 24 hours, starting from printing transaction details to managing POS installation and replacing and ending with submitting the claims and refund request on any of the transactions.

In addition, the Bank has recently adopted ‘3d Secure” for Ecommerce Transactions - the most secure and trusted online payment technology available - so that the merchant’s customers can more easily and safely purchase their products.

Opposition blocs to continue protesting against corruption

MANAMA: Kuwaiti Ambassador Sheikh Azzam Al-Sabah pictured with Bahraini King’s Advisor for Media Affairs Nabil Al-Hamar.

Kuwait holds cultural event on national unity in Bahrain MANAMA: The Kuwaiti Embassy in Bahrain organized a cultural event themed Al-Bayt Al-Wahid, Arabic for “One home”, recalling the passing of 50 years since Kuwait’s independence, 20 years since liberation from the Iraqi occupation, and five years since His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah took the helm as Kuwait’s 15th Amir.

Inaugurating the activities Tuesday night, Ambassador Sheikh Azzam AlSabah said the theme also carries to the nature of relationship between the people of Kuwait and of Bahrain, who we also consider kin and family.

The event was planned for February, at the time of the anniversaries, but was pushed back due to the security incidents in Bahrain. “We

now hold this event and wish the kingdom the best as it marks the king’s accession anniversary. We also share hope Bahrain is starting a new era and putting its pains behind.”

Bahraini King Advisor for Media Affairs Nabil Al-Hamar for his part remarked that the theme of the event reflects the relationship between the two nations on both official and political level and on the level of the general public.

“We need such events to bolster the bonds between our people, and we need them on the level of the Gulf Cooperation Council as a whole.” The embassy organized a photo exhibition as part of the Al-Bayt Al-Wahid event, as well as an evening of folk lore music, and a poetry reading. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The Cabinet’s resignation will not thwart the opposition’s efforts on taking follow up action in the cash deposits and money siphoning case, said leading opposition figure MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun on Tuesday. The veteran parliamentarian was speaking to reporters in front of the Palace of Justice where he joined citizens that had gathered in protest against the detention of 21 citizens over charges stemming from the parliament- storming incident that took place a couple of weeks ago.

Outspoken oppositionist lawmaker Musallam AlBarrak hinted that former Interior Minister Ahmad AlHmoud Al-Sabah may be questioned on the alleged torture of detainees if reelected to the new Cabinet.

Meanwhile, reports surfaced yesterday suggesting that charges pressed against the detained protestors may be withdrawn after the situation festered when authorities added new charges to those previously made by the parliament’s General Secretariat.

The General Secretariat, along with Speaker Jassem AlKhorafi, have been under pressure to drop charges in order to secure the detainees’ release.

However, officials state that after the Ministry of Interior referred the Parliament’s report to the Public Prosecution Department (PPD), they added three new charges against the protestors including assaulting police officers on duty, provoking attack against police, and threatening to attack police.

This means that detainees

Charity organization under probe KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) is set to probe transactions of a Kuwaiti charity organization after it received information that it sent KD 5.5 million to the Ansar Al-Sunna AlMuhammadiya Salafist group in Egypt.

“If errors are found in the mechanism followed by the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), proper measures will be taken”, said Director of the Ministry’s Charity Organizations department, Nasser Al-Ammar in a recent statement.

He indicated that the organization’s transactions in the past five years will be reviewed to detect any illegal practices in financial transactions.

The investigation will include ensuring that the RIHS obtained necessary permission from the Central Bank for their transactions, and inquire whether the Egyptian group is connected to any suspicious activities. Meanwhile, AlAmmar denied that any local charity organizations have applied to send donations to Syria, explaining that the ministry’s official permission is necessary before any organization can send donations to countries facing internal issues. — Al-Qabas

will continue to remain in custody to face the charges pressed by the Interior Ministry. Meanwhile, a committee formed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) to probe the case in which senior citizens were allegedly taken from old age homes to attend a pro-government rally has not begun work, said a ministry insider on Tuesday.

“The situation is still normal as no officials or employees were interrogated,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The case stirred controversy when reports emerged that organizers of

the rally on Nov 22 used inmates from the MSAL’s old age homes to increase the number of attendees gathering at the Irada Square.

A committee was formed to investigate any wrongdoings as per the orders of Dr Mohammad Al-Afasi former Minister of Social Affairs and Labor.Officials stated that most members from the Social Care Department blamed a volunteer who lead the senior citizens to the Irada Square, as well as a specialists who accompanied them that day. — Al-Qabas

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KIEV: (Left) Kuwaiti journalist Jassem Kamal presents a gift to Ukraine’s Deputy Health Minister on behalf of the KJA. (Centre) The KJA team meets with Ukraine’s Deputy Health Minister and other ministry officials. (Right) The KJA delegation in front of the Today newspaper’s headquarters.

KJA delegation holds meeting in Ukraine KIEV: The visiting delegation of Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) continues having meetings in the capital Kiev with senior Ukrainian officials to boost bilateral cooperation.

The Kuwaiti delegation met with

Deputy Health Minister and head of Natural Medicine, KJA press statement noted.

It said that the delegation listened to a detailed explanation of Natural medicine used in Ukraine, the leading

country in adopting such medical approach to treat polio and osteoarthritis.

KJA lauded the ongoing cooperation between Kuwait and Ukraine on all domains, especially on the health

sector, since the country excels in stem cells research.

The statement further pointed out that Ukraine considers establishing a polio treatment center in Kuwait.

However, due to the recent political

developments in the country, it decided to move this project to Abu Dhabi.

The K JA delegation visited the headquarters of Today, the leading Ukraine newspaper in the country.

— KUNA

Student threatens teacher with murder Youth ‘kidnaps’ Kuwaiti woman KUWAIT: Police are on the lookout for a high school student who faces murder threat charges pressed by one of his teachers at a public school in Fahaheel. In his statement to officers, the teacher explained that the student in question started threatening him following an altercation over studying problems.

The complainant also brought in witnesses to testify. A case was filed for investigations.

KUWAIT: Last year’s recipient of the AUK scholarship prize Saif Ahmed Elkholy receiving his prize.

AUK to grant scholarship to Kuwait Science Fair winner KUWAIT: The American University of Kuwait (AUK) reunited yesterday with the Kuwait Science Fair(KSF) competition, the largest science competition to be held in Kuwait to provide the second place winner or winning group an academic scholarship in their discipline of choice.

AUK continues its support of young and talented scientists in Kuwait by providing an opportunity to pursue higher education in an internationallyacclaimed institution in Kuwait.

Now in its fourth year, the Kuwait Science Fair (KSF) is an annual science competition that encourages students from more than 200 public and private schools to develop innovative projects in the fields of math and science over a five-month period. KSF was launched by ExxonMobil and Kuwait Energy in 2008.

The competition is endorsed this year by the Minister of Oil, Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs, and Chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Dr Mohammed Al-Busairi.

AUK President Dr Winfred Thompson said, “The Kuwait Science Fair participants are some of the brightest students

in the country, and we are proud to be providing them the opportunity to pursue a higher education at AUK. We look forward to being part of KSF’s support of math and science excellence in the country again this year.”

AUK joins the founders of the competition ExxonMobil, Kuwait Energy and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (honorary founder) - and other global and local institutions and companies, in their efforts to empower young students in public and private schools across Kuwait to explore and innovate in the fields of math and science and help them pursue higher education. The Kuwait Science Fair Managing Director, Aseel Al-Turkait said, “We thank the American University of Kuwait for taking part in KSF again this year and providing such an important prize for the students. We are all proud of the educational opportunities our generous academic partners provide to the competition. It is a reward with life-long value for our talented participants to strive for.” Last year’s recipient of the AUK scholarship prize was KSF first place winner Saif Ahmed Elkholy.

Lebanese celebrations at Green Island

Hussam Al-Zawawi

Harassment Search is currently ongoing for an Arab man accused of sexually harassing his ex-fiance at her workplace in Salmiya. In her statements to local police, the Arab woman explained that she was alone at her office when her former fiance showed up and tried to talk her into getting back together. She added that the suspect pushed her and harassed her sexually when she asked him to leave, before escaping. A case was filed for investigations.

Home robbery A citizen found out that a short family trip was more costly than he could ever expect, after discovering that his house was robbed when he was away. In his statement to police, the Ashbiliya resident explained that he found out after returning from a trip to his jakhour (livestock farm) that thieves had broken into his house and made off with KD 10,000 from the closet. Criminal investigators are currently on the case.

Kidnap case Sulaibiya police station officers are probing

Addict caught A drug addict was arrested after a citizen busted him trying to steal cash he had just withdrawn from an ATM in Salmiya. The citizen had stopped by his mother’s house and left the KD 8,000 that he withdrew in his car. But shortly after stepping out of his car, the man received a phone call from his wife who was on her way to join him at his mother’s house, telling him that she spotted a stranger roaming suspiciously around his car. The citizen rushed back to his vehicle and caught the inebriated suspect.

Police arrived shortly and arrested him and confiscated drug paraphernalia from his car. It turned out that the suspect had followed the man all the way from the ATM with the intention of robbing him.

Policeman in trouble Investigations are currently ongoing in a case involving a police officer who is accused of engaging in an illegal sexual relationship with

an underage girl who insists she was subjected to rape. According to a news report, the two first met at a security checkpoint and had a conversation during which the officer offered his phone number to call him whenever she needs help. A few hours later, the officer rushed to the 19-year-old’s aid when she called for help after her car allegedly broke down in the parking lot of a hospital at the Sabah Medical Zone.

The officer then told the girl to wait in the patrol vehicle until a crane arrived to tow her car for repairs. The two reportedly engaged in sexual acts during that time after which the girl headed to the nearest police station and pressed assault charges. Following his arrest, the police officer denied the rape accusations and insisted that he was lured to a trap. He was referred to the Public Prosecution for further investigations.

Food poisoning Two Kuwaiti children were rushed to the Farwaniya Hospital and had to undergo emergency gastric surgery after consuming spoiled food that left them with a severe case of food poisoning. The two brothers, aged nine and six, reportedly ordered a meal from a local restaurant when they felt hungry in the middle of the night. They were rushed to the hospital soon after when their mother walked in to see them writhing in pain soon after. She went on to file a complaint against the restaurant with the consumers’ protection department of the Ministry of Commerce. — Al-Rai, Al-Watan, Al-Qabas

Indian injured in accident

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 26-year-old Indian ended up with a bleeding nose and bruises after a car hit him near Sultan Center in Fahaheel. He was taken to Adan hospital.

Two Egyptians suffered various bruises during a car accident on Sixth Ring Road near Jleeb. They were taken to Farwaniya hospital.

A fire in Salwa almost suffocated four people, and one of them had to be taken to

Mubarak hospital.

A 32-year-old Syrian complained of pain in the pelvis, and had lacerations on his body, following a car accident on Sixth Ring Road near Agility. He was taken to Farwaniya hospital.

A 32-year-old Bangladeshi was found dead in his car. The coroner removed the body to determine the cause of death.

A 27-year-old Egyptian sustained various bruises when a car hit her in Naseem area, Jahra. She was taken to Jahra hospital.

KUWAIT: The Green Island is set to host a special Lebanese carnival tomorrow, to celebrate Lebanon’s national day. This was announced by a senior Touristic Enterprises Company official in a press release yesterday. “ The event will be attended by the Lebanese Ambassador to Kuwait Dr Bassam Al-Nu’mani, and is set to feature various activities reflecting the Lebanese culture including folklore shows, a national operetta and a buffet of foods from the Lebanese cuisine”, said Green Island supervisor Hussam Al-Zawawi.

Furthermore, the carnival will also feature several competitions including a competition to select the best Lebanese traditional dress.

Kuwait spends KD60m for fire detection at refineries KUWAIT: Authorities are installing automatic oil detection systems, worth KD 60 million, at the country’s three oil refineries, said the Board Chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) yesterday.

Execution of the project of setting up the automatic sensors has begun, said Fahad Al-Ajmi, also the Managing Director of the KPC, in a statement after opening the sixth international conference and fair for the environmental and health safety and vocational development, held late on Tuesday.

The flames’ detection devices are being set up at the refineries of Ahmadi, Shuaiba and Mina Abdullah, he added.

On the planned project to build a fourth oil refinery in the country, Al-Ajmi indicated preparations for launching the venture had been taken. “We are waiting for the green

Inmate charged New charges were pressed against an inmate at the Central Jail after he threatened a woman over a call from within his cell.

Investigations were underway after a female citizen gave her phone number to Rumaithiya police station officers, saying that it was used by a caller who verbally assaulted her and threatened to cause her physical harm. Police eventually discovered that the number was used by a Kuwaiti man currently serving time.

During questioning, he confessed to threatening the woman over previous conflicts when he was dating her sister.

a case in which a Kuwaiti man pressed charges against a young man he accused of kidnapping his wife. The ordeal began after the citizen’s wife was found in a car with a male suspect who left her and escaped on foot as soon as he was ordered to pull over.

Shortly after the woman was allowed to go home, her husband arrived to the police station and wanted to press charges against the young man in question. Investigations in the case are ongoing.

light to begin the execution,” he affirmed.

Relevant authorities have been devoting greater concern to ensuring safety for personnel in the oil sector, allocating larger budgets for this purpose and training personnel to deal with emergencies and accidents, he said.

Shedding light on accomplishments of the KPC and its subsidiary companies in the field of health, safety and environment, AlAjmi noted that they have earned the widely-acclaimed ISO certificate in appreciation for their distinguished effort in this field.

The KPC has succeeded in cutting proportion of accidents by 150 percent. In turn, Al-Shuaiba noticeably reduced emanation of sulfuric oxide and Kuwait Oil Company cut burning of the affiliate gas by one percent. — KUNA

Direct Aid to provide over $8m towards relief aid KUWAIT: Direct Aid completed its preparation to receive Dream ship which carries more than 6,000 tons of relief items to be distributed to millions of Somali people, who are suffering from famine and food shortages as a result of drought and wars.

Head of Relief Committee at the Society, Nabil Al-Terkait, who is currently visiting Somalia with a delegation from the Relief Committee to receive Al-Khair ship at Mogadishu port, said “This shipment consists of basic foodstuffs that provide energy, which are essential to the survival of human beings including powdered milk, rice, sugar, flour, lentils, cooking oil, and dates. The shipment also contains non-food items such as cloth-

ing, blankets, and water tanks.”

The relief supplies worth about $8 million, and expected to help nearly $750,000 Somalis for a full month. These supplies will be distributed to all areas in Republic of Somalia for two months and intended to finish at the end of the year.

Al-Terkait pointed out that the shipment, which was fully loaded with more than 6.000 tons of relief items, is the largest relief shipment organized by the Society to help the affected people in Somalia. The relief items donated by Kuwaiti people including individuals, governmental and non-governmental charitable organizations, companies and local banks, in order to provide

the necessary assistance to affected people and illuminate the effects of this famine’s severity.”

Direct Aid has provided a number of relief supplies to Somalia and allocated more than $3 million dollars to relief effort since April 2011.

In addition to food distribution, the Society provided other forms of assistance such as relief centers, health services, water distribution, and non-food items.

The immediate response office of Direct Aid in Somalia was established in 1987 and has more than 300 employees. The office focuses most of its activities in different levels of education. It founded 10 schools with more than 7,000 stu-

dents. Also, it is the founder of SIMAD. Currently more than 3,000 students are enrolled at SIMAD. On this important occasion, Direct Aid Society based in Kuwait expressed its appreciation to all donors from Kuwait including individuals and institutions, and special thanks went to IHH which transferred this shipment from Kuwait to Somalia by sea on board of “Dream H”, in coordination with Convoys (“Qawafel”) Group. The Society also thanked all staff who delivered this aid for eligible employees and local authorities, as well as media which made significant contributions to bring the world’s attention to the reality of this tragedy.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

West greets Islamist advance in North Africa with caution Page 8

Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo handed over to ICC Page 9

Turkey rains sanctions on Syria Ankara halts credit, freezes assets BEIRUT: Syria’s biggest trade partner Turkey suspended all financial credit dealings with it yesterday and froze its government’s assets, joining the Arab League in isolating President Bashar Al-Assad over his military crackdown on opponents. In Syria, military funerals were held for 14 members of the army and security forces, evidence of the rising cost of its battle to smother a revolution inspired by uprisings across the Arab world that toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya this year.

Announcing the new Turkish measures, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference Turkey would block delivery of all weapons and military supplies to Syria. Relations with Syria’s central bank were suspended and a cooperation agreement was halted until there was a new government in place.

“Until a legitimate government which is at peace with its people is in charge in Syria, the mechanism of the High Level of Strategic Cooperation has been suspended,” Davutoglu said. Assad’s government had come “to the end of the road,” he said. Muslim Turkey, which last year had $2.5 billion in bilateral trade with Syria, was once one of Assad’s closest allies, but Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan lost patience with him. Turkey now hosts Syrian army defectors and opposition group.

Ankara has said any sanctions would not hurt the Syrian people and has ruled out cutting off electricity and water supplies. It has also said civil aviation by Turkish Airlines to Damascus will continue. Turkey, a NATO member, has a 900 km long border with Syria. It said on Tuesday it did not want military intervention in Syria but was ready for any scenario, including setting up a buffer zone to contain any influx of refugees. In other sanctions moves, a Dubai government, in a Twitter feed from its press office, said that UAE airlines were preparing to suspend flights to Syria. But it later said the report was not official and it was unable to confirm or deny if a flight ban would be imposed.

FLOWERS AND WREATHS Syria does not admit most foreign journalists. It says it is fighting an insurgency by armed groups supported from abroad, who have attacked its troops trying to defend the peace. What began eight months ago as a one-sided crushing of unarmed street protests is now sliding towards civil war. Five civilians were shot dead when security forces broke up a protest in the northern city of Idlib yesterday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, and fighting erupted between gov-

ernment troops and army renegades in the southern town of Dael. “The sound of explosions shook the town of Dael yesterday morning,” it said in a statement.

All phone lines were cut but an activist contacted the group after fleeing the town to report that 30 busloads of security forces had stormed Dael and two buses were blown up by “defectors”. On Tuesday, 14 members of the security forces were laid to rest “with flowers and wreaths”, state news agency SANA said. It named the dead but did not say when they were killed. “The martyrs were targeted by armed terrorist groups while they were in the line of duty in Homs and the Damascus countryside,” it said. Rebels on Tuesday ambushed an army vehicle in the north killing three soldiers, the Human Rights Observatory said. it said the vehicle was targeted by “suspected army defectors”.

PRISONER RELEASE Syria said it had freed 912 prisoners held for taking part in anti-Assad protests, SANA reported. Those liberated did “not have Syrian blood on their hands”. Some 1700 prisoners were released earlier this month, SANA said. Under the terms of an Arab League deal aimed at ending the violence, Syria agreed earlier this month to withdraw the army from urban centers, release political prisoners, launch a dialogue with the opposition and admit foreign observers. United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said he was still hoping Syria would admit observers and avoid sanctions due to be finalized by Saturday. European and Arab diplomats say the top United Nations human rights forum will paint a grim picture of events in Syria at a special session tomorrow which is likely to condemn the Syrian government for crimes against humanity.

A UN report said on Monday Syrian forces have committed murder, torture and rape against pro-democracy protesters. The UN says more than 3,500 people have been killed since March. Friday’s human rights committee session is partly designed to put pressure on China and Russia, which have blocked measures by the UN Security Council to condemn Syria, to take a stronger stand, say diplomats. Turkey said it fears an exodus of Syrians if violence worsens, and border states might have to create a buffer zone to cope with masses of refugees. France has raised the idea of a secured humanitarian corridor to relieve civilians, a step which would appear to imply some use of armed forces for security and logistics. — Reuters

IDLIB: An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube shows a Syrian mourning next to the body of Ziad Abdellatif, killed yesterday according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in the flashpoint northwestern province of Idlib near the Turkish border. — AFP

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Biden ushers in new post-pullout phase in Iraq ties BAGHDAD: US Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday the United States and Iraq are embarking on a new phase in their ties as Washington keeps its promise to pull all of its troops out of the country. Biden, President Barack Obama’s point man on Iraq, was speaking a day after arriving on a surprise eighth visit to Baghdad since he took office, a trip that follows a bloody seven days in which at least 61 Iraqis were killed.

“Our troops... are leaving Iraq and we are embarking on a new path together, a new phase in this relationship... between two sovereign nations,” Biden said at the opening of a meeting of the US-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee. “That partnership includes a robust security relationship, based on what... you think that relationship should be.”

Biden’s trip, which was not previously announced by the White House, comes ahead of a December 31 deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, which at their peak numbered 170,000 in 2007. Speaking before the committee alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, Biden

said that Washington was keeping its promise to pull out all of its soldiers on schedule. He said the committee would be the centerpiece of US and Iraqi efforts to build their relationship, notably in security issues such as training, intelligence and counter-terrorism.

“We kept our promise to withdraw from Iraq’s cities in 2009. We kept our promise to end our combat mission in the summer of 2010,” said the US vice president. “And now, we are keeping our promise we made back in 2008 to remove our troops from Iraq by the end of this year, and they will be removed. “Drawing down our forces is not only in the best interest of Iraq, but it’s in the best interest of the United States of America as well, and the best interest of the relationship. “In one month, our troops will have left Iraq, but our close strategic partnership ... will, God willing, continue,” Biden said.

In his remarks, Maliki spoke of “a new page” in Iraqi-US relations.

The premier said he looked forward to “a page of cooperation on different levels, and friendship and partnership between the two countries, economi-

Lebanon clinches deal to save govt BEIRUT: Lebanese politicians have agreed a deal to prevent the collapse of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government over the funding of a UN-backed court investigating the killing of statesman Rafiq Al-Hariri, a Lebanese official said yesterday. “An agreement has been reached for funding the court without having to put the matter to the cabinet or parliament,” the official said, declining to be named. Mikati came to power in January with backing from the powerful political and militant movement Hezbollah, which rejects the UN tribunal as biased and opposes funding.

Last week, he threatened to resign if he could not reach a deal to pay Lebanon’s share - over $30 million - of the costs of the United Nations court.

“It will be funded directly through the Higher Organization for Aid,” the offi-

cial said, referring to Lebanon’s natural disaster and humanitarian relief fund.

Such a mechanism allows funding to go around cabinet and thereby avoid government collapse. Hezbollah and its allies, who have blocking power with half the seats, oppose the Hariri court.

The prosecutor for the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon indicted four Hezbollah members over the killing of Hariri, a former prime minister, whose convoy was blown up in Beirut in 2005.

Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah denies any role in the attack and has called for Lebanon to cut links with the court, saying it is politicized and pursues an Israeli agenda. Hezbollah toppled the previous government in a dispute over the court, but has softened its tone in recent weeks to avoid a public clash with Mikati. — Reuters

West greets Islamist advance in North Africa with caution PARIS: After belatedly supporting a wave of democratic revolts in North Africa, Western capitals had little choice but to endorse the victory of Islamist parties, but they remain cautious. Polls in Tunisia and Morocco were won by Islamists, Islamist influence is stronger in Libya after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and this week’s election in Egypt is expected to see gains by the Muslim Brotherhood. Western powers had supported the region’s former autocratic regimes, believing them a bulwark against violent Islamist extremism, and are now nervously reaching out to their successors with offers of financial aid.

“We can only support the process in place, so long as the result comes democratically, through the ballot box. We have to play along and show both openness and vigilance,” a Brussels-based diplomat said. “But we shouldn’t kid ourselves: we’re worried. It’s obvious there is going to be trouble in several countries in the region, like Libya, Egypt and Algeria,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity. Countries like France and the United States were caught flatfooted by the “Arab Spring” revolts, realizing late in the day that autocratic clients such as Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak were doomed.

France tried to make amends by sponsoring the Libyan revolution, and Washington has spoken in favor of democracy in the region, but the new Islamist-led governments have every reason to be suspicious of the West.

Likewise, Western powers are watching the advance of political Islam with concern. They fear they might be less willing to collaborate in the war against interna-

tional militant groups, or might threaten women’s rights. “Everything’s risky in a revolution, but I think we must be trusting while on our guard,” said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.

World powers have promised a total of 80 billion dollars to support the Arab world’s new post-revolutionary governments, but little has been spent or even assigned, and officials say it will not be handed out unconditionally. Juppe said France’s contribution would be tied to the new regimes’ support for sexual equality and respect of democratic rulecomments that drew the ire of Tunisia’s victorious Ennahda Islamist party.

Washington is also reserving judgment. “I think we’ll wait and see how this party actually operates and the things it says publicly, as well as its governance,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, after Morocco’s Justice and Development Party won the vote.

“It’s more important not what a government or what a particular party is called, but what it does and whether it operates according to democratic standards,” he warned. The final result of Egypt’s historic first post-Mubarak election is not yet known, although it seems likely the party led by the powerful and well-organized Muslim Brotherhood will win, but US observers hailed the vote itself as well-run. “We should not stigmatize the Muslim Brothers or the Islamist parties en bloc. They’re not devils. There are extremists among them, we don’t want that, but there are perfectly moderate people,” Juppe said.

In Brussels, EU officials are preparing to adapt their regional policy to deal with the new regimes. “For the moment,” the diplomat said. — AFP

RABAT: A supporter of Morocco’s Justice and Development Party reacts after the party won 107 seats in the 395-seat legislature following a nationwide vote at the party’s headquarters in Rabat, Morocco. — AP

cally, politically, scientifically, in trade, tourism, and agriculture,” and also “continued cooperation in the security field.” Besides Maliki, Biden was also due to meet President Jalal Talabani

Baghdad, the White House said Biden’s visit was aimed at “deepening our cooperation on politics and diplomacy; trade and finance; energy... and defense and security,” along with other

BAGHDAD: US Vice President Joe Biden (left) sits next to Iraqi Premier Nuri Al-Maliki at the start of a meeting of the US-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee in Baghdad yesterday. — AFP and parliament speaker Osama AlNujaifi. He was accompanied by US ambassador James Jeffrey, General Lloyd Austin, the US military’s top commander in Iraq, and Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman. In a statement issued as he arrived in

fields.

Obama on October 21 announced that US troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011, bringing to a close an almost nine-year war that has left thousands of US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, and cost

hundreds of billions of dollars. About 13,800 US soldiers are still in the country, and seven US bases remain to be handed over, according to US military spokesman Major General Jeffrey Buchanan. Obama’s predecessor George W Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in 2003, arguing its then leader Saddam Hussein was endangering the world with weapons of mass destruction programs.

Saddam was toppled, and later executed, but such arms were never found. Despite the troop pullout, ambassador Jeffrey said Sunday US spending would top $6 billion in 2012 in Iraq, which will still host the largest American embassy in the world and a mission of up to 16,000 people. Biden said the large US civilian presence was needed in order for Washington to meet its obligations to Iraq. “Our civilian mission in Iraq... is sized to meet the request and the obligations and the promises we’ve made,” the US vice president said.

“We are here for one reason and only one reason: to assist in the development of the capacity of this great nation.” — AFP

Islamists claim lead in Egypt vote count Christians try to stem Islamists in vote CAIRO: Egypt’s Islamists claimed yesterday they were headed for victory in the opening phase of the country’s first post-revolution election after two days of peaceful polling that won international plaudits. The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a front for the Muslim Brotherhood, a moderate group persecuted and banned during the 30-year rule of president Hosni Mubarak, said they were leading in preliminary results. “From the start of the voting process until now (around 0930 GMT), preliminary results show the Freedom and Justice party list ahead,” an FJP statement said, without giving figures.

In a surprise trend that will alarm secular liberals and the country’s minority Christian community, the FJP also claimed that the AlNur movement, whose members are hardline Islamists who follow the strict Salafi brand of Islam, was in second place. On Monday and Tuesday, millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms, filing into polling stations in the capital Cairo and second-city Alexandria for the first phase of multi-stage parliamentary elections.

The results to be published only cover those areas that voted a third of constituencies-but they will show the trends likely to shape a country that has not had a free election in 60 years. The Muslim Brotherhood, a group at pains to stress its religious tolerance during campaigning, earned respect and recognition among many Egyptians for its opposition to Mubarak and its extensive charitable work.

Many of the new political parties which have emerged in the post-Mubarak era are unknown to voters and the secular prodemocracy movements that helped overthrow the dictator is divided and disorganized. “The real surprise is not if the Muslim Brotherhood wins, the real surprise is if it does not win,” wrote commentator Tariq Al-Hamid in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat earlier in the week. “The Brotherhood is a powerful force because it works day and night, on the ground and not through social networking sites,” he added, in a swipe at the noisy liberals active on Twitter.

In Tunisia, the origin of the Arab Spring movement that has seen pro-democracy uprising across the region, a moderate Islamist party won the first free election.

Morocco’s recent vote produced a similar result. FJP vice president Essam Al-Erian said on Monday that the world should accept political Islam without fear of it being incompatible with democratic principles such as pluralism, the rule of law and good gover-

nance. “Islamic culture is compatible with democratic principles. Arabs have their own culture, and Islam its own civilization,” he said.

The vote on Monday and Tuesday in Cairo and Alexandria and other areas was the first of three stages of an election for a new lower house of parliament. The rest of the country follows next month and in January. After each round there will be a run-off vote, and then a further three rounds of voting for the upper house of parliament from January. The schedule and fiendishly complex voting system

Council of the Armed Forces, which stepped in after Mubarak quit. Forty-two people were killed and more than 3,000 injured.

Meanwhile, ahead of elections, Egypt’s Coptic Church discreetly told followers to vote for an alliance of leftist and liberal parties sponsored by a Christian tycoon. The move by a Church normally wary of inserting itself into politics showed how deeply Egyptian Christians fear that Islamists will come to power. The country’s Christian minority turned out in droves for voting Monday and Tuesday in

CAIRO: Election official rests on ballot boxes for the parliamentary elections at a counting center in Cairo yesterday. — AP have been widely criticized. Voters were asked to cast three ballots in the election-two for individual candidates and another for a party or coalition. The results will be final for the individual candidates-who will go into a runoff vote next week unless someone wins a majority outright and preliminary figures for the party lists.

Turnout for the vote was high, with long queues forming before polling stations opened on Monday morning. A member of the interim military leadership has forecast 70 percent of voters exercised their right. The US State Department spoke of the “success” of the start of the election, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent his congratulations for the “generally calm and orderly” conduct of the poll. The backdrop to the vote had been ominous after a week of protests calling for the resignation of the ruling Supreme

the first parliamentary elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February. Many indeed said they had “voted for the eye” - a reference to the Egyptian Bloc, the coalition that the Church pointed to. Each party has a campaign symbol so that illiterate voters can identify their choices on the ballot, and the Bloc’s symbol was the eye.

In pockets where their community is concentrated, the flow of Christians to the polls was strong. In the Cairo district of Shubra, men and women with cross tattoos on their wrists - a common tradition among Egyptian Christians - kept lines full through the day.

White-haired elders, equipped with chairs and bottles of water for the long wait, waited with young men and women who took time off from jobs to get to the ballot box. Almost all expressed a common motivation: Stop the Islamists. —Agencies

S Sudan battles to transform guerrilla army JUBA: As he approaches the imposing compound on the outskirts of Juba, a motorbike taxi driver shakes his head and refuses to stop within 200 meters of South Sudan’s military headquarters. He says the fear of crossing the security forces at night is what empties the busy streets, where by day hundreds of his colleagues loiter on corners vying for business.

Inside the base of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel force that fought a guerrilla war to win independence, the tense atmosphere and suspicious gaze of fighters match the level of public mistrust found outside the heavy-walled compound. “ The SPLA has been fighting a war for the last 21 years. We had an army with a revolutionary mandate, a liberation mandate from the people of South Sudan to fight that war,” which has now expired, said military spokesman Philip Aguer. South Sudan became the world’s newest nation on July 9 after southerners

voted almost unanimously in a January referendum to secede from the north.

Now the government is keen to professionalize the huge army and reintegrate the unknown number of men, women and children who spent years fighting in the bush back into a society that has very few employment opportunities.

“SPLA will be transformed into the South Sudan Armed Forces,” said Aguer, warning that a name change is just the first step in a long and delicate process of keeping the peace, while phasing out masses of fighters who sacrificed everything for their country. “We are trying to transform into a modern army, but our problem is the issue of the integration of rebel militias,” said Mac Paul, deputy director of South Sudan’s military intelligence.

While South Sudan has technically been at peace since a 2005 agreement with its former civil war enemy, tensions are escalating. As

north and south trade accusations of funding rebel militia groups inside each other’s resource-rich border states, their fragile economies are further destabilized and the outbreak of a new war appears more likely. Paul said the army has to abide by a government strategy for peace that started in August when President Salva Kiir offered an amnesty to rebel groups willing to lay down their arms.

This has drawn many renegade SPLA leaders and their forces back into the fold but has also further bloated military spending that Lam Akol, the leader of the SPLM for Democratic Change opposition party, says exceeds 40 percent of the peacetime budget. Akol says the money is desperately needed to build a new nation from scratch and has warned that if people do not “see the fruits of peace” through basic service provision they will rise up.

But Finance Minister Kosti Ngai says that while “expenditures for

security might seem to be unreasonably high,” they are “a matter of life and death” for the fledgling nation. As part of the military transformation, and in a bid to reduce spending, the government has pledged to demobilize 80,000 soldiers and 70,000 members of other uniformed forces such as the police and wildlife service under a UN demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) program. But critics say the exercise is futile until South Sudan sees real peace, as the number of rebels absorbed will equal those demobilized, and the army will continue putting only low-ranking officers or ancillary staff through the program.

“Unless you have an analysis of the SPLA’s composition and capabilities and an overarching plan, then transformation efforts will always be frustrated, including DDR,” said Richard Rands, a former special forces officer who has trained around 7,000 SPLA soldiers since 2006. — AFP

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I Coast’s Gbagbo handed over to world court THE HAGUE: Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo was transferred to the International Criminal Court yesterday to face charges of rape and murder, becoming the first former head of state to stand before the tribunal. International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo vowed Gbagbo’s transfer was “just the beginning” but the deposed leader’s spokesman denounced an international cabal and lop-sided justice. Global human rights groups warned a prosecution only focused on crimes committed by forces loyal to Gbagbo and not his rival Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara would lead to an “explosive situation on the ground.”

Gbagbo, 66, was remanded in custody yesterday after being flown to the Netherlands on a chartered flight as the first person to be brought to account over post-election violence that killed 3,000 people last year. He had been under arrest since April. “Gbagbo allegedly bears individual criminal responsibility, as indirect co-perpetrator, for four counts of crimes against humanity, namely murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and other inhuman acts,” the ICC said in a statement.

The crimes were allegedly committed between December 16, 2010 and April 12, 2011, after Gbagbo refused to recognise Ouattara’s election victory. “This is the first case in the Cote d’Ivoire. It would not be the last case. This is just the beginning,” Moreno-Ocampo said in an interview by phone. “Ivorian victims will see justice for massive crimes,” he added. Gbagbo’s first appearance is to be held “promptly”, the ICC said. His identity will be confirmed, the charges against him and his rights will be read out.

Ivory Coast’s new rulers had been pressing for weeks to have him transferred to The Hague and

the move comes less than two weeks before the December 11 legislative elections in the former French colony. For months, since his arrest in Abidjan on April 11, he had been held in Korhogo, in the north of the country, as Ivorian investigators built a case centred around other

lesser charges against him. At home, Gbagbo faces charges for “economic crimes” allegedly committed during the political crisis and conflict triggered by his refusal to hand over power, which sparked the deadly post-election conflict.

But the ICC had launched its own investiga-

ABIDJAN: In this file photo, former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo (center) and his wife Simone, are seen in the custody of republican forces loyal to election winner Alassane Ouattara at the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. — AP

tion. Last month, its judges allowed MorenoOcampo to probe alleged post-election war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both forces loyal to Gbagbo and also to those loyal to President Ouattara. During a visit to Abidjan on October 15, the prosecutor promised an “impartial investigation” aimed at “three to six people.” Gbagbo’s supporters reacted with fury yesterday. “What we are seeing today is the triumph of corruption, dirty dealing and shady connections to the detriment of the state,” Gbagbo’s spokesman Justin Kone Katina said by phone from his Ghanaian exile.

He called Moreno-Ocampo a “scheming puppet... who allows himself to be manipulated by interests that are far removed from any sense of justice.” In Ivory Coast the leaders of three small pro-Gbagbo parties announced they were pulling out of the December vote in protest at the transfer, which they argued would hamper national reconciliation. The government in Abidjan hailed the transfer and argued Gbagbo’s trial would give the country closure. “This transfer is a blessing for the country,” Bruno Kone said. “It is one of the keys to turning the page on a sad episode in Ivory Coast’s history.”

But Francis Dako, the African coordinator at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, urged the ICC to not only prosecute Gbagbo, but also those in Ouattara’s camp suspected of crimes. “A decision to go after the defeated president alone at this point is likely to be explosive on the ground,” Dako said. “The ICC must be prepared to explain its decision as well as to reiterate that it will continue to investigate both sides and issue arrest warrants accordingly,” he said in a statement. The ICC’s six other cases also relate to crimes committed in Africa. — AFP

UK expels Iran diplomats Britain shuts Iran embassy, sacks staff

ATHENS: A homeless man sleeps outside a vacant shop in Athens. — AP

Greeks homeless as crisis takes its toll ATHENS: Until about 18 months ago, Dimitri had a home, a job, a regular life.

He had passed homeless people on the street, rarely giving them a second thought. He never imagined he could become one of them. That was before Greece was gripped by a vicious financial crisis that has left the country teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Now the place he calls home is beneath a highway overpass, his bed a blanket laid out beneath a battered old desk. Part of a discarded crate serves as a pillow.

Since the debt crisis erupted in late 2009, tens of thousands of Greeks have lost their jobs or businesses and many others struggle on in employment where they haven’t seen a paycheck in months.

The unemployment rate reached a record 18.4 percent in August, a time when the peak tourist season usually sees a dip in jobless figures. The number of those sleeping rough has shot up by about a quarter over the past two years to reach an estimated 20,000, said Athanasia Tourkou of Klimaka, a charity that cares for homeless people as well as the mentally ill.

“Before it was only the mentally ill or former prisoners,” said 49-year-old Dimitri, who used to work for a well-known Greek folk dancing troupe. “Now it’s totally different. Now there are families on the streets.” Divorced with a 19-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son, the former dancer is too ashamed to tell his ex-wife and children what has happened to him.

He asked that his surname not be used because they think he lives with a friend.

He leaves his makeshift bed before dawn each day. “I don’t want people to see me sleeping on the street,” he said. “I walk endlessly. ... It’s exhausting, psychologically as well as physically.”

Facing a runaway national debt and a massive budget deficit, Greece has relied since May 2010 on billions of euros in international rescue loans to make ends meet. In return, the government has imposed harsh spending cuts, slashing pensions and salaries and pushing through several rounds of tax hikes on everything from food and fuel to income and property. Greece’s economy is projected to contract by 5.5 percent this year, and it faces a fourth year of recession in 2012. General government debt is to reach 161 percent of GDP in 2011, or euro352 billion ($470 billion).

Family ties still run strong in this southern European country of about 11 million, and relatives traditionally have been the first port of call for those in trouble. But those networks are fraying as hard times spread through traditionally stable fami-

lies. Many evicted from homes because they can’t afford rent find themselves with nowhere to turn but the city’s pavements and park benches. “Up until now people that were facing psychological problems or addiction problems were the main population of homeless people,” Tourkou said, sitting in the brightly painted office of the charity’s day center, where the homeless can find refuge, wash their clothes, take a bath and seek help for everything from psychological support to clothing.

“Now the profile is changing and we see people with a very high education level, people (who) up until a few months ago had a house, a regular job, were living with their families. And now they’re on the streets.” Thousands of the Greek capital’s poorest now rely on food handouts, some organized by the church, some by the municipality and others by charities.

The main municipal soup kitchen is run out of a building on Sofokleous, a street once synonymous with the Athens Stock Exchange before the bourse relocated in 2007. It feeds about 2,500 3,000 people a day - not just the homeless but also those so poor they have no other way of securing regular family meals. For Dimitri, it’s a far cry from dancing in the theater in central Athens or traveling abroad with his old troupe. His life is now dictated by soup kitchen serving times. “I had seen homeless people in England, in America. I never thought I’d be one of them,” he said.

Apostolos Ntonis has been out on the streets for about a year since the kiosk he worked at in one of the city’s roughest areas shut down. “The bad thing is that there is nothing,” he said of the work situation. Besides, he added, pointing to his thin frame and grubby clothes: “Who will hire me in this state? I’m a mess, look at me.” Before his kiosk job, Ntonis worked as a plumber on heating installations. But life on the streets has taken its toll on his health, he says, and he’s been in the hospital three or four times recently.

When he first lost his home a friend took him in and gave him a place to stay for a while. “But how long can they sort you out for? You can’t do that sort of thing,” he said.

To cope with the cold on the streets, where temperatures are falling to near freezing as winter wears on, he drinks cheap wine bought with whatever money he can make. Trapped in a vicious circle, he sees little hope for himself, his fellow homeless people or his country. “Worse is coming,” he said before heading off to pick up a sleeping bag secured for him by the workers at Klimaka. “Believe me, it will get much worse.”— AP

TEHRAN: Britain shut down the Iranian embassy in London and expelled all its staff yesterday, saying the storming of the British diplomatic mission in Tehran could not have taken place without some degree of consent from Iranian authorities. Foreign Secretary William Hague also said the British Embassy in Tehran had been closed and all staff evacuated following the attack on Tuesday by a crowd who broke through gates, ransacked offices and burned British flags in a protest over sanctions imposed by Britain on the Tehran government. It was the most violent incident so far as relations between the two countries worsen due to a wider dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.

Hague said Iranian ambassadors across the European Union had been summoned to receive strong protests over the incident. But Britain stopped short of severing ties with Iran completely. “The Iranian charge (d’affaires) in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours,” Hague told parliament. “We have now closed the British embassy in Tehran. We have decided to evacuate all our staff and as of the last few minutes, the last of our UK-based staff have now left Iran.”

It was the worst crisis between Britain and Iran since full diplomatic relations were restored in 1999, 10 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa to kill author Salman Rushdie for his book “The Satanic Verses”. Hague said it was “fanciful” to think the Iranian authorities could not have protected the British embassy, or that the assault could have taken place without “some degree of regime consent”. “This does not amount to the severing of diplomatic relations in their entirety. It is action that reduces our relations with Iran to the lowest level consistent with the maintenance of diplomatic relations,” he added.

British Prime Minister David Cameron chaired meetings of the government’s crisis committee

on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning to decide London’s response. But mindful of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, when radical students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, Britain waited till all its two dozen diplomatic staff and dependents had left the country to announce its move.

IRAN ELITES FEUD While the attack raises tensions between Iran and the West, it also exposes widening divisions within Iran’s ruling elite over how to deal with the increased international pressure as sanctions take their toll on the already stagnant economy.

The protest appeared to be a move by the conservatives who dominate parliament to force President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to heed their demand to expel the British ambassador.

Ahmadinejad and his ministers have shown no willingness to compromise on their refusal to halt Iran’s nuclear work but have sought to keep talks open to limit what sanctions are imposed.

The West believes the program is aimed at building a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran strongly denies. “It was planned and organized by the students, but it was not something that came from the government,” said Mohammad Marandi, an associate professor at Tehran University. “The students were telling me days before that they were planning to be there in large numbers. They said some students would try (to storm the embassy),” he said. “I don’t think the government is happy with what happened.”

Conservative newspapers trumpeted the embassy seizure. The daily Vatan-e Emrouz declared “Fox’s den seized”, referring to Britain’s nickname “the old fox” which reflects a widely held view in Iran that the former imperial power still wields great power behind the scenes in Iranian and international affairs. While Iranian police at first did not stop the protesters storming the embassy gates, they later fired teargas to disperse them and freed six Britons held by demonstrators.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry expressed its regret for

Nationalist specter haunts Russia polls MOSCOW: Russia’s parliamentary elections Sunday are taking place against an increasingly visible anti-immigrant nationalism which has even prompted some liberals to flirt with far-right forces. Just one year ago, a mob of thousands of ultra-nationalists staged an unprecedented show of force near the Kremlin, in one of the ugliest displays of racism in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The protest on Manezh square last December has come to symbolize growing nationalist and xenophobic sentiments. And if there is something the far-right and left agree on, it’s that the government is doing nothing about it.

Sixty percent of Russians say that the country needs to limit the number of migrant workers, while 54 percent agree with the slogan ‘Russia for Russians’, according to a survey done by the Levada pollster at the end of 2010. Last year, nationalists killed 37 people and injured 382, according to a report done by the SOVA rights organization. And while Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called radical nationalism a “virus”, one leader of a nationalist group said the virus has already spread far and wide, despite lack of proper political representation.

