20th Oct

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

THUL HIJJAH 4, 1433 AH

No: 15604

10 govt 48to 7Amir orders Anti-Assad security official killed

150 Fils

Cluster bombs hit Syrian town

Wozniacki dethrones Cibulkova

amend electoral law Opposition fumes, vows to boycott elections

By B Izzak and Agencies

Crisis deepens KUWAIT: Kuwait plunged into political turmoil yesterday after the public prosecution ordered the detention of three former opposition MPs for three days with more arrests expected. The three — Falah AlSawwagh, Bader Al-Dahoum and Khaled Al-Tahus — were questioned for nine hours on accusations of undermining the status of Kuwait’s ruler before being taken into custody around midnight, defense lawyer Mohammad Al-Jumaih said.

The prosecutor also extended the detention for three more days of four opposition activists arrested on Monday during clashes between police and protesters following a huge rally. The move came as hundreds of supporters of the Islamist and nationalist-led opposition and former lawmakers gathered outside the Palace of Justice in the capital, Kuwait City, in solidarity with the ex-MPs and activists. Local media and activists said more arrest orders will be issued soon against several former lawmakers including outspoken opposition leader Mussallam Al-Barrak on the same accusations.

The opposition leaders are being summoned for speaking at three rallies held this month to protest an alleged government plan to amend the electoral law to manipulate election results. Breaking decades-old taboos, speakers directly Continued on Page 10

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KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah addresses the nation yesterday. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Opposition groups and former MPs announced yesterday that they will boycott the forthcoming election after His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said in a televised address to the nation that he has ordered the government to amend the electoral constituency law. The Amir said that the decision was taken after it was found that the outcome of the constituency law, introduced in 2006, fuelled sectarian, tribal and factional divisions in the country and it was time to rectify the problem.

The National Front for Safeguarding the Constitution, an umbrella of most opposition groups, said it has decided to boycott the elections and called on all Kuwaiti people to shun the polls both in voting or standing as candidates. Former opposition MP Jamaan Al-Harbash said all the majority MPs in the scrapped 2012 National Assembly are confirming that they will not participate in the election. The Popular Action Bloc, the Justice Bloc and the Reform and Development Bloc all reiterated their earlier pledge to boycott the elections if the electoral law was changed.

Veteran opposition leader and former National Assembly speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun said that the decision to amend the law violates the constitution and also last month’s verdict of the constitutional court which declared the law constitutional.

Former Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabai described the amendment of the law as a declaration of war against the Kuwaiti people who held steadfast and resisted the Iraqi invasion in 1990 and liberated the country. Several former pro-government MPs however declared their total support of the decision.

Former MP Nasser Al-Duwailah said that he supports the Amir’s decision and declared that he will be the first candidate to contest the polls. Former Shiite MPs Yousef Al-Zalzalah and Faisal Al-Duwaisan also declared their support to the Amir’s decision, saying the decision is needed to stabilize the country.

Continued on Page 10

in the

news

15 Yemeni troops die ADEN: Al-Qaeda militants set off an explosives-laden car inside an army base in southern Yemen at dawn yesterday, killing at least 15 soldiers, military officials said. The militants drove through several checkpoints before entering the base of the Yemeni army’s 115th brigade in Abyan province, where a drone raid killed at least seven Al-Qaeda members the day before, one official yesterday. “Four members of Al-Qaeda with explosive belts... travelling in a military vehicle managed to pass through several army checkpoints to reach the camp” at Shaqra, 35 kilometers from the Abyan capital Zinjibar, another said. “Two soldiers were killed at the entrance of the base by the assailants who then continued their journey to the camp where three of the four occupants got out of their vehicle, while the driver blew himself up,” said the official. In all 14 soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded. The army killed two of the militants who got out of the vehicle, while a third one managed to escape on foot, officials said, adding that a manhunt was underway.

Iran mosque attack DUBAI: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in a restive southern province of Iran yesterday, killing one other person after soldiers prevented him reaching worshippers inside the building, Iranian media reported. The bomber set off his explosive belt a few hundred meters outside the Imam Hossein mosque in the city of Chabahar, killing a member of the Basij militia and injuring another, Fars news agency reported. “Eyewitnesses said the attacker was trying to get inside the mosque but he was identified by members of the Basij,” the report stated. No further details were immediately available.

Chabahar is in Sistan-Baluchistan province, near the Pakistan border, and has a history of unrest with the mainly Sunni Muslim population complaining of discrimination at the hands of Iran’s Shiite Muslim authorities. An attack by two suicide bombers at the same mosque in 2010 killed 39 people - including women and children - during a religious ceremony.

Shafiq to face trial CAIRO: Egypt will open a trial on December 2 of ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak’s last premier Ahmed Shafiq who is wanted for alleged corruption, state media reported yesterday. Shafiq, who narrowly lost a June presidential election to Islamist Mohamed Morsi, is accused of corruption when he headed various aviation state agencies.

Shafiq, who left to the United Arab Emirates after the June election, will face trial with two other defendants — a former aviation minister and an ex-head of the national EgyptAir carrier, the official MENA news agency reported.

Shafiq has previously insisted that the charges against him are politically motivated and pledged he would return to Egypt. He, however, faces arrest on arrival. The trial will be the latest in a series of court actions that have jailed much of the former regime’s leadership, including Mubarak himself.

local SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Mohammed Al-Deen wins a brand new GMC Yukon

KUWAIT: Public Works Minister Dr Fadhel Safar visiting the site of new residential area project.