“At least 50 percent agree with our message, and if our party was registered, many people would vote for us,” said Alexander Belov, former leader of the banned Movement Against Illegal Immigration, or DPNI, who plans to host a protest near the Kremlin on election day. “(President Dmitry) Medvedev has ordered all the existing parties not to use (nationalism in their campaign),” said Belov, who is now one of the leaders of a loose movement called ‘Russians’. “Nationalists are not allowed to participate in the elections, because we can be the biggest opposition to the current regime.”

Several attempts to register a party failed, he said.

Faced with such odds, Belov’s priorities ironically no longer appear to lie with deporting illegal immigrants, but with “freedom, normal clear laws, and end of corruption.” —AFP

the “unacceptable behavior of few demonstrators”. The protesters hit back at the Foreign Ministry and police. “While the protesting students were seeking to answer to the plots and malevolence of this old fox in support of the decision of the revolutionary parliament to expel the ambassador of the British government we witnessed the harsh blow of the police on these students,” said a statement by a group calling itself the Islamic community of seven Tehran universities. “We expected the police to be on the side of the students instead of confronting them.”

CARNAGE Britain last week banned all its financial institutions from any dealings with Iran, including its central bank, after a report by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency suggested Iran may have worked on developing a nuclear arsenal. Iran, the world’s fifth biggest oil exporter, says it only wants nuclear technology to generate electricity.

The United States and Canada also tightened their sanctions on Iran last week but France is pressing for more. “France is advocating sanctions on a scale that would paralyze the regime: freezing of central bank assets and an embargo on hydrocarbon exports,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in an interview in a weekly news magazine. Referring to an EU meeting on Iran in Brussels on Thursday, Juppe said: “We want to reach a common position so that the pressure will be utmost. We cannot keep letting the Iranians take us for a ride.” The protesters stormed the main British embassy in downtown Tehran, smashing windows, torching a car and burning the British flag, while at the same time, another group broke into a British diplomatic residential compound at Qolhak in north Tehran.

Several sources told Reuters that diplomats had had their movements restricted by protesters and one said staff in the main British embassy had been herded into a room while protesters ransacked the premises. —Reuters

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American students abroad told to avoid protests MINNEAPOLIS: Every year American colleges and universities send more than 270,000 students to study abroad and more of them are choosing unconventional destinations, which in places like Egypt can entice students to ignore well-meaning warnings from back home and plunge into the political upheaval in the streets. “I think the temptation is there, to wrap up in a keffiyeh and try to look like any other Egyptian revolutionary, to feel a little exhilaration from a kind of danger you don’t get in America,” said Wittney Dorn, 20, of Appleton, Wis, who is studying at the American University in Cairo.

Universities have been repeating the importance of striking the right balance between safety and cultural immersion after the Nov 20 arrest of three American students during the protests near Tahrir Square, the Cairo roundabout that has been the epicenter of the Jan 25 uprising against ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Dorn said in an email from Cairo that she’s been following the advice she got from both from American University and her home college, St Olaf in Northfield, to avoid crowds, political demonstrations and Tahrir Square specifically. “It’s not a brilliant idea to go exploring an area where people are being killed, despite how tempting it may be to watch history unfold before one’s eyes,” Dorn wrote.

A survey earlier this month from the nonprofit Institute of International Education found more than 270,000 US students studied abroad during the 2009-10 school year, up about 4 per-

cent from a year earlier. Most went to Western Europe: Britain, Italy, Spain and France. But the sur vey found increasing numbers in less traditional destinations; Egypt, for example, hosted 1,923 Americans, up 8 percent. “A lot of students are trying to find places that will help them understand the emerging world,” said Peggy Blumenthal, who oversees research at the institute as the senior counselor to the president. They are preparing for careers in public health, the sciences and national security, for example, she said.

Blumenthal said she doubted students who picked more challenging programs were any more likely to ignore security guidelines than others.

“I honestly think that it’s not just about going abroad to these places for thrill seeking, as much as it’s about really wanting to understand,” she said. Many universities and operators of study abroad programs have been trying to prod students out of what can become a comfort zone of huddling with their fellow American students. That push to engage can be broadening in a “safe” country; in a country with a suddenly dicey political situation, it can be hazardous.

“Sometimes you have to take limits to your full immersion for safety’s sake,” said Eric Lund, director of off-campus studies at St. Olaf College, a liberal arts college about 35 miles south of Minneapolis, where nearly 70 percent of the class of 2011 studied abroad.

The three students were arrested during a demonstration near the American University in Cairo’s main

campus. Egyptian officials said they arrested the students on the roof of a university building and accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

Derrik Sweeney, 19, denied it. He said he and the other Americans were with a group of protesters on the street near the Interior Ministry and

hours.

Sweeney is from Jefferson City, Mo. He was arrested with Luke Gates, 21, who attends Indiana University and is from Bloomington, Ind., and Gregory Porter, 19, who studies at Drexel University and is from Glenside, Pa. They were released and arrived back in the United States on Saturday.

ST LOUIS: In this file photo, Derrik Sweeney, 19, of Jefferson City, smiles along side his mother, Joy Sweeney after arriving at Lambert-St Louis International Airport. Sweeney and two other American students were arrested in Cairo accused of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. — AP fled when police dispersed the crowd.

He said they were arrested, beaten, threatened and forced to lie with their hands bound in the dark for several

“I still don’t regret having gone to the protests,” Sweeney said. “I would have regretted it if I had gone to Egypt and never had gone to a protest.” He

said the American University and the US State Department had advised against attending the demonstrations, but he went anyway - including one in early September and one the Friday before he was arrested. “I value democracy and liberty, so I wanted to go to those protests more to witness them and to see them than to participate in them,” Sweeney said. “I wanted to see history being made.”

So did Katrina Gray, 22, of Madison, Wis., who was finishing a year of study in Alexandria, Egypt, when she was evacuated in January after protests broke out all over the country. “This is a huge part of history that happens only once in a lifetime,” she said. But the University of Wisconsin-Madison student said she understood why it was time to go.

The situation had deteriorated to the point that the university had told students not to leave their apartments.

So she didn’t think of defying the university ’s evacuation because “my mother would have killed me,” she said.

Georgetown University still has six students in Cairo, said Stacy Kerr, a spokeswoman for the university. “We have reiterated our policy to our students who are still in Cairo, that they should not be participating in the protests,” she said. Indiana University spokesman Mark Land said the arrests may prompt the university to re-examine its study-abroad programs, which already advises students before they go abroad to avoid politically unstable situations and “not to get into any tight spots.” — AP

Police raid Occupy camp at la City Hall Anti-Wall Street sit-in dismantled

AMHERST: Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at Joey’s Diner in Amherst, NH. — AP

GOP 2012 candidates walk tightrope on immigration AMHERST: The Republican presidential contenders are tying themselves in knots over immigration. Newt Gingrich is endorsing a South Carolina law that allows police to demand a person’s immigration status - a week after taking heat for advocating a “humane” approach.

Rick Perry, though defending Texas’ instate tuition for some illegal immigrants’ kids, spent Tuesday campaigning with a hardline Arizona sheriff in New Hampshire. And Mitt Romney is talking tough on immigration in his second White House campaign, though he previously supported the idea of allowing some illegal immigrants to stay in the US. Meanwhile, many voters say immigration won’t determine which candidate they’ll back for the GOP nomination.

Instead, they say they’re focused squarely on the economy and jobs. “In light of the economy, questions about immigration policy are less egregious,” said Loras Schulte, an evangelical conservative from northeast Iowa. So what gives? The contortions by the Republican candidates illustrate the straddle they ’re attempting on a complex issue. In order to win the Republican nomination, they must court a GOP electorate that is largely against anything that could be called “amnesty” for illegal immigrants.

But they can’t come off as anti-immigrant, a stance that could alienate the independents and moderates - not to mention Hispanics - they ’d need to attract in a general election should they win the party ’s nod to challenge President Barack Obama. In 2008, immigration helped shape the Republican presidential race, with John McCain bypassing the leadoff caucus state of Iowa - and planting his flag in New Hampshire - after seeing his standing tank when he backed a plan to give some illegal immigrants an eventual path to citizenship. Still, former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee won the caucuses that year despite having backed tuition benefits in his state for children of illegal immigrants. And McCain ended up winning the nomination despite his position.

Exit polls in Iowa that year found Republican caucusgoers naming immigration their top concern. This year, many Republican voters are focused on an unemployment rate that’s been stuck around 9 percent nationally and is even higher in some states. A poll by The Des Moines Register taken last month showed economic and fiscal concerns topping immigration. “Four years ago it

was about who is the best person in the party. And now they are saying, ‘Who can beat Obama?’” said Susan Geddes, a top organizer in Iowa for Huckabee last time.

But immigration as an important issue has hardly gone away. Gingrich is the latest to wrestle with it. Enjoying a rise in national and state polls, he called in a debate last week for an approach that would grant legal status to illegal immigrants with longstanding family and community ties. Since then, he has been defending that approach from attacks by opponents who say it would amount to amnesty for millions. “An absolute falsehood,” Gingrich retorted Tuesday while campaigning in Bluffton, S.C. He pressed his rivals to say how they would deal with some 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

“What is it that you’re going to do?

Are you really going to go in and advocate ripping people out of their families?” he said. A day earlier, however, he sounded like an immigration hardliner when he expressed support for a South Carolina law that would require law officers who make traffic stops to call federal officials if they suspect that someone is in the country illegally. At the College of Charleston, he called the law “pretty reasonable.”

In New Hampshire, Perry looked to regain his footing on the issue that his dogged his campaign from the outset.

With Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio at his side, the Texas governor, who opposes a border fence with Mexico, defended anew his signing of legislation to allow in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants. “They are working toward getting citizenship, and they pay full instate tuition,” Perry said. “As the sheriff knows, I’ve been fighting this illegal immigration issue for a decade. But the people of Texas made that decision.”

Arpaio, the Maricopa County sheriff known for his forceful immigration enforcement, endorsed Perry in New Hampshire, praising his experience as a border governor. But he wouldn’t comment on Perry’s in-state tuition position.

Perry got an earful on that from Alice Bury, a retired nurse. She told him she was “really having a problem” with his tuition policy and described it as a likely deal breaker. Romney, meanwhile, was in Florida rolling out the endorsements of prominent Cuban-American lawmakers, including Florida Reps. Ileana RosLehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart and former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. — AP

LOS ANGELES: Police in riot gear and biohazard suits removed anti-Wall Street activists from an encampment outside the Los Angeles City Hall yesterday, arresting dozens of people as they enforced the mayor’s eviction order.

Busloads of police closed in on the 8-weekold camp after midnight and declared the hundreds of protesters congregated on the lawn, sidewalks and streets around City Hall to be an “unlawful assembly,” ordering them to disperse or face arrest.

The Los Angeles encampment, which officials had tolerated for weeks even as other cities moved in to clear out similar compounds, was among the largest on the West Coast aligned with a 2-month-old national Occupy Wall Street movement against economic inequality and excesses of the U.S. financial system. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had originally welcomed the protesters, even supplying them with ponchos for inclement weather. But as city officials complained of crime, sanitation problems and property damage they blamed on the camp, the mayor decided the group had to go.

He initially set an eviction deadline for one minute after midnight on Monday, but city officials held off on enforcing it for 48 hours in the hope that protesters would drift away from the camp on their own accord. The strategy appeared to pay off. Except for some minor initial scuffles, the crowd remained boisterous but peaceful. At least 20 protesters left the area as soon as police moved in, carrying tents and other belongings out of the camp. Later, a number of others were escorted out by police after apparently agreeing to walk away without resisting.

Officers then swept into the park, arresting those who refused to leave, dismantling the camp and removing crates, boxes and other debris. Tents were pulled down and flattened after police peeked inside each one with a flashlight.

Police Commander Andrew Smith said dozens of hold-outs in the park had been taken into custody, and at least 20 more were likely to be arrested including three or four who had perched in trees. Police Lieutenant Andy Neiman said before the operation that some protesters had been reported to be storing human waste at the site for unknown reasons. He later said police entering the camp encountered “a horrible stench.”

City officials had hoped to keep the timing of the widely expected eviction, which police

said ultimately involved more than 1,000 officers, under wraps. But live local television footage revealed large numbers of police, patrol cars, buses and other vehicles massing at Dodger Stadium, a few miles away, ahead of the raid. Several demonstrators climbed into trees, and fireworks were set off as the crowd grew steadily more raucous before police arrived. Many protesters chanted, “Move your feet, Occupy the street!” One protester, Anthony Candelaria, 21, a Los Angeles college student among the crowd gathered at City Hall, said before the raid began that he

the city was taking a “measured approach to enforcing the park closure”. “We have wanted to give people every opportunity to leave peacefully. I ask that anyone who remains in the park to please leave voluntarily,” he said.

Protesters began moving onto the City Hall park on Oct 1, and within weeks the encampment had grown to include as many as 500 tents, with 700 to 800 full-time residents. Their number diminished sharply after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced last week that he wanted protesters to pack up their tents and other belongings and leave by

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Police inspect a tent with guns that fire rubber bullets at the Occupy Los Angeles encampment at Los Angeles city hall yesterday. — AP planned to “hold the fort down until they drag us out by our feet.”

By contrast, about 100 Occupy protesters in Philadelphia peacefully vacated their camp early yesterday after police moved in and warned protesters they faced arrest unless they left on their own, police said. In San Francisco, Mayor Ed Lee offered anti-Wall Street activists occupying a park in the city’s financial district an alternate location for their camp. The group met Tuesday night to discuss the proposed Mission District site, and the mayor’s list of conditions for using it. The offer included land for pitching tents and a building with restrooms.

Shortly after the eviction in Los Angeles began, Villaraigosa issued a statement saying

Monday or be forcibly removed. After the eviction deadline passed, the status of the camp had remained in limbo. Attorneys for Occupy LA asked a federal judge for a court order barring police from shutting it down, arguing city officials had violated their civil rights by ordering the camp dismantled. The judge has made no ruling. Villaraigosa issued his eviction notice last Friday after talks on a plan to induce the protesters to leave voluntarily collapsed, setting the stage for the latest showdown between leaders of a major US city and the Occupy movement. The mayor has promised to find a shelter for homeless people who had taken up residence at City Hall and were estimated to account for at least a third of those camped there. — Reuters

Attempt to derail new US detainee rules fails WASHINGTON: The US Senate has rejected an attempt to derail controversial changes in the way terrorism suspects are handled, but continued debate on whether to allow Americans to be held indefinitely without trial. The Senate is considering legislation that would generally give preference to military detention over the criminal court system for terrorism suspects, and allow indefinite military detention for suspects who are linked with AlQaeda or associated groups.

Critics are worried that the provisions would also apply to US citizens arrested in the United States, eroding their constitution-

al rights to due process of law.

The debate is part of a long-running struggle between President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and some lawmakers over whether terrorism suspects should be prosecuted as “enemy combatants” before military commissions, or as criminal suspects in federal courts.

The White House has threatened to veto the entire bill, which authorizes defense programs, over the detainee proposals. US officials including FBI director Robert Mueller say these provisions do not provide law enforcement enough flexibility. But an attempt by Democratic Senator

Mark Udall to strip the controversial provisions failed on a 37-61 vote on Tuesday. Another Democrat, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, immediately proposed two related amendments that she said would make it clear that the new provisions, if they pass, would not apply to Americans.

Her first amendment would limit mandatory military custody to suspected terrorists captured outside the United States. The second would prohibit US citizens from being held in indefinite detention without trial. “We are not a nation that locks up its citizens without charge, prosecution

and conviction,” Feinstein said. It was unclear when either of her amendments would get a vote.

The Senate Democratic leadership wants to finish work on the bill this week, but many other amendments are pending as well.

The Obama administration has sought to prosecute terrorism suspects in both traditional criminal courts and military courts. But Republicans and some Democrats have urged that they use only military courts, and in recent years Congress repeatedly has voted for limits on transfers of detainees from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States. — Reuters

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

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

Mexico unearths 600-meter border drug tunnel Honduras turns to army to battle drug gangs TIJUANA: Mexican authorities have unearthed a 600-meter drug smuggling tunnel beneath the US border, the second such find in the same area this month. The 15-foot-deep tunnel found on Tuesday was similar to another tunnel found on November 16, and contained both lighting and transport carts, indicating the growing technical sophistication of the country’s powerful drug cartels.

“The tunnel was located after we were informed of it by US authorities,” who had found the other end of the passage in nearby San Ysidro, California, Tijuana police chief Ricardo Garduno said. Security forces who took part in the raid said three tons of marijuana were uncovered inside the tunnel. The entrance to the tunnel on the Mexican side was found some 100 meters from the local headquarters of the federal police, a military air base and a cus-

toms office, according to an AFP reporter.

On November 16 US authorities announced the discovery of a “major” drug smuggling tunnel under the border running some 400 meters and containing electricity and a ventilation system. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service trumpeted the find as a major victory over Mexican drug cartels responsible for vast trafficking across the border into the United States. Some 45,000 people have been killed since 2006, when Mexico launched a major military crackdown against the powerful drug cartels that have terrorized border communities as they have battled over lucrative smuggling routes.

Honduras turns to army Honduras’ Congress has voted to deploy the

army to fight encroaching Mexican drug cartels in a bid to curb violence in the world’s most murderous country. By an overwhelming majority, lawmakers decided to follow a model used by Mexican President Felipe Calderon who launched an armybacked campaign against powerful drug gangs soon after taking office in late-2006. Since then, more than 45,000 people have died in drug violence in Mexico. But on a per capita basis, the small nation of Honduras far out paced every other country in the world in homicides with 82 murders per 100,000 people last year according to the United Nations.

Around 20 people are killed in Honduras every day.

Officials blame the bulk of the murders on cartels smuggling South American cocaine through Central America to consumers in the United States.

Honduras also struggles with violent youth street

gangs that extort local businesses with death threats. “This legislation will allow the armed forces to take on policing roles to confront organized crime and drug traffickers operating across the country,” congressman Oswaldo Ramos from the ruling conservative party said. Some rights activists worry the military is not prepared to combat civilian crimes and have accused Mexican soldiers of torture and disappearances in the drug war. The concerns are heightened in Honduras, where the military helped oust leftist President Manuel Zelaya in a 2009 coup. “We have serious doubts about the implications of sending the army to do policework,” said leftist congressman Sergio Castellanos. “They are not prepared to deal with civilians and this will only strengthen their position in society after the coup,” he said. —Agencies

Supermarket reform freezes India dysfunctional parliament Opposition parties prepare to organize protests

BOGOTA: A man holds a sign asking for the release of all kidnapped people outside the cathedral during a funeral Mass for four executed hostages who were held captive between 12 and 13 years by the the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. — AP

Colombia vows to hunt for hostages BOGOTA: Colombia has vowed to keep searching for captives of FARC guerrillas despite pleas from families to avoid putting their loved ones at risk after the rebels executed four hostages during a military raid. Three policemen and a soldier held captive for more than a decade were shot dead by FARC insurgents at the weekend during a firefight.

It was the most violent act by the group since troops killed its leader Alfonso Cano earlier this month.

Three were shot in the head, the fourth in his back. Human rights group called the killings a war crime. With police and soldiers guarding them, President Juan Manuel Santos, the militar y high command and ministers joined families in Bogota’s main cathedral to mourn the four. Asked if Colombia would continue the hunt for hostages, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said: “It’s a duty of the security forces to always be ready to protect the life, rights and liberty of citizens so it will always be necessary to act with that objective.” At least 11 police and soldiers are still being held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC ).

Families have traditionally opposed military operations to free captives given the risks facing hostages during rescue attempts. In a letter supposedly sent before the military operation over the weekend, the FARC’s seven-member ruling secretariat said it had taken the decision to free six hostages as a “humanitarian act,” though it did not specify which captives. The letter addressed to activists and former Senator Piedad Cordoba - was published on Tuesday on Anncol.info, a website that routinely carries FARC statements. Cordoba said the note was sent before the military strike.

Later on Tuesday, the FARC said that the four dead hostages and one who escaped during the battle with troops over the weekend had been taken to the area to be eventually released. “We inform the nation and the world that this deed was due to the eagerness of

President Santos and the military high command to prevent the imminent, unilateral release,” it said in a statement posted on a news website called the Bolivarian Press Agency that regularly carries FARC communiques.

‘ASHAMED’ Kidnapping has been the scourge of Colombia for decades. Only a few years ago rebels were able take scores hostage at a time when attacking military bases and cities, or snatch people off the main roads across the Andean country. But a US-funded crackdown against leftist rebels since 2002 has pushed them to ever remoter jungle and mountain hide-outs. Better intelligence and mobility has given Colombian forces the ability to deal heavy blows to guerrillas.

The major advances Colombia has made on security, however, mask deepseated problems from land rights and rural poverty to government corruption and the influence of drug gangs. Some of those issues date back to the formative years of many FARC leaders when the country emerged from the political violence of the late 1940s and 1950s that killed hundreds of thousands and power was concentrated in only two parties. Almost every government since the 1980s has tried peace talks with illegal armed groups with varying degrees of success, but the conflict with the FARC and a smaller rebel group has proved the most intractable.

The killing of the four hostages is likely to dampen any talk of peace for a while - Santos had said the door to peace was not closed if rebels agreed to demobilize and release captives, but that was rejected by the FARC. “It’s sad and terrible that they waited so many years and the FARC killed them. It makes me ashamed that this happens in my country,” said Marisa Moreno, a university student, as she waited outside a trendy Bogota restaurant. “There’ll never be peace with these people. They only want war.”—Reuters

India breaks up militant cell, arrests Pakistani NEW DELHI: Indian police yesterday arrested six alleged members of a banned militant group, including one Pakistani man, in connection with three bomb blasts and a shootout last year. Enemies for years, neighbors India and Pakistan have been working hard to repair ties after an attack on Mumbai in 2008 - blamed by New Delhi on Pakistan-based militants working in collusion with Pakistan’s spy agency-derailed peace talks.

Islamabad has denied involvement in the attacks.

The government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been criticized for not sufficiently stepping up security after the Mumbai attacks, where gunmen armed with bombs went on a rampage for nearly three days killing 166 people. The arrested suspects

belonged to militant group the Indian Mujahiddin (Mujahideen) and were involved in a series of bomb blasts and a shooting near Delhi’s largest mosque last year, Delhi police said in a statement.

“All the members of the Indian Mujahiddin terrorist module were subjected to intensive interrogation,” the statement said, adding that the suspects had admitted involvement in a blast at a bakery in Pune city last year that killed eight and another at a stadium in Bangalore. The arrests were made across the country and police also seized automatic weapons, handguns and explosive material in the raids. A number of smaller attacks have hit the countr y since the Mumbai attack, but very few of the cases have been solved. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: India’s government refused to allow a parliamentary vote yesterday on rolling back controversial retail reforms, and the current legislative session now faces more disruption, making it unlikely that any significant laws will be passed this year. The furor over inviting global supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc to invest in India’s $450 billion market risks spilling on to the streets as opposition parties prepare to organize protests.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected opposition calls for a parliamentary motion on the reform after talks with members of the ruling Congress party. “(He) rejected the very idea of an adjournment motion, but said the government is open to discuss in parliament FDI in retail,” a senior Congress party lawmaker said. An “adjournment motion” is a parliamentary mechanism to censure the government. Such a move on the retail reforms would likely pass as they are opposed even by allies within the Congress party-led coalition.

Critics from all sides are demanding the government ditch plans to allow 51 percent foreign direct investment in retail, saying the policy will cost millions of jobs. Free market champions when in power, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party now fiercely opposes FDI in retail, and plans protests in Delhi on Friday in support of small traders.

Party activists have protested in several cities this week. Uproar from lawmakers over the retail move led to both houses being suspended until today-as they have been every day since the winter parliamentary session opened on Nov 22.

India’s unruly parliament has only worked normally in one session since 2010, with opposition parties repeatedly halting proceedings to protest corruption or demand policy changes. Almost no big reform laws have passed in more than a year. Indian media

NEW DELHI: Indian farmers attend a protest against Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) among other farmer related grievances, in New Delhi yesterday. India’s ruling Congress party failed Tuesday to persuade both its allies and the opposition to support the country’s new open-door policy for foreign retailers. — AP have focused, too, on parliament’s low workload, with one cable news network suggesting a ‘no-work, no-pay’ system for lawmakers.

EMBARRASSMENT “A defeat on the motion would not itself bring down the government, but the embarrassment would likely cause party leaders to slap new requirements or conditions on the FDI policy,” said Seema Desai, a political risk analyst at Eurasia Group. Senior Congress party officials, including party chief Sonia Gandhi, were due to meet later. Hobbled by corruption scandals, stubbornly high inflation and a rapidly cooling economy Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh had hoped the supermarket reform would get his agenda of economic reforms back on track.

Instead it risks pushing into the long grass even a widely touted anti-corruption bill that has broad political support. Other bills such as extending food subsidies and allowing foreign investment in pension funds may not now get around to being debated this year.

Activist Anna Hazare, who has millions of mainly urban middle-class followers, has warned he will revive street protests that rocked the government in the summer if a bill to create a powerful corruption watchdog does not become law this year. — Reuters

News

in brief

India farmers dump bags of snakes in tax office

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani boys shout slogans during a protest to condemn NATO airstrikes on Pakistani troops, in Islamabad yesterday. — AP

Pakistan appears to hold out conditions on Bonn KARACHI: Pakistan said yesterday it could not attend the Bonn conference unless its security was ensured, appearing to soften slightly after Washington led calls on Islamabad to reconsider a boycott. The cabinet agreed on the boycott to protest against Saturday’s attack on the Afghan border, the deadliest such assault by NATO troops in 10 years of war in Afghanistan that has plunged US-Pakistani ties into deep crisis. But yesterday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appeared to hold out the possibility of conditions, briefing reporters on a call made by Afghan President Hamid Karzai asking him to reconsider.

“I replied that the territor y of Afghanistan was being used against Pakistan and he said it was done by NATO and I told him to talk to the US about it. “I told him that we have to protect our country and work for its security and defense. If we go to Bonn for you then who will guarantee our security. We cannot just go like this if someone will not ensure our security,” he added. Pakistan has closed the Afghan border to NATO, a lifeline for 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, ordered US personnel by December 11 to leave an air base reportedly used by CIA drones and launched a review of the alliance. Yet the precise sequence of events is disputed. Islamabad insists the air strike was unprovoked, even deliberate. Afghan and Western officials have reportedly accused Pakistani forces of firing first.

The military has released footage it said was filmed after the attack, showing rub-

ble, apparently of two destroyed checkposts. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday pledged an investigation “as swiftly and thoroughly as possible” and hoped Pakistan would find a “follow-up way” to take part in talks on Afghanistan’s future. But she stopped short of apologizing, as recommended by a key US senatorshould an official investigation show that the strikes were a mistake. “I’m one who believes that, if we made a mistake, we should admit it, we should apologize,” Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California said.

But “if we didn’t make a mistake, and the other side was the first one to fire on us, we’re going to respond,” she added. As a neighbor with historic ties to the Taliban, Pakistan is considered integral to ending the decade-long conflict, but experts say a boycott matters less now that expectations for Bonn have been dramatically curtailed.

Diplomats had hoped the conference would help broker peace with the Taleban, who will not be attending either. But the September assassination of Kabul peace envoy, Burhanuddin Rabbani, by a reputed Taleban emissary derailed peace efforts, forcing Western and Afghan officials to concede that contacts with insurgents have achieved little. One diplomatic official in Afghanistan called on the Americans to “act expeditiously” to stave off a boycott. “If they made a mistake, they have not only to apologize but they have to do something more than that, compensation or something else because that’s pretty serious,” the official added. —AP

LUCKNOW: Two farmers fed up with alleged bribery demands emptied three bags filled with slithering snakes in a busy tax office in northern India, an official said yesterday. The 40 or so snakes of different sizes and species - including at least four deadly cobras - sent clerks and villagers climbing atop tables and scurrying out the door to escape the office in Basti, about 186 miles southeast of Lucknow, said Uttar Pradesh state official Ramsukh Sharma. “Snakes started climbing up the tables and chairs,” he said. “There was total chaos.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the room, some of them with sticks in their hands, shouting that the snakes should be killed.” No one was bitten or injured in the incident Tuesday afternoon, and police and forest officials captured the snakes. The farmers had been asking for tax records for their land in nearby Narharpur village, but tax officials withheld the files for weeks while allegedly demanding bribes. Sharma said their method of protest was unacceptable. Police are searching for the farmers, who were identified as Hukkul Khan and Ramkul Ram.

Suicide bomber kills 4 MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber attacked a government compound in Mogadishu yesterday, killing four government soldiers and narrowly missing the army chief. “I am alive. It was a suicide bomber. You can see his body parts,” General Abdikarim Yusuf Dhagabadan told reporters at the site of the attack, Villa Baidoa. “Four of our soldiers died and 12 were wounded.” The compound attacked yesterday is sometimes used by the country’s president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. “The suicide bomber took advantage when guards were changing shifts at the main gate,” the army chief said. A wave of roadside bombings have hit Mogadishu this week, killing at least seven people, in incidents that police and residents have blamed on the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab militants, who are seeking to topple the government. Government forces have struggled to secure Mogadishu against attacks by the rebels who withdrew from most of their bases in the capital in August but vowed to launch largescale attacks against government targets.

Thai PM suffers food poisoning BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left a Bangkok hospital yesterday after an overnight stay to recover from food poisoning, her government said. The premier was discharged at noon and told reporters outside the hospital that she was feeling “a bit better” and would head directly to the airport for a scheduled trip to Vietnam, which she said she did not want to postpone. “I still have to take medicine (but) I can still go to Vietnam despite being slightly tired,” the immaculately-attired premier said, adding she had managed to eat a light meal in the hospital. Yingluck is due in Vietnam for bilateral talks on trade, investment and tourism-including a proposal for a single tourist visa for South East Asian countries, her aides said.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

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

Malaysian women welcome female-only taxi service PUTRAJAYA: A new scheme to provide womenonly taxis is being welcomed by Malaysian commuters who say female passengers in the Muslim-majority country are vulnerable to robbery and other violence. Launched at the weekend in the capital Kuala Lumpur by the government, the initiative already has an initial fleet of 50 taxis on the road, driven by women and emblazoned with the words “ Teksi Wanita” (“Women Taxi”) across the tops of the windshields. “It’s good of course.

It’s safer when we travel alone,” said Fiena Nasir, a 26-year-old office worker, as she stepped into a cab in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya yesterday. Malaysia has previously

launched pink-colored female train carriages and women-only buses to protect travelers from sexual harassment.

The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, which launched the cab service in cooperation with several local taxi companies, hopes to expand to 400 such taxis to create more women cab drivers, which are currently rare. There are about 20,000 taxis now plying greater Kuala Lumpur, which has a population of around six million people. “These women (drivers), they need transport to drive their children to school. So we want to encourage other women to call for these taxis,” said M Suaparmanyam, a local businessman who is

working with the ministry on the program.

Suaparmanyam said some of the women drivers are concerned that male passengers will avoid their cabs. Concerns also have been raised that the “Women Taxi” label could make the drivers targets of violence.

But Suaparmanyam says his electrical signaling company plans to help organize the training of 350 more women in self-defense and other basic skills to work as drivers by 2013. Nor Azmah Bahari, a single mother of five who has been driving a taxi for four months, and was roped in under the new scheme, hopes the initiative will bring her more business.

She now earns about 150 ringgit ($47) per day,

one-third of which goes to renting the taxi.

Under the women-only scheme, she gets a 10ringgit discount on the rent. “I like driving. My schedule is flexible, and I don’t have any (time) commitments.”

Malaysia introduced female-only buses last year on several routes in Kuala Lumpur during peak hours to help counter sexual harassment on crowded public transport. That followed pink train carriages launched earlier to give women the option of travelling separately from men.

More than 60 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million people are Muslim ethnic Malays, but the country also has large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities. — AFP

China to execute Filipino drug trafficker on Dec 8 MANILA: A Chinese court has upheld the drug trafficking conviction of a Filipino man and set his execution for next week despite appeals for clemency from the Philippine president, officials said yesterday. The 35-year-old man, who was not identified, was arrested in September 2008 at Guilin International Airport in southern China while trying to smuggle 3.3 pounds of heroin into Guangxi province from Malaysia, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said.

Smuggling more than 50 grams of heroin or other drugs is punishable by death in China. Philippine officials based in China were told Monday that the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing had upheld a lower court’s decision to impose the death penalty on the Filipino man and that a Dec 8 execution date had been set, the department said.

The Philippine government provided all possible help to the condemned man and made “sustained and exhaustive representations with the Chinese government at all levels,” including an appeal from President Benigno Aquino III to his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to try to have the death sentence commuted to life in prison, officials said. The foreign office expressed “its sadness at this turn of events” and said the convicted man’s family has been told of the Chinese court’s decision. Arrangements were being made for family members to immediately leave for China to meet with the condemned man.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that the Philippines respects China’s judicial system and that the planned execution would not hurt bilateral relations like when three other Filipino drug offenders were executed by Chinese authorities in March. “It was done in compliance with their legal processes - we respect that,” Lacierda said in a news conference. “This should

not cause a hiccup in Filipino-Chinese relations.” The condemned man’s family members said they were devastated by the court’s decision and asked Filipinos to pray for him. In a statement released by the foreign affairs department, they asked the media to refrain from hounding them at this time.

“It is a very difficult time for us and we are trying our best, through prayers, to cope with the situation,” the family said.

The plight of Filipino workers overseas is an emotional issue in the Philippines, and ensuring their safety and welfare, often in conflict zones and countries with starkly different cultures, is a cornerstone of Philippine foreign policy. About 10 percent of the country’s 94 million people work abroad to escape widespread poverty and unemployment at home.

In March, China executed three Filipino workers who were convicted of smuggling heroin despite last-minute appeals and political concessions by Philippine leaders. The three were arrested in 2008 and convicted and sentenced in 2009. Aquino sent at least three letters to Hu and deployed his vice president to appeal, prompting China to postpone the executions of the three by a month.

The Philippine government said it was able to prove that a drug syndicate had taken advantage of the Filipino workers.

Migrante, a group that works for the welfare of Filipino workers, urged the Philippine government to continue efforts to save the convicted man in Guangxi. Vice President Jejomar Binay’s spokesman, Joey Salgado, said Binay was ready to leave for China anytime to make a final appeal if a meeting with top Chinese officials can be arranged.

Migrante also renewed its call for the formation of an interagency government task force that would focus on efforts to have the death sentences of Filipinos abroad commuted. — AP

South Ossetia’s Dzhioyeva declares herself president TSKHINVALI: Government troops fired warning shots in the air yesterday as thousands rallied to support a presidential candidate whose apparent victory over a Kremlin-backed rival was annulled in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. A handful of soldiers that guarded the main government building in the separatist capital of Tskhinvali fired the shots as Alla Dzhioyeva’s supporters approached while chanting her name and “Justice!”

South Ossetians broke away from Georgia in a war in the early 1990s.

Spiraling tensions between pro-Russian separatists and the Western-learning Georgian government triggered the brief war between Russia and Georgia in 2008.

An anti-corruption crusader, Dzhioyeva declared herself president of South Ossetia yesterday after she led with about 57 percent of Sunday’s run-off vote with ballots from 74 of the 85 precincts counted. Her rival Anatoly Bibilov, who had been endorsed by Russia’s dominant proKremlin party, was trailing with 40 percent. Bibilov was the choice of the outgoing president, Eduard Kokoity, whom critics have accused of embezzling lavish Russian aid.

Dzhioyeva’s announcement followed Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling that

invalidated the results of the election due to alleged violations and barred her from a new election set for March. She denounced the ruling and said she is forming a new government. “They wanted to steal our victory,” Dzhioyeva told the rally after the shooting. “We will not let them to.” Her supporter, former defense minister Anatoly Barankevich, told the crowd that he obtained the final report on the election results that confirmed Dzhioyeva’s victory.

Dzhioyeva “has won the election and became the president,” he said. He also called on the protesters to “act legally, without any provocations.” Both candidates won about 25 percent of the vote in the first round of the election two weeks ago and supported close ties with Moscow. But Dzhioyeva also pledged to make the distribution of Russian aid transparent and rebuild houses and infrastructure destroyed by years of neglect and military conflicts between separatists and the central Georgian government. Also yesterday, a sizable South Ossetian community in Moscow called on the separatist government to recognize Dzhioyeva as president. “We consider the actions of the ruling government as a coup attempt,” the community’s head Valery Kabolov told the Ekho Moskvy radio. — AP

NAYPYIDAW: Local police officers salute as US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s motorcade passes upon arrival in Naypyidaw, Myanmar yesterday. — AP

Clinton makes a landmark trip to troubled Myanmar US urges reform, seeks end to illicit N Korea contact NAYPYITAW: Hillary Clinton became the first US secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years yesterday, launching an historic mission to press the reclusive country’s new leaders to sever illicit contacts with North Korea and deliver on reforms.

Clinton’s blue-and-white official plane touched down at the airport in Naypyitaw, the remote new capital of the country formerly known as Burma, starting a three-day visit which will see her meet the new military-backed civilian leadership and hold discussions with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Clinton is the first US secretary of state to visit Myanmar since John Foster Dulles in 1955, and her visit caps a period of rapid and remarkable transformation in the Southeast Asian country, a virtual international pariah since the military seized power in a coup in 1962 starting decades of brutal authoritarian rule.

The visit, announced by President Barack Obama at a regional summit in earlier this month, could also open a new arena of US competition with China, which has watched warily as Washington courts its resource-rich southern neighbor as part of a broader policy of increasing US engagement in Asia. Clinton will meet President Thein Sein and other senior officials in Naypyitaw today, giving her the chance to personally assess their commitment to a reform process that is gaining momentum following elections last November which saw the military nominally hand over power to civilian officials.

Clinton scrambled to leave South Korea on schedule in order to make it to Myanmar before sunset. The capital’s airfield has no lights for evening landing, and her plane had to depart to overnight in Bangkok

because there was insufficient security to leave it on the ground, US officials said. Clinton emerged from the plane in a bright pink blazer and walked down the staircase to greet a small number of Myanmar officials in a decidedly low-key welcome. The airport, little more than an airfield on the outskirts of the newly-built city, was adorned with a welcoming banner-but it was for the prime min-

secret military deals with North Korea, another isolated state whose rogue nuclear program has spurred fears across East Asia and drawn international sanctions.

“Our discussions will be around seeking much stronger assurances ... of a determination on the part of the government to discontinue activities that we believe are antithetical to the maintenance of

NAYPYIDAW: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton waves alongside Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Myo Myint (left) upon her arrival in Naypyidaw yesterday. — AP ister of Belarus, who arrives today on a separate visit.

Clinton got her first views of the country from the windows of a motorcade, which bumped along a newly-built but uneven highway past rice fields and building sites. At each intersection, policemen solemnly held up their hands to stop non-existent traffic in a city with few people and fewer cars. A senior US State Department official said Clinton would urge Myanmar’s new leaders-many of them until recently top generals-to break off

peace and stability,” the official told reporters aboard Clinton’s plane. US officials say they believe Myanmar has sought missile technology from North Korea, but played down concerns that this cooperation had broadened to include a nuclear program. “To date our primary area of focus is the missiles,” the official said.

“We’ve looked at this fairly carefully and we do not see signs of a substantial nuclear effort at this time.”

Disrupting Myanmar’s tentative alignment with Pyongyang would be a major diplomatic bonus for the

United States, but US officials said Clinton would also keep up pressure for more reforms at home by offering reciprocal US gestures if democratic changes deepened. US officials have said Myanmar-long seen as a major human rights violatorneeds to release all political prisoners and make progress in ending bloody conflicts with ethnic minority groups before Washington can consider lifting crippling economic sanctions imposed two decades ago. “The secretary comes with a series of very specific steps that we’d like to see in terms of the next phase of the process that is under way,” the US official said. “We expect this to be a very thorough review of not only the steps that they have taken, and what we expect to see in the future, but the things that the United States is prepared to do in response.” Potential symbolic moves such as easing travel restrictions on top Myanmar officials or returning a full US ambassador to the country after years of a more junior-level representation could bolster reformers in the government, who are still thought to face some opposition from entrenched military interests.

But Clinton has played down the prospect for any rapid easing of sanctions, most of which would require action by Congress where some lawmakers remain skeptical of the reform effort. “Secretary Clinton’s visit represents a monumental overture to an outlaw regime whose DNA remains fundamentally brutal,” Republican Congresswoman Ileana RosLehtinen, the powerful head of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “The enforcement of tough sanctions ... is needed to bring about the needed political change in Burma.” — Reuters

China criticizes US, Australia defense upgrade

TSKHINVALI: Alla Dzhioyeva who claimed victory in South Ossetia’s presidential election, speaks to the media outside the main government building in Tskhinvali, the regional capital of Georgia’s breakaway province of South Ossetia yesterday. — AP

BEIJING: The Chinese Defense Ministry criticized yesterday the United States and Australia for upgrading their military ties, warning that such steps could undermine trust and reflected Cold War thinking.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng offered the warning about a plan unveiled in mid-November by US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to form a de facto base in north Australia for up to 2,500 US Marines. “Military alliances are a product of history, but we believe any strengthening and expansion of military alliances is an expression of the Cold War mentality,” Geng said in answer to a question about the US-Australian announcement, according to a transcript on the ministry’s website (www.mod.gov.cn.).

“This is not in keeping with the tide of the

era of peace, development and cooperation, and does not help to enhance mutual trust and cooperation between countries in the region, and could ultimately harm the common interests of all concerned,” he said. “We hope that the parties concerned will do more that is beneficial to the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, and not the contrary,” added Geng. The Chinese Ministry of Defense is the public mouthpiece of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), but foreign reporters are not allowed to attend its briefings.

Earlier this month, Obama told Asia-Pacific leaders that the United States was “here to stay”, announced the plans to set up a de facto military base in northern Australia, and chided China for refusing to discuss its South China Sea disputes at regional forums. While

stopping short of a full-throated condemnation of the American-Australian move, Geng’s words were blunter than earlier reaction from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which responded by saying the countries should focus on cooperating with Beijing. Geng also said that the notion raised by US and Australian officials of advancing “integrated air and sea combat” amounted to “trumpeting confrontation and sacrificing others’ security for the sake of one’s own security”.

Chinese military officers have sometimes taken a tougher stance on regional security worries than civilian officials.

Earlier this week, PLA Major General Luo Yuan, well-known for his hawkish views, warned that Obama’s regional push showed that the United States wants to encircle China. . —Agencies

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Years

NEWS SYDNEY: Fireworks burst behind the Sydney Opera House that is bathed in red light with a figure of two hands yesterday as part of a global campaign to create an AIDS-free generation by 2015. Over 50 landmarks and iconic monuments around the world will turn red today in support of the campaign. — AP

Crisis spurs growth of Islamic finance MANAMA: Chicago native Mariam Khan never considered Islamic banking until her husband moved the family to Dubai in 2007.

But the 36-year-old housewife is a believer now as the Western debt crisis deepens. Her husband opened a family account with HSBC Amanah, the Islamic arm of international bank HSBC. “When I look at the damage that an interest-based system has done to the US and Europe, I can see why God forbids riba (interest) in Islam,” she said. “I’m not particularly conservative as a Muslim but I definitely feel safer within Islamic banking.”

It is a sentiment that proponents of Islamic finance, which is based on religious principles including bans on interest and pure monetary speculation, hope will spur unprecedented growth of their industry as a safer, more stable alternative to conventional finance. Bahrain’s central bank governor Rasheed Mohammed Al-Maraj said last week that Islamic finance had an opportunity to attract not only customers in its traditional areas, the Gulf and Muslim parts of Asia, but also investors around the world who had been hurt by the turmoil in mainstream capital markets. “It should provide the industry with a sustained period of growth for the next decade,” he said.

Ashar Nazim, Islamic financial services leader at consultants Ernst & Young, said the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States showed mounting public anger about inequality in the capitalist system. This could help Islamic institutions gain market share by emphasising Islam’s preference for an equitable distribution of wealth and dislike of excessive financial leverage, he said. It is still unclear, however, how much of the recent growth of Islamic finance is due to its merits - and how much is simply due to a temporary flight from conventional finance which could reverse when global markets eventually stabilise.

Growth With its assets estimated to total nearly

$1 trillion globally, Islamic finance remains tiny compared to conventional finance with its tens of trillions of dollars. The market in Islamic bonds, or sukuk, is believed to total about $50 billion, roughly 1 percent of global bond issuance. But proponents of Islamic finance can point to impressive gains. Nazim said it had expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 20 percent over the past three years, compared to 9 percent for conventional finance. That performance gap has probably widened further in the last two months as much new business in the West has ground to a halt.