Tenders ready for labor city projects First city in Jahra governorate KUWAIT: Public Works Minister Dr Fadhel Safar said that six BOT tenders are in place to build labor residence cities in various areas of the country.

He said each city will house 40,000

and they will be supervised by human rights organizations. He added the cities will have all essential services such as cooperatives, a police station, roads, transport, health centers and so

New residential area projects built on BOT basis. laborers, adding that the projects will be processed through the initiatives committee and the first project will be in Jahra governorate.

Safar said all rules and conditions will be taken into consideration when the ministry builds new laborer cities,

on. He said the revenue from these cities will go to the state treasury.

Safar said that he visited several projects on Thursday including the building of the public prosecution files storage. He said the project covers 10,000 square meters, including spe-

cial rooms for confiscated material. The tour included Jahra governorate building, which needs some repairs, in addition to immigration department in Farwaniya.

He said the ministry is trying to overcome laborer shortage by coordinating with Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, as approvals were given to bring in 100 laborers and technicians for Jaber Al-Ahmad hospital project, on temporary visa. Meanwhile, Assistant Undersecretary for Construction Projects Hussam Al-Tahous said there are tenders for four new hospitals: a maternity hospital with 600-bed capacity, new Razi hospital, Ibn Sina and paediatrics hospital with 500-bed capacity. He said the ministry will receive offers next month. Al-Tahous said Jahra hospital’s construction decision was taken in cooperation with the Amiri Diwan, Health Ministry and Ministry of Public Works.

Director of expat labor housing project in Sabhan Hadi Al-Mutairi said the ministry is currently building two projects at a total cost of KD 35 million.

He said Sabhan project accommodates 3,168 laborers while Shidadiya houses 8,200 workers. He said Sabhan project is almost ready, and only needs power to be connected, and the same goes for Shidadiya. —Al-Qabas

Hajj preparations complete: Mission MAKKAH: The Kuwait Hajj Mission has completed all security, health and residency preparations for receiving pilgrims, Deputy Head of the Mission Dr Mutlak Al-Qarawi said yesterday. In statements to KUNA during an inspection tour to the premises of the several hajj agencies, AlQarawi said that these preparations include medical outlets, service offices and security measures.

He hailed the cooperation of the different Hajj agencies with the mission and their abidance by the ministry regulations. Al-Qarawi underlined that the Kuwait Hajj Mission will spare no efforts to facilitate the spiritual journey of pilgrims. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Hajj and Umra joint committee meeting.

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank announced Mohammed Masoud Shams Al-Deen as the winner of a brand new 2012 GMC Yukon in the third quarterly KOC prize draw for 2012. Gulf Bank’s Quarterly Prize Draw for a GMC Yukon is part of the benefits offered to all KOC staff members who transfer their salaries to Gulf Bank and have a valid credit card.

Expressing his gratitude on winning, Mohammed Masoud Shams Al-Deen said, “I would like to thank Gulf Bank for this extraordinary prize, winning a brand new GMC Yukon makes my life easier. I’m always impressed by the efficient banking service I always receive from the Bank at the KOC branch and every other branch.”

The KOC salary package provides a non-interest bearing current account especially designed to fulfill KOC staff’s banking needs. KOC staff are entitled to several exclusive benefits such as, vouchers from X-cite by Alghanim Electronics, free issuance charges for Visa and MasterCard Credit Card and special discounts upon using Gulf Bank cards at 100 outlets in Kuwait. Upon entering the draw, KOC staff are further qualified to win a new GMC Yukon as an added bonus to the KOC tailored salary banking package.

Gulf Bank is the only Bank available at the KOC Head Office and all KOC staff are invited to visit the branch to find out more about the KOC salary package.

For more information about the package and all Gulf Bank’s products and services, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance, or log on to www.egulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s website.

Kuwait embassy in Washington raises $500,000 for schools WASHINGTON: Kuwait’s Embassy in Washington raised $500,000 for improving schools and supporting education curriculum in poor communities in a fundraising event attended by former US President Bill Clinton as a prime supporter for this cause.

In his speech during the event that was hosted by Kuwaiti Ambassador Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and his wife, Clinton extended his appreciation to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his ongoing support for humanitarian causes. —KUNA

LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

‘Judicial system plays role in regional dispute’

KUWAIT: One of the 30 teams that took part in the Third Red Bull Flugtag event that was held in Marina Crescent yesterday is seen taking off from the ramp. A detailed report on the event will be published on Sunday. —Photo by Joseph Shagra

Sigh of relief as police beef up patrolling in Salmiya Col Al-Mutairi allays fears of residents

AMMAN: The current situation in the region required the involvement of the judicial system to try solve issues of conflict amongst people, said Kuwait Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs Jamal AlShehab here yesterday.

Speaking to KUNA at conclusion of his three-day visit to Jordan, Al-Shehab said that each Arab national judiciary should be working on measures to decrease tension amongst opposing parties in their respective country, saying that justice imposed all portions of society would help defuse crises in the Arab world. In regards to his meetings with Jordanian judiciary officials, AlShehab said that several cooperation protocols and memos on the exchange of expertise within the domain were signed during his visit.