Deutsche Bank, a pillar of traditional banking, estimated in a report this month that Islamic finance would almost double to $1.8 trillion in assets by 2016 as stagnant conventional lending pushed companies to seek alternative financing methods. As much of the international corporate bond market has frozen up over the last six months, most bond issuance by Gulf companies has been in the form of sukuk. Dubai’s fast-growing Emirates airline said it was looking at the Islamic finance market to fund aircraft deliveries as European banks backed out of plane deals because of the euro zone debt crisis.

Some big Western banks, facing tough conditions in the funding markets on which they have long relied, are also turning to sukuk. HSBC issued a $500 million sukuk in May and Goldman Sachs announced a $2 billion sukuk program last month. French bank Credit Agricole has said it is considering issuing an Islamic bond or creating a wider sukuk program that could lead to several issues. This year’s Arab Spring uprisings in North Africa have installed governments which are expected to promote Islamic finance more enthusiastically than their authoritarian predecessors, partly because it can help them attract Islamic investment funds in the Gulf.

And Islamic finance is spreading farther

afield. Senegal is expected to hold investor meetings before the end of the year to issue its first sovereign sukuk, while Nigeria said in June that it planned to issue a debut sovereign sukuk within 18 months as part of efforts to boost Islamic banking in the country. In September, AK Bars Bank in Tatarstan became the first Russian bank to secure an Islamic loan, using the murabaha structure, in which the borrower essentially sells an asset to the lender to obtain funds and agrees to buy it back on a later date at a higher price.

Weaknesses The past several years have exposed weaknesses in Islamic finance, however. The industry claims sukuk are safer than traditional bonds because they are effectively certificates of ownership in a real asset, not speculative instruments. The Dubai debt crisis of 2009 showed this claim to be on shaky ground. Companies such as property developer Nakheel and Jebel Ali Free Zone raised funds through sukuk but were forced to restructure once they found themselves unable to repay creditors.

Similarly, deposits in Islamic banks, which do not offer interest but may invest depositors’ money in relatively risk-free investments and give them a share of the profits, are supposed to be safer because of Islam’s curbs on speculation. But Dubai Bank, an Islamic institution, ran into such serious debt problems that the Dubai government had to arrange last month for it to be taken over by a conventional bank. “It’s still unclear whether you can really say Islamic finance has tackled the leverage aspect,” said Abdul Kadir Hussain, chief executive of Dubaibased Mashreq Capital. “You still have companies that raise what ultimately constitutes debt at unsustainable levels through sukuk.

Just because it is done in a technically sharia-compliant manner using an asset to back it, doesn’t mean that you’re not taking

Telling right from wrong

the same risk as conventional finance.”

That suggests Islamic finance may have succeeded this year not so much because it is seen as safe, but because of a lucky accident: it has access to billions of dollars of Islamic funds in the oil-rich Gulf and southeast Asia, which have been hit less hard than other regions by global financial turmoil.

When conventional finance eventually recovers, perhaps after reforms to make it less volatile and risky, it may regain much of the market share lost to Islamic finance even in regions such as the Gulf.

Other obstacles to Islamic finance have existed since the industry was born in its modern form in the 1970s, and will not disappear any time soon. Tax and regulatory environments are less favourable in many countries than they are for conventional finance. Central banks have not yet developed a range of sophisticated liquidity management tools for Islamic finance. And the industry is plagued by differing, sometimes contradictory product standards set by bodies such as Malaysia’s Islamic Financial Services Board and Bahrain’s Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions. Adding to the confusion is the fact that their rulings are guidelines rather than firm, enforceable regulations.

“Participants in conventional markets are sophisticated and there is consistency based on precedence of how things happen when things go wrong,” said Toby O’Connor, chief executive of Singapore’s Islamic Bank of Asia.

“Islamic finance is a relatively new industry...the consistency isn’t quite there yet across the regulatory framework. That consistency is very important for new investors coming into the market.”

Innovation Some also see dangers in Islamic finance’s success. As it wins new customers from the conventional financial world, they may com-

National Assembly may be dissolved by Amir...

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1 reforms but I personally would never stand for criminal activity such as breaking into the icon of our democracy and invading MPs’ private offices.

The ministry of interior’s response to the fiasco was weak. I think that those responsible should be held accountable. I don’t even know why did they have to wait for a letter from the Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi as if it’s a private issue and they needed a complaint!

Speaking of the speaker, several demonstrators have thrown the blame on Al-Khorafi and they have shouted insults and carried signs claiming that he is responsible for arresting innocent Kuwaitis! First of all they are not innocent - they manhandled security forces and broke into parliament and turned it into a mockery that night.

Everyone should be held accountable for their actions and whoever respects Kuwait, its constitution and the Kuwaiti people, they should allow all those who did wrong to face the consequences according to the laws of the land. When I say those who did wrong, I mean every-

one - whether they were involved in embezzling public funds or those who broke into the parliament.

Secondly, it is the responsibility of the head of parliament to send a report that the parliament has been broken into and it’s the police’s job to do their investigations and arrest people. Al-Khorafi has no authority over who gets arrested and has no authority over their prosecution and judgment if they are ever held accountable for their actions. Clearly, there are people who are trying to twist the truth of the situation against the head of parliament. I am beginning to believe this is a setup for the speaker of the house from an old foe who has lost the respect of his onetime followers and eventually lost his place as head of the parliament and like many other Arab politicians, could not let go of positions he once held.

As for the head of parliament, I am glad to see that there are still some people who understand the logic of what’s right from wrong. I applaud his actions because he did not allow pressure to stop him from doing his duty despite the agenda of those who seek to tarnish his name and career.

promise the principles on which the industry is built. That worry seems to have been behind Qatar’s decision this year to ask conventional banks to close their Islamic operations, to prevent any overlap of business with full-fledged Islamic banks. “As conventional financial institutions increasingly fund themselves through Islamic finance, it will help drive growth going forward,” said Harris Irfan, managing partner at consultancy Cordoba Capital. “The hope is that the conventional players will do Islamic deals without violating the spirit of sharia.”

Innovators in the industry think the solution to this problem is creating new instruments that will differentiate Islamic finance more clearly from conventional finance.

Last week a consortium of banks and industry associations launched the first international Islamic interbank rate, hoping it will become a benchmark for pricing a wide range of instruments. Somehwat incongruously, the industry’s main benchmark at present is the London Interbank Offered Rate, a key interest rate used in conventional finance.

British-based investment firm Solum Asset Management, co-founded by a former head of Islamic finance at J P Morgan, plans to launch the first “investment sukuk” in the first quarter of next year, treating Islamic bonds as investment vehicles rather than debt instruments. Investors will be outright owners of assets underlying the sukuk, eliminating the problem of leverage, the firm says. “Islamic finance is definitely a viable source of financing for governments and private investors,” Hussain said. “But the danger is if the industry continues to mimic conventional products, especially complicated structures, it is walking down the same path and may be in the same place 10 to 15 years from now that conventional finance is in today.” — Reuters

opposition. Sheikh Nasser was also accused of transferring millions of dinars of public funds into his overseas accounts, a charge that was categorically denied by the government.

The former premier was due to be questioned in the Assembly on Tuesday over the two issues but the resignation automatically scrapped the grilling. Sheikh Nasser also infuriated the opposition when the government and its supporting MPs, most of them suspected of corruption, managed to scrap another grilling filed by opposition MPs on the grounds that it breached a constitutional court ruling issued in October. The opposition accused him and his supporters of effectively amending the constitution by preventing MPs from grilling the prime minister.

Opposition MPs welcomed the decision to appoint a new prime minister and reiterated calls to dissolve the National Assembly and hold new elections, claiming a quarter of the Assembly members were “corrupt”.

Opposition MP Falah Al-Sawwagh said that the Assembly will be dissolved either today or after a week to give the new government time to settle before recommending dissolving the Assembly. They also said that the new govern-

ment will be judged by its actions on the corruption scandal and releasing 24 youth activists who are serving detention for three weeks over charges of storming the Assembly on Nov 16.

The activists have been on hunger strike since Friday morning and the health condition of some of them deteriorated and were taken to hospital. A number of MPs visited them in their detention site as the interior minister allowed their relatives to also visit them. The gesture was welcomed by opposition MPs. Al-Sawwagh said after a meeting with the opposition MPs, it was decided to suspend mass rallies in respect to the Amir. Later, Al-Sawwagh said he was only expressing his personal views.

MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri congratulated the new premier and called on him to open the files of financial and administrative corruption committees by the previous government and take to account all those who undermined the constitution and ordered the beating of citizens. He said people who seized and stole public funds must be punished and funds returned to state treasury. “Most of the lawmakers are still demanding the (parliament) dissolution, because it has already lost its credibility among the citizens after it has been plagued by corruption,” said Ahmad Al-Dayeen, a liberal political columnist.

14

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

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Issues

Int’l community’s commitments at Bonn and beyond

By William Hague UK Foreign Secretary he gathering of world leaders at the International Afghanistan Conference in Bonn on 5th December is timely. While the momentous events of the Arab Spring have often dominated global headlines this year, Afghanistan remains a central preoccupation for the British government and many of our international partners for one overriding reason: national and international security.

Next week’s meeting offers a critical moment for the international community to reinforce its long-term commitment to Afghanistan. As we all share a common objective to ensure that the country never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorism, we also share a common purpose: to build the capacity of the Afghan Government and the Afghan National Security Forces, so that Afghans themselves can be responsible for their own territory and their own future.

A decade on from 9/11, Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been significantly weakened and today’s Afghanistan is unrecognizable from 10 years ago. But formidable challenges remain and we need to ensure that when the last of our combat troops withdraw in 2014, the hard-won progress is not reversed. We must make sure that Afghanistan is strong enough to protect its even national security, and through that, our own. That will require an enduring international commitment to Afghanistan long after 2014.

Our strategy to ensure the successful handover of security responsibility to the Afghans by the end of 2014, involves three areas of work. We are helping Afghans to create a national security force resilient enough to cope with the challenge that will remain after 2014. we are also aiding them to construct a state that acts in the interests of all its citizens. And we are supporting efforts to create a fair and inclusive political process.

We have already started the first phase of transition from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) security to Afghan security. The second phase was announced on 27 Nov, and will mean half the Afghan population living in areas where Afghan security forces are in the lead. So we are on course to give the Afghan National Security Force responsibility for Afghan security by the end of 2014.

On development, the Taleban insurgency against the Afghan Government will only be defeated when the Afghan people feel fully confident in the capacity of their government to provide justice, services and economic opportunities. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world with one of the highest incidences of child mortality and illiteracy and it will seek development assistance for many years to come. But by 2014, we can help the Afghan government make further progress towards a state that is sustainable and able to provide basic public services to its citizens. And on the political front, we are helping Afghans to develop a process that harnesses the strong allegiance of all Afghans to their nation to create similar allegiance to their state.

A process needs to include groups who were excluded from the Bonn settlement in 2001, without being at the expense of others such as the Northerners or Afghanistan’s female population. The Afghan Constitution guarantees the equal rights of men and women, and we fully support the Afghan Government as it works to uphold this principle.

There is a clear choice now for the Taleban’s leaders. During their regime they failed to provide what the Afghan people and international community needed: a secure and stable Afghanistan that posed no threat to the world. The insurgents must know that they will never achieve their aims through violence. Now is the time to accept government’s renewed offers of dialogue. The Afghan government and the international community recognize that the original Bonn Conference did not include all Afghan groups. As Afghanistan looks towards building a brighter future, we believe there should be a place for all Afghans truly committed to peace.

A settlement in Afghanistan will enhance stability in Pakistan; therefore it is in Pakistan’s interests to play a positive role. Pakistan and Afghanistan need to work together to stem the flow of militants from either side of their border who continue to undermine the sovereignty of both democratic governments. And, in time, both countries will need to cooperate to manage those that are unwilling to reconcile with Kabul or Islamabad and remain intent on killing their citizens and destabilizing the region.

Other countries in the region are also vulnerable to instability in Afghanistan and should work together to support the chance of successful transition in Afghanistan and a more secure and peaceful region. The regional conference in Istanbul this month set out the first framework for political, security, and economic co-operation in the region in the form of the “Istanbul process” is a positive development.

At Bonn, we must reinforce our collective commitment to Afghanistan. Then we will use the NATO summit in Chicago next May to agree how we will continue to provide security assistance after 2014. With international help, including beyond 2014, Afghanistan will continue moving down the path of greater peace and stability. That is in all our interests.

T

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.

Clinton gives Myanmar respect it craves

By Grant Peck Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s groundbreaking visit to Myanmar offers its military leaders something that’s eluded them during decades of iron-fisted rule - a little respect from the West. The country’s nominally civilian - but military-aligned - government may also be seeking self-preservation and avoidance of an Arab Spring-style uprising with its surprising recent political and economic reforms. Clinton’s visit beginning yesterday signals international recognition of those reforms and could open a new era of friendlier relations.

Just six years ago, one of Clinton’s predecessors listed Myanmar among the “outposts of tyranny.” Washington shunned and sanctioned the country after its bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in 1988, refusing even to call it by its preferred name, Myanmar - sticking instead with the colonial-era Burma. In part, Clinton’s historic journey is a culmination of behind-the-scenes overtures since a newly elected President Barack Obama told the world’s despotic regimes in 2009 that the “US will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist”.

Since then, Myanmar has released pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and its recently elected government has opened a dialogue with her, giving Washington just enough opening to re-engage. The generals, eager to avoid the kinds of chaotic uprisings faced by authoritarian leaders in the Middle East and hopeful of new friendships as a counterweight to their reliance on China, have lowered their profile and loosened their control over the country.

They have opened up the economy after 25 years of disastrously quirky socialist rule, overhauled an antiquated infrastructure, implemented a new constitution and reached cease-fire agreements with more than a dozen fractious ethnic minority groups, although some groups continue to fight. Analysts say the generals want some credit for these gestures. They want U.S. sanctions lifted so they can keep pace with a changing world, get the international respect they feel is their due and be allowed to send their children to American universities.

US

“They do feel that they are in such a solid position that they can begin to do things that they could not do before,” said David Steinberg, director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The United States hopes the carrot of improved relations will encourage Myanmar’s new government to continue the reforms and ultimately restore true democratic rule. Steinberg and Maung Zarni, a longtime exiled activist who is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, agree that the Arab Spring may have put the generals on notice that managed change may be their best bet for survival. They must also be seeing the political churning going on in virtual one-party states such as Malaysia and Singapore as a bad omen. “First and foremost what drives the reforms is the military’s desire to maintain its primacy in a way that is more acceptable to the regional and international community,” said Maung Zarni.

The US withdrew its ambassador and stopped all aid after the military, in power since 1962, brutally put down a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that left hundreds dead. The battle lines firmed when the generals locked up Suu Kyi in 1989 and nullified an election that her National League for Democracy party won handily in 1990. However, with huge natural gas reserves, the junta wasn’t short of friends, and neighboring China - never one to fuss about human rights - moved in to provide aid and diplomatic cover.

But the generals have become increasingly uncomfortable with China, which has exploited Myanmar for its natural resources and strategic location near the Indian Ocean.

Myanmar’s military rulers implemented a self-styled roadmap to democracy, holding a general election last year that brought in the first parliament in more than two decades and installed an ostensibly civilian government this year, though one guaranteed to do their bidding. “The question was not whether or not to move away from a pure military dictatorship and dysfunctional economic policies, but in what way and at what pace,” said Myanmar historian Thant Myint-U, who is based in Thailand.

Obama’s offer in his inaugural address to “extend a hand” to dictatorial regimes if “you ... unclench your fist” struck a chord in Myanmar. Within weeks, the US Embassy in Myanmar reported fresh approaches from government

officials. A Feb 9, 2009, cable to Washington from the embassy - one of the trove of documents released by WikiLeaks - reported on a meeting with a Myanmar Foreign Ministry official, Yin Yin Oo, who suggested that initial topics for engagement could include anti-narcotics cooperation and recovery of US remains from World War II. US diplomats described the approach as “yet another signal that the regime wants a visibly improved relationship”, but perhaps one more symbolic than substantive.

The “senior generals are embarrassed by their international pariah status and crave respect. ... Whether, in the words of President Obama, they are willing to unclench their fists in order to deserve a measure of respect is yet to be seen,” said the cable by Charge d’Affaires Larry Dinger.

Still, the wheels had been set in motion, and by April the embassy had produced a comprehensive analysis with the hopeful title “Burma’s Generals: Starting the Conversation.” The 2,900-word cable remains a useful guide to the stakes the two sides bring to the table. The analysis tries to explain why the generals had decided to unclench their fists: • “The most senior generals are looking for an escape strategy”; • “They hate being subject to sanctions and aspire to be treated with the respect accorded other world leaders, including some authoritarian ones”; • “The current senior generals are getting old ... (they) undoubtedly want assurances that, if they voluntarily step aside, they and their families will retain their assets and will not be prosecuted.”

The cable identified a range of areas where Myanmar might seek cooperation, including narcotics, terrorism, trafficking and economic policy advice. Myanmar could ease restrictions on US diplomats in return. US officials have stated repeatedly that substantive moves are contingent on Myanmar releasing political prisoners, estimated at somewhat under 2,000 after two rounds of amnesties this year. Positive political steps could lead to “an easing of broad-based economic sanctions,” the analysis said. “With sufficient progress, the sanctions specifically targeted at the regime and its cronies could be on offer, too,” the cable suggested. — AP

Why Iranians stormed UK embassy

By Robin Pomeroy he hardline protesters who stormed the British embassy in Tehran hope the British never return so they can turn the compound into a “Museum of the Old Fox” - a monument to what they see as Britain’s historic evils. While Britain’s global influence has waned in the century since it founded the oil industry that the Iranian economy is built on, it retains a popular image as a wily animal whose back-room dealings are behind many of Iran’s woes.

Announcing new sanctions on Iran ahead of its European Union partners last week, Britain put itself in the firing line for youths loyal to the clerical regime, spoiling for a fight with the West and the post-colonial power they call the “Little Satan” doing the bidding of “Big Satan”, the United States.

There has been no US embassy in Tehran since it was sacked in the early days of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 by students who feared a repeat of a 1953 coup when the CIA orchestrated the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.

The US hostage crisis lasted 444 days and Washington and Tehran have never resumed diplomatic relations, leaving Britain first in line for the anti-Western feelings of the hardliners who run the Islamic Republic and their supporters. What the protesters may not have recalled as they were smashing the stone lion and unicorn on embassy gates, was the historic significance of the buildings, not just for Iran but, on at least one occasion, for the world.

The elegant ambassadorial residence was the venue, exactly 68 years before the incursion, of a dinner between Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D Roosevelt - the first meeting between the leaders of Britain, Russia and the United States to discuss their strategy for winning World War Two. A western diplomat told Reuters the residence, which houses valu-

T

able paintings and historic memorabilia, was “systematically destroyed” on Tuesday.

Calling Britain “one of the most hated countries in the world”, conservative daily Siayasat-e Ruz printed a front page photograph of a man perched on the compound wall waving an Iranian flag, and the headline: “Churchill’s checkmate on Iran’s soil”.

After he returned to power in the 1950s, Churchill was a main proponent of the overthrow of Mossadegh who had nationalised the Anglo-American Oil Company.

While most Iranians are exceptionally friendly to the few British people they meet in Iran, conservatives say London has used its influence to try to weaken the Islamic regime. Britain spoke out against the vio-

lent crackdown on the huge protests that followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed 2009 re-election; Tehran accused the West of supporting a “sedition” movement aimed at toppling the government. Tuesday’s demonstration was held on the first anniversary of the death of Majid Shahriyari, a nuclear scientist killed along with his wife by a car bomb that Tehran said was the work of Israel, the United States and Britain. London has denied any involvement.

Several miles to the north of the city centre embassy, protesters ransacked the ambassador’s former summer quarters where, in 1906, during the “constitutional revolution”, thousands of striking mer-

Iranian riot policemen try to prevent hardline protesters from approaching the British Embassy during a protest in Tehran on Tuesday. – AFP

chants took shelter from violent oppression by the king. The compound garden in Qolhak, once a rural idyll but now well inside the smog and congestion of Tehran, housed 500 tents inhabited by protesters, Ervand Abrahamian writes in “A History of Modern Iran”. The protesters forced Muzaffar ak-Din Shah to accept a new constitution and the creation of a parliament a democratic leap with few parallels elsewhere in the Middle East of which many Iranians still speak with pride.

In recent weeks Qolhak has become the target of Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf - a former Revolutionary Guards commander and a past and possible future presidential candidate. He accused the British of felling more than 300 trees in the sprawling grounds and urged the judiciary to pursue the matter. Politicians and pundits have called for the compound, which is where most British diplomats lived until they were evacuated on Wednesday, to be expropriated. The embassy denied it had destroyed the trees, saying extension works on Tehran’s metro had disrupted an underground water supply, causing 31 trees to die.

Iranian media compared Tuesday ’s events to the 1979 raid on the US embassy.

But parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who said countries have over-reacted, compared it to the 1980 six-day siege of the Iranian embassy in London. In that incident six gunmen demanding the release of Arab prisoners in Iran held 26 hostages, including Iranian diplomats, visitors and a police officer. It ended when British special forces troops stormed the building, an act welcomed by the Islamic Republic at the time. “ The question is why the (UN) Security Council did not hold an emergency session and Britain was not condemned when some anti-revolutionary people raided Iran’s embassy in London,” Larijani said. — Reuters

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Years

sp orts Father causes stir in derby PARIS: Parents often cheer their children on from the sidelines at sporting events but Biarritz number eight Imanol Harinordoquy’s father took his enthusiasm a little too far on Tuesday when he tried to punch a Bayonne player during the Basque derby.

Lucien Harinordoquy, 61, walked onto the pitch early in the Top 14 league game when his France international son clashed with a pair of Bayonne players and attempted to punch one of them, Jean-Jo Marmouyet, in the face. Before he was able to make contact with Marmouyet, Harinordoquy senior was tackled by Bayonne flyhalf Benjamin Boyet.

“I tackled him because he was attacking one of my team mates. I put him to the ground and (Biarritz hooker) Benoit August told me to stop, because it was Imanol’s father,” Boyet told French sports daily L’Equipe on Wednesday. Bayonne president Michel Cacouault condemned the attack and plans to take action against the France loose forward’s father. “It is intolerable. The club will lodge a complaint against Mr Harinordoquy,” Cacouault told the club’s website (www.abrugby.fr). —

NHL results/standings St Louis 2, Washington 1; Florida 3, Carolina 1; NY Islanders 2, Buffalo 1; NY Rangers 4, Pittsburgh 3; Ottawa 6, Winnipeg 4; Phoenix 4, Chicago 1; Calgary 1, Nashville 0; Vancouver 4, Columbus 1.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF GA PTS Pittsburgh 14 7 4 80 63 32 NY Rangers 13 5 3 60 46 29 Philadelphia 13 7 3 80 68 29 New Jersey 12 9 1 57 58 25 NY Islanders 7 11 4 43 69 18 Northeast Division Toronto 14 8 2 79 75 30 Boston 14 7 1 75 47 29 Buffalo 13 10 1 68 63 27 Ottawa 12 10 2 75 83 26 Montreal 10 10 4 61 60 24 Southeast Division Florida 13 7 4 67 60 30 Washington 12 10 1 71 75 25 Tampa Bay 11 10 2 63 72 24 Winnipeg 9 11 4 70 80 22 Carolina 8 14 4 61 86 20 Western Conference Central Division Chicago 14 8 3 80 78 31 St. Louis 14 8 2 59 50 30 Detroit 14 7 1 65 49 29 Nashville 11 9 4 60 63 26 Columbus 6 15 3 55 79 15 Northwest Division Minnesota 14 7 3 57 53 31 Vancouver 14 9 1 73 60 29 Edmonton 12 10 2 65 60 26 Calgary 10 12 1 51 60 21 Colorado 10 13 1 62 73 21 Pacific Division Phoenix 13 7 3 65 57 29 Dallas 14 9 1 62 65 29 Los Angeles 12 8 4 57 55 28 San Jose 13 7 1 60 48 27 Anaheim 6 13 4 50 76 16 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

Pakistan eye regional glory LAHORE: Pakistan captain Jaffar Khan yesterday said his team aims to win matches on the field and hearts off it during their tour of India for the regional championship.

Pakistan left for Delhi to take part in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) tournament, where they are in Group B with Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal.

“We are going to try to win the championship no matter how tough our matches are,” said Khan, whose side starts on December 2 against Bangladesh, followed by the Maldives on December 4 and Nepal December 6. Defending champions and hosts India are in Group A with Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. The top two teams from

each group qualify for the semifinals.

India froze all sporting relations with Pakistan after the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border in Pakistan.

But a recent thaw in the broader relationship has led to hopes of a resumption of full sporting ties between the neighbours and rivals, most notably in cricket.

“We are the first team to visit India for a long time and I hope that with our good conduct and play we leave a good impression of Pakistan in India,” said goalkeeper and skipper Khan.

Pakistan play their first tournament under new Serbian coach Zavisa Milosavljevich, who was hired last month. —AFP

Leverkusen signs Leno LEVERKUSEN: Bayer Leverkusen has signed Bernd Leno until 2017, giving the talented 19-year-old goalkeeper who came on loan from Stuttgart a long-term deal.

The move throws into doubt the future of Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler, who is recovering from knee surgery and whose contract with Leverkusen expires at the end of the season.

Adler was Germany’s starting goalkeeper until a shoulder injury ruled him out of the 2010 World Cup. His place was taken by Manuel Neuer, now with Bayern Munich.

When a knee injury and surgery ruled out Adler for several months going into the season, Leverkusen brought in Leno, who was a backup in Stuttgart. Leno’s loan deal was set to expire in December.

“With Bernd Leno, we’ve made sure of gaining the long-term services of one of the outstanding goalkeeping talents of Germany,” Leverkusen director Rudi Voeller said Wednesday. “He has been an excellent deputy for the injured Rene Adler and played a major role in making us reach the last 16 in the Champions League. — AP

Rangers reel in Penguins NEW YORK: The New York Rangers scored four goals in the second period then held on to beat Pittsburgh 4-3 on Tuesday, closing to within three points of the Penguins for the leadership of the NHL Eastern Conference.

John Mitchell and Brad Richards scored 90 seconds apart while Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik both had a goal and assist in the period as New York won its seventh straight at home and 10th in 12 games overall.

Sidney Crosby helped set up James Neal’s first-period goal that gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead and assisted on Pascal Dupuis’ goal that made it 4-3 early in the third.

Crosby has at least one point in four of five games since returning from a concussion that sidelined him since January.

4-4 tie with his second score of the night on a power play with 6:15 left. Jason Spezza had the tying goal in the third period and Nick Foligno added an empty-netter with 1:08 remaining.

Evander Kane had two goals for the Jets, and Blake Wheeler and Alexander Burmistrov also scored. Flames 1, Predators 0 In Calgary, defenseman Derek Smith scored his first NHL goal to give Calgary a win against Nashville. Smith scored with 1:10 left in the first period.

Montoya stopped 30 shots and Matt Moulson also scored for New York. Montoya was particularly solid in the third period, when he stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced. Jochen Hecht scored for the Sabres, who were missing seven regulars, and lost defenseman Jordan Leopold to an upper body injury in the first period.

Canucks 4, Blue Jackets 1 In Vancouver, Cory Schneider stopped 47 shots for

Coyotes 4, Blackhawks 1 In Chicago, Mike Smith made 24 saves as Phoenix recorded a comfortable win over Chicago. Ray Whitney had a goal and two assists while Daymond Langkow, Shane Doan and Radim Vrbata also scored as the Coyotes improved to 7-3-1 on the road.

Smith looked set for back-to-back shutouts until Patrick Sharp scored for Chicago with 42.9 seconds left in the game.

Blues 2, Capitals 1 In Washington, Dale Hunter’s NHL coaching career began with a thud as the Capitals struggled again in a loss to St. Louis. TJ Oshie and Matt D’Agostini scored for the Blues, who won their fourth straight game.

Nicklas Backstrom got the sole goal for the Capitals, whose attack was as ineffective under Hunter as it had been recently under fired coach Bruce Boudreau.

Washington was outshot 30-19 by the stingiest defense in the NHL. Panthers 3, Hurricanes 1 In Raleigh, North Carolina, Shawn Matthias scored with 3:19 left to help Florida spoil Kirk Muller’s debut as Carolina coach. Tomas Fleischmann also scored and Matthias added an empty-netter for the Southeast Division-leading Panthers. Jeff Skinner scored for lastplace Carolina, which lost its fourth straight.

Muller took over after Paul Maurice was dismissed by Carolina on Monday for the second time in a decade.

Senators 6, Jets 4 In Winnipeg, Zack Smith and Milan Michalek had two goals apiece to lift Ottawa over Winnipeg. Smith broke a

VANCOUVER: Goalie Curtis Sanford No. 30 of the Columbus Blue Jackets makes a save while James Wisniewski No. 21 of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Ryan Kesler No. 17 of the Vancouver Canucks look on during the second period in NHL action. —AFP Rookie defenseman T.J. Brodie skated in from the point his fifth straight victory as Vancouver beat Columbus. and sent a perfect pass through the slot to Smith, who Schneider, filling in spectacularly for injured Roberto neatly steered the puck behind goaltender Pekka Rinne. Luongo, has given up just four goals during his winning Flames goalie Miika Kiprusoff stopped 26 shots for his streak, including two shutouts. first shutout of the season and 41st for his career.

Daniel Sedin, David Booth, Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows scored to help the Canucks win their fifth in Islanders 2, Sabres 1 a row. Samuel Pahlsson had the only goal for the Blue In Buffalo, Brian Rolston scored the go-ahead goal Jackets, who lost despite outshooting the Canucks 9:23 into the third period as New York edged Buffalo. Al 48-34. —AP

WADA keen to keep drug cheats out of Olympics MONTREAL: The World Anti-Doping Agency has initiated a review of its global rules, a process that will deal with the contentious issue of keeping drug cheats out of the Olympics.

WADA is inviting sports bodies and anti-doping organizations to submit any proposed changes for the revision of the World Anti-Doping Code, the document which sets out harmonized drug-testing rules and sanctions across all sports and countries.

The code, which first went into force in 2004, is reviewed every few years. The current two-year review period will conclude with adoption of a revised code at the next world anti-doping conference in Johannesburg in November 2013. WADA is asking its members to submit proposed amendments by March 15, 2012.

The review, announced Monday night, coincides with a debate over the validity of IOC and British doping rules for Olympic eligibility.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport recently nullified the IOC rule barring athletes with a doping suspension of more than six months from competing in the next Olympics. The court said the rule amounted to a second sanction and was not in compliance with the WADA code.

The IOC has said it will seek to get the rule, or a similar provision, written into the next version of the code.

WADA, meanwhile, ruled last week that the British Olympic Association was “noncompliant” with the code because of its rule banning British doping violators from the Olympics for life.

The BOA has strenuously defended the rule, describing it as an eligibility issue and not a sanction, and plans to appeal to CAS. The issue has sparked a public spat between the BOA and the global body. BOA chairman Colin Moynihan has sharply criticized WADA, saying it has failed to catch the world’s major drug cheats and has dragged the antidoping fight into a “dark age.”

On Tuesday, former WADA chairman Dick Pound fired back at the BOA in a British newspaper column. “Instead of trumpeting its moral rectitude on the question, the BOA should examine the situation from the perspective of the current legal inability to enforce its bylaw,” he wrote in the Guardian.

Pound noted that the BOA had joined other members in supporting WADA and its rules, including the standard two-year ban for doping. He called the lifetime ban an “additional penalty ... over and above the code sanction.” — AP

Mohammad Al-Ramzi receives the championship trophy from KBC Chairman Hesham Al-Bu’aijan.

Aisha Al-Hamad poses with Maryam Dashty and Reem Al-Wuqaiyan after receiving her trophy.

Gulf Bank’s Al-Ramzi wins KBC Squash Tourney KUWAIT: The Kuwait Banks Club concluded its 9th annual squash tournament recently in an event that saw crowning winners in three different competitions featuring 46 players.

Mohammad Al-Ramzi from the Gulf Bank won the banks’ singles competition after defeating Abdullah AlMuqaiseed from the National Bank of Kuwait in the

final, while Aisha Al-Hamad from the Gulf Bank won the women’s competition after defeating fellow Gulf Bank colleague Mariyam Dashty.

Meanwhile, the team of Mahmoud Dashty and Emad Dashty was crowned as winners of the doubles competition after defeating the team of Sami Al-Haraz and Khalid Al-Shuwai’ei, whereas national player Abdullah

Al-Mezyen is crowned as winner of the national team competition.

Al-Mezyen won a special competition held for Kuwait national team players after defeating Ali Al-Ramzi.

The closing ceremony was attended by KBC Chairman Hesham Al-Bu’aijan, Chairman of Kuwaiti Squash Federation Husain Al-Muqaiseed, and head of the KBC’s social committee Reem Al-Wuqaiyan.

The winners in a group photo with senior KBC and KSF members.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

S P ORT S

Tiger absence makes youth in golf shine THOUSAND OAKS: The pool of young talent in golf has never looked deeper. Rory McIlroy won the US Open at age 22, the secondyoungest player to win a major since the Masters began in 1934. Jason Day, the 23-year-old Australian, was a runner-up in two majors this year.

Rickie Fowler, 22, won his first pro event in South Korea and is responsible for all those bright orange Puma hats in just about any gallery.

Matteo Manassero won twice on the European Tour before he was 18.

Ryo Ishikawa had 10 wins in Japan before he was 19.

The list gets even longer with budding stars in their 20s - Martin Kaymer, Charl Schwartzel, Dustin Johnson, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Anthony Kim. Attribute that depth to Tiger Woods.

It’s not because he set the bar so high and made everyone try to get better. I t ’s because he no longer wins so many tournaments.

S o maybe the pool only looks deeper because it no longer has

such a big fish.

For the second straight year, nobody won more than three times on the PGA Tour. And both years, that third win came in their last tournament - Luke Donald last month at Disney, Jim Furyk last year at the Tour Championship.

The five previous years, Woods won at least six times in all but one year. The exception was 2008, when he missed the second half of the year with knee surgery. He won four times in six starts.

It’s one thing to talk about this great parity in golf, particularly on the biggest tour. But two questions should be asked: Would that perception of parity exist if Woods had not gone away the last two years? Is it possible that just as many great young players were around over the last decade, only to be overlooked by the overwhelming presence of the game’s biggest star?

Sergio Garcia nearly won the PGA Championship at 19 except that he went up against Woods that day in

Medinah. Adam Scott was 23 when he won The Players Championship.

Justin Leonard was 25 when he won the British Open. Phil Mickelson won as an amateur.

“The talk like there’s parity on tour is slightly flawed, because there’s always been parity,” Geoff Ogilvy said in a recent interview. “It’s just that there was one guy who made no one notice. The last 15 years you’ve had Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, David Duval, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia. You had arguably more proven players - lots of them over the last 15 years. Now it’s the same.

“You have new names, but we notice them now. The media notices them. Fans notice them.” They used to be looked upon as possible challengers to Woods. Now they are seen as potential replacements.

Woods has gone two years since his last win, which for so many years seemed unimaginable until his personal life unraveled, until he chose to go through yet another swing

change, then effectively went four months without being able to practice due to injury. Through it all, his confidence eroded with each setback.

Thirteen players have won the last 13 majors, dating to Padraig Harrington at the 2008 PGA Championship. There was a time when Woods won seven out of 11 majors early in his career, and six out of 14 majors right before reconstructive knee surgery.

If he had kept winning at the rate he did for 14 years, would anyone have noticed this crop of young players? “Rory McIlroy would still be up there,” Hunter Mahan said Tuesday. “But Tiger played a practice round and it made news. He’s chasing records whenever he plays. How are you not going to write about that? No offense to the young guys.”

Nick Watney also suggested that McIlroy, based on his sheer talent and eight-shot win at the U.S. Open, would get his fair share of attention even if Woods had kept winning a

major a year, along with a halfdozen other titles.

“But he would be like Sergio was, like Adam Scott was, like whoever the media tabbed - Charles Howell, at one point,” Watney said. The question is whether Woods can get back.

The Chevron World Challenge, for an 18-man field in which everyone but the host - Woods - is among the top 50, figures to be a good benchmark. Woods has gone 26 official events without winning. He is coming off two strong weeks in Australia during which he hit the ball where he was aiming for nine rounds in windy conditions.

To win at Sherwood - or even to be in contention - would send expectations for 2012 higher than they have been in two years. But the road back doesn’t start until he’s posing with a trophy. What happens then?

Only three players at Sherwood are older than Woods (Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, K.J. Choi), so the challengers he faces around the world

are all younger than they used to be.

And while none of these guys has won more than three times in a year, they feel a lot better about themselves because no one else has won that much more. That’s the Tiger effect.

“Golf is a very confidence-driven game,” Ogilvy said. “A lot of these players now have more confidence than if he was winning eight times a year. Because if a guy is winning eight times a year, even if you win three times, you don’t feel like you’re as good of a player because there’s someone who’s so much better than you.”

Donald is No. 1 by a wide margin, courtesy of his work ethic, consistently being in the top 10 and four wins around the world. But it’s not domination that golf saw for the better part of a dozen years.

Golf always has had its share of rising stars. It only looks as if there are more now because no one is that much better than anyone else. —AP

Sherwood offers rich rewards THOUSAND OAKS: For the 18 players vying for supremacy at this week’s $5 million Chevron World Challenge, merely competing in the Tiger Woods-hosted event is confirmation of a successful year.

With the notable exception of four-times champion Woods, who has not won a tournament for more than two years, every other player in the invitational field at Sherwood Country Club is ranked in the world’s top 50.

While the title at Sherwood is

Thursday’s opening round.

“I remember he was saying this should be one of your goals ... to get here one day, so it’s a great feeling for me to be inside the ropes playing this event.

Hopefully I can make it back here in the future.”

Haas earned his first World Challenge spot after a career-best PGA Tour campaign highlighted by victory at the season-ending Tour Championship along with FedExCup honors and its $10 million bonus.

and also competing in China.

“It seems the better you play, the less off-season you have,” the world number 22 said with a broad grin. “But these are all good problems to have.

“If I could play these (events) every year, I don’t know if I care to have an off-season. These are pretty special tournaments to be in.” Fellow American Keegan Bradley, who won his first major title at the PGA Championship in August, agreed with Haas.

“It’s just an honor for a player

SYDNEY: In this Nov. 12, 2011 file photo, US golfer Tiger Woods reacts to a bad shot on the eighth fairway during the third round of the Australian Open golf tournament. —AP unofficial, the Challenge offers official world ranking points and the player who finishes last on Sunday is guaranteed a cheque for $140,000.

“I played a pro-am here maybe five years ago, and I watched my dad (Jay) play the event,” American Bill Haas told reporters on Tuesday while preparing for

“I had an unbelievable finish there, and the way the points all worked out for me to win the FedExCup was pretty amazing,” Haas said of his lucrative windfall at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Since then, the 29-year-old has kept busy, playing in the Australian Open, representing his country at the Presidents Cup

like me to be in a field like this with players like Tiger, Nick Watney and some of the other guys,” Bradley said. “It’s really cool.

“I’ve watched this tournament a bunch of times. I watched it every year pretty much. At the beginning of the year, I would never have thought I’d be here playing.

“Before the PGA (Championship), I wouldn’t have thought I would have been here playing. This week is a fun experience for me, and I’ll really, truly enjoy it.”

This week will be an especially significant one for Woods as he seeks to win his first tournament since the 2009 Australian Masters.

A year ago, he was seemingly perfectly poised to end his title drought when he began the final round with a four-shot lead over US Open champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.

However, 14-times major winner Woods surrendered his advantage before losing to McDowell in a playoff. “It was a great week, even though I didn’t win,” Woods said of his crushing loss. “I putted awful starting out ... then I lost my swing in the middle part of the round, and pieced it back together again piece by piece.

“I was proud of that. I was very committed coming in, and hit some really, really good shots coming in, which was good.”

Woods looked in good shape on a glorious sun-splashed afternoon at Sherwood on Tuesday as he crisply struck golf balls on the practice range watched by his coach Sean Foley.

While a long-awaited victory this week would not count as official, it would certainly validate the encouraging form he recently displayed in Australia during that country’s national open and at the Presidents Cup. It would also give him a welcome jolt of confidence for his 2012 campaign as he bids to put behind him the bitter memories of his struggles for fitness and form over the last two years with his private life in tatters.

He has an impressive track record at Sherwood, where he last triumphed in 2007, and a fifth success in his own tournament could well be on the cards for Sunday. —Reuters

Phelps predicts records will tumble in new swimsuit NEW YORK: The bodysuit war that reduced the 2009 swimming world championships to farce and effectively turned the sport into a battle of technology could erupt again yesterday when Michael Phelps takes to the catwalk to launch a new outfit for next year’s London Olympics.

Phelps was bitterly opposed to the nowbanned swimsuits that were used in Rome two years ago, refusing to wear them because he believed they aided buoyancy, but he is getting ready to promote a new space-age suit.

More than 40 world records were set during the championships, setting off howls of protests, and Phelps, who said he considered

Michael Phelps in action in this file photo

quitting the sport, was vindicated when the sport’s world governing body FINA agreed to ban them and place a limit on technology.

However, with the start of the London Olympics less than eight months away, Phelps will join fellow Americans Ryan Lochte and Natalie Coughlin on Wednesday to unveil the latest suit they will wear in London.

Makers Speedo say it is both revolutionary and innovative and will produce a flood of world records at the Olympics.

Before 2009, not all scientists who tested the suits were convinced they provided any real benefits but the claims, which are sure to trigger another technology war with rival suit makers, have nevertheless been a marketing

dream for sponsors.

For most of the swimmers, the controversy is no more than a storm in a teacup. World records never last long in swimming and Phelps believes all the records set in the nowillegal suits are also doomed to tumble.

“Records are always made to be broken, in my eyes that’s not a question,” Phelps told Reuters in an exclusive interview marking the launch of his appointment as the global face of head&shoulders anti-dandruff shampoo.

“If people want to work hard and do it then they will do it. There are still people who have that desire to be the best they can and they will find it. It can be done.”

Phelps currently holds the world record for three individual events — 100 and 200 metres butterfly and 400m individual medley.

The 14-times Olympic gold medalist also once held the 200m freestyle and 200m medley marks but lost them both at Rome in 2009.

He was beaten by Germany ’s Paul Biedermann in the freestyle and Lochte in the medley.

Lochte went on to lower his record even further at this year’s world championships in Shanghai, proving that the records from Rome could be bettered.

“People have got to get out of their heads that these records are untouchable,” Phelps told Reuters. “Everything is possible. That’s something I have learnt in my career. There are no limits if you want to go out and do it then you just go out and do it.

“If you have that thought process, that you think you can do it, then you can do it. You’re going to see a lot of fast swims and hopefully we’re going to see a lot of new records in the next year and I think we will.” —Reuters

HAIKOU: Justin Rose of England tees off in this file photo. —AFP

Rose looks ahead with major goals HONG KONG: Justin Rose has savored success on five continents in his professional career but the Briton is more determined than ever to make his breakthrough in one of the sport’s four major championships.

The 31-year-old enjoyed a welcome return to top form with a third PGA Tour title at the BMW Championship in September but the Englishman is already focusing his attention on winning one of golf’s more prestigious events in 2012.

“I don’t want to put too much emphasis on the majors, but I want to compete next year with them in mind,” he told Reuters ahead of this week’s Hong Kong Open.

“I know that if my game is ready every single week, I feel as though I can go into the majors not changing anything,” he added. “So I will be trying to get myself into a great routine and let it happen.

“Also, I feel as though the majors are a stepping stone right now. I feel like the tournaments I’ve won, I’m building up nicely and outside of the World Golf Championships, the majors are the next step up the ladder.”

Despite capturing a 10th professional title with the FedExCup playoff event win in Illinois, Rose endured a less than spectacular season in the majors.

He started well by grabbing a share of 11th place at the US Masters, but then missed the halfway cut at the US Open, finished down in 44th place at the British Open before also missing the cut at the PGA Championship.

“Overall, I am pretty happy with my season as it’s been a good year to back up a great season last year when I won twice, and for a first time in my career, in the United States,” he said.

“I won another tournament in the US and anytime you win, it makes for a posi-

tive season. “I also feel that I have become a better, better golfer this year as I have struck the ball well all year and mentally, I’ve made some big improvements.

“I’m now looking forward to the offseason to cement more of those into my game, so I can come out next year as good as I have ever been.”

Rose has now competed in 31 majors and while he has fifth-place finishes at a U.S. Open (2003) and the Masters (2007), his best performance continues to be the stunning fourth he achieved as an amateur at the 1998 British Open at Royal Birkdale.

He turned professional a week later at the Dutch Open and despite an immediate run of 21 missed cuts, the South African-born Rose has since established himself as one of the world’s best golfers.

Rose will tee-up in Hong Kong this Thursday ranked 16th in the world and the next-highest rated player at the $2.75 million co-sanctioned event behind number two Rory McIlroy.

He will play the opening two rounds in the company of former Hong Kong winner Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and 2009 PGA champion YE Yang of South Korea.

And the challenge facing Rose around the tight, tree-lined suburban Fanling course is to shoot as low as possible after fellow Briton Ian Poulter won last year’s title with a 22-under-par total.

“I don’t get to play old-style golf courses like this one here in Hong Kong and given the nature of the course, the challenge will be to make as many birdies as you can,” he added.

“Weeks like this you have to keep hitting the ball close with your wedges, but you also have to be patient because it does seem a kind of course where you can get frustrated.” —Reuters

Humble Vettel keeps feet on the ground FRANCE: Germany’s two-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel said Tuesday he won’t be taking anything for granted in 2012 when he will be bidding for a third successive crown.

The 24-year- old German, who became Formula One’s youngest backto-back world champion when he reclaimed his title in Japan, said he was still conscious of where his career began.

“We do not know what awaits us in 2012,” said Vettel, who was visiting his team Red Bull’s engine suppliers Renault factory to thank the team. “ There are no guarantees. Maybe next year we will just be challenging for

points and sometimes getting on to the podium. “I never take anything for granted, the podiums, the victories.

“It wasn’t so long ago I was driving a Toro Rosso. I was starting races 18th on the grid. That didn’t raise a flicker of interest from anyone. “And if I finished 16th after a superb race, that didn’t interest anyone either.

“That is how it works. You have to constantly put things in perspective, not forget where you came from.” Vettel, who won 11 of 19 races, rounding it off with second behind team-mate Mark Webber in the season finale Brazil Grand Prix last Sunday, said however the title is very much in his sights. —AFP

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NFL field goals can be tough call CLEVELAND: Browns kicker Phil Dawson stood in front of his locker and lectured like a calculus professor at Harvard.

Breaking down the various ele ments needed to make a field goal angle, speed, trajectory, and the probability of an oblong football sailing through tricky winds and between stationary uprights — Dawson caught the attention of linebacker Scott Fujita, his well-read teammate who earned two degrees at Cal-Berkeley.

John Nash, everyone, Fujita said with a laugh and comparing Dawson to the famed mathematician and subject of the film A Beautiful Mind.

Well, Dawsons IQ isn’t quite at genius level, and he’ll never replicate Nash’s work on game theory, but he does have vast knowledge on kicking field goals. Lately, he’s learned how difficult they can be to judge.

Because for all the technological advancements that have made NFL games safer and more enjoyable: from improved helmets to the computergenerated yellow line that allows TV viewers to see if it’s a first down and instant-replay systems designed to ensure officials make calls correctly, ruling on field goals remains an inexact science.

In fact, there’s no more science behind it at all than two sets of human eyes under the goalpost — and they can be fooled.

It’s a rough spot for officials, to stand under the goalposts, look straight up and discern if any part of a ball is outside the uprights, Dawson said. I know it’s not easy.

And it’s not the kicks that miss by a few feet, or even inches, that are difficult to assess. It’s the ones that fly directly above the 30-foot-high uprights that are trickiest and a few recent ones have caused a small outcry — mostly by kickers, the games most exacting players — for the league to adopt a better way to rule on field goals.

There’s a lot of confusion and it just seems like there’s technology out there that would make it a lot easier, said Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, who recalled kicks at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field being blown around so much that no one on the field could tell if they were good..

Ask any kicker and hell suggest a remedy for the problem: Raise the uprights. Mount cameras on the crossbar. Implant a computer chip inside the ball. Shoot lasers above the uprights.

Add another official designated for field goals.

Washington Redskins special teams coach Danny Smith said he’s tried to address the issue with the NFL office for years. Smith feels he has a solution — or two.

Why don’t you do it like tennis?

Smith said. Why dont you laser it? Or extend them? It’s ridiculous they don’t do that. Do it like tennis with the laser

in there. Is it good or is it not? Check it and go. We’d do it with the replay machine. It would be easy. Let’s just be fair. It’s easy.

League spokesman Greg Aiello said the current system is sound, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.

We have one official under each upright with the perfect view for judging field goals and their calls on field goals have not been much of an issue historically, Aiello said. But the Competition Committee always looks for ways to improve the game so we would not rule out anything.

It took Dawson several days to get over a recent judgment on one of his kicks. With the Browns leading 14-10 in the fourth quarter on Nov. 20 against Jacksonville, Dawson’s 38-yard field goal attempt was ruled wide right.

Dawson, a 13-year veteran who has made 270 career field goals and seven beyond 50 yards this season, was so certain he made his kick turned to shake hands with holder Brad Maynard. That’s when Dawson saw the two officials standing at the back of the end zone signaling that his kick was wide right. Incredulous and angry, Dawson pointed, traced the direction of his kick and argued to no avail.

Dawson, who has a history of bizarre kicks, was then informed his attempt could not be reviewed because it had sailed directly over the upright, adding more confusion.

The rule states that if the ball is above the upright, it’s good, Dawson said. And that ball wasn’t even close to being over the upright. I had a pretty good vantage point.

The rule Dawson is referring to states: The entire ball must pass through the vertical plane of the goal, which is the area above the crossbar and between the uprights or, if above the uprights, between their outside edges. Dawson’s argument is that rule and its interpretation conflict.

The rule states that if the ball is directly over the upright, it’s good, he said. Well, if you go set a ball directly over an upright, it’s fatter than the upright is wide. So if the ref says he sees part of the ball over the upright, they are going to say it’s no good.

Either they need to change the rule or come up with some other way to take some of the subjectivity out of it because it’s a pretty objective play.

Later that day, the Redskins lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27-24 in overtime on Dan Baileys 39-yard field goal, a kick Washington coach Mike Shanahan wasn’t certain went inside the upright.

I’ll be honest with you, I’m just disappointed they don’t extend (the uprights) by another 10, 15 feet, so there is no question if a ball goes through, Shanahan said. I’ve been like that for years: Why should there even be a question mark? Cameras could help, but even they may not be foolproof because of angles and weather conditions. —AP

Tokyo turns to ‘flower power’ 2020 Olympic bid TOKYO: Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic bid leaders claim there will be “no mistakes” this time after losing the race to host the 2016 Summer Games as they unveiled a dazzling cherry blossom logo yesterday.

Once-bitten, Tokyo shyly tiptoed into the race for 2020 after the deadly earthquake and tsunami in March which triggered a nuclear meltdown at a power plant north of the capital.

The colourful, wreath-shaped logo of Japan’s most celebrated flower was created by a university art and design student to symbolise ‘revitalisation’.

Bid committee CEO Masato Mizuno told Reuters: “It is the idea of ‘coming back again’... the Olympic Games coming back to Tokyo and Japan coming back (from the disaster).

“Along with Mount Fuji, the cherry blossom is instantly recognisable as a symbol of Japan. We learned many lessons last time round and we must be ready this time.” Tokyo, which hosted Asia’s first Olympics in 1964, lost out to Rio de Janeiro in the race for 2016.

Low public support was largely blamed and the cost of rebuilding after the devastating tsunami in northeast Japan had thrown preparations for a renewed tilt in a spin.

However, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) decided in June that sufficient funds existed to launch a new bid despite the nuclear crisis still raging at the time.

“Japan is struggling (to rebuild) and I wanted to come up with something to give Japan energy and vitality,” designer Ai Shimamine told reporters after unveiling her logo. “I hope it gives Japan a boost. The cherry blossom represents friendship and peace, has a softness and also holds a special place in the hearts of Japanese people.” Tokyo’s logo features the Olympic colours of red, blue, yellow

and green dotted with the traditional purple prominent in cultural events in Japan’s Edo period (1603-1867). “It has a comfortable feel for Japan,” JOC chief and bid committee president Tsunekazu Takeda said. “We hope it will play a key role in winning the battle for 2020.”

Mizuno insisted Tokyo’s 2020 bid would benefit from the disappointment of its stinging defeat by Rio. “Public support was around 55 percent but my target this time is 65-75 percent,” he said, adding that the global economic downturn had also hurt Tokyo’s 2016 bid. — Reuters

TOKYO: Japanese designer Ai Shimamine speaks about the new bid logo she designed for Tokyo to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, using Japan’s most celebrated flower, the cherry blossom, at a press event in Tokyo yesterday. —AP

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

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NFL’s ‘dirtiest’ player takes a bath NEW YORK: Ndamukong Suh seemed like such a level-headed guy when he joined the NFL little more than a season and a half ago.

Now, not so much.

A few months before the 2010 NFL draft, when other top picks might have been out pricing a Bentley, Suh pledged to donate $2.6 million to his alma mater, including $600,000 to endow a scholarship at the College of Engineering at Nebraska, from which he graduated with a degree in construction management.

By then, he’d also already taken home nearly ever y important college award a defender can earn, including several which factor in sportsmanship as a component - the Outland, Bednarik, Nagurski and Associated Press Player of the Year awards - and finished fourth in the Heisman balloting to boot.

Suh proved just as dominating as pro as he was in college, being named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and solved any transportation problems soon enough by becoming a pitchman for Chrysler, among others. He was in the express lane for NFL stardom, but not just the kind that results in endorsements.

Three times during the 2010 season, Suh starred in film clips that wound up being reviewed by the league’s disciplinarians and had his paychecks docked accordingly.

Unrepentant, he threw Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton to the ground in a preseason game, and by the middle of this season, Suh had already been labeled the NFL’s “dirtiest” player in a poll surveying 100 of his peers.

Then came the stomp.

By now, you’ve seen it at least a half dozen times. At the end of a play against Green Bay on Thanksgiving, Suh bounced Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith’s head into the ground three times, then stomped on his arm. Even more damning is what Suh said afterward, denying he tried to kick Dietrich-Smith: “A lot of people are going to create their own storylines for seeing what they want to interpret, but I know what I did and the man upstairs knows what I did.”

Presumably, he wasn’t referring to Commissioner Roger Goodell, who, in any case, had few doubts about what he saw. The commish promptly doled out a two-game suspension, taking into account his failure to get his point across to Suh despite at least one face-to-face meeting a few weeks earlier, who-knows how many previous phone conversations covering the same ground, and Suh’s place as league leader in both personal fouls and rules violations. Missing two game checks will cost Suh about $165,000. Missing games at New Orleans this Sunday and at home against Minnesota the week after, while

the Lions are trying to stay in the NFC wildcard hunt, should drive the point home in a way that money never will.

Suh already posted a half-hearted apology on his Facebook page - “I made a mistake and have learned from it.” He’s also been assured his appeal will be heard ahead of Sunday’s game by Art Shell, whose impartiality is supposed to be assured by drawing his pay from both the league and the players’ union, but who also happens to be one of the wiliest

McMahon to the turf in a game nearly 25 years ago, becoming what’s believed to be the league’s first player suspended for more than a single game for an incident on the playing field.

Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, then playing for the Titans, became the second in 2006, earning a five-game furlough for swiping his cleats across the head of helmetless Dallas center Andre Gurode. And now there’s Suh.

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh offensive linemen to have played the game.

During a 14-year, Hall of Fame career, Shell no doubt gave as good as he got and few men would be better qualified to decide which tactics - employed when - qualify as over the top.

The funny thing is that back when Shell played, almost nothing players did on the field qualified. Replay was still in its infancy, and first, you had to get caught. Then, as now, the most feared defensive players were hard hitters.

But guys like Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke, not to mention a few of the defensive linemen Shell practiced against in Oakland, were more feared still because they might twist a finger or ankle temptingly sticking out at the bottom of a pile, or sink their teeth into it. If there was justice to be meted out, it had to happen before the final whistle and away from the gaze of the officials.

Back then, you had to pull a WWE maneuver in full view of everyone in the stadium, which is what Packers defender Charles Martin did while slamming Bears’ QB Jim

Santhosh Kumar, President of KEA presenting man of the match award to Sreejith.

Considering Suh’s third-quarter ejection turned a close game against Green Bay into a rout, he’s effectively served a half-game already. He might get plenty of sympathy from Shell, but it’s unlikely he’ll get a reduced sentence. Even more than the suspension, however, the chance to watch a game from the comfort of his couch might finally convince Suh that the cameras catch absolutely everything.

And that if he can’t learn to control his temper better, he better learn something that Matt Millen, now a TV commentator but previously a tough-guy linebacker for the Raiders, pointed out the other day.

“It’s a different game, covered differently these days. What’s deemed crazy now, wasn’t crazy back in the day. Now more than ever, you have to keep your poise and control emotions when you feel like you have to retaliate,” Millen said. “What you learn is, you don’t have to get back at the guy right then and that you’ve got time to take care of field justice.” —AP

Vinod receiving man of the match award from Sasi Kodanad, Chairman of MACEAA

AECK and TEC enter semis 14th CETAA Cricket KUWAIT: The first match of the second day saw former champs KEA pile up a huge score against NIT. An opening partnership of 75 between Skipper Biju (21) and Jim (47) by the eighth over put KEA well on course.

Siva (34) continued the good work with excellent support from Sreejith (41- man of the match) and Tossy (20 not out) saw KEA end up with an imposing 189 for 6 off their 15 overs.

The highlight was a record 37 runs scored by Sreejith in the 14th over which included six consecutive sixes. Brijith (three wickets) bowled valiantly for NIT. Facing a daunting task NIT folded up for 85 in the 14th over leaving KEA convincing winners by 104 runs.

For KEA, Sreejith, Danny, Siva and Deepak took two wickets each while Sandeep (17), Tarun (17), Mathew (16) and Brijith (16) put up some resistance for NIT. In the second match, AECK showed their class by easily beating fancied MACE by 84 runs and became the first team to qualify for the semifinals. Batting first AECK began sedately but a second wicket partnership of 64 runs between Mahesh (23) and Ramon (47) set the platform for big hitting Vinod to capitalize in the end.

Supported well by Shabeer, Vinod (70 not out - man of the match) with nine rousing hits over the boundary helped AECK to 175 for four wickets off their 15 overs. Radha, Sajeev and Giju took a wicket each for MACE.

In reply, except for in form Aju (26) and Radha (33) none of the others got going and AECK won easily with MACE finishing on 91 for eight off their 15 overs. Nithin (two wickets), Ramon, Vinod, Viju and Mahesh (one wicket each) shared the spoils for AECK. In the third match, TKM looked threatening against CET with Ziyad (32- man of the match) and Isaac (16) putting on an opening partnership of 54 by the eighth over.

However, their exit saw wickets fall at regular intervals with only Anfar and Anil reaching double figures. Tight bowling supported by excellent catching helped CET restrict TKM to a moderate 106 for nine wickets.

For CET, Arun, Avinash (3 wickets each), Sunand and Jose were the wicket takers. In reply, a 64 runs third wicket partnership beween Sunand (36) and Avinash (26) put CET well on course for victory.

But an inexplicable collapse saw CET lose their last seven wickets for a mere 11 runs leaving TKM comfortable winners by 21 runs. Ziyad and Anfar took three wickets each with Ganga, Nizam and Sreekumar joining in the shower of wickets at the end.

In the last match, strong contenders TEC showed their form and class in beating NSS by 55 runs and became the second team to reach the semifinals.

Batting first, Suresh (38- man of the match) and Dinto (40) were well supported by the other middle order to help TEC to a formi-

dable 154 for seven wickets off their 15 overs.

For NSS, Shafeel (two wickets) was supported with a wicket each

by Saifudeen, Aneesh, Deepak and Sachin.

In reply, except for Shafeel (31) none of the other bastmen got going and NSS could reach only 99 for eight off their 15 overs. For

TEC, Sunil took two wickets while all the other bowlers took a wicket each leaving TEC comfortable winners.

On Dec 2, the last day of the league matches, TEC will play CETA and AECK will play NIT (both matches at 7am). TKM will take on NSS (at 9.15am) and KEA will play MACE (at 11:30am).

Kiwis set to test Australia SYDNEY: Injury-weakened Australia return to test action on home soil this week for the first time since their humiliating Ashes defeat, taking on a New Zealand team convinced conditions might just be right for an upset.

With five frontline players absent through injury, Australia captain Michael Clarke will dole out at least three baggy green caps to debutants in Brisbane today before the first of two tests against their trans-Tasman rivals. One of those caps is almost certain to go to David Warner, who is set to open the batting at the Gabba in place of injured all rounder Shane Watson, with fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Ben Cutting also jockeying to play their maiden tests.

One of the pace trio is likely to miss out with Clarke hinting strongly on Wednesday that finger spinner Nathan Lyon, a five-test ‘veteran’, would get his chance in a bowling unit alongside the relatively experienced

quick Peter Siddle. With pace bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris all among the injured, Clarke expects the newcomers to make the most of their opportunity in the first match under the stewardship of new South African coach Mickey Arthur.

“All I’ve asked of the guys who’ll be making their debut tomorrow is to play their way and be confident in their ability,” Clarke told a news conference in Brisbane on Wednesday. “It doesn’t matter how you get your chance as a player, it’s about grabbing it with both hands and I think all the guys available to make their debut are seeing it exactly like that,” the 30-year-old added.

Australia have not lost a test at the Gabba since 1988 nor to New Zealand since 1993 but the Black Caps have been exuding a quiet confidence that they do have a chance of ending their 26-year test winless streak across the Tasman Sea. — Reuters

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Argentina eye Davis Cup revenge against Spain MADRID: The last time Argentina met Spain in the Davis Cup, in the 2008 final in Mar del Plata, the South Americans were firm favorites to claim their first title but their challenge was wrecked by infighting within the team.

The Spanish, without talisman Rafa Nadal, pulled off a dramatic victory on the indoor hard court for a third triumph in nine years, Fernando Verdasco battling from two sets to one down to beat Jose Acasuso and secure an unassailable 3-1 lead.

With clay king Nadal leading the charge and the 2011 final to be played on the red dust indoors in Seville, the boot is very much on the other foot and anything other than a Spanish victory-giving them a third title in four years and fifth overall-would be a major surprise.

Argentina, who have Juan Monaco, Juan Ignacio Chela and Eduardo Schwank alongside Juan Martin Del Potro and David Nalbandian in the squad for the Dec. 2-

4 tie, say the personality clashes that ruined their 2008 bid are firmly behind them.

“That’s in the past, completely in the past,” Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, told a news conference on Tuesday.

“After that (2008) final, we grew up, I’ve improved my game a lot and now we have another chance,” added the rangy 23-year-old, Argentina’s top-ranked player at world number 11.

“Here it’s different players, different surface, different stadium and this time Spain is the favorite. “It’s going to be different than Mar del Plata, if we are in good shape and remain focused.”

Verdasco said he knew the Argentines were hurt by the defeat three years ago. “They were at home and favourites and it’s clear they want to pay us back,” he said. “But we are preparing as if we have never won it before.”

Argentina’s players have been working hard on clay

Capello tips Milan, Juve for title fight ROME: England manager Fabio Capello has tipped former clubs AC Milan and Juventus to fight for the Serie A title this season.

Speaking to journalists on a trip to Milan for a convention, the 65-year-old put his faith in his former employers, who are separated by a point at the top of Serie A. However he also believes inconsistent Napoli are capable of pushing the pair to their limits.

Ahead of Tuesday night’s clash with leaders Juve, Napoli are down in eighth and nine points off the pace. “There’s a long way to go in the league but those three will fight to the end for the title,” said Capello.

“Milan have the best squad but also the most commitments. They’re strong, balanced and used to staying at the top.

“Napoli, on the other hand, have to get used to managing the tiredness and tension that build up from being in the Champions League. “As they’re not in the Champions League, Juve are among the favorites.”

Another advantage Juve have is they are the first team in Italy to have built their own stadium. All other teams rent their stadiums from

their local council.

“Owning their stadium is a plus for clubs, you just have to look at Juventus who now feel at home in Turin,” added Capello. “The fans in the new stadium feel like they’re part of an adventure, I doubt anyone will ever break a seat in that ground.”

Capello also called on Italian football authorities to revolutionise the football development structure to help young players progress quicker. “The youth-team championship is useless, the level isn’t high enough to allow players to improve,” he said.

“In England you can loan players for two months and that works well, otherwise it would be good to have a reserve team in the second division.

“There you would be able to see for sure if a player is equipped for a big team or not.”

And Capello rounded off with a broadside aimed at player agents.

“They shouldn’t evaluate how much their client would earn at a big club but how much he would lose from making the wrong choice,” he said.—AFP

Head of women’s game for FIFA backs US pro league RIO DE JANEIRO: The head of the women’s game for FIFA says it would be a “pity” if the Women’s Professional Soccer league in the United States failed to survive.

Tatjana Haenni, head of women’s competitions for FIFA, said Tuesday that the league needed to be put on a solid financial footing.

It was recently reduced from six teams to five. The league began in 2009 with seven teams. Speaking in Rio de Janeiro at the football trade show Soccerex, Haenni said the women’s game relied heavily on the United States as it developed the first professional league for women but officials need to find a sustainable formula.

“The professional league in the United States is obviously a league the world looks at,” the Swiss said. “It was the first professional league for women’s football and it plays in a huge country known as one of the strongest countries in women football. I think it’s important that the league continues. “It would really be a pity for women’s football if, in the U.S., there is no profession-

al league.” England international Eniola Aluko, who plays in the league, suggested it should have taken a more conservative approach.

“It has brought together the best players in the world for the most professional league,” Aluko said. “I was fortunate to join in the inaugural year when all the players were having fantastic salaries.”

Haenni and Aluko were speaking on a panel discussing women’s football, the only workshop of about 20 across three days at Soccerex dedicated to the women’s game.

“It’s sad, really,” Aluko said. “It’s difficult.

We’re sitting here saying women’s football is the fastest growing sport, but at the same time the best league is struggling. I hope the WPS figures out a way of stabilizing itself.”

Haenni suggested FIFA needs to focus more on the women’s game, although she acknowledged there has been progress. She said most of FIFA’s development programs targeted the game in general, but not women specifically.—AP

Kuwait Goan Association

and are hoping the fact that neither Del Potro nor Nalbandian have played a competitive match since October will give them a freshness the Spanish may lack.

Nadal and Ferrer competed on a hard court at last week’s World Tour Finals in London, with Ferrer reaching the last four, and have had less than a week to make the switch to their favoured clay.

However, getting the better of either world number two Nadal or number five Ferrer will be a tall order for the visitors as neither player has lost a Davis Cup singles rubber on the surface.

Nadal boasts a 14-0 clay record and 18-1 overall, while Ferrer is 11-0 on clay and 16-4 on all surfaces.

Spain have won their last 20 home Davis Cup ties and their last 22 on clay.

“I’m sure it’s an open match in some ways but I think Spain are really the overwhelming favourite,” world number three Roger Federer told the Davis Cup website

(www.daviscup.com) this week.

“They are playing at home and they have an incredibly solid team,” added the Swiss. “(Argentina)have their players and their team and anything is possible, but obviously it’s normal to favour the Spaniards with Rafa on the team, back on clay.”

If the singles are a daunting prospect, Argentina may feel Saturday’s doubles rubber is theirs for the taking. Spain’s regular pairing of Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez crashed to a heavy defeat by France’s Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-final.

“We’ve learned from our mistakes,” Verdasco told a news conference. “In Cordoba (in the semi-finals) things didn’t work out as we wanted, but we’ve trained in Barcelona this week and prepared differently to in the past.”

The draw for the three-day final is today, when team captains Albert Costa of Spain and Argentina’s Tito Vazquez will name their line-ups.—Reuters

Poland’s Euro 2012 drive right on track WARSAW: While the clock ticks down to the Euro 2012 draw in Ukraine, organisers in fellow host country Poland say they are ready for anything as they wait to learn which qualified nations will play where.

“We’re really coming down to the very practical moment,” said Marcin Herra, boss of PL.2012, the body supervising 300 interlinked projects for the European Championships, from stadiums to hotels and road and rail networks to airports.

Friday’s draw in the Ukrainian capital Kiev will end months of speculation over who among the 16 qualified teams will play in which of eight cities.

The hosts will be watching like hawks-and not only to see who their on-pitch adversaries are, because match location is a top issue at the quadrennial showcase.

Fan-magnets England, Ireland, Sweden, Germany and Holland all qualified. A team’s suppor t level impacts accommodation, transport and security. Besides Warsaw, Poland’s venues are Gdansk on the Baltic, Poznan in the west, and Wroclaw in the southwest.

“I can’t wait until Friday, when all the question marks will be answered,” said Rafal Kapler, head of Warsaw’s National Stadium, due to open next month.

Poland know they kick off Euro 2012 in the capital on June 8, play their second match there on June 12, and wrap up Group A on June 16 in Wroclaw. Ukraine will play on home turf in Group D. The other given is that top seeds Holland and reigning champions Spain will play either in Group C in Gdansk or Group B in Ukraine.

“We’re working on the scenario that if we have Holland in Gdansk-and there’s a 50 percent chance-then we’ll have more supporters coming by car, bus and train,” said Herra.

“But if we have the second option, Spain, then we’ll have the demand on the air side.”

Planning has intensified for months.

“Three or four years ago we were talking about six months or a quarter. Now we’re moving to operational readiness, talking about hours or minutes.” European football’s

governing body UEFA caught pundits out in 2007 by picking Poland and Ukraine over hosting favourites Italy and joint bidders Hungary and Croatia.

It marks the first edition behind the former Iron Curtain. The communist era ended two decades ago, but Poland and to a greater extent Ukraine faced challenges beyond those of Western hosts and have been dogged by doubters.

“Criticism is part of the game,” said UEFA’s Euro watchdog Martin Kallen. He noted that

planned. Everything has a timescale. We know the risks and we’re managing the risks.”

“The stadiums are close to 100 percent ready. The airports, 90 percent. The overall transport infrastructure in the cities is 80-85 percent.”

Euro 2012 means more for Poland than hosting an estimated one million fans over a three-week tournament. Most projects are not directly sport-linked-under five percent of funds are for stadiums-and are seen as crucial to the economy.

POLAND: Exterior view of the Wroclaw UEFA Euro 2012 soccer stadium in Wroclaw, Poland. The draw for the final tournament of the Euro 2012 is to be held tomorrow in Kiev, Ukraine. —AP Euro 2008 hosts Austria and Switzerland, Euro 2004’s Portugal, and Germany and South Africa, which staged the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, faced pressure too. The Polish state of preparation is good, he said.

“It’s very close to Portugal in terms of infrastructure and a little bit further behind Switzerland and Austria. But it’s not critical.”

“The next six months is a full-on operation,” he added. “But I think I’m quite calm.”

Herra said he relished the chance to show that “impossible is possible”. “Everything is

Malabar United FC

Poland’s Euro 2012-related investment tallies 90 billion zloty (20 billion euros, $26.5 billion). Ninety percent is state funding, with around half of that in turn from the European Union — 2004 entrant Poland can tap coffers that help poorer members catch up.

“Euro 2012 is a great occasion. Firstly to improve our infrastructure-not only stadiums but also roads, railways and hotels. And then to improve our image on the international market,” said Katarzyna Sobierajska, deputy sports and tourism minister.—AFP

Navelim YC

Navelim trounce Rising Stars KIFF League for JP D’Mello Memorial Trophy KUWAIT: Navelim Youth Centre beat YRC Rising Stars 3-1 in the first round of the Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF) League 2011-12 for J.P D’Mello Memorial Trophy on Friday, Nov 25, 2011 at MOH grounds, Shuwaikh.

The result of the match would be much different had it not been for Navelim goalkeeper who made out-of-the-blue saves throughout the match including a penalty that was awarded for Rising when Navelim medio and star player Bernard Pires handled the ball in the box right under the nose of referee Edward Dias.

Cruzedio Rodrigues scored a brace for the 5 time League winners. He was later named man of the match. Simao scored the other goal for Navelim while Rising captain Fazilu pulled one back for the losers.

In the second match between

Sparx FC and Malabar United Football Club, the latter dominated the entire match but had to be content with one point only as the match ended goalless.

Malabar’s Riyaz Ranjiyil showed tremendous stamina and discipline in midfield, and dazzled with his dribbling and long range shots.

One of his shots from outside the box hit the crossbar.

Malabar did succeed in finding the net in the dying minutes of the match but the goal scored was a clear offside. Riyaz Ranjiyil was rightly judged man of the match.

In the other match, Churchill Bros sponsored star studded Kuwait Goan Association (KGA) came from behind to draw level with United Friends Club (UFC) 1-1.

UFC’s star striker Hemanth Mohan scored a brilliant goal in the first half. However, KGA drew level off the boots of Jacob Dias. UFC

medio Godwin Fernandes was declared man of the match.

In the last match, United Goans beat Santos FC 2-1. Allwyn Pantes and Sydney Monteiro scored for

the winners while substitute Rafael Rodrigues scored for Santos.

Domnic Joao of United Goans was chosen man of the match.

Kuwait’s Al Muzaini Exchange Co

United Goans Centre

has sponsored attractive man-ofthe-match trophies that will be presented at every KIFF league game.

Meanwhile, Goa Maroons, Kuwait Goan Association and Navelim YC will play in the Farewell Trophy, a specially organized tournament to bid farewell to 2 great Indian footballers leaving Kuwait for good.

The one-day tournament starting at 4.30pm at MOH ground, Shuwaikh will be played on a round robin league. Two top teams in the league will play in the final.

Glittering trophies will be awarded to the winners while the departing stars will be honored on the occasion. Bidding goodbye after 17 glorious years in Kuwait is Terence Romeo Carvalho, one of Indian football’s true gentleman, a stalwart of Goa Maroons who will be leaving for Australia to join his wife

and children already permanent residents Down Under.

Of Goan origin, Terence lived most of his life in Mumbai where he started playing football for his school and went on to represent a few well-known clubs before coming to Kuwait.

A very quiet, modest person, Terry as he is fondly called, first arrived in Kuwait in the summer of 1993 to work for Al-Sawan Company, where he continues to work, managing the Kuwait and Qatar Logistic operations. The much loved footballer will leave Kuwait on 5th December 2011.

KIFF League Fixture tomorrow: Santos United v/s Don Bosco at 6.45am Santos FC v/s Gulf Cable at 8.00am Rising Stars v/s Malabar at 9.15am AVC v/s Betalbatim at 10.30am

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Years

S P ORT S

Qatar eyes 2020 Olympics despite climate challenges

DOHA: File picture dated Dec 8, 2006 shows Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani (right) and his wife, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Misnad, celebrating with Qatari Alat Faraj Rashid Al Marri following the victory of Qatar at the Equestrian Team Jumping competition of the 15th Asian Games in Doha. —AFP

Sport in oil-rich Qatar: A ruling family affair DOHA: Qatar’s booming sports industry is run by a handful of men and women from the Gulf state’s ruling Al-Thani family, the success of which is fuelled by money and an eye for recruiting foreign talent.

The crown prince and son of the current Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, is the driving force behind the transformation of the sandy and barren country with a population of just over 1.7 million into a world-class hub for major sports events.

Appointed in 2001 to head Qatar’s Olympic Committee (QOC), Al-Thani is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and holds the top position on several sports committees and federations in Qatar.

The 31-year-old is chairman of the organising committee of the 2022 World Cup, the head of the 2020 Olympic Games bid committee, and founder and director of Qatar Sports Investment (QSI), a company created to finance investment in sports in Qatar and abroad, which last summer became majority shareholder in French club Paris Saint-Germain.

Al-Thani’s older brother, Jassim, is one of his closest advisors. His mother, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, heads the Qatar Foundation, which became the first ever kit sponsor of FC Barcelona and recently won a five-and-a-half year shirt sponsorship deal worth 171 million euros ($227m), touted as the largest in football history.

Al-Thani is known for choosing western-educated and multilingual managers to lead the various sports entities he presides over, including

Hassan Al-Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee of Qatar 2022, businesswoman Noora Al Mannai, CEO of Qatar’s 2020 Olympic bid committee, and Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, QOC Secretary General.

To head QSI, Al-Thani chose National Tennis Federation president and Al-Jazeera’s sport chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who has subsequently become president of PSG. Qatar’s Olympic committee serves as the country’s sports hub. The local sports federations depend on it, as do football clubs and national teams. The sports institutions are chaired by locals, but daily operations are left primarily to the more qualified expatriates.

“The Qataris are wise enough to realise that they do not have the know-how, so they buy it,” said Djamel Belmadi, head coach of the Lekhwiya football club.

Qatar’s football league, under pressure to perform in light of the country’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, is coached almost entirely by foreigners, with Brazilian Sebastiao Lazaroni in charge of the national side.

Thirteen of the 14 first division teams have foreign coaches, including Frenchmen Belmadi, Alain Perrin, Bruno Metsu and Bernard Simondi.

All of Qatar’s sports federations look beyond the Gulf state’s borders for the expertise that this young nation is lacking within.

At Aspire, the country’s leading sports academy, the Qatari sporting stars of tomorrow are put through their paces amid world-class facilities, but their coaches are all foreign nationals. —AFP

DOHA: Qatar, future host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and past playground of several Arab and Asian games, is reaching for the moon as it eyes the 2020 Olympics despite seemingly insurmountable climate challenges.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already sent a positive signal to Doha by extending the period during which the games traditionally take place.

For super-rich Qatar, the Olympics would take place in September and October instead of in between July 15 and August 31, when temperatures in the Gulf nation reach more than 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).

The decision is rich in political symbols. It shows the IOC is no longer giving preferential treatment to countries in the northern hemisphere that bask in temperate climates. Qatar has followed the flow and plans to stage the 2020 showpiece games between September 20 and October 20. The Gulf nation has already shown it is capable of hosting major games.

In 2006 the Asian Games involving more than 8,600 athletes from 45 countries were staged in Qatar, where 30 international events are also held each year. In Qatar, potential Olympic venues can be easily identified.

The capital, Doha, has the impressive Aspire Zone, a true high-tech Olympic complex with several sporting areas modelled on the ones in Munich and Beijing, in addition to the World Cup stadiums that are being built. There is also an infinite number of desert locations, and many facilities can be built as long as the funds are made available-in energy-rich Qatar, money is not an issue.

Qatar has already said that the 2022 World Cup will be played in specially-created, air-conditioned stadiums. “Everything is possible here. We

DOHA: A picture dated Dec 3, 2010 shows Qatari women waving their national flag during celebrations in Doha, a day after the world football’s governing body FIFA announced that the tiny Gulf state will host the 2022 World Cup. —AFP can examine, rebuild or re-programme anything in a few months,” said an official.

Following the success of the Asian Games, Doha kicked off an official bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics in October 2007, but it was eliminated from consideration in June 2008.Doha learnt a lesson from its failure to clinch the 2016 summer Olympics that went to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. It was a slap in the face because Qatar’s candidature was not even in the running.

Although it is a very warm and small country-a bit larger than Corsica, with 1.7 million inhabitantsQatar holds a key point in its favor.

It is one of the rare countries in the world not to be facing any finan-

cial crisis-a key element for the IOC and FIFA, who must step in to fill the void should games organisers default. “Our goal is to have great games, to offer new opportunities to the Olumpics,” said Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) president Prince Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Doha, too, wants “to leave behind a legacy, not just for Qatar but for the entire Middle East, a region which is home to 450 million people under the age of 30,” he added. Qatar, meanwhile, keeps its fingers crossed and officials say ‘Inshallah’ (God willing) their country will host the Olympics one day. An expert on IOC issues agrees. “Qatar will host the Olympics soon,” he said. “2020, 2024, 2028. It will happen for sure.” — AFP

DOHA: A general view shows painters renovating the roof of Aspire Hall in Doha’s Sports City complex, Nov 6, 2007. —AFP

British duo on Europa life support after defeats

ZURICH: Mark Pieth, Chairman of FIFA’s Independent Governance Committee speaks during a press conference at the Home of FIFA in Zurich. —AP

Adviser: FIFA should probe past corruption claims ZURICH: FIFA’s new anti-corruption adviser believes previous claims of impropriety inside football’s world governing body need to be examined. He just won’t be the man to do it.

Swiss professor Mark Pieth said yesterday that he prefers to focus on how the organization can improve the way it is run in future.

“If I’m looking at the future I cannot be the adviser about what happened in the past,” Pieth told The Associated Press at FIFA headquarters after presenting a preliminary report containing proposed reforms of the Zurich-based body.

Pieth said FIFA should consider suspending officials who are under criminal investigation, make the election of its presidents more transparent and impose term limits for officials to avoid entrenched loyalties resulting in favors being swapped.

The former U.N. investigator, who also heads a high-level global anti-corruption panel, said his new role is a serious one given the cultural importance of FIFA’s flagship tournament, the World Cup, and the billions of dollars that pass through its coffers every fours years.

“It might have been a gentleman’s club in the past,” he said. “But once you start talking about these figures you have to adopt a very no-nonsense approach.”

Pieth said some officials in FIFA’s hierarchy might balk at the proposals he plans to submit before the annual members’ meeting in May. But given the range of allegations leveled at functionaries and

the organization itself, FIFA has no choice but to act, he said.

“There has been, rightly or wrongly, a lot of distrust generated over the past,” Pieth said. “I think they need a way out of this.”

Calls have grown for FIFA to tighten its ethics rules following allegations of bribetaking by senior officials, including executive committee members, during the votes that gave the World Cup staging rights to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

In a brief appearance before reporters, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said he intended to honor his promise to members and governments to reform the structure of the organization and make it more transparent.

In Brazil, prosecutors have said they will investigate FIFA executive member Ricardo Teixeira for money laundering and tax crimes. Teixeira, who is the head of the 2014 World Cup organizing committee, has also been linked to a bribery scandal at FIFA’s former marketing partner ISL, which owned World Cup television rights until its 2001 bankruptcy.

Pieth said it would be up to FIFA to decide which of his team’s proposals to accept. “We’ve put something on the table that is quite provocative,” he told The AP. “They will probably start moaning and saying, ‘Hang on, this we can do and this is totally out of place.’ Then we have to go through a process and see what is reasonable.” Pieth said that if he felt his team was being used as a fig leaf, he would step down from the paid advisory role. —AP

PARIS: Scottish giants Celtic and English side Birmingham City were left both needing to win their final Europa League group matches if they are to have a chance of reaching the knockout stages after both lost their penultimate group matches yesterday.

Celtic lost 1-0 at home to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid — who ensured they progressed — while Championship outfit Birmingham City went down by the same margin away at last season’s surprise finalists Portuguese side Braga.

Celtic, though, will need to pull off a win away at Italian side Udinese — who are three points ahead of them after drawing 0-0 with bottom side Rennes.

Birmingham must beat already eliminated Maribor and hope there is a winner from the Braga and Club Brugge match as both are three points ahead of the English League Cup holders.

Celtic should have been 1-0 down after six minutes as Argentinian Eduardo Salvio was picked out unmarked in the box but his header lacked the accuracy reflected in his return of just one goal this season.

Celtic had their chances with veteran Greek striker Giorgios Samaras having the best one but his sidefooted volley from close range went straight at the ‘keeper.

While Salvio missed another gilt-edged chance Atletico did eventually break the deadlock in the 30th minute through the impressive Turkish international Arda Turan.

The former Galatasaray star rifled home a 25 yard effort after an Atletico corner had been headed clear but Celtic skipper Beram Kayal will take some of the blame as he ill advisedly ducked to let the shot fly over him and see it go in off ‘keeper Fraser Forster’s hands.

Things got worse for the former European Cup winners as left back Joe Ledley was stretchered off and was replaced by Charlie Mulgrew, who played despite his father dying last week.

Celtic pushed forward in the second-half as they had to do and thought they had grabbed an equaliser in the 66th minute through Gary Hooper but it was ruled out for handball by Anthony Stokes.

Birmingham should have been in front away to Sporting Braga at half-time but Serbian striker Nikola Zigic saw his penalty - awarded for a trip by Ewerton on Wade Elliott - saved by veteran ‘keeper Quim.

The English side paid for missing the penalty and wasting several other chances as the hosts took the lead early in the second-half as former Newcastle flop Hugo Viana let fly from 25 yards and his shot gave Birmingham ‘keeper Boaz Myhill no chance as it took a huge deflection.

The Portuguese side had the upper hand from that moment on but like their opponents in the first-half couldn’t put their chances away, the best of them coming shortly before the final whistle as Myhill blocked Lima’s shot and then Paulo Cesar made a mess of his effort from the rebound.

Shamrock Rovers’s hopes to garner at least a point from their already historic Europa League campaign were dashed again as Russian side Rubin Kazan handed them a 4-1 thumping in Russia. —AFP

PORTUGAL: Birmingham’s David Murphy (back) and Michel (front) from Spain challenge Sporting Braga’s Alan Silva, from Brazil, during their Europa League Group H soccer match. — AP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) UEFA Europa League Lokomotiv v Sturm Graz .........20:00 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

Salzburg v PSG ........................ 23:05 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

AEK Athens v Anderlecht ....... 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +8

Bilbao v Bratislava .................. 23:05 Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

Twente v Fulham ..................... 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +5

Stoke v Dinamo ...................... 23:05 Aljazeera Sport +5

Odense v Wisla Krakow .......... 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +9

Vaslui v Lazio .......................... 23:05 Aljazeera Sport +1

Schalke v Steaua ..................... 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +6

Sporting v Zurich .................... 23:05 Aljazeera Sport +6

Navelim trounce Rising Stars in KIFF League

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

British duo on Europa life support after defeats

19

Argentina eye Davis Cup revenge against Spain

Page 18

United suffer a Palace coup

OLD TRAFFORD: Crystal Palace’s English defender David Wright reacts at the final whistle after his side had won 2-1 during the League Cup fifth round football match against Manchester United. —AP

Struggling Sunderland sack Bruce SUNDERLAND: Sunderland sacked manager Steve Bruce yesterday after chairman Ellis Short said results were “simply not good enough”.

The north-east club’s 2-1 home defeat by fellow strugglers Wigan on Saturday left Sunderland 16th in the English Premier League and just two points above the relegation zone.

Former Manchester United defender Bruce joined the Black Cats from Wigan before the 2009/10 season and struggled to win the affection of some Sunderland fans who resented his boyhood support of local rivals Newcastle United.

But, despite some of the taunts aimed at Bruce

at the weekend by angry fans at the Stadium of Light, Dallas-based businessman Short said his was not a knee-jerk decision.

“This has been a difficult time for everyone at Sunderland and is not a situation that any of us envisaged or expected to be in,” said Short in a statement released on Sunderland’s official website.

“It is my job as chairman to act in the best interests of our football club at all times and I can assure everyone that this is not a decision I have taken lightly.

“Sadly, results this season have simply not been good enough and I feel the time is right to make a

change. “Steve has acted with honesty and integrity throughout, which is testament to the character and commitment he has shown during his time at Sunderland.

“I would like to personally place on record my thanks to him for his significant contribution to our football club over the past two-and-a-half years and everyone here at Sunderland naturally wishes him the very best for the future.

“I would also like to thank our fans, who have endured a trying start to the season. Their support continues to be the driving force behind our club and is vital as we now look to the future.” —AFP

MANCHESTER: English champions Manchester United suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Championship side Crystal Palace thanks to an extra-time goal from substitute Glenn Murray in their League Cup quarter-final here yesterday.

Palace had not won, or even scored a goal, in five matches but took a surprise lead at Old Trafford with Darren Ambrose’s fine longrange strike.

Federico Macheda pulled one back from the penalty spot with his first goal at Old Trafford in 18 months. But after the game went to extra time, Murray headed in to send the south London side into the semi-finals.

After the 6-1 defeat to City in October, it was just United’s second defeat at Old Trafford since their 2-1 loss to Chelsea in April 2010.

Even though Sir Alex Ferguson made a host of changes to his team, United were still expected to take a place alongside Manchester City, Liverpool and another Championship side Cardiff in the last four.

But despite their recent problems, Dougie Freedman’s Palace started the game showing far more threat than the Premier League champions.

Wilfried Zaha looked a constant threat and the Palace winger fired just past the near post after a quick breakaway after just one minute.

The hosts finally went close when a sweeping move involving Antonio Valencia and Park Ji-Sung ended with Darron Gibson having a drive deflected wide. Dimitar Berbatov met the Gibson corner that followed but headed straight at goalkeeper Lewis Price.

United finally produced a decent opportunity just before the interval, when Valencia lifted a cross to the far post and Mame Biram Diouf’s overhead kick flew over the bar.

Fabio had already been replaced by Ezekiel Fryers in the opening period and Berbatov, who seemed to have sustained an ankle injury in the first half, came off for Ravel Morrison at

the interval.

Just after the restart, Republic of Ireland midfielder Gibson, who was making his first appearance of the season after a shoulder injury, drove wide from just inside the area.

And United should have opened the scoring when Anthony Gardner’s error let in Valencia but the winger’s cross-shot flew just wide of the post. Morrison, making just his third appearance for United, also produced a powerful effort from around 25 yards that was held by Price.