The Kuwaiti Minister and his accompanying delegation met during the visit with King Abdullah II, Prime Minister Abduallah Al-Nassour, his Jordanian counterpart Ghaleb AlZubi, and others. — KUNA

Yacht sinks off Kubbar

By Sajeev K Peter

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Residents living in Salmiya heaved a sigh of relief as police intensified patrolling and beefed up security measures to curb incidents of mugging and armed robberies in the neighborhood.

Col Bader Al-Mutairi, Police Commander of Salmiya area, assured an Indian community delegation last week that the police would deploy more patrols in Salmiya and book all the armed robbery gangs prowling in Salmiya.

The police have arrested two people in connection with the killing of an Indian expatriate last month, whose death sent shockwaves across the area. Kuwait Times had reported the rising incidents of armed robberies and mugging in Salmiya that had caused panic among the residents in this largely Asian neighborhood. Several parents raised a hue and cry after women and children became ‘soft targets’ of the criminals.

Thousands of students move in and around Salmiya daily as there are seven schools in the area.

“Now we can heave a sigh of relief. I think there is an immediate impact of the police action. No criminal incidents or robberies have come to my notice over the last few days,” Vijayan Karayil, Secretary of the board of directors, Indian Community School Kuwait, told the Kuwait Times.

Vijayan, who was in the delegation that called on the Police Commander Al-Mutairi on October 11, said that Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta took the initiative to arrange the meeting with the police official. The delegation was headed by Indian Embassy

KUWAIT: A yacht sank near Kubbar island with seven persons, including two Kuwaitis on board.

Shuaiba fire center and sea rescue rushed to the site and helped the trapped people get out of the yacht on to rescue boats.

Head of Shuaiba Sea Center Major Bader Al-Kadam and Major Abdullah AlHubail were present at the scene.

KUWAIT: Col Bader Al-Mutairi poses for a photo with the Indian community delegation.

Consular and Chief Welfare Officer Balram Kumar Upadhyay.

“He gave us a very patient hearing and assured us that all the culprits will be brought to justice and emphasized the need to build confidence among the panic-stricken residents,” Vijayan said.

While promising action, Col Al-Mutairi urged the community members not to hesitate to report criminal incidents to police stressing the importance of using Arabic language in complaints. He advised the people to carry money and Civil IDs in separate wallets. Urging people not to get duped by ‘fake CIDs,’ he said every resident has the right to verify the identity of an official before furnishing one’s own Civil ID before a stranger.

It is a standard modus operandi of criminal gangs who would approach unsuspect-

ing people in ‘dish-dasha’ posing as CID officials to rob them of their money and valuables.

The officer also suggested that it would be ideal if children could move in groups when they go to school or tuition. Similarly, women those who go for a walk in Salmiya garden, could join up with their friends and walk in groups.

Col Al-Mutairi told the delegation that an awareness meeting for the residents in Salmiya can be convened soon after the Eid Al-Adha holidays. He or any other senior police official will address the residents in order to allay their security concerns and instil confidence in them.

The community delegation also included Mukhtar Marouf, Basheer Batha, Mahaboob Kapad, Sunil P Anthony, Salvador, Naser Iqbal, M Manshauddin and Abdur Rahman K.

Senegalese PM meets Kuwait delegation DAKAR: The Senegalese Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye held talks here with the visiting delegation of Kuwait House for National Works (KHNW) headed by Yussef Al-Ameri.

In a press statement, the Kuwaiti Embassy here pointed out that the talks focused on cultural cooperation between the KHNW and Senegal. AlAmeri has touched upon the innovation plans of the Kuwaiti pavilion at the Senegalese Museum. For his part, Senegalese PM welcomed the Kuwaiti delegation and lauded the bilateral ties between the two nations as deeply-seated and very close.

The meeting was attended by Kuwait Ambassador to Senegal Hamad Burahma. —KUNA

local SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Eloped female raped by boyfriend, friend Father beats up son for reckless driving KUWAIT: A 20-year-old female citizen, who was sexually exploited by her boyfriend and his brother, complained about it to the Bayan police station, security sources said. The girl had eloped with her boyfriend after fleeing her family house in Jahra but after exploiting her sexually, he drove her to one of his friends in Mishref, claiming that she will find it a better place to stay. However, the second man also sexually exploited her before throwing her out.

The girl then reported the matter to the Bayan police.

Butchers in scuffle Two Arab butchers got into a violent scuffle in Jleeb with one stabbing the other repeatedly, said security sources. The injured was rushed to a hospital while the other was arrested pending further investigations.

Salmiya robbers Five unidentified robbers barged into a Salmiya massage center at 2 am where they assaulted the receptionist and stole KD 20,000 in cash besides a laptop that had records of all the clients, as per the owner’s complaint. A case was filed and further investigations are on.

Citizen faints A 45-year-old citizen was rushed to a hospital after he fainted in the bathroom at his home in Salmiya, said security sources. The man was rushed to an Intensive care Unit.

Son beaten up A 16-year-old Kuwaiti boy who went driving recklessly with his friends after surreptitiously

sneaking out of his house in his father’s car was later beaten up so badly by the father that he had to be taken to the hospital, security sources said. The young man, finding his father asleep, stole the vehicle keys, picked up a few friends and drove recklessly but ended up crashing into a pavement, damaging one of the tires.