As United continued to look more dangerous, Valencia slipped a pass through for Morrison and the young forward’s near post shot was turned away by Price.

Macheda also thumped an effort wide of goal after turning his defender on the edge of the area. United’s injury problems continued when the other Da Silva twin, Rafael, limped off to be replaced by Paul Pogba just after the hour. But in the 65th minute, Ambrose picked the ball up just inside the United half and found the top corner from 25 yards for his fifth goal of the season. French youngster Pogba came close to a quick equaliser when he drilled a shot wide from just outside the area.

They got the chance to pull level when Patrick McCarthy pulled Macheda over in the area and the Italian got up to put the penalty in the bottom corner of the net.

After the game slipped into extra time, Gibson went close to breaking the deadlock with a powerful shot from 20 yards.

But seven minutes into the added period, Ambrose’s whipped free kick was glanced into the net by Murray.

After Macheda prodded a shot wide, Ambrose almost added a third with a swerving free kick from 35 yards that Ben Amos could only gather at the second attempt. In the second period of added time, Palace were forced deeper and deeper but held on for their first win at Old Trafford since 1989.—AFP

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Business

Gulf banks face ‘skills shortage’: Accenture

Years

Page 22

BMW launches the New BMW M5 Page 23

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

Cars go green and online

KSE enters positive territory

Page 25 Page 24

MANCHESTER: Public sector workers march through the city center of Manchester, England as workers around the country stage the biggest general strike for decades in a row over pensions yesterday. —AP

Striking UK workers confront govt Up to two million state workers strike over pensions LONDON: Teachers, nurses and border guards walked out yesterday as up to two million state workers staged Britain’s first mass strike for more than 30 years in a growing confrontation with a deficit-cutting coalition government.

Public sector employees are protesting over reforms that unions say will force them to work for longer before they can retire, and pay more for pensions which will be worth less. Their anger has been fuelled by new curbs on their pay and additional job cuts outlined on Tuesday when the Conservative-led government cut economic growth forecasts and said its tough austerity program would last until 2017.

“Why are the government picking on us in the public sector?,” said Kevin Smith, 54, picketing in pale winter sunshine outside parliament in London, where he works as a security officer. “We are going to get a 1 percent pay rise for the next three years. We had no rise the last two years, before that we were getting lower than inflation rises. So how long is it going to last?”

Finance minister George Osborne condemned the strike that has closed most schools in England and Wales and forced hospital to cancel all but the most urgent operations. “The strike is not going to achieve anything. It’s not going to change anything,” Osborne told BBC TV. “It is only going to

make our economy weaker and potentially cost jobs.” The government, trying to turn around a debt-laden economy teetering on recession, says reform is needed as people are living longer and public service pensions are unaffordable.

The strikes mirror protests in continental European countries where governments are trying to juggle budget deficits with the needs of an ageing population.

Airlines said they were cutting flights into London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, because of fears of long delays and overcrowding due to the passport control strike. The government has flown some embassy staff home and recruited

volunteers from other departments to help take the place of striking border guards and delays that had been feared had not materialized yesterday morning.

“Due to the effective contingency plans we have put in place with the airlines and the UK Border Agency over recent days, immigration queues are currently at normal levels,” airport operator BAA said. Passengers arriving later in the day could face delays, it added. At Heathrow, a marquee, rows of chairs and toilets had been set up outside in preparation for overcrowding. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, an umbrella group coordinating the

Zain recognized as ‘Best Overall Mideast, Africa Mobile Operator’ DUBAI: Zain Group was awarded the prestigious ‘Best Overall Operator in Africa and Middle East’ at the annual CommsMEA Awards 2011, organized by the region’s foremost business-tobusiness telecoms publication. This is the 3rd time in the space of six years that Zain Group has been awarded the prestigious award. Furthermore, Zain’s mobile operation in Jordan was selected as the ‘Best Customer Service Provider of the Year’ for its ‘In-Life Care” program.

The awards ceremony took place at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai with a judging panel of international telecom professionals and regional industry peers.

Zain Group’s citation from the judging panel for winning “Overall Operator of the Year,” said that the award was in recognition of the company leading the dynamic trend of mobile communications within the region as a technology leader, with a strong focus on customer service. It also said that Zain has shown that, as well as being a model corporate citizen and fulfilling its brand promise to deliver unrivalled services, it has skill-

fully adapted to new market conditions.

“Zain, whether in terms of its vibrant brand, strategy and vision, financials, products and services, peo-

ple, management, communication with, and social support of, the communities it serves, has earned its right to be among the top mobile operators on the globe.”

(Left) Elfatih Erwa, Managing Director of Zain Sudan receives the award on behalf of Zain Group.

The panel also added that Zain’s recent transformation on many levels over the past year, after the sale of its 15 African operations, has been remarkable and beneficial for all its stakeholders, indicative of sound management practices.

Commenting on the prestigious award, Nabeel Bin Salamah, Zain Group CEO said, “This acknowledgment rewards and recognizes the dedicated efforts of our entire 6,000strong workforce, all of whom have made Zain the successful company it is today. It is also an affirmation of the Board of Director’s many recent decisions and its strategy to focus on its core and profitable operations.”

Bin Salamah also thanked the 41 million customers that Zain currently serves, saying that, “Our loyal customers are what drives us to perform and deliver exceptional mobile services fulfilling our brand promise of ‘A wonderful world’.

Without them and the trust they have placed in the Zain brand we would not have been able to scale the heights of success and be where we are today.”

Qatar defies global gloom with $5bn bond issue DUBAI: Qatar, the world’s biggest natural gas exporter, has raised $5 billion with its first sovereign bond issue in two years, capitalizing on investors’ appetite for safe havens as the European debt crisis destabilizes global markets.

The international bond sale, priced late on Tuesday, was the biggest from the Gulf this year.

The tiny Arab state sold $2 billion in five-year bonds at a yield of 3.184 percent, $2 billion of 10-year bonds with a yield of 4.63 percent, and $1 billion of 30-year bonds yielding 5.825 percent.

“This is a very big deal. There are very few credits in the world today who can come in and raise $5 billion under such choppy market conditions,” said Abdul Kadir Hussain, Chief Executive

of Mashreq Capital in Dubai.

“They did pay for it but for issues of this size you have to pay up.” The sale attracted investor orders in excess of $9 billion, according to Hussain. Another source in the fixed income markets said the order book was $9.5 billion.

Although Qatar has not publicly announced how it will use the bond proceeds, the country will host the 2022 World Cup and has allocated 40 percent of its budget between now and 2016 to infrastructure projects. “It’s all about diversifying your financing options,” said Shehzad Janab, head of asset management at Dubai-based Daman Investments.

“If you keep going back to your local banks, you are effectively tapping your own sources of

capital. Access to international capital is key and obviously, the bond route is the preferred choice now.” The international market in syndicated loans has frozen up in recent months as Western banks’ balance sheets have been hit by the European crisis.

One Doha-based banker, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the bond proceeds were expected to help finance the $10.3 billion Barzan gas project, which will supply gas to Qatar’s domestic market. It is Qatar’s most expensive project since Royal Dutch Shell launched the $19 billion Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in 2006. Qatar’s last global bond deal was a three-tranche, $7 billion issue in November 2009. —Reuters

strike, said workers were no longer being asked to make “a temporary sacrifice, but accept a permanent deep cut” in living standards.

“Our economy can afford decent pensions, the cost of public sector pensions is due to fall over coming decades,” Barber told Sky News. “We’re not going to solve our problems in our economy by hammering down the living standards of six million public service workers.”

A coalition of 30 trade unions are taking part in the strike, billed as the biggest walkout since action during the “Winter of Discontent” in 1979 that helped Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher sweep to power. — Reuters

Central banks act to save global economy Liquidity support to stave off euro-zone contagion BRUSSELS: The world’s biggest central banks sprang into action to help shield the euro-zone and the entire global system from the debt crisis yesterday with extra funds for banks.

The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve and the Swiss National Bank collectively announced at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) “liquidity support to the global financial system.”

Stocks and the euro each surged in the minutes after the decision’s announcement, which represents a massive bid to prevent a global depression and serious social conflict 10 days before an EU summit meeting. Many banks are being squeezed by the weight of downgraded government debt bonds in their books, raising pressure on them to reduce lending, particularly on foreign markets. This is a pivotal route for contagion of the euro-zone debt crisis to the global economy. The central banks, which can create their own money, said that they would ensure funds were available, explaining that the “purpose” was to “mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses.” New long-term cash-flow in all of their respective currencies will be available from December 5 to February 1, 2013, they said, with short-term funding now also available “until further notice.”

The moves echo similar action in the early hours of May 10, 2010, when the EU first acknowledged that the Greek drama had become a wider euro crisis causing deep concern among international partners from the United States to Japan. The massive injection came after the EU highlighted a 10-day window, through to an extended summit in Brussels next week, in which to fix a festering global financial crisis amid fresh warnings that a return to

conflict in Europe can no longer be dismissed.

Amid record euro-zone unemployment, it was timed to coincide with Wall Street’s opening in New York. It was “undoubtedly a response to the growing euro-crisis and the dark shadow it is casting over the world economy,” economist Sony Kapoor of the Re-Define consultancy said, saying it would provide “a useful cushion against Lehmannlike panic in the financial markets,” he said referring to the collapse of an American bank that triggered the 2008 financial crisis.

The money does not leave unanswered difficult questions for the euro-zone, which has struggled badly to assemble a financial war-chest sufficient to halt investor flight.

As the EU’s euro crisis commissioner Olli Rehn said, the bloc faces “a critical period of 10 days to complete and conclude the crisis response,” with EU government ministers ramping up pressure on the ECB and the International Monetary Fund to act.

But the central banks’ action provided a massive breather after a top source already told AFP that the IMF would now bail out Italy-if the ECB joined the effort. “If Italy needed help, the IMF would be ready to do it, it is a possibility that is not excluded,” AFP’s well-placed source underlined.

Italy, with a debt mountain of nearly two trillion euros, has faced intense pressure on bond markets, also affecting Spain and France. New Italian premier Mario Monti-in Brussels in his other role as finance minister-maintained the EU has no room for error at next week’s summit, after being ordered to fill a missing “buffer” zone in his national accounts.

France’s foreign minister Alain Juppe had earlier echoed recent warnings from Poland of conflict-social as much as military-again blighting the continent. —AFP

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business

Gulf banks face ‘skills shortage’: Accenture Survey: Focus on small and medium businesses

Etihad’s Tripoli flights to start on January 17 ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, said yesterday it would begin flying to Tripoli on January 17. The three return flights a week will be operated by an Airbus A320 with 162 Coral Economy seats.

The flights will depart from Abu Dhabi at 8 am. on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays with the return service leaving Tripoli at 4.15 pm. The Libyan capital becomes the fifth city in North Africa to which the airline flies and the 73rd passenger destination in Etihad’s worldwide network.

The Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, James Hogan, said the schedule would provide convenient timings for Abu

Dhabi and UAE-based passengers and allow fast and seamless connections across Etihad’s broader GCC network.

Hogan said the regime change in Tripoli meant there would be significant point to point traffic and strong demand for flights to the country as it rebuilds after the civil war.

“We are delighted to be able to launch these flights do all we can to help the country get back on its feet at this critical point in Libya’s history,” Hogan said. Initially the flights will operate via Alexandria in Egypt but Etihad Airways will move to non-stop services as soon as the infrastructure in Tripoli can support them.

UAE fund plans to help pay debts of poor DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates yesterday set up a 10 billion dirham ($2.7 billion) fund to help to pay low-income citizens’ debts and announced plans to raise wages of some state employees, state news agency WAM said.

The agency said President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan ordered a doubling of the salaries of some state employees in the judiciary, health and education sectors from January to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the UAE. The UAE, a federation of seven emirates that came together to form one state in 1971, is one of the top five world oil exporters and enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes in the world of around $48,600.

“His Highness ... ordered the establishment of a 10 billion dirham fund that will take charge of studying and dealing with loans of low-income citizens, and to process settlements of personal loans due from them in coordination with the central bank and lender banks,” the agency said.

Senior officials, including deputy ministers, would receive a 35 percent pay increase, while a 45 percent pay increase would be given to mid-level federal government employees, WAM said.

The National Bureau of Statistics has said that robust oil prices are expected to help the UAE economy to grow by 4.2 percent in real terms this year, much faster than 1.4 percent in 2010. A Reuters poll in September forecast 3.8 percent growth in 2011 and 2012.

The OPEC member’s $297 billion economy has been recovering in 2011 from last year’s $25 billion debt restructuring at Dubai’s flagship conglomerate Dubai World, helped by higher oil output and strong trade flows.

Sheikh Khalifa also ordered government departments to accord the children of Emirati women married to foreigners equal treatment to UAE nationals, WAM said. The order allows children of Emirati women to apply for UAE citizenship once they reach 18 years of age. — Reuters

DUBAI: Demand for skilled banking staff is outstripping supply in the Gulf region at a time when the Western banking industry is drastically cutting its workforce, according to an Accenture survey of 47 executives at major banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Meanwhile, the region’s banks are in a race to adapt to more demanding customers and are increasingly targeting the largely untapped youth, women and small- and medium-sized business markets.

According to the survey, a shortage of skills is the biggest challenge facing the GCC banking industry, aside from new regulation- especially as more global banks enter the market. A skills shortage was cited by 58 percent of all executives surveyed and 69 percent of those from the largest banks. In fact, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents agreed that the biggest impact of more global banks operating in the region will be the increased competition for skills and talent over the next few years. A majority (89 percent) of respondents said that attracting and retaining talent will be the most important strategy their banks will use to increase shareholder value.

“As European and American banks undergo large domestic workforce reductions, financial institutions in the Gulf region are struggling with a shortage of skills to support the growing demand for banking services,” said Amr Elsaadani, managing director of Accenture’s banking practice in the Middle East. “Our research suggests this demand is also becoming more complex, as customer expectations rise and regional competition heats up. This will fuel the battle for talent in the region, as banks look for the skills required to develop more innovative products and to manage and grow their businesses.”

According to the survey, banks are implementing a range of initiatives to address skill shortages and retain talent, including: lCoaching and mentoring (53 percent) l Revamping compensation through higher salaries and bonuses (51 percent)

l Increasing transparency in career paths (47 percent) Rising Service Expectations, Diminishing Loyalty According to the survey, customers in the Gulf region are becoming more demanding and less loyal to their institutions. Improving customer service was cited by executives as the single most critical challenge to attract and retain customers through 2015: 46 percent of

Amr Elsaadani executives cited it as “critical” and 30 percent cited it as important. Meeting increasing demand from customers for online and mobile services was cited as a top challenge by 79 percent of respondents. And, 71 percent of executives said declining customer loyalty would be a major challenge through 2015.

The survey suggests that GCC banks must plan to respond aggressively to customer demands in order to stay competitive. This is borne out by the following findings: * 93 percent of executives see “robust customer management” as the top driver of profits

and growth through 2015. This was ranked higher than better risk management, pricing, and cost reduction. * 87 percent believe “improving customer centricity” will be the most important strategy their banks can use to address market challenges and outperform the industry. This was ranked ahead of product innovation, productivity improvement, risk management, product distribution, diversification of businesses, new operating models and cost reduction.

“The increasing customer orientation of these banks reflects an expectation that the pool of customers in the GCC is getting wider and deeper-especially with regard to youth, women and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which have traditionally received little attention,” added Elsaadani. “To capture these markets, banks will need to ramp up both their retail and commercial banking capabilities.”

More than half the population in the GCC is below the age of 30, and the female employment rate has grown considerably over the past 10 years - from 30 percent in 2000 to 37 percent in 20091. While small business is burgeoning, SMEs account for only two percent of the total loans in the region, compared with 27 percent in countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)2. The survey revealed that an overwhelming majority of respondents (91 percent) are investing in SME banking operations and a majority (85 percent) will continue to invest in retail banking in their domestic markets.

Methodology Accenture conducted a survey of 47 C-level executives from the banking industry in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Respondents included chief executive officers, country general managers and heads of retail operations, strategy, and local Middle East distribution channels. Interviews were conducted between June and August 2011.

Paragon’s state-of-the-art new headquarters KUWAIT: On the occasion of its tenth anniversary Paragon Marketing Communications announces its relocation from Salmiya, Al-Fanar Mall to Kuwait City, Al-Hamad Towers. The shift is in line with the company’s expansion plans as the move into a bigger strategically located headquarter will boost the growth of the organization.

Shifting into Kuwait City will help the agency be closer to its clients, the media and the business heart of Kuwait whereas the bigger premises will be technically equipped to house a larger team, to meet the increasing requirements of its clients.

“The move to a bigger, better equipped office in the heart of Kuwait is part of our expansion plans, and what better time for a positive change than our 10th Anniversary. As Paragon celebrates 10 years in the industry, we will be bidding farewell to our previous location and venture into the future full of zeal and passion operating from our new headquarters” said Gaya Kruchlik, Operations Manager- Paragon Marketing Communications - Kuwait.

The move comes as the next step in

Paragon’s growth after the company’s venture into the Omani market, where it quickly is making a strong foothold. Besides Kuwait and Oman, Paragon also holds operations in Bulgaria.

Paragon has won a total of 57 international, regional and local awards on creativity and also has been featured in over 20 international

books on advertising and graphic design.

Paragon Marketing Communication will now be reachable at 22974400. The new Paragon premises is located on the 3rd Floor of Al Hamad Towers - Tower A, in Jibla - Abu Bakr Str, Behind Sheraton Hotel. Reference to Paragon’s work is available on its official Facebook page and YouTube channel.

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

.2730000 .4260000 .3670000 .2980000 .2650000 .2720000 .0040000 .0020000 .0750520 .7312060 .3810000 .0700000 .7168150 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2757000 GB Pound/KD .4310710 Euro .3694380 Swiss francs .3006870 Canadian dollars .2679820 Danish Kroner .0496560 Swedish Kroner .0400710 Australian dlr .2768440 Hong Kong dlr .0353810 Singapore dlr .2129620 Japanese yen .0035470 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0750920 Bahraini dinars .7315910 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0735400 Omani riyals .7163830 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.598 5.337 3.154 2.436 3.341 213.250 35.672 3.580 6.336 8.873 0.271 0.273

.2800000 .4370000 .3770000 .3090000 .2750000 .2830000 .0072500 .0035000 .0758060 .7385550 .4010000 .0760000 .7240200 .0072000 .0530000 .2793000 .4367000 .3742620 .3046130 .2714810 .0503040 .0405940 .2804590 .0358430 .2157420 .0035930 .0053970 .0024600 .0031760 .0036530 .0760720 .7411440 .3950500 .0745000 .7257370 .0064500

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

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

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

COUNTRY

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

282.000 738.550 3.820 272.600 545.400 44.900 50.700 167.800 48.420 374.000 36.330 5.750 0.032 0.214 0.241 3.660 394.390 0.188 89.980 46.400 4.270 215.500 1.799 48.300 721.330

SELL DRAFT

280.500 738.550 3.570 271.100

215.700 46.289 372.500 36.180 5.315 0.031

10 Tola

75.620 277.700

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 Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

276.850 268.505 443.300 374.970 303.055 733.125 75.350 75.990 73.785 389.700 46.310 2.422 5.309 3.179 3.615 6.383 679.095 3.675 8.955 5.830 3.415 91.960

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)

281.24 272.82 305.40 371.79

435.00 3.62 3.740 5.725 2.650 4.150 3.350 76.00 738.55 48.42 394.30 722.50 76.95 74.30

277.650 3.165 5.355 2.445 3.595 6.410 75.685 74.185 738.000 46.260 436.300 3.190 1.550 394.400 5.750 376.400 274.400 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange

UAE Exchange Center WLL Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro

435.19 3.61 3.573 5.308 2.438 3.331 3.154 75.58 738.54 46.26 395.01 721.59 76.56 74.14

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 434.900 277.700

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Currency

721.150

303.960 5.400 9.100

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

Currency

393.510 0.187 89.980 3.370 214.000

3.160 6.370 76.390 74.150 215.680 35.970 2.435 434.900

GOLD 1,785.120

Rate for Transfer

Bahrain Exchange Company

3.330 6.610 76.820 74.150 215.680 35.970 2.646 436.900 40.800 305.400 5.400 9.310 198.263 75.720 278.100 1.230

285.00 275.00 310.00 376.00

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

277.250 373.300 432.800 270.500 3.595 5.340 46.225 2.434 3.560 6.355 3.154 738.500 75.550 73.100

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BUSINESS

BMW launches the New BMW M5 KUWAIT: The fifth generation of the world’s most successful high-performance saloon which had its Middle East debut at the Dubai International Motor Show earlier this month, has gone on sale at BMW Group importers across the Middle East.

The new BMW M5 is an exceptionally dynamic high-performance sports car with four doors and five seats - a further development of the concept originally initiated in 1984 with the first generation BMW M5. The new model features the world premiere of a newly developed BMW M high-performance, high-revving, 4.4-litre V8 engine with an M Twin Power Turbo package. With Twin Turbo technology, direct petrol injection and fully variable valve control. The V8 engine produces 560 hp from 6000-7000rpm and a maximum of 680 Nm of torque from 1500rpm.

The result is a lag-free power delivery giving typical M car thrust whilst delivering a significantly improved balance between performance and fuel consumption. The new BMW M5 is capable of accelerating to 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds. Top speed is limited to 250 km/h, but can be raised to 305 km/h with the M Driver’s Package.

Thanks to use of extensive Efficient Dynamics technology, including Auto

Start-Stop and Brake Energy Regeneration, fuel consumption is cut by more than 30 per cent when compared to the previous model.

The new BMW M5 has outstandingly agile handling thanks to its innovative rear axle differential with Active M Differential lock, which enables a fully variable distribution of power between the rear wheels. Individually configured set-ups for the car can be chosen by the driver via the M Drive buttons on the steering wheel changes can be made to the accelerator response, gearbox response, DSC

modes, Dynamic Damper Control and information in the Head-Up Display.

Exterior styling cues of the new BMW M5 feature familiar M aesthetics, which reflects the car’s extremely dynamic and sporty character. The front bumper has large air intakes to feed the engine and cool the brakes, the athletically flared wheel arches emphasize the wide track and the aerodynamically optimized rear bumper features a diffuser between the two pairs of twin exhausts. The side view is dominated by the unique double-spoke 19-inch M light-alloy

wheels. A luxurious ambience exists within the sports car cockpit of the new BMW M5’s interior. The M sports seats are upholstered in Merino leather, and the cabin features a BMW Individual roof lining in Anthracite.

Four-zone automatic climate control ensures all occupants remain comfortable.

Customers can also give their new BMW M5 the personal touch, since virtually the full range of options for the BMW 5 Series Saloon are available including a host of driver assistance systems and mobility services from

BMW ConnectedDrive. Commenting at the unveiling of the new model, Dr. Joerg Breuer, Managing Director, BMW Group Middle East said: “The popularity and excitement of our BMW M models still continues to grow, however, driving a car boasting the M logo remains an exclusive experience. The design, comfort, technology and engineering of the new BMW M5 is very different from the predecessor model, and as a result, our importers have already received numerous orders from customers wanting to purchase this car.”

Dubai traders fear sanctions impact on business with Iran Iran-Dubai export trade thrived in recent years

Ramzi Al-Sabboury

Al-Tijari continues ‘Shop and Save’ campaign KUWAIT: The “Shop and Save” campaign launched by the Commercial Bank of Kuwait on 20/10/2011 will continue for three months in cooperation with “the Visitor” and “Electrozan” showrooms. The campaign achieved great success and positive response by the Bank’s customers. This campaign offers exceptional chance to AlTijari credit card and prepaid card holders to shop “the Visitor” and “Electrozan” showrooms and receive a cash back up to 20% of the value of their purchases. The campaign achieved remarkable success at the beginning of the second month due to the high attendance by customers shopping in the participating showrooms, whereas the campaign aimed to provide the best marketing offers and services which Al-Tijari endeavors to render throughout the year to attain its customers’ utmost satisfaction to benefit from shopping at wellknown retailers and stores and to save at the same time.

Ramzi Al-Sabboury, Executive Manager, Marketing and Sales Department / Retail Banking Division at the Commercial Bank of Kuwait said “Al-Tijari cardholders enjoy and benefit from several discounts and privileges, which brought substantial increase in card sales over the past period, whereas Al-Tijari credit and prepaid cards customer base was expanded, where large number of customers opted to obtain Al-Tijari cards and enjoy the exclusive offers and marketing campaigns launched to Al-Tijari credit card and prepaid card holders”. Al-Sabboury stressed the Bank’s ongoing efforts to maintain effective communication with customers and its continued endeavors to provide and launch marketing programs tailored to customers ambitions and aspirations, in collaboration with a number of retailers and stores. Al-Sabboury concluded that “Electrozan” and “the Visitor” showrooms welcome the Bank customers to enjoy unrivalled marketing opportunities and take advantage of remunerative discounts.

Saudi Aramco offers two high sulfur gasoil cargoes SINGAPORE: Saudi Aramco has offered two spot high sulfur gasoil cargoes through private negotiations, providing some reprieve to an inadequately supplied market, industry sources said yesterday.

The refiner is offering the cargoes of about 300,000 barrels each of 1 percent sulfur for loading over Dec. 810 and the last week of December, from Rabigh and Jubail, they said. Saudi Aramco was targeting the premium to be at parity to benchmark Middle East quotes, the sources said. Gasoil with 10,000 parts per million of sulfur is usually used as a blend-stock or sold into Yemen to be processed. With refineries in the Middle East competing to upgrade facilities that convert the heavier high sulfur gas oil to more expensive and cleaner fuel, only a few produce a limited amount of the higher sulfur grades containing 5,000 ppm and 2,000 ppm sulfur gas oil. The majority of the diesel output in the Middle East is still 500 ppm sulfur gas oil to cater to the domestic market. Some of the refineries are now even moving towards producing 10 ppm sulfur diesel. Countries such as Jordan, Egypt and Yemen, which have been facing supply disruptions due to unrest, have been entering the spot market to seek gas oil in large amounts - about 170,000 tons for October. — Reuters

DUBAI: Iran shrugged off a fresh wave of international economic sanctions against it last week, saying they would have “no impact” on its trade with other countries. But in Dubai, one of Iran’s top trading partners, businessmen are starting to worry.

“The restrictions imposed on the Iranian traders here aregetting so hard that they are virtually going to go out of business,” said Morteza Masoumzadeh, a member of the executive committee of the local Iranian Business Council and managing director of the Jumbo Line Shipping Agency.

“They are facing a hell of difficulties. Within a year or two, they will have to shut down. And these traders are dealing with basic commodities. There is no involvement with those banned items, or missile technology,” he said. Over the last five years, the United States, the European Union and other countries have imposed an escalating series to sanctions over Iran’s controversial nuclear program, which is suspected of seeking to make atomic weapons. Most US-Iran trade has been banned, and foreign banks are effectively deprived of access to the US financial system if they do business with Iranian banks.

But Iranian trade with Dubai, 150 kilometres (100 miles) across the Gulf, has thrived, with the emirate serving as a convenient conduit for other countries’ business with Iran. United Nations sanctions against Iran have focused on nuclear-related materials and weapons and targeted Iranian companies and people involved in those programs, so the bulk of merchandise trade remains legal. Sanctions in other countries may have had the effect of pushing more trade through Dubai.

Around 8,000 Iranian traders and trading firms are registered in Dubai, Masoumzadeh said in his 14th floor office overlooking the sparkling waters of the Dubai Creek, where wooden dhows dock to take on cargo for transport to Iran. According to the latest data from the United Arab Emirates’ customs authority, re-export trade between Iran and the UAE- goods sent to the UAE for on-shipment to Iran, and Iranian goods sent to the UAE for on-shipment to other countries-totalled 19.5 billion dirhams ($5.32 billion) in the first six months of this year, up from 14.3 billion dirhams a year earlier.

That represents a significant proportion of Iran’s nonoil foreign trade; its total imports amounted to $92.4 billion in all of 2010 while exports, including oil, were

$116.5 billion.

For Dubai’s community of traders, many of them like Masoumzadeh of Iranian descent, the business is also key; Iran accounts for about a quarter of the UAE’s reexport trade. But for the UAE as a whole, which is expected to see its exports, dominated by oil and gas, climb to nearly $300 billion this year, the trade is not nearly as important.

“There is still a lot of consumer demand in Iran. A lot of this is still being satisfied through the traditional route of re-exports via Dubai. And this is showing up on the customs statistics,” said David Butter, director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London.

Products delivered by dhows across the Gulf include household goods, rice, sugar, cooking oil, tubes, tires and timber. Bigger ships also operate, taking larger volumes, including higher-end goods.

Luxury sports car maker Maserati is interested in doing business with Iran, a company official said. “We are going to start in Iran now, it’s a very particular market. It’s all cash-based; we have an unbelievably high number of people who are considered millionaires compared to the overall population,” said Umberto Cini, managing director at Maserati Middle East and Africa in Dubai.

Now, however, the cumulative weight of the international sanctions, augmented by new measures announced by several countries last week, may be starting to have an effect on Dubai’s trade with Iran. Last week, the United States named Iran as an area of “primary money laundering concern”, a step designed to dissuade non-US banks from dealing with it; blacklisted 11 entities suspected of aiding its nuclear programs; and expanded sanctions to target firms that aid its oil and petrochemical industries.

Britain banned all its financial institutions from doing business with Iran, including the Iranian central bank, and Canada said it would ban the export of all goods used in Iran’s petrochemical, oil and gas industries and “block virtually all transactions with Iran”.

Such sanctions still do not forbid flows of merchandise trade through Dubai, but they do make it increasingly difficult for traders to get financing for their business. Even banks from countries which do not ban financial ties with Iran may be reluctant to extend financing for fear of jeopardising their US business, or

because they fear being exposed in the event of future sanctions.

“Now, none of the UAE banks are opening a new account for any Iranian trader,” Masoumzadeh said. “We cannot establish letters of credit to our suppliers in Europe or the Far East. They cannot send the goods to us, and we cannot do the trade. Therefore, our trade department has lost at least 70 percent of its business during the last two years.”

In June last year, the UAE central bank told financial institutions to freeze Iran-linked accounts belonging to firms targeted by UN sanctions. UAE banks contacted by Reuters declined to comment publicly on Iran business, but banking sources confirmed there was now very little of it.

“Iran has been on the sanctions list for a long time so there should be, with the exception of one or two branches of Iranian banks on the ground, almost no business between Iranian banks and local banks here,” said a treasury source at a UAE bank, who declined to be named.

“I’m sure some might try and push the boundaries occasionally but any transactions would turn up on the regulatory radar so I don’t see it happening that much.”

Some trade can be paid for by cash and through personal transfers of money through foreign exchange houses. But Mohamed al-Ansari, chairman and managing director of Al Ansari Exchange, a major house, said such transfers were also under pressure.

“Remittances between the UAE and Iran have reduced due to the sanctions,” he told Reuters.

“Although the sanctions are not targeted at individual transactions, they are creating difficulties.

“Even though there are no legal restrictions to do individual transactions, because of the difficulties, banks and exchange companies are not interested to do Iranian transfers.”

The United States has been pressing other countries to enforce sanctions strictly. The US Treasury’s top national security official, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen, visited the UAE last weekend to discuss the new US steps with government officials. Under such pressure, the UAE’s enforcement of customs checks on trade appears to be becoming more aggressive, with the effect of deterring some Iran-bound shipments from coming through Dubai, analysts said. — Reuters

VIVA celebrates UAE National Day with a special offer KUWAIT: As part of its national holidays celebration program, Kuwait Telecommunications company VIVA, is continuing with commemorating the national holidays of our brothers and sisters around the world, and is offering a new special offer for two days starting Friday, December 2, 2011 for prepaid and postpaid customers to enjoy, while celebrating the National Day of The United Arab of Emirates on December 2, 2011.

The two days promotion for the UAE’s National Day will give customers the opportunity to call their family and friends at the UAE for a continuous 10 mins for the cost of 5 minutes call for each call made.

Customers interested in this special celebration offer can find out more information on VIVA’s website or any of the branches.

Kuwait Telecommunications Company VIVA would like to express its sincere congratula-

tions to the people of the United Arab of Emirates and all UAE citizens residing in Kuwait as well as worldwide.

We aim to embody the joy and happiness of the people of the United Arab of Emirates on this special occasion of UAE’s National Day, and hope that our participation in this event will stress our feelings towards brotherhood and friendly affairs.

VIVA will remain keen on acknowledging and participating in the National Holidays of international countries, in persistence to recognize each customer’s needs, as well as create awareness to the importance of worldwide events as it has with previously celebrated national days.

To find out more about VIVA’s numerous competitive promotions, products and packages visit any of the twelve VIVA branches or visit our website at www.viva.com.kw.

Saving lives and saving money

By Fares Saade

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nyone who has driven on the region’s highways knows that the Middle East has a problem with road safety. But many of the region’s governments don’t know the full socioeconomic cost of car crashes-and thus lack the tools to effectively develop responses that would save lives.

Road crashes are a global problem: The World Bank notes that every year, more than 1.2 million people die in road crashes and more than 10 million are crippled or injured. The Middle East represents a disproportionate number of those accidents, with 17 to 22 people per 100,000 dying in car accidents every year, compared to an average of 6.2 people in OECD countries (see Exhibit 1). And the actual number of deaths in the region may be even higher, due to underreporting and databases that are underdeveloped.

Government officials recognize the gravity of the

situation, yet they tend to systematically underestimate the social and economic costs of road crashes.

These include not only direct costs, such as medical treatments and damage repairs, but indirect costs, such as loss of economic productivity. When all of these are taken into account, the true socioeconomic cost of road crashes amounts to a staggering 1 to 2 percent of GDP in MENA countries. Since many governments today have the ability to calculate only the direct costs, which amount to just 25 to 30 percent of the total cost of crashes, their policies and infrastructure planning do not accurately weigh the economic benefits of investments in increased safety-such as intelligent transport systems, or road improvements such as asphalt drainage systems. An accurate analysis of the full costs might also further encourage the development of public transportation, which reduces road usage. —Fares Saade is Principal; Giuliano Sparacino, Associate and Dr Ulrich Koegler, Partner.

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business

KSE enters positive territory GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended its second day in positive territory, and reaching the highest level in 8 sessions.

The gains were broad based with 7 out of the 8 sectors enjoying upward momentum. All major indices posted impressive gains during the session. However, the gains in the last two sessions could not wiped all the losses occurred during November as Global General Index (GGI) ended the month down by 1.31 percent.

Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.27 percent, at 181.20 point. Market Capitalization was up for the day, reaching KD29.64bn. While, Investors wealth dropped by KD0.42mn during the month. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,811.6 point, adding 11.3 points (0.19 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 95 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards advancers as 41 equities advanced versus 22 that declined. Trading activity was down yesterday. Total volume traded was up by 19.28 percent with 143.63mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD25.66mn (157.9 percent higher compared to Tuesday session).

Investment sector was the volume leader.

The sector accounted for 33.04 percent of total shares exchanges. Al-Ahlia Holding Company was the session’s most traded stock with 25.36mn shares exchanged. The banking sector was the value leader, having 51.14 percent of total traded value. In terms of top gainers, AlDeera Holding Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 9.43 percent to its share value and closing at KD0.029. On the other hand, Gulf Franchising

Company shed 7.89 percent and closed at KD0.0175 making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors The gains were bolstVered by a considerable 1.08 improvement in Global Real Estate Index.

Heavyweight, Mabanee Company highlighted the sector’s performance. The scrip closed up by 1.15 percent at KD0.880. However, National Real Estate Company was the top gainer in the sector, adding 7.69 percent and closing at KD0.140. The sector as a whole accounted for KD3.7mn (14.48 percent) of the market’s total value traded.

Another notable advancer was the Industrial sector. Kuwait

Cement Company and National Industries Group (Holding) added 4 percent and 1.85 percent respectively, driving the sector index up by 0.93 percent.

Global Investment Sector rose by 0.28 percent. From the sector’s companies news, Kuwait’s Beyoo Investment and Finance Company (name changed to Dimah Capital) has scrapped its main activity of financing and has become the investment arm of Al Imtiaz Investment Company in the field of asset and wealth management. Imtiaz share price ended the day flat at KD0.136.

Global Insurance sector was the only loser during the day as its index declined by 0.35 percent. Warba Insurance Company

dragged the index down by 4.48 percent, closing at KD0.128.

Corporate news Al-Imtiaz Investment Company sent a clarification on local press news. The company said it is in talks with some local lenders to raise KD 25 million loan under the best financing conditions.

However, Al-Imtiaz added that it has not secured any loan up to date.

Oil News The price of Kuwaiti crude oil was up $0.55 on Tuesday to trade at $108.62pb, up from last Monday’s $108. 07pb, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) yesterday.

High sulfur gasoil in big demand: Gasoline firm DUBAI: Tightness in the high-sulfur gasoil market persists, traders in the Middle East Gulf said this week, as demand from Egypt, Jordan and Yemen, whose refinery has shutdown, has supported the market. “The interest for high sulfur is still high,” one middle distillates trader said. He pegged premiums for gasoil with a higher sulfur content, also known as 5000 ppm, at around $1.80 a barrel.

Premiums for 2000 ppm gasoil were just above $2 a barrel, he added.

Increasingly, refineries in the Middle East are shifting to produce gasoil with a lower sulfur content for environmental reasons but demand has not shifted as quickly as supply.Buyers like Yemen, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Pakistan have not adjusted their specifications and their demand is enough to tighten the high sulfur market.

Traders say Yemen has a couple of outstanding tenders for about 50,000 tons to 80,000 tons. They saw increasing demand from the impoverished Arab country as its largest refinery has shut down after the crude flow in Yemen’s main oil pipeline stopped.

“Demand for high-sulfur is also supporting 500 ppm as it is an alternative for the supplier,” a second middle distillates trader said.

Traders also kept an eye on term contracts. Kuwait Petroleum Corp has concluded its 2012 term negotiations

for gasoil and jet fuel at stronger premiums than its current contracts, industry sources said on Monday.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) was heard to have lowered its offer for 2012 jet fuel term contracts to a premium of about $1.90 a barrel to benchmark Middle East quotes, from the initial $2.10 a barrel it was seeking. Naphtha was still under pressure from a weak demand outlook from the petrochemicals and plastics industry.

“Naphtha seems to sustain levels...not better nor weeker,” one trader said. “FOB premiums in the AG are softening a notch though,” he said.

Gasoline premiums were steady, even though the market in the Meditereanean was oversupplied, traders said. “Cracks in the east are weak as well, indicating oversupply,” one gasoline trader said. “However, barrels into the AG keep landing more or less at the same level.”

Another trader pegged premiums for 95 RON gasoline at $95 to $100 a ton over benchmark Middle East naphtha quotes. “Maybe due to demand in the region, everything pointing towards the AG will be charged extra, thus landing more or less at the same level,” the first trader added.

Demand from UAE’s Emarat, ADNOC and Iraq was supporting the market, traders said. — Reuters

Oil mixed before US data LONDON: Oil prices were mixed yesterday as traders awaited energy inventory data from the United States for an indication of crude demand strength in the world’s biggest economy.

Investors meanwhile reacted to geopolitical unrest in major oil exporter Iran and news that China had unexpectedly cut its bank reserve requirement ratio, helping to offset euro-zone debt concerns, dealers said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, rose 30 cents to $100.09 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for January fell 71 cents to $110.11

in London midday deals. The United States, the world’s biggest consumer of oil, publishes later on Wednesday an official weekly snapshot of the country’s energy inventories. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires expect the Department of Energy to announce that crude inventories dropped by 500,000 barrels last week.

Ahead of the data, China’s central bank yesterday said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio for the countr y ’s banks by 0.5 percent, in the strongest move yet to ease restrictions on lending. — AFP

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

BUSINESS

TOKYO MOTOR SHOW

TOKYO: Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn stands beside the company’s PIVO3, a prototype of an electric city commuter during the press briefing at the 42nd Tokyo Motor show in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP photos

TOKYO: An employee of Japan’s Suzuki Motor introduces its concept car ‘Q-Concept’.

TOKYO: A model displays Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor’s compact hybrid vehicle “Aqua.”

Cars go green and online TOKYO: Electric cars with cutting-edge green technology and vehicles remotecontrolled by smartphones caught the eye yesterday at the first Tokyo Motor Show held since Japan’s devastating earthquake.

Companies showcased concept cars with “transformable” bodies and automotive computers linked to smart phones, while showing off energy-efficient vehicles with electric, fuel cell and hybrid engines.

Compact, fuel-efficient cars are also on display, with Japanese carmakers hoping they can galvanise moribund domestic sales as the sector tries to pick itself up from March’s quake-tsunami and the ongoing global economic downturn.

“2011 has been an unprecedented year of challenges-the March earthquake and tsunami, the highly uncompetitive yen, the flooding in Thailand (which forced production shutdowns for Japanese automakers),” said Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn. “The Tokyo Motor Show this year, more than any previous year, demonstrates the resilience and tenacity of Japan and the strength of its people.” Japan’s second-largest automaker Nissan, which is part-owned by France’s Renault, is trailing several electric concept cars, including the Pivo 3, which can be remotely manoeuvred with a smart phone.

Nissan has already installed automotive telematics in its Leaf electric car, allowing

TOKYO: Models show off the concept SUV ‘Cross Coupe’ of German’s Volkswagen, which is the all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Journalists look at the BMW i8 concept car.

drivers to remotely control the air conditioning system and check on a car’s battery using their smart phone or personal computer. Rival Honda showed off a sports bike and small sports car called the EV-Ster, both with electric engines.

Honda President Takanobu Ito said the automaker planned to install large solar panels at its factories to make its entire operation free of carbon emissions-from its plants to the products they churn outas it looked to “a society of the future where no environmental stress is

imposed.” Toyota is also looking to burnish its green credentials, unveiling the “Aqua”, a compact hybrid and an advanced fuel cell car touted as the world’s most fuel efficient vehicle. Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota which also displayed a plug-in hybrid car, said future consumers will have even more choices when its comes cutting-edge vehicle technology.

“I don’t think the debate over cars in the future would be whether it should be an electric car or a plug-in hybrid,” he said.

“Many different cars will probably find

their own positions in the market.” The Aqua, to be sold under the name Prius C outside Japan, does 35 kilometres per litre of gasoline (82 miles per gallon), beating the firm’s existing Prius model at 32.6 kilometres per litre.

The Japanese auto giant also plans to launch the five-seater model late this month in Japan, before a gradual global roll-out. “The Japanese market is still important for European carmakers that are interested in environmental technologies such as electric and hybrid cars,” said

Tatsuya Mizuno, a director at Mizuno Credit Advisory in Tokyo and a vehicle industry expert.

The motor show, which is held every two years, will feature 179 exhibitors from a dozen countries and the venue is almost twice as large as the 2009 edition of the event. Several major foreign manufacturers who skipped the last show are back, including Germany’s Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche; French carmakers Renault and Peugeot-Citroen and Britain’s Jaguar and Land Rover. — AFP

S&P cuts ratings on 15 big banks Sweeping overhaul of rating criteria

FRANKFURT: The euro sculpture is reflected in a puddle on the lid of a bin that stands in the Frankfurt Occupy camp at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt yesterday. — AP

German jobs, retail numbers offer rare euro-zone cheer BERLIN: Germany provided a rare ray of light in the euro-zone gloom yesterday, with record low unemployment and surprisingly good retail data showing Europe’s top economy is holding up well in the crisis.

Germany’s unemployment rate fell to 6.4 percent in November, its lowest level since reunification more than two decades ago, with the number of people out of work declining much faster than economists had expected.

“The German labor market is benefiting from the good economic trend until now.

In November, there was no clouding over,” said Heinrich Alt from the federal labor agency.

“Unemployment is going down, employment is still rising and the demand for labor has also increased,” added Alt. Last week, a disappointing bond auction in Germany fuelled fears that the eurozone debt crisis was seeping from the edges of the bloc to the core. Markets were concerned that if European powerhouse Germany was having difficulty selling its bonds, then there was little hope for the likes of Italy and Spain.

However, despite a flood of doom-andgloom headlines from around Europe, Germany continues to show resilience. The optimistic labor minister said there were

“no signs” of a downturn in Europe’s powerhouse economy.

“Quite the opposite: firms’ order books are full. There is demand around the world for German goods despite the euro crisis and a poor outlook. Businesses and consumers are expecting a good Christmas,” said Ursula von der Leyen.

Analysts also cheered the news but warned that unemployment was a lagging indicator and jobless lines were likely to grow once the effects of the crisis have had more time to feed through into the real economy.

“We think that the positive trend on the German labor market will not go on forever. The economic problems in the euro-zone will eventually have a negative impact in Germany with a bit of a time lag,” said Thilo Heidrich from Postbank.