Meanwhile, the father woke up and went out looking for his son, but finding him involved in the accident, he lost his temper and beat him up brutally. As the boy’s head smashed against the car, he started bleeding profusely. The father then rushed the boy to hospital.

Liquor vendor nabbed An Asian man in his 40s was arrested for selling home-made liquor in Jleeb, security sources said. The police patrol saw the man take out a bottle from a plastic bag and giving it to another in return for some money. After noticing the police, the suspect tried to escape but was chased and apprehended. Police is trying to find where he got the liquor from.

Two infiltrators held Two people were arrested while trying to infiltrate into Kuwait on foot through the territorial border with a neighboring country, said security sources. Case papers indicated that a border patrol spotted the two suspects, a Bedouin and a GCC citizen, walking into Kuwaiti territory at dawn. When chased, the duo tried to escape where they had come from but were arrested. They confessed to trying to sneak into Kuwait. A case was filed and further investigations are in progress.

Huge fire breaks out in furniture mart

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A fire broke out at a furniture mart early morning yesterday, and it spread to nearby shops, a printing institution and an

aluminum plant. Shuwaikh Industrial Fire Center with back up from Shuhada and Salmiya centers brought the fire under control. Lt Faisal bin Ghaith’s hand was injured and he was taken to Farwaniya hospital.

Gun-wielding landlord threatens to kill tenant The dumped leftovers of trees in Khaldiya

Municipality continues cleaning campaign

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The Kuwait Municipality continued its cleaning campaign at the instruction of MEW Minister and State Minister for Municipality Affairs Eng Abdelaziz Al-Ibrahim under the slogan ‘keep Kuwait Clean.’

A municipality statement issued here said that the supervisory system monitored and inspected several locations including Khaldiya that reeled from random dumping of leftovers of trees. The pileup was subsequently cleared by the municipal authorities.

The statement further said that the hotline 139 receives complaints round the clock, and help can be sought by residents.

The statement called upon citizens who

wish to trim their trees to call the number, and wait sometime to respond to all citizens in all governorates.

It said the campaign will continue in all areas with follow-up action from the municipality’s higher leadership in order to ensure cleanliness which requires cooperation from the public with the municipality.

Meanwhile, Farwaniya Municipality Branch Director Engr Ahmad Al-Hazeem said the team following roaming vendors, made several rounds, during which 42 bags of rice, 25 bags of sugar, 220 cans of oil, and 195 cans of powdered milk were confiscated and handed over to the ministry of commerce. Al-Hazeem thanked the team for hard work to eradicate such activity.

KUWAIT: A house-owner allegedly threatened to kill a tenant. The tenant told police that there was a dispute with the landlord, who asked him to vacate the flat during which he pulled out a gun and threatened to kill him if he did not leave. The case is under investigation.

Flirt arrested An 18-year-old citizen was trying to flirt with a girl in her 20s at a restaurant in Mishref.

The girl’s father was waiting for her when he saw her crying and running towards him, throwing the food on the ground. The father rushed to his daughter’s rescue and beat up the man badly. Policemen and paramedics who arrived at the scene gave him first aid before arresting him.

Slogan writer A boy accompanied his father and brothers to Al-Bahar Day and came across a slogan: Authority is for the people. He was so impressed by it that he wrote it on the wall of a school in Al-Salam area. The slogan was seen by a school employee who called officials.

Police authorities examined the wall before removing the slogan.

Drunk official arrested An army lieutenant was arrested for being drunk in public and taken to AlNaeem police station. Policemen were helping a motorist when they noticed a car which was moving suspiciously. On asking the driver to stop, they detected alcohol breath and placed him under arrest.

Missing copper cables Thieves stole copper cables from a Sabhan power transformer at an estimated value of KD 14,000. A security source said an employee told police that while inspecting the project in Sabhan area, he was surprised to find a large quantity of copper cables missing. Police are investigating.

Wedding party thief Guests at a wedding party caught a thief trying to steal the car of another invitee, who later turned out to be a detective.

The thief broke the window without bothering about the nearby crowd but they caught him and turned him over to the police. —Al-Watan, Al-Rai

LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Guinness Record book ‘This is Muhammad’ to arrive in Kuwait ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates’ record breaking 1,500 kg-book “This is Muhammad” will arrive in Kuwait on December 12 in the first overseas trip to the biggest book in the world. “Kuwait will be the first country to host the book and it will be displayed at Gulf University for Science and Technology and Avenues mall,” Dr Mohammed Saeed Al Awlaki, Chairman of the board of Mshahed Investment Group, the man behind this mind boggling record, told KUNA. He added that Kuwait will host the book for a month, noting that the press conference will be held upon its arrival to Kuwait. Al-Awlaki said that the book is weighing 1,500 Kg, five meters in height and four meters in width.

“This is Muhammad” book was released during a big launch ceremony in Dubai on February 28. “The 420page book which covers Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) life enters the Guinness World Records as the largest, the heaviest, and the most expensive book (as it costs up to Dh11 million) in the world,” he told KUNA. The new book has already entered the Guinness Book of Records. The book, a new world record, has been made of a fine mixture of paper and leather, and printed out in Germany.

Written by Dr Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Muslih, Saudi author and Secretary General of the Complex for Islamic Fiqh Research in Riyadh, the intention behind the book is to tell the world about Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in a simple style of writing, in order to polish misconceptions, disseminate public awareness about Islam and Muslims, and bridging gaps. —KUNA

BANGKOK: Kuwaiti Charge d’Affaires at Kuwait’s embassy to Thailand Fahad Al-Jemaz meeting the Thai defense minister.

Kuwait ‘fulfilled duties to under developed nations’ UNITED NATIONS: Kuwait has “fulfilled its duties” regarding aid for under-developed nations however these countries should shoulder responsibility of attaining genuine and sustainable development, a Kuwaiti diplomat said. Fahad Abbas Al-Mez’el, the third secretary, also noted that “partners of development, alluding to wealthy nations,” should shoulder responsibilities, honor obligations and offer aid for development in these countries to ensure peace, prosperity and sustainable development and “make actual change of living for peoples living in these countries.”

Al-Mez’el, who was addressing the economic committee of the UN General Assembly, late on Thursday, noted that although there was some improvement in terms of development in these countries, it remained lower than the aspired objective of seven percent, as set by the Brussels work program. He cited address by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, to the UN General Assembly, last month, when the premier affirmed this shortcoming, and called for continuing collective global efforts to realize greater development in the under-developed nations.

Shedding some light on Kuwait’s efforts in this regard, the Kuwaiti envoy noted that his country had contributed with up to $15 billion to more than 100 countries to help in boosting development and improve living conditions for the impoverished. —KUNA

British Ambassador to Kuwait Frank Baker (second right) speaks about ‘Out of Kuwait Exhibition’.

British Council holds ‘Out of Kuwait’ Exhibition 12 Kuwaiti artists display works

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Twelve Kuwaiti artists are participating in the ‘Out of Kuwait’ exhibition which was launched by the British Council Director Andrew Glass and Secretary General for the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters Ali Al-Youha in the presence of many local and international guests at the Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday.

The exhibition, which is open till October 24, 2012, is being held by the British Council in partnership with Contemporary Art Platform Kuwait and the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters.

‘Out of Kuwait’ brings together the works of 12 Kuwait-based artists who have studied and reinterpreted the theme of landscape art during a monthlong artist residency program called Landscapes Expanded. The exhibition presents the artists’ impression of their everyday surroundings and is a comment on the social, political, and physical landscapes of contemporary Kuwait.

On this occasion, the Director of the Museum of Modern Art Maha Al-Mansour said that the Museum is organizing more specialized exhibitions very soon. “We are now hosting special personal art, video, combined art, and other exhibitions. Through these exhibitions, we aim to invite the Kuwaiti and expat art lovers to come and enjoy the great art works displayed at the Museum,” she said.

This unique opportunity was inspired by the best of Britain’s landscape artists, whose work is seen in the British Council’s ‘Out of Britain’ exhibition currently open at Contemporary Art Platform Kuwait. The program has given

KUWAIT: Visitors watch display of art works.

—Photos by Joseph Shagra

artists living in Kuwait a chance to explore contemporary issues related to site, space and place in their field of work.

Landscapes Expanded was open to candidates from all creative and academic disciplines with the understanding that this would provide a trans-discipli-

nary forum for thinking and working.

Each participant’s expertise and experience in their own field helped to inform the work generated by the rest of the group. For individuals outside of formal education, this type of stimulating platform is rare.

This initiative is part of British Council’s exhibition ‘Out of Britain: 100 years of British Landscape Art’. ‘Out Of Britain’ is one of the largest cultural events that the British Council Kuwait has organised in more than 50 years and is supported by a month-long public campaign. Apart from this artist residency, Landscapes Expanded also includes a series of public lectures led by arts specialists from the UK and Kuwait, and an educational programme for schools.

Apart from the ‘Out of Kuwait’ exhibition, the ‘Out of Britain’ exhibition is also open at Contemporary Art Platform Kuwait in Shuwaikh until 25 October 2012.

Autumn Perfumes and Watches exhibition KUWAIT: Kuwait International Fair announced the extension of Autumn Perfumes and Watches Exhibition fair until October 23 in which 150 companies and 16 sponsors are participating. Director of the Exhibition Ruqaya Al-Rashdan said, “due to the large turnout at the exhibition and due to the success of exhibitors, the event will be extended until October

23, 2012.” Meanwhile, Director of the Watches Exhibition at KIF said, “The phenomenal turnout being witnessed at the Watches exhibition underlines our commitment to good organization and our keenness on the success of such events.” The visiting hours to the Autumn Perfumes and Watches exhibition are from 10 am to 1:30 pm and 5 pm to 10 pm.

Ruqaya Al-Rashdan

LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Mobile internet, the way forward Improving connectivity in Kuwait

KUWAIT: The Internet population in Kuwait has witnessed a phenomenal rise in the last one year with ISPs slashing the prices. (Photo used for illustrative purpose) KUWAIT: In recent weeks, the Ministry of Communications (MoC) has ordered Kuwait’s internet service providers (ISPs) to reduce their pricing by at least 40 percent.

While this move could boost the number of users, some industry participants say that it is the ageing, government-owned, fixedline communications infrastructure and lack of a clear regulatory framework - and not elevated pricing - that is limiting market expansion.