Christian Schulz, an analyst at Berenberg bank, said however that Germany’s strong labour market could have an unexpected positive effect on the jobless lines in other struggling eurozone economies.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that German companies are already targeting unemployed engineers in southern European countries with their recruitment efforts,” said Schulz. — AFP

NEW YORK: Standard & Poor’s reduced its credit ratings on 15 big banking companies, mostly in the Europe and the United States, on Tuesday as the result of a sweeping overhaul of its ratings criteria.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, Barclays Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS AG, were among the banks that had their ratings reduced by one notch each. A notch is one third of a letter rating.

S&P also left the ratings of 20 banks as they were and raised the ratings of two in announcing results from its new ratings criteria for 37 of the world’s biggest banking companies. The agency also updated ratings for dozens of bank subsidiaries of the companies.

The two banks which received higher ratings are Bank of China Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp. Ratings on both rose to A from A-minus.

The announcement by S&P comes at a time when the markets for bank debts are on edge because of the European debt crisis. It could increase already-soaring funding costs for some banks. But S&P began warning the markets more than a year ago that it was revising its ratings, perhaps tempering the impact of Tuesday’s move on bond and stock prices.

Bank stocks briefly fell on the news in after-hours trading, with the Select Sector Financial SPDR fund down about 0.7 percent at one point, but the declines were short-lived.

“Bondholders and participants in the credit derivatives markets have for some time been trading these major banks as though they would have downgrades,” said Allerton “ Tony” Smith, a senior director at Moody’s Analytics, a research arm of Moody’s Corp.

Still, said Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, “Banks could see higher funding costs.”

S&P’s overhaul is part of a broad, multi-

year drive by the agency to improve its products and repair its reputation. S&P badly tarnished its image by wrongly putting triple-A ratings on securities backed by subprime mortgages. The agency is owned by the McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. S&P officials expect the new system to allow the agency to more quickly change ratings when it sees new threats to bank funding or sees governments become less willing to bailout creditors.

The criteria are also intended to make better comparisons of banks around the world by applying consistent measurements of bank capital, S&P officials said. The downgrades come after Monday’s warning by competing rating agency Moody’s Investors Service that it could soon downgrade subordinated debt of 87 banks across 15 European Union nations on concerns that governments would be too cash-strapped to bail out holders of the riskier securities.

S&P officials said earlier this month they would gradually roll out the updated ratings for more than 750 banking companies worldwide, starting with an announcement about the biggest banks. The remaining announcements are due in coming weeks.

The outcome of the re-rating of the biggest banks was worse than S&P has forecast for all banks. S&P officials said earlier this month they expected about 20 percent of all banks would see their ratings drop, while 20 percent would get higher ratings and 60 percent would stay the same.

The new ratings method puts more emphasis on the health of the banking industry in the countries where the banks operate, Craig Parmelee, an S&P managing director for financial services ratings, said in an interview.

S & P o f f i c i a l s h ave s a i d t h e y expec t the ratings changes will illustrate the increased strength of banks in emerging economies compared with Western Europe and the United States. — Reuters

Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda speaks during an interview with AFP.

Euro-zone woes imperil Asian growth: ADB chief BUSAN, South Korea: Asia’s projected growth rate of 7.5 percent next year could be jeopardized as the euro-zone crisis threatens its export-driven economies, the Asian Development Bank chief said.

ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda said even China may face difficulties if demand from Europe-its largest export marketslows further. “Developing Asia (excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand), from our forecast will grow 7.5 percent this year as well as next year,” he told AFP late Tuesday on the sidelines of a major aid forum.

“But the 7.5 percent growth next year is subject to greater uncertainty because Europe is having a financial crisis,” said Kuroda, adding he was still “cautiously optimistic” about the continent’s economic outlook for 2012.

Kuroda said Asia’s financial sectors have been hard hit by capital flight by European banks-with currencies weakening, stock markets falling and corporate funding costs rising. Eurozone woes so far have not hurt Asia’s export-reliant economies as severely as the 2008-2009 US subprime mortgage crisis that sharply reduced global trade, he said. But the situation may change if Europe falls into recession, the former Japanese vicefinance minister warned, saying even China is not immune.

“For China, Europe is their biggest market, bigger than the US and bigger than Japan. So about 9 percent growth (projected for) next year in China is subject to possible downward risk.”

Kuroda said he was hopeful Europe could weather the storm and ruled out a need for more aggressive Asian assistance. “I think the Asian countries with large foreign exchange reserves could of course help European countries... but Europe has enough resources,” he said. “The greatest contribution Asia can make to the global economy is to maintain rapid economic growth in Asia, including India, China and Indonesia.” Kuroda is attending the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, a global gathering discussing ways to give foreign aid more of an impact. —AFP

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BUSINESS

Businesses look offshore with Aussie dollar above parity SYDNEY: The Australian dollar inched back above greenback parity yesterday, as a survey showed the currency’s strength was forcing more businesses to consider moving operations offshore. Fuelled by optimism about the US economy and hopes that Europe is moving closer to solving its debt crisis, the risk-based “Aussie” was trading at 100.57 US cents at 0100 GMT, up from 99.68 US cents late Tuesday.

It is its first time above $US1.00 since November 18 and GFT Forex director of currency research Kathy Lien said it was being encouraged by a surge of optimism in US markets.

“The Australian dollar rallied during the US trading session, holding on to gains it had made in the European session,” she said.

“There was a pretty significant turn in the Australian dollar on Tuesday, fuelled entirely by good US

data and optimism in the US economy, as well as hopes that the Europeans are coming through with talk around a debt solution.” The Australian dollar has spent much of 2011 at historic highs against the greenback after breaching parity for the first time in October 2010 since it was floated in 1983.

The dollar, which at one point topped US$1.10, has intensified pressure on tourism and education, cut

into manufacturing profits and hurt retailers as shoppers moved to buy cheaper products over the Internet.

According to the Commonwealth Bank’s “Aussie Dollar Barometer” survey, the high currency could see businesses establish offshore operations, with one-third of the country’s 500 biggest considering the move.

“Not surprisingly, large businesses with greater financial strength are looking in larger numbers to estab-

lish offshore operations,” said Joseph Capurso, a currency strategist at the bank. “However, it’s not clear if the offshore strategy is to buy cheap foreign assets or to shift to cheaper locations.” For exporters, the high dollar means buying imported capital equipment is cheaper but the downside is a loss of international competitiveness, Capurso said. The survey of close to 900 companies with an annual turnover of at least Aus$5 mil-

lion, found importers expected the Aussie to peak at US$1.09 by late March 2012, and exporters and import/export businesses at US$1.07.

But Capurso said the deteriorating global economic outlook may hinder these expectations.

“If the global economy deteriorates further, the Australian dollar may not reach the very high levels expected by Australian businesses,” he said. —AFP

India’s growth slows to 6.9%, lowest in 2 years Economy hit by rate hikes, gloomy global outlook

SHENZHEN: One of many skyscrapers is seen from an old residential ally in this southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province yesterday.

Shenzhen, once a small fishing village is at the heart of China’s industrial growth and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. —AFP

China eases credit controls amid slowing growth BEIJING: China said yesterday it will cut the bank reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, as it seeks to boost lending and spur growth in the world’s second largest economy.

The move, which takes effect on December 5, is the strongest signal yet that the government wants to ease tight credit restrictions put in place to curb surging inflation and property prices.

The People’s Bank of China said in a brief statement that it would reduce the ratio by 0.5 of a percentage point, effectively increasing the amount of money banks can lend. Experts had forecast such a move in the coming months after the central bank said recently it would “finetune” monetary policy amid growing concerns that the weak global economy is increasing the risk of a sharp slowdown in China.

Capital Economics Chief Asia Economist Mark Williams said the move signalled a “decisive shift in policy stance” and would be followed by further cuts “in the next few months” to increase liquidity in the economy. Alistair Thornton, an analyst at IHS Global Insight, said the government hoped the move would “bring life back into the economy”.

“They are clearly concerned about the fast deteriorating situation in Europe, about how rapidly the property market is correcting and about the sheer amount of capital that appears to have been fleeing China,” Thornton said. Last week the central bank said it had eased lending restrictions on more than 20 small banks

nationwide, in a bid to channel more funds to cash-strapped private firms and the farming sector.

This latest move applies to all banks around the country. Preliminary data released by HSBC last week showed China’s manufacturing activity slumped to its lowest level in 32 months in November, renewing fears the exportdriven economy is losing steam due to the euro-zone debt crisis and sluggish growth in the United States.

China’s consumer inflation eased in October to 5.5 percent, the slowest pace since May, and property sales and prices have been falling nationwide as tough restrictions on purchases and lending take effect. Economic growth also slowed to an annual 9.1 percent in the third quarter from 9.5 percent in the previous quarter. Another concern for policymakers has been the explosion in underground lending fuelled by the credit restrictions, which has raised concerns among top leaders about a surge in bad debts and defaults in the private sector.

Independent business owners have been borrowing money at high interest rates from informal lenders after being rejected by major banks who favor other state-controlled enterprises, whose debts are implicitly guaranteed by the government. China, anxious about rising living costs, has pulled on a variety of levers to curb price rises in the past 18 months, including restricting the amount of money banks can lend and hiking interest rates five time since October 2010. —AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s economic growth slumped to a two-yearlow of 6.9 percent in the second quarter, data showed yesterday, hit by a string of interest rate hikes and the stumbling world economy.

The expansion in JulySeptember was the weakest since the three months to June 2009 when the economy grew just 6.0 percent year-on-year as Western economies were emerging from the bruising international financial crisis. “ There’s a clear slowdown,” Credit Agricole economist Dariusz Kowalczyk told AFP, warning of a potentially “quite significant” downturn longer-term due to lagged effects of aggressive rate hikes and a gloomy global outlook.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee cut India’s growth forecast to 7.3 percent for the fiscal year to March 2012 from an original blistering nine percent. But some private economists said expansion could be as low as 6.5 percent with the country shifting to a new, lower growth trajectory.

“We’re having multiple problems,” Mukherjee said, citing anaemic growth in Europe and the United States that has slowed investment and export demand as well as “problems within the country.”

Political paralysis over contentious economic reforms has diminished investor confidence and the debt-laden government lacks the fiscal firepower to spur the economy. Mukherjee has been steadily lowering his growth forecast since February as the economy has been hobbled by 13 interest rate hikes in under two years that have failed to tame inflation, still flaring

near 10 percent.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen an Indian growth number with a six at the start of it. The economy is slowing rapidly,” said Glenn Levine, economist at Moody’s Analytics. “It looks like tough times ahead.” The growth

masses hardest, and a slew of corruption scandals that sparked huge anti-graft protests. The second-quarter growth was sharply below 7.7 percent expansion logged from April to June and 8.4 percent growth posted a year ago.

NEW DELHI: Indian consumers look at clothes to buy at a market in New Delhi. Data showed yesterday India’s quarterly economic growth slowed to 6.9 percent year-on-year, its lowest pace in over two years, hit by a string of interest rate hikes and a weakening global economy. —AFP downturn is an additional burden for the Congress party-led government, which is facing strident opposition to its attempt to jumpstart its stalled reform agenda by opening up India’s vast retail market to global competition.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s popularity has already been sapped by surging food prices, which have hit India’s poor

Manufacturing output grew just 2.7 percent year-on-year, down from 7.8 percent a year earlier.

The sluggish growth means an end to India’s rate hiking cycle, said economists, who predicted the central bank may start cutting rates in the first six months of 2012 if inflation cools.

On Monday, the Organization

tent, the centre-right coalition opted to ease some measures after the first reading. Thus the suspension of 13th and 14th month salary payments for civil servants will now affect only those earning more than 1,100 euros a month rather than 1,000.

That concession will cost state coffers 130 million euros which will be covered by higher taxes on capital revenues.

However the 30-minute extension of daily working hours for private sector employees will be maintained in the final legislation. Also maintained are health and education spending cuts and a rise in VAT on a range of products including a leap from 13 to 23 percent for the restaurant trades which owners say could result in the closure of 21,000 eateries.

After Greece and Ireland in 2010, Portugal became the third euro-zone member state needing a bailout in May when it could no longer raise fresh funds at sustainable rates on the financial markets. Portugal was handed a 78 billion euro loan in exchange for a pledge to reduce its public deficit from 9.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2010 to 4.5 percent by the end of 2012. But the deficit stood at 8.3 percent earlier this year, putting that objective in doubt.

The forecast for 2012 looks no better, af ter the announcement by Finance Minister Viktor Gaspar last week that its economy is expected to shrink by three percent in 2012.

Unemployment is also set to rise to a record rate of 13.4 percent. —AFP

previous three months-its lowest in two years, hit by efforts to tame inflation and global economic headwinds.

Analysts said the slowing economy would pile more pressure on the rupee, trading at record lows against the dollar, as investors flee emerging markets for safer havens, rattled by the euro-zone debt crisis. —AFP

Japan factory output rebounds in October

Portugal’s parliament to adopt austerity budget LISBON: Portugal’s parliament was expected to adopt a 2012 austerity budget yesterday that it hopes will rescue the country’s crippled economy despite the risk of worsening social unrest.

Just days after thousands of workers descended onto Lisbon’s streets to join a protest strike, lawmakers were preparing for a final vote on an unpopular budget package that cuts salaries, raises taxes and increases working hours for vast numbers of workers already squeezed by recession.

Approved on a first reading on November 11, the bill enjoys solid support from the centre-right majority in parliament and the opposition socialists have said they intend to boycott the vote.

Ahead of the parliamentary session later yesterday Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said he was aware of the “enormous effort” required of Portuguese citizens to overcome the financial crisis while Foreign Minister Paulo Portas added the country “is in a very difficult situation.”

“But it is important that the country is working and that those who do want to work can find work instead of bumping up against picket lines of strikers and strikes everywhere.”

Portugal’s unions and leftist parties have bristled at the latest round of austerity measures that mostly target state employees, calling a general strike on Thursday last week that shut down the capital’s transport system and triggered protests throughout the country.

Faced with massive popular discon-

of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned the global slowdown would hit emerging giants India and China, but could also bring a respite from inflation. China’s growth eased to 9.1 percent in the last quarter from 9.5 percent in the

TOKYO: A woman checks her mobile phone in front of an electronic stock indicator in Tokyo yesterday. Asian stocks fell yesterday after a meeting of Europe’s finance ministers failed to stem fears that the euro currency union is hurtling toward a breakup. —AP

Restructuring plan could save Air India $200 m MUMBAI: Loss-making national carrier Air India says it is implementing a financial restructuring plan which will cut its loan interest payments by nearly $200 million a year. India’s central bank last week approved a move to extend the tenure of loans to the state-run airline by five years, with repayment now due after 15 years.

Air India’s bankers have “given the nod” to the restructuring program, the company said late Tuesday after a meeting of the airline’s board. “The company is in the process of implementing the financial restructuring plan, which would provide a saving of 10 billion rupees ($192 million) a year in interest costs,” the company said in a statement.

Air India also said that it plans to sell and lease out excess aircraft after taking delivery of new Boeing 787 Dreamliners into its fleet, with the aim of lowering debt that has ballooned to $9 billion.

“Excess capacity” of two 747-400 aircraft would also be leased out as well as some 777-200 LR aircraft after it takes delivery of

the Dreamliners, the company added.

Unlisted Air India made an estimated net loss of 69.94 billion rupees ($1.34 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 2011.

Ministerial approval of the central bank’s proposal is expected in the coming weeks, an Air India spokesman told AFP on condition of anonymity. “This would start the process for fresh capital infusion into the company,” he added.

The Indian government has pumped about 12 billion rupees ($230 million) into the airline in the financial year 2010-11 and expects another 67 billion rupees for the fiscal year ending March 2012, the spokesman said. Air India has been in the red since 2007, when it merged with domestic carrier Indian Airlines and has seen its overall share of passenger traffic fall due to competition from private, domestic low-cost airlines. Mounting debts have left it struggling to pay staff, as it awaits a further government cash injection and a turnaround plan. —AFP

TOKYO: Japan’s industrial production rose 2.4 percent in October, government data showed yesterday, doubling market expectations and reversing a factory output drop in the previous month. “ The October headline number came in a lot stronger than expected and was a positive surprise,” said Mari Iwashita, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. The month-on-month rise reversed September’s revised 3.3 percent decline, the first drop in six months after Japan’s devastating March earthquake and tsunami pounded factory production.

The latest figures also beat market expectations of a 1.2 percent increase with the government saying the transport, machinery and chemical sectors contributed most to October’s rise.

Within specific sectors, output in the transportation sector was up 11.6 percent from September as automakers ramped up vehicle output. On Tuesday, government data showed the nation’s retail sales rose for the first time in three months, while household spending was also stronger than expected.

The uptick was driven by a near 23 percent jump in auto sales on year, as pent up demand was unplugged after months of falling sales in the wake of the March natural disasters.

A government sur vey of producers forecasts Japan’s industrial output to edge down 0.1 percent in November but then rise 2.7 percent in December.

Japan fell into a trade deficit in October, reversing a year-earlier surplus, as the euro-zone debt crisis and a strong yen weighed on exporters, while record flooding in Thailand pounded the operations of Japanese automakers and electronics firms with plants in the country. Toyota and others withdrew earnings forecasts as they assessed the scale of disruption, which came as Japanese firms were near to restoring output to normal levels at home after the quake-tsunami shattered component supply chains.

“The impact of the Thai floods on the auto industry is apparently less than initially feared as far as the October results and the November forecast can tell,” Iwashita said. However, Naoki Murakami, chief economist at securities firm Monex, questioned whether producers would meet their December factory forecast given the country’s slowing exports.

“It is uncertain whether the (December) plan will be achieved,” he said. “The impact of the slowing global economy is yet to become obvious but there are risks that production would be weighed down if a European recession affects the rest of the world.” —AFP

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

TECHNOLOGY

iTunes Match wins cloud music war by wisp LOS ANGELES: In recent weeks, Apple, Google and Amazon.com have each launched the missing puzzle piece in their wireless mobile music systems. Apple enabled storage and delivery of your songs over the Internet through iTunes Match. Google star ted selling music digitally.

Amazon shipped an electronicbooks device, called the Kindle Fire, that does much more than books.

With those additions, each system now lets you buy songs, store them on faraway computers called the cloud and retrieve them wirelessly on devices connected to the Internet. But which system do you want to live with? It’s a choice you can’t make lightly because these companies don’t play nice with each other. Once you’ve adopted one, it’s hard to switch. If this were the Music Cloud Wars, then Apple’s iTunes Match would be winning but not by much.

Here’s a quick primer, along with a few ways to get in and around their digital barriers. iTunes Match There’s a good chance you are familiar with iTunes. The software is on millions of computers, and many of you have iPods, iPhones or iPads that let you consume content bought through the iTunes online store.

ITunes Match is a $25-a-year service on top of that. It sees everything you have in iTunes and matches it to copies Apple already has stored in the cloud. Songs not already there will be uploaded from

your computer to a personal locker in the cloud.

It’s alone among the three to let you download songs to iPhones and iPads wirelessly. That means a full copy of the song is stored for listening anytime, rather than streamed on demand over wireless networks, which can be spotty.

There’s nothing more annoying than having your songs stop and start as your connection flutters.

You can have up to 25,000 songs on the service, plus an unlimited number bought through iTunes great for those with large music collections. Of course, most of you won’t fit 25,000 songs on your device, so streaming is an option for songs you haven’t downloaded yet.

If there’s a tune you want to listen to offline, just tap an icon. It takes only a few seconds, and you can start listening before it’s done.

One major caveat: You need an Apple device to use this, and specifically a newer one with Apple’s iOS 5 mobile software. You’re out of luck if you have a phone running Google’s Android system, for instance.

Google Music Using Google’s free Music Manager program, you upload music you own into Google’s cloud.

Unlike Apple, Google doesn’t have songs preloaded, so this can take hours or days. Google Music works best with an Android phone or tablet computer. You simply download the Google Music app to your device. Voila, your songs will be

available for streaming. You can save songs for offline playback by “pinning” them with a digital push pin icon. The service stores up to 20,000 songs, not including those bought through a companion music store run by Google. That’s not as many as iTunes Match, but it’s free.

store, you can share the songs with friends on its Google Plus social network. They get one full listen for free - that’s something not available anywhere else.

One downside: Google’s store isn’t as extensive as Apple’s or Amazon’s. For instance, it’s missing

This screen shot provided by Apple.com, shows a page from iTunes Match. Apple’s iTunes Match is fundamentally more oriented to work with downloading in mind, and it meshes well with your existing song library, either on your device or on your computer. —AP I like Google’s music store because it offers plenty of bargains.

I found Coldplay’s latest album, Mylo Xyloto, for $5 - half the price on iTunes. Google plans to release lots of free music, too. I also like that if you buy from Google’s music

songs from Warner Music Group, which accounts for about 20 percent of music sold in the US. Google Music also isn’t a great option for users of Apple devices. Google found a way to make the system work on iPhones and iPads through

Apple’s Safari Web browser. It has a surprising app-like feel because of the way menus respond to touch.

But Apple device users won’t be able to store songs for offline use.

There’s also a trick for Apple users to take advantage of music deals: Download the songs onto a computer, put the music in iTunes and upload the songs into Apple’s cloud through iTunes Match. It’s not pretty, but it works. Amazon Cloud Drive.

The new Kindle Fire completed Amazon’s music system, though it’s not required. It works fine on Android devices through the Amazon MP3 app. Released in March, Amazon’s cloud storage system is free for up to 5 gigabytes of storage - roughly 1,250 songs. If you bought Lady Gaga’s latest album, “Born This Way,” in a 99-cent promotion in May, you’ll have 20 GB of space - good for about 5,000 songs.

Amazon’s uploader works about the same as Google’s. It could take hours or days to get your songs into the cloud. But once there, you can stream or download songs to the Kindle Fire or to Android devices.

Like Google, Amazon sells songs and albums at a discount to iTunes, and its long-running music store has a selection comparable to iTunes.

Amazon has also found a way to make its system work on Apple devices, using Safari as well, but that workaround is clunkier than Google’s and doesn’t support downloads either. One other downside to Amazon’s service is that you’ll likely

have to pay for cloud storage, as you do with iTunes Match.

Having 5 GB of storage for free is kind of meaningless because most mobile devices have that already.

The Kindle Fire comes with 8 GB on board. For a limited time, you can get 20 GB of storage for $20 a year and most music files won’t count against the total. Although there are things to like about Google’s and Amazon’s systems, they both favor streaming, which isn’t how I want to listen to music when I’m not at a computer.

Apple’s iTunes Match is fundamentally more oriented to work with downloading in mind, and it meshes well with your existing song library, either on your device or on your computer. The iTunes store is also set up better - showing what’s new and popular, and acting as a barometer of popular culture.

Google promotes what’s free and Amazon emphasizes its bargains, but those picks aren’t always what I’m looking for.

Ultimately it’s great to have cloud services out there. It has helped me organize my music collection and reconnected me with songs stuck in the recesses of my computer.

In the end, though, these services ought to be as free and easy to access over multiple devices as email is. Instead, they come across as tools to get you to buy this or that device. And we shouldn’t be made to pay for a song once and then again when we store it. Music in the cloud has promise, but it hasn’t fully delivered just yet. —AP

Samsung wins appeal in Apple tablet battle Australian court clears sale of Galaxy tab

A “Quran Laptop” is seen on display in Hyderabad yesterday. The device, which contains a complete digitised version of the Muslim holy book, contains no other software and plays chapters of the Quran by pressing corresponding keys on the customised keyboard. Each device costs INR 3,000 ($57). —AFP

Facebook settles US privacy violation charges WASHINGTON: Facebook has agreed to tighten its privacy policies and submit to external audits in order to settle charges that it abused users’ personal data, US authorities said Tuesday. In a deal with the Federal Trade Commission, the social networking giant promised to honor users’ privacy preferences and to stop making claims about the security of personal information that are untrue.

The deal settles two-year-old accusations that Facebook-which has some 800 million users-had allowed advertisers access to users’ personal data when users were told it was being kept private. “The proposed settlement requires Facebook to take several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future,” the FTC said in a statement.

That includes giving consumers “clear and prominent notice and obtaining consumers’ express consent before their information is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established.” Facebook did not admit guilt and was not fined in the case, which arose from an investigation by privacy groups in December 2009 that it had deceived users over the protection of their personal data-such as their name, age, location, gender and friends-when it changed its privacy settings.

The FTC said Facebook had deceived users in several ways: promising it would not share personal data with advertisers and then doing so; saying that third party apps had limited access to personal data when they had full access; and making public data users specifically chose to remain private.

Facebook was barred from “making any fur ther deceptive privac y claims” and ordered to regularly undergo a third party audit over the next 20 years to ensure it is keeping its promises. It also must shut down all access to accounts deleted by customers in 30 days or less-an issue many users have become focused on as employers often try to access potential employees’ Facebook pages to find out more about them.

Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement to users on the official Facebook Blog page that the company had already implemented many of the promises in the FTC settlement.

“I’m the first to admit that we’ve made a bunch of mistakes,” he wrote.

“I also understand that many people are just naturally skeptical of what it means for hundreds of millions of people to share so much personal information online, especially using any one service.”

“We’re making a clear and formal long-term commitment to do the things we’ve always tried to do and planned to keep doing-giving you tools to control who can see your information and then making sure only those people you intend can see it.”

He meanwhile announced two new chief privacy officer positions in the company to “ensure that privacy control is built into our products and policies.” Chris Conley, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has pressed Facebook since 2009 over privacy issues, called the settlement “an important step.”

“But to keep pace with new technology, we also need new laws and tools... and comprehensive privacy legislation to help us safeguard our own personal information,” he said in a statement. “We shouldn’t have to struggle with complicated and constantly shifting privacy settings just to keep control of our own personal information.”

But the Computer & Communications Industry Association said the 20-year oversight provision in the settlement was “unnecessarily long.” “If more extensive regulation of the Internet privacy world is the intent, we would hope to get there through a transparent process rather than a series of potentially ever- expanding consent decrees,” the industry association said in a statement.

Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller applauded the deal but called for more privacy legislation. “Consumer privacy is a right, not a luxury... Ultimately, I believe legislation is needed that empowers consumers to protect their personal information from companies surreptitiously collecting and using that personal information for profit.”

The settlement clears up one issue that could have clouded Facebook’s launch on the stock exchange, which might come as e a r l y a s A p r i l 2 0 1 2 . T h e Wa l l S t re e t Journal said preparations are under way for an initial public offering during the April-June quarter that would raise $10 billion and value the company at more than $100 billion. —AFP

SYDNEY: Samsung Electronics Co. is closer to selling its new Galaxy tablet computer in Australia after a court yesterday overturned a ruling that sided with Apple’s allegations Samsung had copied its iPad and iPhone.

The Federal Court’s decision is a victory for Samsung in its bitter, international patent war with Apple Inc., and might be just in time for the Suwon, South Koreabased company to capitalize on the Christmas shopping season in Australia. The ruling Wednesday said evidence fails to show that the Galaxy tablet infringes Apple’s touch screen patent and that Apple Inc. would be unlikely to win if the case went to a trial. It blasted the earlier decision in Apple’s favor as “clearly wrong.”

In October, Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett granted Apple’s request for a temporary injunction against sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, preventing Samsung from selling the device in the country in its current form.

Samsung quickly appealed that decision, and yesterday, the court agreed to lift the injunction and allow Galaxy sales to go ahead. Still, Samsung will have to wait a few more days before it can begin selling the Galaxy, after Apple indicated it would appeal to the nation’s High Court. Federal Court Justice Lindsay Foster agreed to keep the injunction in place until Friday while that issue is pending.

The battle began in April, when Cupertino, California-based Apple sued Samsung in the United States, alleging the product design, user interface and packaging of Samsung’s Galaxy devices “slavishly copy” the iPhone and

iPad. Samsung responded by filing its own lawsuits that accused Apple of patent infringement of its wireless telecommunications technology.

The fight has spread to 10 countries, with courts in several nations - including Germany and the Netherlands - ruling in favor of Apple. It has highlighted the

original and inventive.

In her October ruling, Justice Bennett said she was siding with Apple in part because she felt the company had a sufficient likelihood of winning at trial against Samsung. But yesterday, a full bench of the Federal Court argued that Bennett did not include in her written decision

tices also said they believed Apple was unlikely to succeed at trial, writing that current evidence fails to show that selling the Galaxy in Australia infringes on Apple’s touch screen patent.

In a statement, Samsung said it was pleased with the court’s decision and said it would soon announce when the Galaxy

SYDNEY: People walk by a Samsung store in Sydney. Samsung Electronics Co. is closer to selling its new Galaxy tablet computer in Australia after a court yesterday, overturned a ruling that favored Apple’s allegations Samsung had copied its iPad and iPhone. —AP perception that Samsung - the global No. 1 in TVs and No. 2 in smartphones by sales - is more of an imitator of clever technologies than an innovator in its own right.

Apple, by contrast, is generally viewed by consumers as highly

any assessment of the strengths of Apple’s case, as she was required to do before granting the injunction.

“In our view, her decision was clearly wrong and should be set aside,” the panel wrote. The jus-

would be available in Australia.

“We believe the ruling clearly affirms that Apple’s legal claims lack merit,” the company said.

Apple representatives did not immediate respond to requests for comment. —AP

Social network Path announces more ways to share SAN FRANCISCO: If Facebook is like hanging out at a banquet with a large buffet to feast on, then social network Path is an intimate dinner with close friends. Path is now getting new silverware and table decorations, so to speak, with the release of updated software.

CEO Dave Morin, a Facebook alum, says the dinner-party philosophy remains but users can now share their comings and goings with up to 150 friends, up from the original 50. With the new version available this week, a year after its debut, Path aims to be more than a sharing application. It wants to be a digital journal that documents your days with a push of a button.

Morin describes it as “a slightly social experience.” You’re not just updating it to share your day with others; you’re recording your life for yourself. “The idea has always been to give you a trusted place to share with your close friends and family,” Morin

said. “Now that the (mobile phone) is the accessory you have in your hand all the time, it’s become a journal.”

Path began as an iPhone application for sharing photos and videos. Users later got the ability to add one of five emoticons to their friends’ photos. The new version lets users post music and tell everyone where they are, with whom and whether they are awake or asleep. It’s also compatible with Android-running phones for the first time.

And, it includes technology that allows the application to make updates on its own, as long as the user agrees to it, or opts in.

For example, if you fly to Minneapolis, the application can track you with GPS and post this when you land: “Arrived in Minneapolis, it’s 6:06 pm. Mostly cloudy and 50 degrees.” The location updates are neighborhood and city specific but will not pin an actual location.

Morin says the auto-updates make it eas-

ier for users to share richer content without much effort. And, while the details may seem personal, your network is only of close friends and family. The update retains strict privacy controls, which Morin says is key to making people comfortable with sharing, especially in the wake of high-profile debates over privacy issues at Facebook.

On Tuesday, the government announced a proposed settlement with Facebook over “unfair and deceptive” business practices.

The pact requires the company to get people’s approval before changing how it shares their data.

The new version of Path integrates larger social networks Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, allowing status updates to those sites from the Path application.

Morin says the San Francisco-based startup has enough funding for its next stage and just hired its 20th employee. Path has more than 1 million users. —AP

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Obama administration appeals cigarette warning ruling WASHINGTON: The Obama administration on Tuesday appealed a US judge’s ruling and injunction that blocked tobacco companies from having to display graphic images on cigarette packs and advertising, such as a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his throat. The appeal had been widely expected after US District Judge Richard Leon earlier this month sided with tobacco companies and granted a temporary injunction blocking the requirement.

He said the companies would likely succeed in their lawsuit challenging the

new graphic warnings as unconstitutional because it compels speech in violation of the First Amendment. The Food and Drug Administration in June released nine new warnings to go into effect in September 2012, the first change in U.S. cigarette warning labels in 25 years. Cigarette packs already carry text warnings from the U.S. Surgeon General.

Congress instructed the FDA to impose the new labels as part of 2009 legislation making the agency responsible for regulating tobacco products. The

warnings were required to cover the top half of the front and back of cigarette packs and 20 percent of printed advertisements and must contain color graphics depicting the health consequences of smoking, including diseased lungs, dead bodies and rotting teeth.

But Leon said the graphic images were not narrowly tailored, meaning they are unlikely to survive constitutional muster. He said they provoked an emotional response rather than just providing factual and noncontroversial information, crossing the line into using

company advertising for government advocacy.

The administration appealed Leon’s ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the case could ultimately end up before the US Supreme Court. Reynolds American Inc’s R.J. Reynolds unit, Lorillard Inc, Liggett Group LLC and Commonwealth Brands Inc, owned by Britain’s Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, sued the FDA in August to block the new advisories.

They argued the new graphic warnings force them to “engage in anti-smok-

ing advocacy” on the government’s behalf, breaching their right to free speech. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, accounting for one in every five deaths every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 21 percent of US adults smoke cigarettes, a number little changed since 2004.

The case is R.J Reynolds Tobacco Co et al v. US Food and Drug Administration et al, US District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 11-cv-1482. — Reuters

Funding crunch puts progress on AIDS at risk ‘Tools to achieve AIDS-free generation are in our hands’

MANILA: Illac Diaz (R) inspect a solar light bulb with Siplicio Mondas, 73, and his grandson, installed by the Philippine army soldiers on a roof in a shanty town in Manila, with other private and government organization, they hope to install simultaneously around 10,000 solar bottle bulbs in the slum area in Metro Manila in a project called “Liter of Light”. — AFP

Philippine solar light bottles offer hope MANILA: Filipino entrepreneur Illac Diaz is aiming to help a million poor people in a year, and with the help of some plastic bottles and a clever social media campaign may do even better. Diaz’s project appears simple-fill discarded soft drink bottles with water, place them in roofs of houses and allow the refracted light to brighten homes during the day instead of using electric bulbs.

However, what began as a small-scale effort in a Manila slum early this year has quickly spread throughout the Philippines and even into impoverished communities as far away as Colombia, India and Vanuatu. It has also earned Diaz accolades from the United Nations, which will bring him to its climate change summit in South Africa next week to show world leaders how “solar light bottles” are helping to tackle global warming.

“This has blown us away,” Diaz, head of MyShelter Foundation, told AFP of the international reaction to the project that is in part due to a powerful YouTube clip and smart use of social media sites such as Facebook. “Our original concept was just a Philippine project.

We didn’t think it was going to be possible to do it on this scale.”

More than 15,000 solar light bottles have been installed in slums around the Philippine capital this year, and the project was set to ramp up with another 10,000 to be put in homes during a mass day of volunteer action yesterday.

Diaz said another 100,000 would be installed in the Philippines’ second-biggest city, Cebu, in December, putting the project on track to meet or exceed its goals of helping one million people over 12 months. “This is a grass-roots revolution, a people-powered revolution, using simple and low-cost technologies,” Diaz said.

Diaz described the bottle concept as the opposite of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth model, which he said required poor countries to import or develop clean energy technologies such as windmills and solar panels.

“These are expensive and not a lot of people... actually benefit from them,” he said. “So instead of going high-tech, high-specialty, why not go with something that could be done by hand and cheaply, but could be replicated thousands or millions of times. You can affect more people, save more carbon.”

Diaz said each solar light bottle each year saved 17 kilograms of carbon dioxide, one of the gases that causes global warming, compared with a household using an electric light

bulb instead.

“If you multiply that by a million bottles, that will save more carbon than one huge windmill which costs more to run.” In the San Pedro slum community on the outskirts of Manila where the project started, residents think not about the climate but of the extra light they enjoy during the day without having to use an expensive electric bulb.

Many of the slum houses are dark even during the brightest days, with few windows in the concrete or corrugated iron walls to let the daylight in. Monico Albao, 46, has five solar bottles installed into the corrugated roof of his tiny home that he shares with his 22-year-old daughter, her bus conductor husband and their two-month-old grandson. “My electricity costs have halved. The money we save, we spend on food and clothes for my grandson,” said Albao.

The solar light bulb emits the same amount of light as a 55 watt electric globe, and is expected to last for up to five years, according to Diaz. All that is required is a disused soft drink bottle, which is then filled with purified water and a small amount of bleach to stop any bacteria from growing.

The bottle is then placed inside a hole in the roof and sealed so that rain does not leak through. When the light passes through the bottle, it refracts and shoots into the room in all directions. MyShelter Foundation is not the first group to use the solar light bottle Brazilian Alfredo Moser is largely credited with coming up with the concept a decade ago.

However Diaz’s organisation has been singled out for praise from the United Nations for its ability to upscale and reach so many people. In this regard, Diaz said one of the keys to his success was using the Internet to make people aware of the solar bottle while also giving them a solution online so they could immediately begin installing lights on their own.

Diaz said a person in Colombia began a replica project in September after watching MyShelter Foundation’s YouTube clip, while others had been set up recently in South Africa, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Nepal and Mexico. Diaz, who oversees a permanent staff of just a dozen people, also uses the online publicity to attract volunteers in the Philippines and sponsors from abroad. “This is all part of us becoming an NGO 2.0 — helping a million people without being a multimillion-dollar foundation,” said Diaz. — AFP

LONDON: The international community has made extraordinary progress in the past decade in the fight against AIDS, but a funding crisis is putting those gains at risk, the United Nations health agencies said yesterday.

A World Health Organisation-led report said the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS and now infects about 34 million people around the world has proven a “formidable challenge” for scientists and public health experts.

“But the tide is turning,” it added. “The tools to achieve an AIDS-free generation are in our hands”. Yet a severe funding crisis at the world’s largest backer of the fight against AIDS and a decline in international donor money to battle the disease is dampening optimism in the HIV/AIDS community about an eventual end to the pandemic.

Annual funding for HIV/AIDS programmes fell to $15 billion in 2010 from $15.9 billion in 2009, well below the estimated $22-24 billion the U.N. agencies say is needed by 2015 to pay for a comprehensive, effective global response.

The public-private Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world’s largest financial backer of HIV treatment and prevention programmes, said last week it was cancelling new grants for countries battling these diseases and would make no new funding available until 2014.

In an interview with Reuters in London as the UN agencies repor t was released, Gottfried Hirnschall, the WHO’s director for HIV/AIDS said great progress in bringing down the number of new HIV infections and dramatically increasing access to life-saving AIDS drugs made this a critical time in the battle. Scientific studies in the past year have also shown that getting timely AIDS drug treatment to those with HIV can significantly cut the number of people who become newly infected with the virus.

“This is a really exciting year, because we’re seeing downward trends in those areas where we want to see downward trends - in new infections and in mortality - and we’re seeing upward trends where we’d like to see them, primarily in (treatment) coverage rates,” Hirnschall said.

Latest figures in yesterday’s report and from a UNAIDS global study last week show the number of new HIV infections fell to 2.7 million in 2010, down from 3.1 million in 2001, while the number of people getting life-saving AIDS drugs rose to 6.65 million in 2010 from just 400,000 in 2003.

Hirnschall said the data suggested the WHO’s goal - to have zero new infections, zero deaths and zero stigma associated with HIV - “could in the not too distant future become a reality.”

But the big risk lies in the funding, he said.

TAIPEI: Dozens of volunteers join a human chain in the form of a red ribbon, a symbol of “love and care” for HIV and AIDS carriers worldwide, at a gathering in downtown Taipei yesterday, ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1. The theme of the 2011 global campaign to fight AIDS is “Getting to Zero”. — AFP “We already have a $7 billion shortfall for this year and what’s even more alarming is that we also had almost a billion dollars less this year than we did last.”

With many large international donor countries struggling with recession and debt crises, Hirnschall said it was crucial for countries affected by HIV/AIDS to do all they can to fund their own programmes and make limited resources go further.

enced pain, swelling, joint dislocation and even systemic damage caused by toxic levels of metal ions. The latest report, sponsored by the US Food and Drug Administration and conducted in conjunction with academic experts, reviewed all published literature, as well as large orthopedic registries to come up with the most comprehensive overview to date.

Professor Art Sedrakyan of Weill Cornell Medical College said that while the analysis is preliminary, it indicates that patients implanted with a metal-on-metal device are doubly at risk of requiring a repeat procedure.

US regulators have asked companies that make metal-on-metal implants for more information about their safety. Manufacturers include Zimmer Holdings, DePuy, Wright Medical, Biomet and Smith & Nephew.

“There’s more work needs to be done before drawing more definitive, worldwide conclusions, but it is probably not likely to change the signal that these metal-on-metal implants are failing at a greater rate,” Sedrakyan said.

The report analyzed the results of 18 studies involving 3,139 patients and more than 830,000 operations reported in registries. —Reuters

donors should recognise that stepping up investment now will save lives, and more money in the long run. “The risk is that we carry on as we are for the next 20 years and the whole epidemic will just linger on and on.

Or we could load up front and make a big investment now, and then the numbers will really start to come down and it will pay off.”

“The question is, is the world ready to do that?” — Reuters

One in 10 stent patients readmitted within a month

Report highlights metal hip implant problems LONDON: Modern, all-metal hip implants appear no more effective than traditional implants and may be less safe, according to a new report, a finding that could hurt orthopedic companies that make the devices and accelerate lawsuits.

The report, published on Tuesday in the British Medical Journal, found that patients who received so-called metal-on-metal implants were more likely to require repeat surgery than those who received traditional implants. Every year, more than 700,000 joint replacements are performed in the United States, of which some 270,000 are hip replacements, according to the report.

The materials used in a replacement hip’s ball-and-socket structure can vary to include metal, ceramic or plastic. Metal on metal implants were supposed to be more durable than earlier metal on polyethylene implants. But over the past few years, reports have emerged that the metal implants fail at a greater rate than traditional implants. Last year, Johnson & Johnson’s Depuy Orthopaedics Inc unit recalled its metal ASR hip system after it failed at a higher-than-expected rate. Some patients experi-

Wednesday’s report, released ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1 by the WHO, the United Nations AIDS programme UNAIDS and the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF, said treatment, prevention and outreach programmes are becoming more efficient, with health clinics integrating services and local communities finding more effective ways to get medicines to HIV patients.

“Nevertheless, financial pressures ... are threatening the impressive progress to date,” it said, adding that declining funding was a “deeply troubling trend”. Hirnschall said

MIAMI: These photographs obtained November 29, 2011 courtesy of the Miami Gardens Police Department shows Oneal Ron Morris, 30, who police say was born a man and identifies as a woman, following her arrest on November 18, 2011 after nearly a year of being sought and charged with practicing medicine without a license with serious bodily injury. Authorities say a victim who was looking to get a job at a nightclub and wanted a curvier figure paid Morris $700 for the injections in 2010. Morris allegedly used some type of tubing and inserted the toxic chemicals into her backside during a painful procedure. Several possible victims have come forward alleging a woman posing as a Florida doctor and promising buttocks enhancement pumped their behinds with a toxic concoction of cement, superglue and flat-tire sealant, state health officials said. — AFP

NEW YORK: One out of every 10 people who get a stent inserted to open up blocked arteries ends up back in the hospital within 30 days, suggests a new study that also found the readmitted patients are more likely to die in the next year.

Readmission rates are now publicly reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and are one performance measure used to determine how well a hospital is doing at treating its heart patients. The study suggests that at least some of the factors related to a patient’s chance of going back to the hospital, including the severity of the diseases they had to begin with, cannot necessarily be changed by better care.

Still, researchers said the findings give hospitals a place to start in addressing those extra risks and making sure that each patient has the right tools to prevent another costly hospital stay when they go home. “Many hospitals until recently have not focused on transitions to the outpatient environment,” said Dr. Adrian Hernandez, from the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, who wrote a commentary accompanying the study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

“When a patient’s leaving the hospital, it’s really important for not just the patient but the family...to understand what they had done and what they need to know about the disease and their medication.” Researchers tracked close to 13,000 patients who had one or more elective or emergency stent procedures over a 10-year period at a single hospital in Rochester, Minnesota.

Just under 10 percent of patients were readmitted to the hospital within the month afterward with heart-related or other complications. Women, as well as people with kidney and lung diseases or cancer all had a 30 to 90 percent higher risk of ending up back in the hospital compared to other heart

patients.

Procedural complications such as bleeding and heart attacks, as well as a longer hospital stay, were also linked with higher chances of readmission.

Between seven and eight percent of patients who were readmitted died within a year-a rate that was 40 percent higher than patients who didn’t have another hospital stay.

The higher mortality among readmitted patients was probably because they were sicker to begin with, or because of hospital errors that may have led to their readmission in the first place, Hernandez told Reuters Health. A research letter published by Italian cardiologists alongside the new study also looked at readmission rates and reasons at northern Italian institutions.

The researchers found that among patients with a particularly dangerous type of heart attack, known as ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, between seven and 20 percent of those who got stents were readmitted for repeat procedures, or with a heart attack or major bleeding within three years. Nearly 18 percent died during that period.

In the United States, performance measures such as rehospitalization of heart patients are being targeted as ways to financially reward the hospitals with better outcomes.