According to a September 25 announcement by the MoC, the maximum annual subscription fee for domestic internet will now range from KD48 for a one-megabyte-persecond (MB/s) service to KD200 for an 8 MB/s connection. The new fee structure will go into effect following the publication of the new rule in official newspapers. While ISPs will be required to lower their prices, the charges they incur from the MoC for access to the fixed-line network will also be reduced.

An official from Gulfnet Communication, one of the country’s four major ISPs, told the Kuwait Times that its annual cost of providing a 1 MB/s line would fall from KD40 to KD8.

This is the second time in the past 13 months that fixed-line internet prices have

been cut, with the MoC having imposed a 40 percent reduction in August 2011. While prices were historically high in Kuwait relative to other GCC countries, this is no longer the case.

For example, in Bahrain, customers of Bahrain Telecommunications (Batelco) are annually charged the equivalent of KD120 for a 1 MB/s line and KD360 for an 8 MB/s service. Batelco also has presence in Kuwait, thanks to its 44 percent stake in Qualitynet, a local ISP that accounts for around 45 percent of the local fixed-line internet market.

In theory, lower prices could mean an increase in the total number of fixed-line broadband customers. This appears to be the goal of the government: the minister of communications told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the aim of lowering prices has been to ensure internet availability to all segments of society.

However, according to Essa Al-Kooheji, the general manager of Qualitynet, pricing is not the primary barrier to additional customers signing up for internet service.

Instead, he told news agency Reuters that the largely copper-based, fixed-line network, which is owned by the government, is not capable of meeting an increase in consumer demand.

“We receive a lot of calls from customers who want to upgrade and take the maximum speed for the price available, but they cannot do so,” Al-Kooheji said. “The government should put more effort into improving the telecom infrastructure, rather than cutting prices.”

Another factor that may be hindering further development in the provision of internet services is the lack of an independent regulatory agency. Oversight of the IT sector currently falls to the MoC, which also provides fixed-line telephone services and licences the network out to ISPs. The absence of a dedicated regulator may be holding back the sector, Nael Al-Awadi, the general manager of the human resources and administrative affairs department at Qualitynet, told OBG. “The need for a regulator is paramount for the industry to evolve,” he said. “We need set rules, licences and tariffs so we can better assess the environment in which we are working,” he said.

The government has in the past said it plans to establish an independent regulator, but there have been no concrete developments in this regard.

While the provision of fixed-line internet may be facing some potential barriers to

expansion, the supply of mobile internet appears poised for further growth, with the MoC announcing on October 6 that it was authorizing Kuwait’s three mobile telephone providers - Zain, VIVA and Wataniya Telecom - to introduce 4G LTE high-speed data services.

Mobile internet could certainly be the way forward for Kuwait. According to Zajil Telecom, the first licensed ISP in the country, there were 427,716 wireless broadband subscribers (including 3G, 3.5G and 3.75G) in 2010, up from 392,400 in 2009. The firm predicts that this figure will reach 508,169 in 2012 and 553,905 in 2013.

A much smaller percentage of the population opts for fixed-line broadband, with 127,351 DSL subscribers in 2009 and 136,266 in 2010.

While many in Kuwait are opting to access the internet through their mobile devices, better fixed-line infrastructure may well be necessary if the government is to realize its goal of becoming a regional financial and commercial centre.

At the same time, a greater degree of privatization of certain key assets - such as the fixed-line network - could also help boost the market and prompt services to evolve more quickly. — Oxford Business Group

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Egypt Muslim Brotherhood party elects new leader

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Berlusconi denies sex with Moroccan teen

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Bangladeshi father denies son involved in bomb plot

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DAMASCUS: International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi (L) speaks to the journalists upon his arrival in Damascus airport yesterday as Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad (R) looks on. Brahimi bids to secure a ceasefire in Syria’s 19-month conflict following his regional tour to countries that play influential roles in the crisis. —AFP

Cluster bombs hit Syrian town 49 die as jets hammer rebel-held town MAARET AL-NUMAN: Syrian jets hammered a rebel town yesterday on the second day of an assault in which the regime is accused of using cluster bombs, as peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Damascus to press for a truce. Brahimi is bidding to secure a ceasefire during a four-day Muslim holiday from October 26, hoping it will bring a longer cessation in the 19-month conflict that has already killed more than 34,000 people.

Violence has persisted, however, with rebels and loyalists of President Bashar Al-Assad locked in battle for the northwestern town of Maaret AlNuman on the highway linking Syria’s two biggest cities. Assad’s forces, who hold air supremacy, again battered the town a day after strikes on a residential area killed dozens, nearly half of them children, rescuers told an AFP reporter at the scene. The military wants to regain control of the highway to resupply units under fire in

second city Aleppo for the past three months, and assist 250 troops besieged in their Wadi Deif base.

Fighter jets overflew at high altitude before nosediving and striking targets on the town’s outskirts, as helicopter gunships buzzed the area, the correspondent said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aircraft concentrated their firepower on rebel camps near Wadi Deif, also a major storage facility for armor and fuel. Rebels showed AFP debris from cluster bombs which they accused the air force of dropping on residential areas, as well as dozens of other bomblets that failed to explode on impact.

The weapons bear the Cyrillic script on their tail fins, suggesting they could have been made in Russiaa key Damascus ally. Human Rights Watch has accused Syria of using cluster bombs, a charge denied by the military which insists it does not possess them. The Observatory also

reported cluster bombs were dropped last week on the town of Saraqeb north of Maaret Al-Numan.

Syria has not ratified an international convention banning the weapon which can carry up to 650 submunitions. Non-governmental groups say up to 40 percent of the bomblets fail to explode and that 98 percent of victims are civilians, including children who mistake them for toys.

‘We must shoot them down’-The rebels say they have launched a “final assault” on Wadi Deif, which is reportedly surrounded by about 2,500 insurgents. They responded to the air strikes by opening fire from heavy machineguns mounted on pickup trucks. “It doesn’t matter if we die. We must shoot down these planes,” one said. Clashes around the base dropped in intensity overnight, according to the insurgents. “We are still laying siege to the base but we are waiting for fresh ammunition,” one of the command-

ers, Raed Mandil said. Fighter jets targeting residential areas of Maaret Al-Numan on Thursday killed at least 49 people, among them 23 children, rescuers said.

The strikes destroyed two housing complexes and a mosque, where many women and children had taken refuge, with bodies still trapped under the rubble of the mosque, medics and rescuers said. Among those killed was a nine-month-old baby. Chubby feet resting on bicycle pedals and a decapitated head were all that was left of a boy caught unaware by the blitz as he played outside his home. Brahimi was received at Damascus airport by Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faisal Muqdad, and was scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Saturday.

He is expected to hold talks with Assad at a later date.

On Thursday, the UN-Arab League envoy again appealed for both sides to lay down their arms for Eid Al-

Adha, which marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to Makkah. “If the ceasefire is implemented, we can build on it and make it a real truce, as well as the start of a political process that would help the Syrians solve their problems and rebuild their country,” he said in Amman. “If the Syrian crisis continues, it will not remain inside Syria. It will affect the entire region.”

But doubts loom large over Brahimi’s ability to halt the bloodshed, even temporarily. Damascus says it is ready to discuss the proposal with Brahimi. The opposition says it would welcome any truce but insists the regime must first halt its daily bombardments. The conflict began in March 2011 with pro-reform protests inspired by the Arab Spring, but is now a civil war pitting mainly Sunni Muslim rebels against Assad’s regime dominated by his minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Beirut blast brings back nightmare of civil war

BEIRUT: Lebanese firefighters extinguish burning cars at the scene of an explosion in the mostly Christian neighborhood of Achrafiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday. — AP

BEIRUT: A deadly car bomb blast which rocked a main square in Beirut yesterday brought back dark memories of Lebanon’s violent past and the civil war which tore the country apart. “We’ve seen this all before, we’ve grown up with it,” said 34-year-old Bassam, who works in the Ashrafieh neighbourhood where the bomb struck.

The blast, which killed at eight people and wounded dozens of others, went off 200 metres (yards) from the headquarters of a Christian party, the Phalange, which opposes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Whoever was behind the bombing was targeting politicians, but the ones who died are innocent civilians,” Bassam told AFP. “The explosion was a real shock to us and proof that the lives of Lebanese are worthless.” Bassam grew up during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. The Ashrafieh blast also reminded local residents of a string of bomb attacks and shootings after the war, especially the February 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. The attacks killed several politicians and other leading figures, in a campaign which many blamed on neighbouring Syria-the main powerbroker in Lebanon at the time-despite its repeated denials.

“This is not the first explosion that I survive,” said Emad, who was wounded in yesterday’s blast. “I was also there when (An-Nahar newspaper editor) Gebran Tueini was killed” in a car bomb blast in December 2005.

Egypt Muslim Brotherhood party elects new leader Demonstrators protest Islamist power CAIRO: The political party of Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood elected a former speaker of parliament as its new leader yesterday to replace Mohammed Morsi, who resigned from the post after winning the country’s presidential election.

Saad el-Katatny, who led Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament until it was dissolved by a court order earlier this year, garnered 581 votes to become the new chief of the Freedom and Justice Party. He beat out the party’s deputy leader, Essam el-Erian, who earned 283 votes.

The result essentially ensures the Brotherhood’s continued tight oversight of the party, which it created after the popular uprising that toppled longtime

leader Hosni Mubarak last year. El-Katatny is considered close to the Brotherhood’s more conservative faction led by chief strategist and financier Khairat el-Shater, who was the group’s first-choice presidential candidate before being disqualified on technical grounds.

El-Erian, on the other hand, was viewed as more of a reformist open to dialogue with Egypt’s liberal parties and as a leader who would push for more independence for the party from the Brotherhood itself.

When it comes to the two candidates’ political views, however, the differences are minimal, said former Brotherhood member Mohammed Osman.

“The Brotherhood organization no longer has two movements. It just has one wing, which is the conservative wing,” said

CAIRO: Egyptian Freedom and Justice Party members Saad al-Katatni (C) is congratulated by party members after being elected head of FJP in Cairo yesterday. Party members elected former parliament chief Katatni to replace Mohamed Morsi, who stepped down on taking over the presidency. — AFP

Osman, who split from the movement to become a chief strategist for exBrotherhood member and former presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh. “The party and organization, and el-Katatny and el-Erian, are one and the same in the end.”

The once-banned Brotherhood has emerged as Egypt’s strongest political force following last year’s anti-Mubarak revolt. The group’s Freedom and Justice Party captured the most seats in parliamentary elections, and followed that up with Morsi’s win in the presidential vote in June.