Readmission rates “have been publicly reported by Medicare and advocated as measures of care quality based on the presumption that many of these early re-hospitalizations are preventable,” said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a cardiologist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, in an email to Reuters Health. “This new study, however, shows that there are relatively few early rehospitalizations that are directly related to the (stent) procedure,” added Fonarow, who was not involved in the research. — Reuters

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Arthrosis incurable, but is treatable BERLIN: Simply the name “arthrosis” bodes ill because the Greek suffix “-osis” often refers to an abnormal or diseased condition. And indeed: Arthrosis is an irreversible, degenerative joint disease. But Karsten Dreinhoefer, a Berlin-based orthopaedist, has words of comfort: “Arthrosis symptoms are very treatable,” he said.

The cartilage in a joint with arthrosis gradually erodes to the point where it can no longer perform properly. Healthy cartilage does an excellent job as a buffer between the bones, absorbing the shocks of every movement like a gel cushion. Sometimes the cartilage erodes completely and the bones rub against each other, causing pain.

“Most patients come because of pain,” said Reinhard Deinfelder, chairman of the BadenWuerttemberg branch of Germany’s Professional Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons. At an advanced stage of the disease, there is also swelling in the joint. Some people are even unaware that they have the disease because it is not always painful. “The experience of pain is different for every person,” Deinfelder said. For some, the X-ray image of their arthrosis is alarming but they suffer little or not at all. For others, the image is fairly normal but they feel considerable pain. Arthrosis occurs most often in the knee. It is also common in other large joints, namely the hip and shoulder. But cartilage can degenerate in any joint, also small ones. The possible causes are many, including postural misalignment - in a foot or hip, for example - or a previous injury such as a torn ligament or broken bone. Not all causes are known, though.

What is certain is that the risk of arthrosis increases with age. Other risk factors are lack of exercise and excess body weight.

“Being five kilograms overweight doubles the risk of arthrosis of the knee,” Dreinhoefer said.

The fatter a person is, the more weight his or her joints have to withstand. Exercise provides cartilage with nutrients and oxygen, helping to keep it healthy. Exercise also strengthens muscles, which take a load off the joints.

The type of treatment for arthrosis depends in part on its cause - if the cause can be determined. “Misalignments can be corrected with

slanted soles or inlays, for example,” Dreinhoefer said. Medications help to ease acute pain.

Beyond that, the list of remedies is long.

Cortisone injections are a possibility.

Physiotherapy can help, too, as can electrotherapy. As a last resort there is surgery, in which the joint is immobilized or replaced by a prosthetic implant. According to physicians, new treatment methods are not on the horizon at the moment.

Roland Schulze, a natural-health professional and biologist in Germany, points out that arthrosis can cause the tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones near the affected joint to become diseased as well. “They’ve also got to be treated,” he said. Citing side-effects, he said he disapproved of long-term therapy with drugs.

The way a natural health professional treats arthrosis depends on numerous factors, including the state of the patient’s immune system and his or her personal situation. Various standard preparations are used. But every arthrosis patient should make sure to exercise.

“Regular and moderate physical exertion is advisable,” Schulze said. The appropriate type of exercise depends on which joint is affected. The patient should consult with an orthopaedist about this. “It might not be a good idea for someone with arthrosis of the knee joint to jog,” Dreinhoefer warned, adding that swimming or cycling would be better alternatives in this case.

For someone with arthrosis of the shoulder, however, swimming is not advised.

A general rule is that exercise for arthrosis patients should not involve sudden, vigorous movements. Schulze has a high opinion of the essential omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, which are said to have anti-inflammatory properties and stimulate blood flow. “This improves joints’ flexibility,” he said.

Conventional physicians are more guarded about the possible benefits of fish oil. According to Dreinhoefer, there is no certainly that fish oil, or glucosamine, or hyaluronic acid have any effect at all. “It’s not harmful, and maybe it’ll do some good.” Deinfelder considers fish oil and mussel extract to be quite helpful in cases of mild arthrosis. But exercise, he said, is much more important. — dpa

BHCK Beat Diabetes 2011 KUWAIT: Within the framework of celebrations of the world’s fight against diabetes, Box Hill College Kuwait for girls organized an open day with the participation of various organizations that are concerned in health and nutrition under the slogan (BHCK Beats Diabetes 2011).

The day included a number of sporting events including a walkathon in addition to a health competition where students had the opportunity to learn new and useful information about preventive care against diabetes.

There was also participation from Nestle Co. who organized a cooking show using low fat products , students enjoyed learning new, easy and healthy recipes as well.

There was participation from various companies who are more directed towards producing low fat products like American, Kd Cow, and there was participation from Pilates encouraging students to go towards a more active life through exercising.

In this occasion, Mrs. Nadia Kawash, from the division of student affairs at BHCK commented by saying that:” there is a global interest in raising awareness and disseminating information about diabetes, as we can see more and more of the young generation having this disease, it is very important to educate

them how to prevent and undertake a healthy lifestyle, with this in mind, we have coordinated with a group of student to be involved in the organization of this event.

The students have planned for a walkathon around campus in the participation of more than 60 young students, in addition to a health competition and it is remarkable to mention that questions

for this competition were prepared by the students who themselves were learning by researching more and more about diabetes.

The college’s biggest goal in these events is to help students to be more oriented towards not only their academic life and career but towards social responsibility where the combination of both builds an active member of the society”.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

W H AT ’ S O N Greetings

Wishing you a happy birthday Abd El Monaem Mohamed.

Best wishes come from uncle Sherif, father, mother and relatives.

GUST organizes Hajj reception

Upcoming events Christmas Carol concert The Ahmadi Music Group will be holding a fantastic Christmas Carol Concert on December 9 and 10 at New English School (NES) from 5pm both days with an adult show at 7:30pm on both days, in which Santa will be making an appearance, and the children can get involved with singing, waving jingle bells, etc. Guaranteed Christmas fun for the whole family!

Aware Arabic courses “The AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Winter 1 Arabic language courses will begin on November 20th, 2011 until January 12th, 2012.

AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind.

For more information or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105/104/0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.”

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he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) organized a small reception in honor of its staff and faculty that have completed the Hajj pillar of Islam. It was a small gesture

by GUST to support its staff and faculty.

Muhammad Al-Nasiri, HR Director at GUST, welcomed the attendees and noted that Hajj is one of the pillars of the Islam faith and its completion is an achievement in its own right. The reception was attended by Dr Sabah

Al-Quaddoomi, Vice President for Academic Services, Ibrahim Emran, Assistant Vice President for Administrative and Financial Affair, Administration & Finance Affairs, Dr. Shah Mohammad Haque, Head of the Mass Communications Department and many staff and faculty who came to show their support to their fellow colleagues. GUST congratulates all Muslims who have completed this great pillar.

Talent Hunt Wesal Media Team is organizing a new concept competition for little talents in Kuwait. This competition is for children ages 6-12 years who have excellent talents in singing, dancing, drawing, etc. All interested little talents are welcome to participate. To sign-up, just visit their website and register your child. The final announcements will be published in a short event at Discovery Mall with famous singers and actors in Kuwait. For more information: 9754-7705 Silsila Ye Chahat Ka Youth icon for the millions Shreya Ghoshal will be performing live in Kuwait on Friday, 9th Dec. 2011.

ICS is now all set to present “Silsila Ye Chahat Ka” with Shreya Ghoshal at Al Jeel Al Jadeed School, Hawally.

The mega evening is organised by Indian Cultural Society.

New Year Hangama The RAK Dance Academy (RDA) Kuwait, is planning to put a charity event as 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.

Indian Lawyers’ Forum picnic tomorrow Indian Lawyers’ Forum, the association of Indian Lawyers & Law Graduates in Kuwait, conducts its annual family picnic on 02-12-2011, Friday 10.30 am to 3.30 pm at Mishref Gardens Kuwait. Several family entertainments are planned. All Indian lawyers are invited to join with family for this picnic. For more information please contact 24346934, Mob. 97203939, 97260159 Email. advpanicker@gmail.com 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.

Kala (Art) Kuwait NIRAM prize distribution Kala(Art) Kuwait “Niram 2011 - B Natural “ Childrens’ Day painting competition prize distribution will take place at Indian Community School, Khaitan on Friday, 2nd December 2011. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 2:30 PM and will also include entertainment programs along with prize distribution.

Christmas music concert Men’s Voice and Choral Society - Kuwait, the renowned Christian musicale group in Kuwait since 2001, who were able to put up a splendid Christmas carol in the form of a Living Christmas tree last year, are going to be back on stage this season of winter with their 11th Annual Christmas Music Concert “Celtic Christmas” for all the music lovers of the region on Wednesday 7th, December 2011 at 7 pm at Hall of Faith, National Evangelical Church (NECK), Kuwait. They are at their final stages of practice rounding up and polishing the best carols from English and Malayalam favorites. Every Music Lovers are cordially invite everyone to this spiritual musical concert, for more details contact 94064465/94063481 or visit www.mensvoicekuwait.org

Representatives of KIPCO, Burgan Bank and Gulf Insurance Company at the Job Fair.

KIPCO’s Representative, Ms Eman Al Awadhi (right), presenting a commemorative plaque to the Representative of Prime Minister, Sheikh Salem Al Abdullah Al Sabah, the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the United States.

KIPCO sponsors closing ceremony of 28th conference of NUKS-USA

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IPCO - the Kuwait Projects Company - sponsored the closing ceremony of the 28th Conference of the National Union of Kuwaiti Students - USA Branch (NUKS-USA). As a platinum sponsor of the conference, KIPCO took part in the job fair organized on the sidelines of the event, which was held under the auspices of the Prime Minister on November 23-27 in Beverly Hills, California.

In a speech addressing the students,

Ms Eman Al-Awadhi, Assistant Manager, Marketing and PR Department, said: “Life is a great adventure and your career after university will offer you many fantastic opportunities to grow and learn. And for Kuwait to play its full role within the global economy, you must consider a future within the private sector.

“In the private sector you face challenges every day, and these test your thinking, attitude and leadership skills and you get to prove yourself every day.

The private sector is our future because only by working hard and enjoying the fruits of our work are we truly fulfilled as individuals. Only the private sector can offer us this opportunity.

“KIPCO’s management invests in youth and provides them with the support they need to develop their skills and to achieve their aspirations. This contributes not only to the development of our company, but also to that of our people and the economy of our country.”

Courtyard by Marriott launches weekend poolside barbeque nights

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he Courtyard by Marriott Kuwait City Hotel is set to launch its Poolside Barbeque Nights at their 10th floor outdoor pool starting Friday, December 2.

The BBQ nights will offer barbequed fresh meats, seafood and a variety of delightful salads every Thursday and Friday from 7:30 pm onwards.

As the eagerly-awaited winter season approaches, customers can enjoy a delightful and very cozy dining experience with their family and friends, surrounded by a warm and welcoming ambience provided by the Courtyard by Marriott hotel. With live popular entertainment, tantalizing sheesha and attentive associates, the unique outdoor location on the 10th floor of the hotel is set to be the best offered in town, as guests enjoy the fantastic variety of hot and freshly

prepared meats and seafood in the cool wintery air, while watching the hustle and bustle of city life go by below.

The BBQ station offers a range of mouthwatering dishes that have been specially prepared to cater to any guest’s tastes - the lamb cutlets with mint and thyme marinade, grilled shrimps marinated with lemon grass, chicken leg marinated with oregano, grilled red snapper marinated with lemon and saffron to mention a few. Along with side orders of fried rice, assorted grilled vegetables skewers and baked potatoes among others, guests will indulge in a menu that offers delicious cold buffets that include artichoke salad, sweet red cabbage with sultanas, roasted pumpkin with sour cream and herbs, grilled chicken and avocado salad, apart from salad bars featuring seasonal mixed green leaves, tomato, cucumber, grated carrot, peppers, broccoli, baby corn, mushroom and spring onion. To end a perfectly good night, scrumptious assortments of desserts are available, starting with creme brule with pistachios, cherry, chocolate and Vanilla tartlets to chocolate brownies.

“We launched the BBQ nights at a time when people crave for a soothing and uniquely elevating experience. There’s no better way to celebrate the last season of the year than to dine under the stars and the moonlight and watch the hustle and bustle of city life below, while enjoying the luxurious hospitality that the Courtyard by Marriott is famous for “said Ziad Watfi, Director of Food & Beverage at the hotel.

At the Closing Ceremony, KIPCO presented a commemorative plaque to the Representative of the Prime Minister, Sheikh Salem Al Abdullah Al Sabah, and the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the United States.

Representatives of KIPCO Group companies - Burgan Bank and Gulf Insurance Company - were present at the conference to outline the range of career opportunities awaiting graduating students in Kuwait’s private sector.

WEEKLY ADOPTION Caesar the GSD mix Caesar is a handsome one-year old male German Shepherd Mix. This friendly and social dog would love a home with a garden and with another dog to play with. Caesar loves a good cuddle and his daily long walks. He will do best in a home with children over 12. To adopt Caesar, contact K’S PATH at (+965) 6700 1622 or visit the website www.kspath.org

Reeba the DSH cat Reeba is a sweet one-year old Domestic Short Haired cat. This little girl is friendly, responsive and independent; she likes to lounge on a couch if she wouldn’t come to you for attention. Reeba would do great in most homes with children over 5. To adopt Reeba, contact K’S PATH at 6700 1622 or visit the website www.kspath.org

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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

Peppy tots at Jack and Jill visit Scientific Center

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chool picnics are opportunities for teachers and children to socialize, play games, and to learn more about the ever-exciting world outside the classrooms. Little children of Bhavans Jack and Jill Preschool at Mangaf enjoyed a fun filled day full of excitement and exhilaration.

On Children’s Day, peppy tots visited Scientific Center -Kuwait, where they enjoyed and explored ‘Wonders of Nature’. The tour began with the smallest creatures to the largest and the most dangerous creatures seen in the desert. Teachers found it very gratifying to satiate the curiosity of the little

minds, elucidating how the weapons and tools showcased at the Scientific Center were used for hunting by prehistoric nomads who lived in the deserts.

The small eyes were lit up by the sight of exciting underwater world. It was a new experience for the children

and they were enthusiastic to know more about the aquatic creatures.

Teachers explained certain interesting facts about the aquatic world to the bubbly kids much to their merriment.

After the lively session of infotainment, tiny tots sat down to relish nibbles with their teachers.

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. Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca.

The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form.

All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed. nnnnnnn

Baselios Marthoma Paulose II honors Kurien, teachers of Maha Edavaka

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H Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, the Catholicose and Malankara Metropolitan, on behalf of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and St. Gregorios Indian Orthodox Maha Edavaka, Kuwait honored Senior member Kurien Varghese at a function held at Marina Hall.

Kurien Varghese, Sabha Managing Committee member and Headmaster of the largest Sunday School in Malankara Sabha was adored with traditional ponnada and awarded a memento for his exemplary service to the Kuwait Parish as well as to the whole church. His Holiness during his speech praised the efforts of Kurien in managing the largest Sunday School and introducing several innovative programs for the benefits of the children. His Holiness also commended on the philanthropic work of Kurien which are done in silence without looking for any fame or recognition. His Grace Dr Joseph Mar Dionysius, Metropolitan of Kolkotta Diocese, too in his speech

praised the activities of Kurien for the benefits of the Kuwait parish as well as the Church as a whole.

Kurien has been actively

involved with St Gregorios Indian Orthodox Maha Edavaka (formerly known as Orthodox Syrian Church), Kuwait ever

since he reached Kuwait in 1967.

He was the Honorable Secretary of the Kuwait parish during two terms of which the most notable and difficult one was to re-

establish the church after liberation.

Kurien is one of the elected members of the Malankara

Association from Kuwait and managing committee member from the Calcutta Diocese. He was the General Convener of the 2nd Gulf Orthodox Youth

Conference which was held in Kuwait in 2007 in connection with the Golden Jubilee of the Kuwait Parish.

Kurieri is one of the founder members of Indian Orthodox Mercy Fellowship (IOMF), a spiritual and charitable organization under the Maha Edavaka and was its Vice President in 2004.

Kurien is also very active in the social and philanthropic circle in Kuwait.

Kurien is currently the Head of Information Technology (CIO) at Boubyan Bank, Kuwait.

During the function, His Holiness also awarded mementos and certificates to the teachers who had 20 years or more service in teaching the Sunday School students. 13 teachers whose teaching service extended from 20 years to 32 years were honored with the awards and certificates.

Rev Geevarghese Remban, Priest Trustee - Rev. Fr. Johns Abraham Konatt, Lay Trustee - M. G. George Muthoot, Association Secretary - George Joseph, Vicar - Rev Fr Jose Mathew, Associate Vicar - Rev Fr George C. Varghese, Trustee - Jose Daniel and Secretary - John George also attended the function.

Gateway to Knowledge - India Education Exhibition Kuwait opens tomorrow India Education Exhibition 2011, showcasing seven exhibitors from India representing over twenty reputed educational institutions and offering hundreds of courses, will be inaugurated tomorrow, Friday, 2nd December, at the United Indian School auditorium in Abbasiya by Mrs. Susan Roy, Principal, United Indian School.

Renowned institutions of higher learning from Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi will be represented under one-roof at the two-day exhibition, which will be open from 11am to 8pm on both days. This comprehensive educational event will be offering over 100 professional and vocational courses, as well as individual career counseling and spot admission applications. Academic professionals from colleges participating in the show will provide all the information needed for parents and children to make informed choices on current educational opportunities available in India.

NRI parents and, more importantly, their children, are often quite unprepared for the realities of the higher education process in India. Academic counseling professionals emphasize the importance of students having a clear understanding of basic requirements before selecting a course. Enrolling for a particular specialization just because the course is popular or in demand does not make any sense, especially if the student has no aptitude for the chosen subject. It is cru-

cial that children undergo professional evaluation to determine their aptitude as well as to assess their abilities and capabilities so that they can be guided along the right career path.

Several institutions participating in the show have scholarships and collaborations with universities in United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand. Among the leading academic establishments taking part in the India Education Exhibition are PSNA College of Engineering, MVJ College of Medical Sciences, Sharda University and Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering and Technology.

Located among the scenic Kodai Hills, PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, has all the credentials to make it among the leading engineering institutions in the country. With over 4,500 students and catered to by more than 600 dedicated teaching and non-teaching staff, PSNA College has to its credit the fact that some of the top industrial houses in India vie with each other to recruit students from PSNA. For instance, in 2010, out of the 450 students who passed out, 400 were immediately absorbed by national industries and the remaining 50 were not absorbed because they chose to continue higher qualifications.

On a similar note, in an attestation of the preeminence of faculty, state-of-the-art learning facilities and modern infrastructure

at M.V.J. Medical College & Research Hospital, many of the leading doctors and medical professionals in Karnataka state select this college for their children who choose a medical career. Besides conferring graduates with MBBS degree, the college also offers PostGraduate degree courses in 12 disciplines, and Post-Graduate Diploma Courses in 6 disciplines. A 640-bed multi-specialty research hospital caters to the clinical material necessary for effective medical training at the college. Within less than a decade of its existence, the college has spearheaded a medical revolution in the country by providing holistic medical education to tomorrow’s global medical professionals.

The only full-fledged university participating in the exhibition is Sharda University from Greater Noida in New Delhi. Part of Sharda Group of Institutions (SGI), North India’s largest educational Group with more than 22,000 enrolled students, Sharda University offers a multi-disciplinary academic environment with medical, engineering and business colleges within the same university campus. The university with its international faculty, cutting-edge infrastructure, application-based learning and academic collaborations with over thirty international universities is becoming the choice among students looking for a global exposure to learning.

Established in 1998 the Sri Venkateswara

College of Engineering and Technology (SVCET) enjoys reputation as one of the finest engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh. Located just 40km from Vellore in Tamilnadu, the college currently offers six undergraduate engineering programs in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, Computer Science and Information Technology and nine Masters Degree programs. A multi-cultural environment at SVCET is fostered by intake of students not only from India but also from Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE, Malaysia, Tanzania and Sudan.

Speaking about the college’s international student body, Dr. Mohan Babu, Dean of International Relations at SVCET said, “With the aim of developing SVCET into a globally accredited institution, we have created an international ambience in the campus that is reflected in the strictly monitored hostel life that is comfortable, safe and secure.”

Some of the other participating colleges in the exhibition are Park College of Engineering Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu; Srinivasa Academy of Education, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh and KMCH Group of Nursing, Pharmacy, Engineering, Arts& Science Colleges, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, among others. The India Education Exhibition is organized by Synergy International and Li Max Events India, in association with Response Events and Exhibitions, Kuwait.

EMBASSY OF GERMANY

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (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 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 PERU The Embassy of Peru is located at Al-Arablya Tower, Sharq, Ahmed Al-Jaber Street, on the 6th Floor. In the same place, as a part of the Chancellery of the Embassy of Peru in Kuwait, also is located the Showing Room of “PeruExpoTour, Trade & Invest.” nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA Embassy of the Russian Federation will hold the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (Parliament) on December 3, 2011, between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm in the Embassy s premises by the address: Kuwait City, Daiya, Block 5, Diplomatic campus, Plot 17. All the Russians are invited to participate.

They are requested to present valid Russian passports. nnnnnnn

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.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

TV PROGRAMS

03:35 Speed Of Life 04:30 Beast Lands 05:25 Cats 101 06:20 Animal Cops Miami 07:10 Animal Cops Specials 2009 08:00 Monkey Life 08:25 The Really Wild Show 08:50 Growing Up...: Wolves 09:40 Breed All About It 10:10 Dogs 101: Specials 11:05 Cats 101 12:00 Animal Cops Houston 12:55 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 13:50 SSPCA: On The Wildside 14:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 15:40 Life Of Mammals 16:30 Monkey Life 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Baby Planet 18:25 Cats 101 19:20 Trophy Cats 20:15 Monkey Life 20:40 Breed All About It 21:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 22:05 Life Of Mammals 23:00 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz 23:55 Untamed & Uncut

03:20 04:10 04:40 04:50 05:00 05:15 05:20 05:40 06:00 06:10 06:20 06:35 06:40 07:00 07:10 07:30 07:40 07:50 08:05 08:10 08:30 08:40 09:00 09:10 09:20 09:35 09:45 10:05 10:15 10:40 11:40 12:25 13:15 13:45 14:15 15:10 15:40 16:40 17:30 18:15 18:45 19:15 20:10 21:00 21:45 22:15 22:45 23:15 23:40

Casualty One Foot In The Grave 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles One Foot In The Grave The Weakest Link Return To Cranford Doctors EastEnders Casualty One Foot In The Grave My Family Return To Cranford The Weakest Link Doctors EastEnders Casualty Return To Cranford The Weakest Link Doctors EastEnders Big Cat Diary Big Bear Diary Coast

03:40 04:05 04:55 05:20 06:10 06:35 07:05 08:00 08:25 08:50 10:50 11:40 12:25

The Naked Chef Come Dine With Me What Not To Wear Holmes On Homes The Naked Chef The Naked Chef Come Dine With Me James Martin’s Champagne James Martin’s Champagne Daily Cooks Challenge Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds Bargain Hunt

13:10 14:00 16:00 16:50 17:35 18:20 19:10 20:50 21:40 22:30 23:15

Come Dine With Me Daily Cooks Challenge Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Rhodes Across The Caribbean Come Dine With Me Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds Bargain Hunt

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Scooby Doo Where Are You! Tom & Jerry The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Scooby-Doo And ScrappyDastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Pick A Toon Puppy In My Pocket Dexters Laboratory Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Top Cat Wacky Races Tom & Jerry The Scooby Doo Show Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Johnny Bravo Dexters Laboratory

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03:15 Emperor’s New School 03:35 Stitch 04:25 Replacements 05:15 Fairly Odd Parents 06:00 Emperor’s New School 06:20 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 06:45 Shake It Up 07:05 Wizards Of Waverly Place 07:30 Suite Life On Deck 07:55 Good Luck Charlie 08:20 Fish Hooks 08:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:00 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:15 Jungle Junction 09:25 The Hive 09:35 Handy Manny 09:50 Imagination Movers 10:15 Phineas And Ferb 10:30 Emperor’s New School 10:50 Good Luck Charlie 11:15 Phineas And Ferb 11:35 Suite Life On Deck 12:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 12:25 Sonny With A Chance 12:45 Good Luck Charlie 13:10 Hannah Montana 13:30 Suite Life On Deck 13:55 Wizards Of Waverly Place 14:20 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 14:55 Good Luck Charlie 15:20 Phineas And Ferb 15:45 Fish Hooks 16:10 Shake It Up 16:35 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 17:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 17:25 Good Luck Charlie 17:50 Fish Hooks 18:15 Shake It Up 18:45 Suite Life On Deck 19:35 Good Luck Charlie 20:00 Emperor’s New School 20:25 Fish Hooks 20:50 Hannah Montana 21:15 Sonny With A Chance 21:35 Good Luck Charlie 22:00 Shake It Up 22:25 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 22:50 Sonny With A Chance 23:15 Wizards Of Waverly Place 23:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place

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03:15 Fascination-18 05:15 The Time Traveller’s WifePG15 07:15 Secret Origin: The Story Of DC Comics-PG 09:00 Le Code A Change-PG15 11:00 A Simple Twist Of Fate-PG15 13:15 The Nutty Professor-FAM 15:00 Teen Knight-PG15 17:00 Adam-PG15 19:00 Inside Job-PG15 21:00 The Last Station-PG15 23:00 Stand By Me-18

03:15 Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time-PG15 05:15 Catch That Kid-PG 07:00 Hachiko: A Dog’s Story-PG15 09:00 Revenge Of The BridesmaidsPG15 11:00 Astro Boy-FAM 13:00 Everybody Wants To Be Italian-PG15

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The A-Team-PG15 Revenge Of The BridesmaidsThe Tender Hook-PG15 The American-18 The Losers-PG15

04:00 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie-PG 06:00 A Christmas Carol-PG 08:15 The Thief Of Baghdad-PG 10:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 12:00 Columbus III: The New WorldPG 14:00 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie-PG 16:00 Like Mike-PG 18:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 20:00 The Karate Kid-PG 22:30 Like Mike-PG

03:45 School Of Rock-PG15 05:45 Who’s Your Caddy?-PG15 08:00 Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-PG 10:00 School Of Rock-PG15 12:00 Legend Of The Guardians-PG 14:00 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 16:00 Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-PG 18:00 Pina-PG15 20:00 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World-18 22:00 Fragments-18

03:00 Live Test Cricket 10:00 WWE Vintage Collection 11:00 WWE SmackDown 13:00 Trans World Sport 14:00 Live The Nedbank Golf Challenge 18:30 Powerboats F1 19:00 WWE NXT 20:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 21:00 The Nedbank Golf Challenge

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WWE Vintage Collection UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars Championship Le Mans WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 139

03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00

Dogfights Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Dead Men’S Secrets Ancients Behaving Badly Man Moment Machine

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Decoding The Past Dogfights Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Dead Men’S Secrets Ancients Behaving Badly Man Moment Machine Decoding The Past Dogfights Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Dead Men’S Secrets Ancients Behaving Badly Lancaster At War Decoding The Past Ax Men Ax Men Swamp People

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06:10 Homes With Style 06:35 Area 07:05 Clean House 08:00 Videofashion News 08:30 Videofashion News 09:00 Videofashion Daily 10:00 Open House 10:25 Open House 10:55 How Do I Look?

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12:50 Clean House: Search For The Messiest...

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16:40 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 17:35 Jerseylicious 18:30 Tia And Tamera 19:25 How Do I Look?

20:25 Open House 20:50 Open House 21:20 Clean House 22:15 Big Rich Texas 23:10 Wicked Fit

03:00 Essential 03:30 Great Scenic Railways-New Zealand 04:00 Intrepid Journeys 05:00 Globe Trekker 06:00 Glutton For Punishment 06:30 Glutton For Punishment 07:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 08:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 The Big Guide 10:00 Glutton For Punishment 10:30 Life’s A Trip 11:00 Glutton For Punishment 11:30 Glutton For Punishment 12:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 13:00 Globe Trekker 14:00 Sophie Grigson In The Souk 14:30 Feast India 15:00 Intrepid Journeys 16:00 Essential 16:30 Great Scenic Railways-New Zealand 17:00 Globe Trekker 18:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 19:00 Sophie Grigson In The Souk 19:30 Feast India 20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Indian Times 22:00 Wild Camping 23:00 Luxury Train Journeys Of India

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Classifieds THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

ACCOMMODATION

Furnished room with all facilities available in Salmiya. Please contact: 99787621. (C 3751) Abraq Khaitan, sharing room/ bed space available for decent Indian bachelor

with kitchen and washing machine facility. Beside main road and bus stop, from December. Contact: 97523316/ 24745162.

(C 3752) 29-11-2011 Sharing accommodation for a single bachelor Goan or Mangalorian Christian, behind Farwaniya garden/

Metro Cinema. Contact 97910435. (C 3747) Sharing accommodation at Bahrain St, Salmiya, near big jamiya, Ghadeer Clinic, for executive bachelors/ family. Contact: 66792392/ 66047295/ 60625120.

(C 3750) 27-11-2011

FOR SALE PC IBM, Pentium 4, Intel 2.6, Ram 512 MB, HDD 80 GB, Windows XP, DVDWriter, 17” LCD Monitor, excellent condition, Price KD 50. Contact: 99322585.

(C 3755) 1-12-2011

Mercedes Benz 1998 (E 200), color beige, running condition, registration till May 2012. Price KD 600.

Contact: 97277135.

29-11-2011 Two General A/C window units and Sony TV 21”, excellent condition.

Contact: 66625253.

(C 3749) 27-11-2011

MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited for RCSC boy 38 years (5.7” height) Palai Dioceses (legally divorced) working in Kuwait. Email: mmmjackson7@gmail.com 30-11-2011

Dance games shimmy to success LOS ANGELES: This year, before the pumpkin pie and turkey gravy even hit the Thanksgiving table, Reili Waniss got a head start on her perennial New Year's resolution to lose weight and get fit.

She did it with a video game called "Zumba Fitness 2," which she bought this summer and began playing at home while her twin toddlers napped. She lost 32 pounds in 4 months, a third of the way to shedding the 100 pounds she gained while pregnant.

"It's crazy, but I've totally fallen in love with this game," said the 31-year-old lab technician from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. "It makes me happy."

Dancing games have steadily marched up the charts of top-selling games, in some months outdoing big-budget bestsellers such as "Madden NFL 12" and "Gears of War 3." In October, sales of dancing titles such as "Just Dance 3," "Everybody Dance," "Dance Central" and the first installment of "Zumba" leaped 135 percent over October 2010, according to NPD Group Inc., a market research firm.

Overall game sales rose only 3 percent over the same period. Total sales for the year are expected to stay flat, at best. The dancing genre — like the exercise craze that drove videocassette sales in the 1980s — branched out of the popularity of fitness games beginning in 2008 with Nintendo Co.'s "Wii Fit," which reintroduced the aerobic step platform in high-tech fashion to millions of living rooms around the world.

The fitness game boom has since given way to dancing games, starting in November 2009 with "Dance Central," a title developed

by Harmonix and published by MTV Network.

Played on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, the game uses the console's Kinect motion-sensing camera to track players' body movements, scoring them on how accurately they mimic the dance routine.

Until recently, game reviewers and analysts dismissed dancing games as a novelty with little staying power, predicting they would last no longer than music games like Guitar Hero, which debuted to great acclaim in 2006 and within a few seasons was forgotten.

"I thought it would die after the first year, because it felt like a fad to me," said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities.

"But it's been two years now, and I've been wrong the whole time."

U.S. sales of dancing titles rose 326 percent during the 12 months that ended Oct. 31, compared with the prior year, making it the fifth-largest video game genre — after shooter, action, adventure and role-playing games — according to NPD. Unlike those other game categories, the dance game genre appeals mainly to younger female players, pulling in a demographic that hasn't always played video games. Nearly 8 out of every 10 players of dance games are female, according to NPD.

For Lisa Malambri, a 27-year-old fashion model who lives in Valley Village, Calif., playing "Just Dance 3" every morning since she got the game a month ago has toned up her muscles. Before that, she played "Dance Central" for months.

"That jar is a little easier to open now," Malambri half-joked.

Plus, NPD's numbers show, the majority of players are teens or younger.

"We're bringing new consumers into the market," said Tony Key, head of U.S. marketing and sales for Ubisoft Entertainment, the French publisher of the "Just Dance" franchise, which has sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. "Parents love to buy these games because they love seeing their kids get off the couch and be active. It also plays well with the dance shows on TV." To keep the attention of this fickle demographic, dance game publishers are including celebrity tie-ins. Members of the Grammywinning pop group Black Eyed Peas spent a full day in motion capture suits, going through more than 300 dance moves for dancing game "The Black Eyed Peas Experience."

"The game has a par ty vibe that just seemed perfect for us and our fans," said band singer Fergie, whose mother took her to musicals when she was a little girl. "I loved to dance. I wish I had this game when I was a kid."

The Zumba titles rely on the high-voltage personalities of its instructors, some of whom have built devoted followings. But the primary reason for the popularity of Zumba titles lies in their jump-right-in simplicity, said Lisa Roth, a senior producer at Zumba's creator, Majesco Entertainment.

"The Zumba formula is to put choreography and music together in a way that makes dancing easy for a wide variety of people, to tap into something innately human. Every person has a beat inside them," Roth said. "But the main objective is really just to have fun."

The dance game genre may have legs, analysts say, because dancing offers real benefits.

"You really do learn how to dance," said analyst Pachter, who sheepishly admitted to getting his groove on while trying out a few of the titles at home. — MCT

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR KLM QTR JZR JZR ETH THY UAE QTR KAC DHX MSR FDB ETD GFA THY ETH DHX JZR JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC IRA KAC JZR KAC KAC IRA KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA JZR KNE RKM MEA SYR MSR MSC KAC GFA MSR FDB MSR UAL VOS

Arrival Flights on Thursday 1/12/2011 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 447 AMSTERDAM/BAHRAIN 6130 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 138 DOHA 154 ISTANBUL 370 BAHRAIN 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 2620 ADDIS ABABA 170 BAHRAIN 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 382 DELHI 352 COCHIN 616 AHWAZ 302 MUMBAI 531 ASSIUT 332 TRIVANDRUM 284 DHAKA 605 ISFAHAN 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 165 DUBAI 789 JEDDAH 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 404 BEIRUT 341 DAMASCUS/DEIREZZOR 610 CAIRO 9621 ASSIUT 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 621 ASSIUT 57 DUBAI 606 LUXOR 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 93 KANDAHAR/DUBAI

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OMA QTR KNE SVA KAC RJA JZR LMU KAC QTR JZR MLR JZR ETD KAC UAE GFA SVA ABY JZR RBG ALK JZR MSC TAR FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB JAI OMA MSR KAC DHX MEA GFA LMU QTR UAE JZR KLM AIC JZR UAL AXB BBC DLH

645 140 745 500 552 640 257 407 546 134 535 403 357 303 118 857 215 510 127 777 3553 227 177 9623 328 63 502 542 125 786 618 614 674 104 774 562 61 572 647 618 178 372 402 217 409 136 859 135 445 981 239 981 389 43 636

MUSCAT 14:15 DOHA 14:20 JEDDAH 14:25 JEDDAH 14:30 DAMASCUS 14:35 AMMAN 14:40 BEIRUT 15:00 ALEXANDRIA 15:10 ALEXANDRIA 15:20 DOHA 15:25 CAIRO 16:25 COLOMBO/DUBAI 16:40 MASHAD 16:50 ABU DHABI 16:50 NEW YORK 16:55 DUBAI 16:55 BAHRAIN 17:15 RIYADH 17:20 SHARJAH 17:40 JEDDAH 17:45 ALEXANDRIA 17:50 COLOMBO/DUBAI 18:10 DUBAI 18:15 SOHAG 18:30 TUNIS/DUBAI 18:35 DUBAI 18:40 BEIRUT 18:45 CAIRO 18:50 BAHRAIN 19:00 JEDDAH 19:10 DOHA 19:15 BAHRAIN 19:20 DUBAI 19:25 LONDON 19:35 RIYADH 19:40 AMMAN 19:50 DUBAI 20:00 MUMBAI 20:10 MUSCAT 20:15 ALEXANDRIA 20:45 GENEVA/FRANKFURT 20:55 BAHRAIN 21:00 BEIRUT 21:20 BAHRAIN 21:25 ASSIUT 21:30 DOHA 21:35 DUBAI 21:40 BAHRAIN 21:55 AMSTERDAM 22:05 CHENNAI/HYDERABAD/AHMEDABAD22:05 AMMAN 22:45 BAHRAIN 23:00 KOZHIKODE/MANGALORE 23:35 DHAKA 23:45 FRANKFURT 23:50

Airlines AXB UAL AIC PIA JZR DLH KLM QTR ETH THY FDB UAE DHX MSR ETD KAC QTR THY ETH JZR GFA FDB KAC BAW IRA JZR KAC KAC JZR IRA KAC UAE ABY FDB QTR ETD GFA JZR KAC KAC KNE JZR RKM MEA KAC SYR KAC JZR MSR MSC GFA MSR FDB

Departure Flights on Thursday 1/12/2011 Flt Route 394 COCHIN/KOZHIKODE 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 976 GOA/CHENNAI 216 KARACHI 530 ASSIUT 637 FRANKFURT 447 AMSTERDAM 6131 DOHA 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 103 LONDON 139 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 2621 ADDIS ABABA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 54 DUBAI 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 606 MASHAD 256 BEIRUT 671 DUBAI 551 DAMASCUS 534 CAIRO 604 ISFAHAN 101 LONDON/NEW YORK 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 356 MASHAD 165 ROME/PARIS 541 CAIRO 790 JEDDAH 776 JEDDAH 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 405 BEIRUT 501 BEIRUT 342 DEIREZZOR/DAMASCUS 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 9622 SOHAG 220 BAHRAIN 622 ASSIUT 58 DUBAI

Time 0:40 0:45 0:50 1:10 1:15 1:20 1:45 2:15 2:45 3:15 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:00 4:55 5:50 6:15 6:55 7:00 8:25 8:30 8:40 8:50 9:00 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:05 10:10 10:20 10:40 10:50 11:45 12:00 12:05 12:15 12:50 12:55 13:00 13:35 13:40 13:50 13:55 14:15 14:20 14:30 14:35

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC MSR KAC KNE OMA UAL RJA JZR KAC LMU SVA KAC KAC QTR JZR ETD MLR JZR QTR UAE GFA ABY RBG SVA JZR JZR ALK FDB TAR MSC JZR KAC FDB KAC KAC DHX KAC JAI OMA MSR KAC DHX LMU MEA GFA QTR JZR KAC UAE KAC KLM JZR KAC KAC

561 607 673 746 646 982 641 124 617 408 505 613 773 141 238 304 404 538 135 858 216 128 3554 511 266 134 228 64 328 9624 184 283 62 343 331 171 351 571 648 619 543 373 410 403 218 137 554 301 860 205 445 528 415 411

AMMAN LUXOR DUBAI JEDDAH MUSCAT BAHRAIN AMMAN BAHRAIN DOHA ASSIUT JEDDAH BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA AMMAN ABU DHABI DUBAI/COLOMBO CAIRO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI/COLOMBO DUBAI TUNIS ASSIUT DUBAI DHAKA DUBAI CHENNAI TRIVANDRUM BAHRAIN COCHIN MUMBAI MUSCAT ALEXANDRIA CAIRO BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM ASSIUT KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA BANGKOK/MANILA

14:45 14:55 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:20 15:35 15:50 15:55 15:55 16:00 16:20 16:25 16:30 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:45 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:55 20:15 20:40 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:45 21:55 22:00 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:35 23:45 23:55

34

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 514

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You could discover a difficult co-worker that opens up to you today. One answer that may help this person is to help him or her break down a difficult task into manageable segments and teach how to organize time through your example. You appreciate responsibilities and will be very helpful in home matters. There is a feeling of being at peace and stable on the emotional level today. You are learning some valuable tools to better relationships. Remember that the frustrations you may experience from time to time are opportunities to use your new abilities in remedying difficulties. Stability satisfies a deep emotional need.

Visiting with friends and sharing stories promotes happy times and future memories.

Take plenty of pictures, often.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Some of the issues confronting you now are in making peace with the past and coming to terms with any karmic debts you may have accrued in this life. Some suggest a backward walk or a review of each day and then letting go of any negative—perhaps, if needed, a correction in thinking may be all that is necessary. Of course, nature might appreciate a backward look more often.

Sometimes an oil change, a toss of a piece of paper, an aluminum can or a gum wrapper can all have a ripple effect on our lives—for a long time in the future—recycle.

Look into a more natural way to care for your garden or to get rid of the bugs in your home. Unconventional approaches to philosophy, religion, law and politics come to play this evening.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation.

4. A small tent used as a dressing room beside the sea or a swimming pool.

10. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

13. A drug combination found in some over-the-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

14. A power tool for smoothing or shaping wood.

15. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

16. An affirmative.

17. A final climactic stage.

18. Take in solid food.

19. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

21. In bed.

23. 4-wheeled motor vehicle.

25. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

28. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

33. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

35. (folklore) A small grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for human beings.

38. A unit of magnetomotive force equal to 0.7958 ampereturns.

39. Inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence.

41. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

43. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.

44. Genus of tropical plants with creeping rootstocks and small umbellate flowers.

45. The fifth day of the week.

48. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

51. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

52. An independent ruler or chieftain (especially in Africa or Arabia).

53. An implement used to propel or steer a boat.

57. An independent ruler or chieftain (especially in Africa or Arabia).

58. The law enforcement agency in the Justice Department.

59. Be in accord.

60. A small cake leavened with yeast.

61. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

62. A radioactive gaseous element formed by the disintegration of radium.

63. Type genus of the Anatidae.

DOWN 1. Common Indian weaverbird.

2. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

3. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

4. An accountant certified by the state.

5. Wool of the alpaca.

6. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

7. A strong emotion.

8. A condition requiring relief.

9. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

10. A German art song of the 19th century for voice and piano.

11. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

12. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

20. The capital and chief port of Qatar.

22. Painter (born in Germany, resident of France and the United States) who was a cofounder of Dadaism.

24. The capital of French Polynesia on the northwestern coast of Tahiti.

26. The sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this).

27. A French abbot.

29. The longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code.

30. A state in midwestern United States.

31. Animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum or embryo together with nutritive and protective envelopes.

32. An easy return of a tennis ball in a high arc.

34. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

36. A genus of Malayan tree.

37. French philosopher and theologian.

38. A strong emotion.

40. A light touch or stroke.

42. Someone who cuts and delivers ice.

43. An informal term for a father.

45. Naked freshwater or marine or parasitic protozoa that form temporary pseudopods for feeding and locomotion.

46. Tropical American trees with palmately compound leaves and showy bell-shaped flowers.

47. A wall hanging of heavy handwoven fabric with pictorial designs.

49. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

50. An elaborate song for solo voice.

54. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

55. The corporate executive responsible for the operations of the firm.

56. Being one more than nine.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You are most persuasive with others and a communication attempt with a difficult person is successful today. Your patience with the elderly is also commendable and you may decide to choose some form of volunteer service or business that includes care of the elderly—making their lives easier. There are good opportunities for you to work in the yard this afternoon. Perhaps you will be applying some mulch or some other product that will protect your garden this winter. Visiting with neighbors or young people this evening provides you with a stage for self-expression and lends itself to your particular ideas and thoughts. You may find yourself serving or guiding a friend in important matters. Someone else cooks dinner tonight.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You spend a lot of time playing catch-up this morning. Get ready to do your best on a tough assignment this next month. Get your shopping out of the way soon! You may be sought after for your counsel regarding some very personal and emotional issues this afternoon. You are able to cut through the red tape and get at what is beneath and behind most problems today.

You have a clear vision into your own inner sense of values: how you appreciate and love. This is a good time to examine and think about what is important and of lasting value. You could find yourself volunteering to help young people in some group activities this evening—perhaps in religious surroundings. A sense of harmony prevails.

Whistle a happy tune!

Leo (July 23-August 22) With you in charge, successful endings are ahead. This is an easy, calm day that should find everything running in a smooth manner. Prosperity and security take center stage in your thoughts and you make your plans for next year’s employee upgrade. You may find that you are appreciated for your ability to know what is needed and to respond appropriately. You are moved to appreciate and discover the beauty in your life and in those around you. You and a friend or loved one have the opportunity to enjoy some time together in an inspiring environment this afternoon. Music is an important aspect of this time. You may discover a new method of expressing yourself in some creative endeavor today. You could be discovered in a comedy club.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This is not necessarily an argumentative day, but you will find yourself taking on more of an attitude of needing to agree to disagree. When you get home this afternoon, get the old bike out and spend some time taking a little bicycle ride. Your self-confidence increases with the success you have in the workplace. While you are riding that bike or taking that walk, think about the things you are really good at and make plans to cash in on the abilities you naturally have. Don’t over-pressure yourself. Allow the pieces of your life to fall into place in an orderly fashion. A little time for relaxation and daydreaming is very important this afternoon. The success of a partner is testimony that you too can succeed. Follow the lead and find your own special success.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Others could find you a difficult person to deal with today. This however, is a good time to quietly stand your ground. Others may try to sway you to another way of thinking or try to get you to do something you do not want to do. This may involve the amount of payment for a job or the amount for which you want to sell your company. Your marketing skills are very good; now is a good time to show them off! This afternoon there are shopping needs. Look carefully at some of the advertisements near the front of the store; you may gain some ideas of ways in which to earn extra money or go into a business for yourself. Real estate may be a subject you also find particularly interesting. Your own growth and success may be linked to security.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Support from those you admire is your best influence. A positive change is coming in December. Taking responsibility for errors of the past and the ways you contribute to your own undoing are very important issues. Partnerships can take on a deeper, more loving aspect at this time. You will be more inclined to be sociable. You will also have more of an interest in a hobby or skill that may be separate from the workplace. This could be an interest in art, music, writing, working with trains, dolls or some sort of modeling—miniatures, cars, ships, etc.

You will find plenty of opportunities to teach others, take lessons or talk about your collection, art or hobby. New people come into your life now—they are positive and they encourage you.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

Some mystery in the work place will become easier to understand today; however, you could be missing a big chunk of the puzzle. It is important to discover the other-side-of-the-story, so to speak. There are two sides to every story. Be sure to look at both before passing judgment. If you are purchasing gifts this afternoon, run through that list and check it twice! You may be moved to appreciate and discover the beauty in your life and in those around you. At the same time, everything could take on added value and importance. Be careful that you do not overspend or indulge too much just now. There are plenty of opportunities this month to spend your money. This evening is a good time to discreetly discuss some desired plans with a loved one.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yester

Gathering and exchanging information becomes a more important part of your life . . . a very educational experience. Influential friends or family members have a big impact on your goals and make a big impression. This is a mentally and socially active period. What is a clear career decision may go against your sense of standards and how you feel about the matter. You may find yourself having to choose between your responsibilities and the things you love. You are a sort of wheeler-dealer with a special knack for knowing how to put people, ideas and things together profitably. Playing the role of a facilitator can be rewarding.

Financial savvy and a practical turn of mind are qualities that also take on greater importance in your life now as well.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You exhibit the ability to focus and make all sorts of ideas into practical matters—bringing them into possibilities. You have great discipline when it comes to working with whatever binds or links people together.

You would be able to teach and guide others. You grasp the principles that bind things together, the essentials of a workday, practical religion, etc. Someone’s ideas may need adjusting and you seem to be able to step in and create a smooth adjustment. This could be a problem child or some friend with problems that need an understanding ear. You are not afraid to get into sticky situations—you always come up with the truth of a matter. Tell or hear a joke this evening. A time out from all the problem solving would be a good break for you.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Put your mind to work and take care of any details that you may have, for mental discipline should come easily. Problems and obstacles that have previously been a problem, now find easy solutions. Your inner thoughts and ideas are easily expressed now. Expect a sense of support and goodwill from those around you. You can demonstrate great understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others and are in a good position to communicate. There is a feeling of being at peace and stable on the emotional level—stability and permanence satisfies a deep emotional need. Music is likely to play a more important role for you than usual this evening—perhaps you are experimenting with the writing of music. Surrender to the sounds.

A

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

Years

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

AIRLINES

PHARMACIES 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

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345

Central African Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia

00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

lifest yle G o s s i p

he 32-year-old star - who already has 23-month-old son Mason with her boyfriend Scott Disick - is “thrilled” to be expanding her family and providing a sibling to her first child. She said in a statement to E! Online: “Scott and I are so excited to announce that we are expecting our second child and are thrilled to be expanding the love in our family.” Kourtney recently began a new web series entitled ‘Kourtney’s Mommy Blog’ where she unveils what she has learned as a mother. She has previously claimed she is never happier than when she is spending time with her son,

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Chris Martin says friendship with Jay-Z is ‘hilarious’ he Coldplay frontman and wife Gwyneth Paltrow have a strong bond with the rapper and his spouse Beyonce Knowles, and Chris believes they get on well because they can identify with one another. He said: “Yes, it is hilarious [our friendship].

What’s the common denominator? Well, underneath he probably feels a bit like me and I probably feel a bit like him.”

Gwyneth believes her husband and the ‘99 Problems’ hitmaker get on well as they “balance” one another. She told Q magazine: “They balance each other out. Chris and I are like Jay and Beyonce; two paranoid ironists and two calm grounded people.” Chris added:” There you go,

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you’ve got the answer. We balance each other out.” The ‘Paradise’ hitmaker recently revealed he and Jay-Z enjoy playing sport together. He said: “We do play touch football. He’s very good at American football - not only does he have all these other talents, but he can throw a per fect spiral. And then, on the other end, it smacks me in the head. In England, no one teaches you how to throw a spiral, so mine looks like an egg slowly limping through the air.”

and struggles to do things without him. She said: “Unless I’m working, I can’t be away from him without feeling guilty. It doesn’t feel good or natural to be, so it’s a struggle. “I don’t want to judge, but I’ve also met women who think it’s cool to be out or away from their baby, and I don’t get that. Every time I’m not working, he’s with me. Even on an airplane, he is with me even if the nanny is also on the plane. Any time I can have with him, I am lucky to have.”

he ‘Moneyball’ actor - who raises six children, Maddox, 10, Pax, eight, Zahara, six, Shiloh, five, and three-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, with partner Angelina Jolie - admits their lifestyle can be “chaotic” but they try and keep things simple with the kids whenever they can. He said: “Angie and I do everything we can to carve out some semblance of normalcy for them and recreate the kinds of moments that are special for us. It’s not unusual for the kids to be covered in paint. “We have mud fights. It’s chaos from morning until the lights go out, and sometimes after that.” Brad believes having Angelina makes life easier as she has “so much energy”, although she did experience a dip in her abilities following the birth of their twins. He told Britain’s OK! magazine: “I’m lucky that Angie has so much energy and never gets down or complains. “The only time I’ve ever seen her really tired is after the twins were born and that proved difficult for her to spend as much time with the other children as she did before.”

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John Cleese was upset for two years after divorce he three-times wed actor is grateful he stayed friends with Connie Booth - who he married in 1968 after they split because they shared so much “love” for one another. He said: “When Connie and I broke up in 1978, I was very upset for about two years.

There was a great deal of love in that relationship, and we’ve managed to remain good friends.” John split with third wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger in 2008 and had to pay her a divorce settlement worth around £12 million. Because of the cost of the split, John returned to the stage and while he is enjoying his

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Cowell delighted that Gervais will host Golden Globes imon Cowell expressed his happiness that Ricky Gervais will host the Golden Globes again next year - and wants the comic to be even harder on the star-studded audience. The music mogul loved the ‘Life’s Too Short’ star’s performance at the awards ceremony in January, during which he mocked most of the guests, and he can’t wait to see him be even more offensive. Simon said: “I think he’ll be harder on the stars this time. And you know what? I think these people have to have a better sense of humor.

Who cares if he makes a few insults? I’d love to be in the audience getting insulted.” Ricky’s quips included claiming ‘The Tourist’ was only nominated because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) - which runs the event - could “hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie” and referring to Jennifer Lopez as “just Jenny from the block. If the block in question is that one on Rodeo Drive between Cartier and Prada”. He introduced Robert Downey Jr by saying “many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail”. The HFPA confirmed earlier this month the 50-year-old funnyman would be returning to host the Globes for a third time. A statement said: “After weeks of rumors it’s finally official - Ricky Gervais will be back to host the Golden Globes for a third year. “ The Hollywood Foreign Press Association voted for the controversial British comedian’s return after meeting with NBC official Doug Vaughn.” The Golden Globes will be held on January 15, 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

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he ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ singer - who rose to fame on TV show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ wants a portable tent so she can camp at Scotland’s T in the Park music festival next year, and she also wants a new collar for her cat, Pebbles. She said: “I’d like a tent to take with me to T in the Park and I’d also like the ‘Downton Abbey’ box set, because it’s one of my favourite series. “I’m hoping for a collar for my cat Pebbles, some piano music books so that I can continue to learn on my grand piano and the Steve Jobs autobiography.” However not all of her wishes are so understated - she is also hoping for a 3-D television from Santa Claus and a Kindle book reader. When asked what her

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he actress-and-singer believes she is a good person to live with as she’s always in a happy mood and doesn’t cause much mess. She said: “I think I’m a fun flatmate. I’m always cheerful. I go on tour with my band so it’s 12 people on one bus and I feel like I’m the one who’s happy in the morning. I’m not a chaotic person, but I might slack off on doing the dishes from time to time.” However, if anyone was to share a house with Zooey, she would rarely be there as she’s too busy producing and starring in upcoming TV show ‘New Girl’. In an interview with Stylist magazine - she said: “This show

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‘Alimony’ tour, he admits he prefers writing material. He told the new issue of Reader’s Digest magazine: “It’s the first time I’ve been on my own stage, and I like the immediacy of it. If you don’t get the laugh tonight, you can change the joke and try again the next night “I prefer writing, but it pays much less, so I have to keep performing.”

Christmas wish-list is by online retailers Amazon, she said: “I’d really like a 3-D TV with the electronic glasses so I can bring the films into my living room. And a Kindle, so I can access all the latest books on my travels.”

Despite requesting a new collar for Pebbles, the Scottish star rarely gets to see her beloved pet these days because of her work schedule, and she admits she misses her. She previously said: “Pebbles is doing good, she’s being looked after by Pam, she’s 13 now. “Do I see her often?

I get to hear about her, she’s OK. I’ll send her a postcard now and again.”

is my life. And most of my free time is preparing for the show and working on next week’s script, thinking about what we’re doing in the future, making sure that everything feels right, memorizing lines and working on my character. I haven’t been to the grocery store in months.

“But it’s been wonderful. I love getting to help shape the show and be a part of the decisions that are made on set.” —Bang Showbiz

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

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M o v i e s Review

Fiennes’ updated, riveting ‘Coriolanus’ oriolanus has a PR problem. A Roman war hero, he proves ill-equipped for politics, far too proud to flatter the fickle masses.

In a series of what today would be termed public relations disasters, Coriolanus rapidly plummets from Rome’s most decorated defender, to its banished son. Of the many politicians we have seen undone by scandal and mismanaged crises, we have not yet seen one dare try to fight a media storm by calling the common people “measles.” Leaders with deaf ears and publics that sway capriciously are eternal themes that certainly reverberate in today’s strife-filled times. It is no wonder Ralph Fiennes saw fit to transport Shakespeare’s tragedy (not one of his highest regarded) from its fifth century BC setting to a contemporary world.

Any production of “Coriolanus” ultimately comes down to the handling of the relationship between Coriolanus and the crowds.

Shakespeare, who detested nothing so much as a mob, made it a tricky drama, with a largely unsympathetic protagonist. George Bernard Shaw considered “Coriolanus” Shakespeare’s greatest comedy. TS Eliot called it, along with “Antony and Cleopatra,” his “most assured artistic success.” Bertolt Brecht considered Coriolanus a kind of fascist and interpreted the play as a class struggle. In Fiennes’ hands, it is a thoroughly intense and vivid drama without an easy political reading. The film opens in what it labels “a place called Rome” where a food crisis is causing protesters to march on a grain mill.

The general Coriolanus (Fiennes) has suspended civil liberties and brought out the riot police to quell the protesters, for whom he has no sympathy. “Who deserves greatness deserves your hate,” the bald Coriolanus in fatigues, sniggers at them.

Coriolanus, a proud soldier, saves the same townspeople from the rival Volsces. (In Shakespeare, this is a war between city-states, which transfers awkwardly in a modern telling.)

In a fierce street battle, he single-handedly turns them back, killing in video-game style.

Coriolanus, never exactly a cheerful chap, turns into a downright monster on the battlefield, where he exhorts his soldiers to “make you a sword of me.” The sight of Fiennes, his head blood- covered and eyes murderously steely, is one of the film’s most remarkable, and a sure rival in fright to Fiennes’ “Harry Potter” villain

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In this Nov 27, 2011 photo released by The O and M Co, from left, Patrick Page, dressed as Green Goblin, Reeve Carney, dressed as Spider-Man and Sean Samuels, as Swiss Miss pose with an elaborate cake celebrating the first anniversary of the Broadway musical, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” in New York. —AP

NY film critics select The Artist as best film he New York Film Critics Circle named the silent film ode “The Artist” the year’s best film Tuesday, giving the nostalgic black-and-white movie an early boost to its already promising Academy Awards prospects. “The Artist,” which is silent like the films to which it pays homage, also earned best director for the French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius. “It’s a celebration of cinema,” said John Anderson, chairman of the group and critic.

“It’s clever and it’s upbeat and all that, but it’s really about the movies. Of course, that’s going to strike a chord among critics.”

The boldly old-fashioned “The Artist,” which the Weinstein Company opened in limited release last week, has emerged as an unlikely front-runner in the early stages of the Oscar race. The Spirit Awards, which honor independent film, also bestowed five nominations on it Tuesday. The critics otherwise, as they usually do, spread the awards around. Brad Pitt won best actor for his performances in the baseball film “Moneyball” and Terrence Malick’s cosmic drama “Tree of Life.” Both of those films also earned other awards: “Tree of Life” for best cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki and “Moneyball” for Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay.

Meryl Steep was chosen as best actress for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in the upcoming “The Iron Lady.” The suddenly ubiquitous Jessica Chastain won best supporting actress for a trio of performances in “Tree of Life,” ‘’The Help” and “Take Shelter.” Albert Brooks earned best

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“Twilight” film surpasses $500 million worldwide he Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part1” broke the $500 million mark at worldwide box offices on Monday after its release only 12 days ago, film distributor Summit Entertainment said on Tuesday.

“Breaking Dawn”, the fourth installment in the vampire romance franchise based on the “Twilight” novels by Stephanie Meyer, generated has generated $508 million worldwide, of which $223 million came from US box offices, after record ticket sales over the US Thanksgiving weekend. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the success of this film and a franchise that the fans have continued to support over the past several years,” Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger, cochairmen of Summit Entertainment, said in a statement.

The success of “Breaking Dawn - Part 1” comes after the first three films in the “Twilight Saga” series collectively earned more than $1.8 billion at the worldwide box offices. Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, the fourth film sees young lovers Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen finally unite in marriage and embark on their highly anticipated honeymoon, before their wedded bliss is cut short by an unexpected life-threatening pregnancy. The second part of the film, which will be the conclusion of the “Twilight Saga,” is due for release in 2012. —Reuters

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supporting actor for his against-type performance as a violent villain in the drama “Drive.” The New York Film Critics moved up their annual vote this year, a shift that was widely seen as a bid for greater rele-

on Monday, and were not able to see the eagerly anticipated 9/11 drama “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.”

Anderson didn’t deny that the move was partially for a louder voice in the

In this film publicity image released by The Weinstein Company, Jean Dujardin portrays George Valentin in “The Artist.” The New York Film Critics Circle has named “The Artist” the year’s best film. —AP vance in the fall award season, which effectively began in earnest Tuesday. The move also meant some finagling: The critics screened “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

awards conversation, but said other reasons were foremost. “I thought it would be interesting for us to be able to vote without other awards having been given out,”

said Anderson, a critic for Variety and Newsday. “Subconsciously or consciously, people are affected by other groups’ voting. It may sound petty, but if (the Los Angeles Film Critics) gives a film best picture, a lot of our members are inclined to go the other way.” Anderson said the group might return to a later time next year because a number of members didn’t like jamming in the screenings in a smaller window.

Werner Herzog’s 3-D documentary “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” was selected as best nonfiction film. The financial industry thriller “Margin Call” won best first feature. And the Iranian drama “A Separation” was picked for best foreign film. The year’s special award was given posthumously to the prolific Chilean-born filmmaker Raoul Ruiz, who died in August, shortly after the US release of his acclaimed “Mysteries of Lisbon.”

The New York Film Critics Circle, a body of 33 New York-based critics founded in 1935, announced their annual vote on Twitter for the first time. The group describes its awards as “a principled alternative to the Oscars, honoring esthetic merit in a forum that is immune to commercial and political pressures.” The group last year chose the Facebook drama “The Social Network” as best picture. Among the films snubbed by the critics were Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants,” Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” and Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse.” The awards will be handed out at a ceremony Jan 9. —AP

Build-A-Bear Workshop launches Alvin and the Chipmunks furry friends uild-A-Bear Workshop, the interactive entertainment retailer of customized stuffed animals, is introducing Alvin and the Chipmunks furry friends today, just

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before the movie release Alvin and the Chipmunks 3. The movie hits the theatres across Middle East on 15th December. Take home your favourite Chipmunk furry

friends Alvin and Brittany as they make an appearance for a limited period at Build-ABear Workshop.

Dressed in a hip Hawaiian tee or with a slick white tux or sweatshirt that plays music as add-ons, Alvin is bound to woo anyone on your gift list. Brittany will make you go crazy as she dons a fuchsia slip dress or you can dress her in the fruit-filled salsa dancing outfit for an extra fun filled island adventure. But wait! You can’t have the duo only without the other chipmunks.

To complete your Alvin and the Chipmunks collection, take home pre-stuffed mini friends from the new movie, too! Movie characters, Simon, Theodore, Jeanette and Eleanor are all dressed in island garb.

Movie Synopsis On vacation aboard a luxury cruise ship, Alvin, Simon, Theodore and the Chipettes are up to their usual antics, turning the ship into their personal playground, until they become ‘chipwrecked’ on a desert island. As Dave Seville frantically searches for the missing stars, the ‘Munks and Chipettes do what they do best - sing, dance and wreak havoc. But they’re in for the biggest surprises and lessons of their lives when they embark on an island adventure with their new friend - a castaway who’s more than a match for Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Director and cast member Ralph Fiennes arrives at screening of “Coriolanus” during AFI FEST 2011 on Nov 7. —AP Voldemort. A hero after the battle, Coriolanus is spurred to be made the powerful Consul. His mother Volumnia (a startlingly graceful and poised Vanessa Redgrave) urges him on. But Coriolanus does not have a political bone in his body, which spurs conspirators Brutus (James Nesbitt) and Sicinius (Paul Jesson) to rouse the public against him.

The wise operator Menenius (played excellently by Brian Cox as a kind of campaign manager) tries to keep Coriolanus “on message,” but the situation spirals out of control, eventually leading to the unthinkable: Coriolanus, branded a traitor to the people, is banished. He takes up arms with his mortal enemy, the Volscian leader Tullus Aufidius (a fine Gerard Butler, who incidentally would make an interesting Coriolanus, himself ). All of this is portrayed like a media storm, with wall-to-wall TV news coverage and opposition fanned in the blogosphere. The gritty first half of the film is largely shot handheld, which, while surely a fitting style for a film about war and political tumult, grows tiresome and overused. There is a feeling of rushing and of some clunky contemporizing.

Fiennes plays Coriolanus with all-consuming rage, which overshadows the character’s other qualities. While he does seem, like Hamlet, displaced from his natural role, Coriolanus’ humility does not quite come through. The pace of the camera and the storytelling improves considerably in the second half, or the play’s fourth and fifth acts. The whole production finds its balance and Fiennes’ performance grows fuller, finally bursting forth in a late rush of sympathy at the end.

It is moments like these (and there are many others, too, thanks to the excellent ensemble) that make Fiennes’ “Coriolanus” linger in the mind. The play has been significantly but artfully trimmed by John Logan’s screenplay, which preserves Shakespeare’s language. And the name calling. Oh, the name calling! “Coriolanus” is stuffed to the gills with some of the best trash-talking you’re likely to hear. Much of it is Coriolanus spewing scorn at the crowds: “You fragments!” he calls them. Surely, Fiennes has given us one of the most exhilarating moments at the movies this year, too, in his late showdown with Aufidius. Fiennes stalks him with unrepentant, electrifying indignation, sneering “Boy!” repeatedly. Somewhere, Harry Potter is shaking. —AP

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Taylor Swift, right, is presented her CMT Artist of the Year award by Faith Hill, left. — AP photos

Hank Williams Jr, left, performs with Jason Aldean at the CMT Artists of the Year television taping.

CMT honors top 5 country stars

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Gavin DeGraw performs at the CMT Artists of the Year television Taping.

rad Paisley fully endorses the format of the CMT Artists of the Year celebration. Paisley was one of five country music stars honored Tuesday night during a taping of the second annual event, joining Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift. He loved the idea of already knowing he was taking a trophy home when he showed up. “It’s great,” Paisley said in an interview before the event, which will air Dec 13. “It’s neat. It’s not like an awards show where you have to wonder if you’re going to win. And if you don’t, they were mean.

They psyched you out.”

It was a night full of cross-pollinated moments, with host Rob Lowe, Lionel Richie, William Shatner, Joe Walsh, Gavin DeGraw, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, The Avett Brothers and The All-American Rejects on hand to celebrate country’s biggest entertainers. But it was Hank Williams Jr. who turned in the night’s most buzzed about moment, leaving the stage quickly mid-song after singing his part during a duet with Aldean. Williams’ spokesman Kirt Webster said after the taping that Williams left because he didn’t feel like he was giving an adequate performance while joining Aldean on his song, “Tattoos on This Town.” Williams told the show’s producers the night was meant to honor Aldean, a friend. Turning in a poor performance would only ruin that effort, Webster recounted.

Aldean did a second run-through of the song after Williams left without problem. The singer praised Williams as a hero in an interview before the show and said it had been fun hanging with him during rehearsal. “It was really kind of funny watching him go about music the way he does,” Aldean said. “He’s kind of like, ‘OK, this is the way y’all do it. I’m going to do it

Kennedy Center taps Moran as jazz adviser

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he Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday tapped 36-year-old pianist and composer Jason Moran to be its artistic adviser for jazz, a post held by acclaimed musician Billy Taylor until his death last December at 89. The generational handoff wasn’t planned in advance but makes sense as jazz evolves, musical directors at the Washington, D.C. center said. Moran, who lives in New York City and teaches at the New England Conservatory in Boston, won a $500,000 “genius grant” last year from the MacArthur Foundation and is known for mixing visuals and other media with his productions.

Moran told The Associated Press he thinks often about how to place jazz in a 2011 context.

“It’s not like it was in 1959, and it’s definitely not like it was in 1939, and it’s not like it was in 1900,” he said. “Things have changed. Jazz it at a different place right now. So where does it fit, and with whom does it echo?” As artistic adviser

for the next three years, Moran will help select artists and develop one of the nation’s largest jazz programs. The Kennedy Center presents more than 30 performances each year, including concerts in its own jazz club and performances broadcast on National Public Radio.

But hiring a young, daring adviser won’t necessarily bring big changes to the program, said Kevin Struthers, the center’s jazz director. He said Moran can “swing with the best of them” but also take the genre in a different direction. “I think we have selected someone who is firmly rooted in the traditions of the music,” Struthers said. “Jazz is not to be put on a shelf as a museum piece. It is important that we pay homage to the past, and I think Jason does that through his music, but he puts it in a contemporary setting.”

Taylor, a pianist and composer who played with luminaries such as Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, became an ardent jazz advocate through radio, TV and his Jazzmobile arts venue that visited urban neighborhoods. He profiled musicians for CBS’ “Sunday Morning” show winning an Emmy Award in 1983 for a piece on Quincy Jones - and assumed the Kennedy Center post in 1994. Moran said he considers Taylor a mentor because he always had advice and critiques to offer. He began learning from Taylor at age 16 during a master class at his high school. The young pianist performed at the Kennedy Center for the first time in 1998 through a program to identify young talent. “At a certain point, my generation has to stand up to continue to hand down the information that has been given to us,” he said. “Billy has been a person who bridged the gap between jazz and the American public ... So that’s the thing I want to continue to model in whatever I do.” — AP

Jason Moran

the way I do it.’ It’s just the way it is. And you go, ‘It’s Hank,’ you know. ‘Make it sound like you want it to sound, bro.’ But he’s awesome. I don’t know what else to say about the guy. He’s the real deal as far as country singers go.”

Williams has been in the news quite a bit recently.

A political analogy he made on television involving President Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler led to the pulling of his “Monday Night Football” theme song by ESPN. But he rallied and turned it into something of a public-relations victory, issuing a new song and appearing on “The View” where he found a sympathetic reception. He soon joined Paisley and Carrie Underwood earlier this month on the Country Music Association Awards, stealing the show with a single word.

He gave Paisley a necklace before Tuesday night’s taping that bore his Ruger-like eagle logo with “Hank” engraved on the front and the words, “Thanks, Brad,” engraved on the back. Paisley wore it with his camouflage sports coat. “I’m honored to be friends with him,” Paisley said. Paisley and Chesney were first-time honorees at the event, which recognizes country’s top achievers in touring, album sales and radio and video play. A second trophy from CMT served as perfect book ends for Aldean, Swift and Lady A, who all reached milestones in the 12 months since. For Swift, that year included winning entertainer of the year at the CMAs and artist of the year at the American Music Association Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards. “This year especially has been crazy,” Swift said. “Award season has been so amazing.” — AP

Country music star Taylor Swift arrives for the CMT Artists of the Year television taping on Tuesday.

Bono: Alicia Keys has ‘lioness energy’

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ono is afraid of Alicia Keys. While Keys talked about being pregnant and empathetic when filming her documentary about AIDS in Africa, the U2 singer chimed in and said: “She’s scary, isn’t she? She’s scary.” Bono went on to say that Keys has “lioness energy” and that her role as a new mother won’t allow her to “let other mothers suffer.” He made the comments at the premiere of “Keep a Child Alive with Alicia Keys,” a documentary which followed a visit to South Africa dur-

ing last year’s World Cup with a pregnant Keys and five Americans. It airs on the cable television Showtime channel today, which is World AIDS Day. Bono said he met Keys when they recorded a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” - with dozens of other musicians - in 2001. “I was terrified the moment I met her. I was shaking in my boots,” he said. “I was very moved by her singing of course, but what was interesting was the hard questions afterwards, and I think it’s those hard questions that she asks that lead her.”

Keys started her charity, Keep a Child Alive, in 2003. It assists those affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. She says she hopes the film reaches out to those who want to help, but can’t make it to Africa.

“Even if you never have been able to travel there, or if you never can, that doesn’t mean you can’t travel with us and really see it for yourself,” she said.

Bono says Keys has what it takes to make a difference in Africa, and around the world. “Everyone’s got heart, but actually you have to have the head for this,” he said.

“You have to be tough and strategic, you have to be demanding, (and) the money has to be spent well.” If the money isn’t spent well, he said, people get annoyed, “and so all these things take a certain intellectual rigor.” Keys has composed music for the Broadway play “Stick Fly,” which debuts next week. When Bono - who along with the Edge wrote the music for “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” - was asked what advice he could give Keys, he said: “You know, it’s an amazing American tradition, Broadway, and she can do anything she wants.” — AP

Bono, left, and Alicia Keys attend the premiere of the Showtime documentary “Keep a Child Alive with Alicia Keys”, in New York on Tuesday. — AP

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Audio helped sway judge to give Jackson doc jail T

he voice of Michael Jackson helped put the man who killed him behind bars. It wasn’t the familiar voice of hits such as “Billie Jean” and “Thriller,” but the slow, slurring recording of the singer that was found on his physician’s cell phone that helped convince a judge to sentence the doctor to jail for four years. The four-minute recording was one of the blockbuster revelations of Dr Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial, a previously unknown piece of evidence that revealed an impaired Jackson describing his ambitions and aspirations as his personal physician listened.

Dr Conrad Murray sits in court after he was sentenced to four years in county jail for his involuntary manslaughter conviction in the death of pop star Michael Jackson on Tuesday. — AP It was also one of the trial’s most haunting moments, and stuck in the mind of Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor as he considered in recent days how to sentence Murray for causing Jackson’s unexpected death in June 2009. It wasn’t the only thing the judge considered - he unwaveringly assailed the cardiologist’s decisions and ethics for nearly 30 minutes on

Tuesday - but helped convince Pastor to give Murray the maximum sentence. Jurors unanimously convicted Murray on Nov. 7, but it was up to Pastor on Tuesday to sentence the doctor and explain his punishment.

“Of everything I heard and saw during the course of the trial, one aspect of the evidence stands out the most, and that is the surreptitious recording of Michael Jackson by his trusted doctor,” Pastor said. Murray’s attorneys never explained in court why the recording was made, and prosecutors said they do not know what substances Jackson was under the influence of when the audio was recorded six weeks before his death. Murray had been giving the singer nightly doses of the anesthetic propofol to help him sleep.

The doctor’s time in a Los Angeles jail will be automatically reduced to less than two years due to laws imposed due to California’s prison overcrowding and budget woes. Murray, 58, will have plenty of time if he wants to consider Pastor’s harsh rebuke of him. The Houstonbased cardiologist will be confined to a oneman cell and kept away from other prisoners.

With Jackson’s family and Murray’s mother and girlfriend looking on, the judge called the doctor’s actions a “disgrace to the medical profession,” and said he displayed a “failure of character” and had showed a complete lack of remorse for his significant role in causing Jackson’s death.

“It should be made very clear that experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated, and Mr. Jackson was an experiment,” Pastor said. “The fact that he participated in it does not excuse or lessen the blame of Dr Murray, who simply could have walked away and said no as countless others did. “But Dr Murray was intrigued with the prospect of this money-formedicine madness,” the judge said. Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan said after the sentencing hearing that Murray made the recording accidentally while playing with a new application on his iPhone. He deleted it, but a computer investigator recovered it from the doctor’s phone after Jackson’s death. Pastor said he believed the recording was made with more sinister intent. “That tape recording was Dr Murray’s insurance policy,” the judge said. “It

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was designed to record his patient surreptitiously; at that patient’s most vulnerable point.”

“I can’t help but wonder if there had been some conflict between Michael Jackson and Dr Murray at a later point in time in their relationship, what value would be placed on that tape recording, if the choice were to release that tape recording to a media organization to be used against Michael Jackson,” Pastor said.

Pastor said Murray was motivated by a desire for “money, fame and prestige” and cared more about himself than Jackson. After sentencing, Murray mouthed the words “I love you” to his mother and girlfriend in the courtroom.

Murray’s mother, Milta Rush, sat alone on a bench in the courthouse hallway. “My son is not what they charged him to be,” she said quietly. “He was a gentle child from the time he was small.” Of her son’s future, she said, “God is in charge.”

Jackson’s family said in a statement read in court that they were not seeking revenge but a stiff sentence for Murray that would serve as a warning to opportunistic doctors. “We’re going to be a family. We’re going to move forward.

We’re going to tour, play the music and miss him,” brother Jermaine Jackson said. Defense attorney Ed Chernoff implored Pastor to look at Murray’s life and give him credit for a career of good works. “I do wonder whether the court considers the book of a man’s life, not just one chapter,” Chernoff said. The judge responded: “I accept Mr. Chernoff’s invitation to read the whole book of Dr Murray’s life. But I also read the book of Michael Jackson’s life, including the sad final chapter of Dr Murray’s treatment of Michael Jackson.”

A probation report released after sentencing said Murray was listed as suicidal and mentally disturbed in jail records before his sentencing. However, Murray’s spokesman Mark Fierro said a defense attorney visited the cardiologist in jail last week and found him upbeat.

“That time is behind him,” Fierro said. What lies ahead for Murray is more flogging, with medical authorities in California, Nevada and Texas looking to strip his medical license and Jackson’s father, Joseph, suing the physician for wrongful death. Chernoff, who had advocated Murray receive probation instead of jail, said his

on’t call it a comeback. It’s a tribute. “NCIS: Los Angeles” star and rapper LL Cool J is nervously excited to pause from his duties as host of the Grammy nominations concert special today to perform with a multigenerational group of rappers. “We’re doing a special dedication to ‘The Message,’ which is one of the seminal hip-hop records,” a sweaty LL Cool J said during a break from rehearsals Tuesday afternoon. “It launched the genre. I’m getting to perform with Grandmaster Flash, Scorpio, Melle Mel and then we brought in Common and Lupe Fiasco. It’s this really cool version of ‘The Message.’”

The group practiced their rendition of the Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five 1982 classic in the Nokia Theatre lobby Tuesday

client will forever live with the stigma of having caused Jackson’s death. “Whether Dr Murray is a barista or a greeter at Walmart, he is still the man that killed Michael Jackson,” he said. — AP

A man shouts with joy after hearing the sentencing of Dr Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted in the overdose death of singer Michael Jackson, at the Los Angeles Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday. — AP

before taking the stage to rehearse. Under flashing red and white lights, Grandmaster Flash manned the tables, while Furious Five members Melle Mel and Scorpio shared verses with Common, Lupe Fiasco and LL Cool J. Other musicians set to perform during the concert special include such possible nominees as Lady Gaga, Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Sugarland and Rihanna.

Despite hosting and performing at each of the previous three Grammy nominations concerts, LL Cool J said he still feels pressure commanding the show, which is scheduled to air live today on CBS. “It’s live TV,” he said. “I never take it for granted. You gotta be ready for it.” — AP

Blood and fury as Australia eyes roller Cup

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Mitch Winehouse with his late daughter Amy Winehouse’s dress - a printed chiffon dress by the designer Disaya and worn by her for the cover of her ‘Back to Black’ album in 2006 - during a press preview for the ‘Passion for Fashion’ auction. — AP

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he dress worn by Amy Winehouse on the cover of the late singer’s Grammy-winning “Back to Black” album has sold for over 43,000 pounds ($67,120) at auction. Kerry Taylor Auctions says the polka-dot chiffon dress, designed in 2006, was purchased

by Musea de la Moda - a fashion museum in Santiago, Chile - for 43,200 pounds. It said the dress’s designer, Disaya, agreed to donate proceeds from the sale to a foundation set up in Winehouse’s name. Winehouse’s father, Mitch, attended the auction and called the donation a “wonderful start to the foundation,” which was set up to help vulnerable youth following Winehouse’s death in July. A British coroner ruled the singer, known for her beehive hairdos, drank herself to death. — AP

elmets, mouthguards and knee pads in place, the Sydney Assassins sweat through a gruelling drill of twists, blocks and thrusts, equal parts balletic and brutal. They’re a close-knit team, but roller derby is no ordinary sport-an exclusively female cross between speed skating and dodgems. The premise is simple: two teams of five rollerskate around a circuit with one player from each, a “jammer”, trying to get from the back of the pack to the front, scoring points for each player on the opposing team they pass.

The others, “blockers”, do everything in their power to stop the opposing team’s jammer getting through while protecting their own, and it isn’t pretty. “The girls who play roller derby don’t really care about getting injured, it’s a not a sport for girls who like to sit on the sidelines,” explains Haterade, one of the team’s elite members.

Like other players, she goes by her skater name-a tongue-in-cheek moniker often based on word play or innuendo. “I think that’s why it really has taken off, because women in 2011, we’re really independent and there’s nothing wrong with being aggressive, there’s nothing wrong with playing a full-contact sport.” A deft shove sends one player flying, her forehead audibly smacking the polished wooden floor. Ice is proffered and she sits for a moment, dazed. Players are regularly cut down and bruises are par for the course, according to Thigh-dal Wave, one of the sport’s founders in Sydney back in 2007, who retired to coach after breaking her tailbone. “I would say most skaters have sustained some sort of injury as a part of roller derby. Sprains and fractures, there’s a lot of that,” she tells AFP. “They’re a badge of honor,” adds player Apollonia. “It’s probably the only sport where people take pictures of their bruises and email their friends.” Roller derby started in 1920s America and is having an explosive renaissance in Australia, with almost 100 leagues springing up in just four years. It is as much subculture as sport but the women take it seriously, and with reason. They’re eyeing the inaugural Roller Derby World Cup. Haterade will compete in Toronto in the first week in December as part of Team Australia, one of 13 nations vying for the world title, something she says is testament to the sport’s “explosive”

global growth in the past decade. “We won’t be last. We won’t be first. I’m sure we’ll be somewhere probably in the middle,” she tells AFP after a punishing session on the skates. “For the girls we have two goals. One is to play USA, because they’re

just incredible and the girls that we all watch all the time and learn so much from.

“And we really want to beat the Kiwis,” she added, referring to arch-rivals New Zealand.

The Assassins, a select squad of

Sydney Assassins roller derby member known as Apollonia is shown in Sydney in this file photo. Once a staged spectacle more akin to pro-wrestling which started in 1920s America, roller derby is having an explosive renaissance in Australia, with almost 100 leagues springing up in just four years. — AFP

Sydney’s best players who train up to four nights a week, are preparing for their final bout of the season, a grudge match against New Zealand’s Wellington Richter City. The rule book is complex and extensive-running to some 40-plus pages- and it’s all about skill and technique, with neophyte “fresh meat” players required to graduate through four exams before reaching draft level. They are drilled in skills including turns, stops, blocks and sprints, and have extensive training in how to fall: “small” and without risking their fingers, limbs or other players. It is a sport by women, for women, and that is what makes it so appealing, according to Thighdal, who says derby girls “kick arse by day and kick arse by night”.

“There’s not really such a thing as men’s roller derby and we’re not the wussy afterthought of a men’s sport, which is basically what every other women’s sport is,” she says. “There’s not really anything else going on in women’s sport which is combining community and kicking arse and lots of friends, and getting really athletic while you’re at,” Thigh-dal adds. Choosing a name is a rite of passage in derby culture, extending even to referees and officials, and there is an international register to ensure there is no doubling up on the pseudonyms, which range from cheeky to caustic. Bambi von Smash’er, joining Haterade in Toronto as part of Team Australia, said the theatrics were an important part of the derby, but it was first and foremost a high-stakes sport.

“Yes, we wear awesome, arse-flashing outfits, but we also train very hard and we’re athletes, and we’re fit and out there doing something that is very sports newsworthy,” she said. There was a “certain amount of terror and a certain amount of excitement” about heading to the World Cup but Smash’er said she’s excited at the prospect of meeting Team America, home to the sport’s best talent. England and the USA will be the teams to beat, and Europe is heavily represented with squads from Sweden, Finland, Germany, Scotland, Ireland and France. Brazil, Argentina and Canada round out the Americas. —AFP

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Audio helped sway judge to give Jackson doc jail Years

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

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Wearing Russian costumes of the 17th century, actors take part in a dress rehearsal of Modest Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov at the main stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, on Tuesday. —AFP

Men let it grow for charity F

rom the pencil-thin Errol Flynn version to the coiffed homage to Ming the Merciless, thousands of normally clean-shaven men across the world have been embracing the lost art of moustaches last month. Almost 850,000 men from London to Singapore shaved carefully around their top lip during November as part of a global campaign to raise awareness and cash for men’s cancers, almost double last year’s registrations. Eight years after the first “Movember” in Australia, the campaign has become a big hit in Canada, Britain, the United States, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as winning fans in the Middle East and Asia.

In Britain, Formula One driver Jenson Button and England footballer Peter Crouch among those sporting face fuzz, while actor Stephen Fry has recreated the glorious ‘tache worn by his “Blackadder” character General Melchett.

Organizers said this year’s campaign has so far raised £48.4 million ($75.2 million, 56.4 million euros) across the world-already matching last year’s £48.5 million, much of which was collected in December.

Most “Mo Bros” do it for a laugh, accepting the mockery of their peers for a good cause and a chance to try out a style of facial hair that was common among their grandfathers but which they had razed from their memories, and lips. “I was going for a handlebar. I’m quite pleased,” said

Alexander Jordan, a 23-year-old freelance photographer sporting a neat and tidy moustache running along his top lip and down to his chin. Last year he went for a Flynn-style pencil moustache but decided this time around that “I’d go a bit more hardcore”.

“The reaction has been good from everyone except my girlfriend, who is not very happy. I’ve not seen much of her this month,” he told AFP, adding that he would be shaving it off when December 1 dawns. “I think it’s the girlfriend or the ‘tache.” Jordan does not have much to show for his efforts financially-he raised about £30 — while another Mo Bro, chef Kris Dorward, admitted he wasn’t even trying to win sponsorship for his brown bushy moustache.

Dorward, 22, is doing it for fun, aiming for something akin to Tom Selleck in 1980s private detective drama “Magnum PI”. “I did have the handlebars a couple of days ago but I shaved them off because they looked a bit stupid,” he admitted. For the organizers, however, raising awareness of men’s health issues is as important as the money-and in this case, any moustache helps. “Somebody growing a moustache in the month of November talks to an average of three people a day about it,” said Owen Sharp, head of Britain’s Prostate Cancer Charity, who himself grew a neat handlebar moustache for the campaign. “That’s nearly 100 conversations that

each Mo Bro is having, which is just going to keep raising awareness of the issues of prostate cancer and testicular cancer and men’s health in general.”

Sharp’s charity gains half its annual funds from “Movember”, which go towards new research and campaigns into the disease that will affect 11 percent of men in Britain at some time in their lives.

Movember began in Melbourne in 2003 among a group of about 30 friends, primarily as an excuse to experiment with facial hair.”Moustaches had vanished pretty much off the planet, but when we looked back all our dads had them, our sporting heroes had them, and we thought why not see what it looks like for a month,” said the movement’s co-founder, who goes by the name JC. “So we bought back the moustache and tied it to men’s health, because there’s nothing more manly than a moustache. ”Now a ‘tache can be seen on every street corner in Britain during November, among them on Ahmed Ahmed, a 28-year-old account manager who has raised about £4,000 with his work colleagues. “Some people have taken it quite seriously, dyeing theirs and getting the wax,” he said, rubbing his own patchy but neatly trimmed black moustache. But he can’t wait to shave it off today: “I’m always checking to make sure I haven’t got food in it.

It’s just not my look.” —AFP

Alexander Jordan, a 23 year-old freelance photographer, poses for pictures with his ‘Movember moustache’ in London, on Monday. From the pencil-thin version beloved of Errol Flynn to the coiffed homage to Ming the Merciless, men across the world have been embracing the lost art of moustaches last month in the name of charity. —AFP

The Lady Myanmar : s Suu Kyi biopic releas M

Meryl Streep attends "The Iron Lady" screening at Landmark E Street Cinema on November 29, 2011 in Washington, DC. —AFP

yanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi got a celluloid reincarnation yesterday when a movie version of her life by “Fifth Element” and “The Big Blue” director Luc Besson went on release in France.

Malaysian star Michelle Yeoh, a former “Bond girl”, plays “The Lady” in a two-hour biopic that focuses on the private life of Suu Kyi, her British husband Michael Aris and their two sons. Suu Kyi’s struggle for her country came at a high personal cost. Her husband died in 1999 in Britain, and in the final stages of his battle with cancer the Myanmar junta denied him a visa to see his wife. Suu Kyi refused to leave Myanmar to see him, certain she would never have been allowed to return. “It was the price she had to pay,” said Luc Besson.

“Thousands of people give their lives unquestioningly, simply because they believe it is a just cause.”

“The love that united her with her husband gave her immense strength,” said Michelle Yeoh. The daughter of Myanmar’s assassinated independence hero General Aung San, Suu Kyi

began her own political career late after spending much of her life abroad. She studied at Oxford University, had two sons after marrying Aris and looked like she was going to settle into life in Britain. But when she returned to Yangon in 1988 to nurse her sick mother, protests erupted against the military, which ended with a brutal crackdown that left at least 3,000 dead. She took a leading role in the pro-democracy movement, delivering speeches to crowds of hundreds of thousands. This is the point where Besson’s film takes up her story. Yeoh, who learned Burmese to help her play the part, said she finally got to meet Suu Kyi at her crumbling lakeside mansion in Yangon, where she was under house arrest, as filming was winding down in Thailand. “She walked up to me to embrace me and take my hand,” she said. “She looks fragile but she emanates great strength.” Besson also met the subject of his film after her release last November, when filming on the project had already finished. He recalled finding himself outside the house which his team had scrupu-

lously recreated “practically to the centimeter” in Thailand, where most of the film was shot.

The French filmmaker, whose recent movies also include the popular animated “Arthur” series, did manage to film some scenes in Myanmar itself, where he posed as a tourist and shot with a small camera. “I filmed 17 hours of rushes, sometimes with a soldier three meters away,” he recalled.

The film’s actors were then super-imposed on the Myanmar scenes with the help of “green screen” technology. Suu Kyi told Besson that she was not yet ready to watch the twohour film which covers the deaths of her father and her husband. “She told me ‘I’ll see it when I’m courageous enough,’” he said earlier last month. But one of her sons has seen it and “was very moved,” the director added. Besson said he had cried when he first read the script and immediately decided to make “The Lady”.

“It’s very moving when you look at this woman who is fighting for neither power nor money but so that her people can be free,” he told AFP.