The party, however, has come under sharp criticism from liberals, secularists and Coptic Christians who accuse it of trying to write the new constitution with a sharply Islamic bent, while supporters of the former regime fear the Brotherhood is using its newfound power to settle old scores.

The group still has the support of millions of Egyptians, including many of the country’s poor who rely on the Brotherhood’s grassroots efforts and charity for assistance. Around 10,000 protesters rallied yesterday in Cairo, demanding an apology from the Brotherhood for violence last week, when supporters of the group clashed with anti-government protesters, leaving more than 100 people injured.

Protesters also called on the Brotherhood and its fellow Islamists to ensure the country’s constitution represents all factions of society. The 100member assembly tasked with writing the new charter is packed with Islamists, many of whom are Brotherhood members.

Protesters from a wide range of groups - from activists who helped topple Mubarak to supporters of that the ousted leader’s regime - took part in Friday’s march that ended in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of last year’s revolt. — AP

“Today I felt like I’ve seen this all before,” said Emad, 50.

“But for sure, today’s explosion was much more powerful.”

Windows of several buildings were blown off by the force of the explosion and the ground was sprinkled with shattered glass, as residents and medical volunteers evacuated the wounded.

Residential buildings and a small commercial bank were badly damaged, and houses on the ground floor of a sidestreet leading off Sassine Square were set ablaze, residents said. “Had we not been out of the house buying medicines, we would have died,” wept Nancy, a 45-year-old woman in a pink shirt. “Our house was burned. Thank God we’re alive.

“This attack is a message to the Christians and to all Lebanese, to tell us nobody is safe in this country,” said Nancy. To Rahme, a 50-year-old nurse who works at the nearby Hotel Dieu hospital, the blast was a stark reminder of Lebanon’s civil war. “It’s a good thing we are trained to work in such emergencies,” Rahme told AFP. “Then, like now, innocent people were the victims, and attacks were always a surprise. It’s so sad.” Visibly traumatised by the explosion, a young pregnant woman wept quietly as she sat outside the Hotel Dieu, with wounds to her shoulder and hand, circled by relatives. In another throwback to the civil war years, the local hospital sent out a call for blood donations as it dealt with the injured, but now it was on Twitter rather than the radio. — AFP

Palestinians hold local elections NABLUS: Posters for two competing candidates in this weekend’s Palestinian local elections are affixed to road signs, buildings, power lines, and vehicles in this bustling West Bank city. Despite the crush of campaign color, the first municipal balloting in Palestinian areas in six years has largely fallen flat.

Only Palestinians in the West Bank will vote today, choosing mostly between rivals from the dominant but disorganized Fatah Party of President Mahmoud Abbas. Gaza’s Hamas rulers, who seized control of the territory from Abbas’ forces in 2007, will not allow elections there, and Hamas loyalists in the West Bank are boycotting the vote.

The result is a lackluster campaign that has generated little public enthusiasm while deepening the split between the two territories that the Palestinians hope one day will be a single state. “For the Palestinian Authority and Fatah, the elections are something of a disaster,” said Nathan Thrall, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.

Abbas himself was elected in a 2005 election two months after the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The following year, the Palestinians held legislative elections.

But since then, efforts to deepen democracy in the Palestinian areas have stumbled. Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, repeated attempts to reconcile the rival governments have failed, as have short-lived proposals to hold new presidential and legislative elections.

Abbas announced the local elections earlier this year, hoping to revive his popularity among Palestinians. Abbas’ public standing has plunged due to his inability to heal the rift with Hamas, a faltering economy and a deadlock in peace talks with Israel. Palestinians seek the West Bank and Gaza, located on opposite sides of Israel, for a future state.

Abbas serves as president of the Palestinian Authority, a Western-backed government that has partial autonomy in the Israeli-controlled West Bank. In municipal elections, clan loyalties play as much of a role as party politics, and Saturday’s vote is only an indirect test of the standing of Abbas and Fatah. In many locations, Fatah has brought independents and local dignitaries into Fatah-backed slates to improve chances of success.

The vote comes at a time of mounting problems for Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, a political independent.

In recent months, Fayyad has had difficulty paying the salaries of civil servants and members of the security forces, a backbone of the small Palestinian economy.

In September, thousands of people took to the streets to protest rising prices and delayed salary payments by the cash-strapped government. “People are drowning in their problems,” said Samer Hajaj, a 52-year-old salesman. “They see no way out through local elections.”—AP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Leaders to discuss reconquering north Mali BAMAKO: African and European leaders will meet in Bamako to work on the logistics of reconquering Mali’s desert north from armed Islamists. The summit whose start was initially scheduled for 0900 GMT was delayed for several hours and comes a week after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution giving West African nations 45 days to lay out details for a military intervention.

The vast region the size of France fell under control of radical Islamist groups in the chaos that followed a March coup in the country that was once considered one of Africa’s most stable democracies.

Concerned that the area could become the same type of haven for AlQaeda Islamists that Afghanistan was a decade ago, Mali’s neighbours and the West are keen to drive the radicals out.

In the months that they have been in

control of the region, the Islamists have imposed their version of sharia law, arresting unveiled women, stoning to death unmarried couples and amputating the limbs of suspected thieves, according to residents and rights groups.

They have also destroyed ancient Muslim shrines that have been revered for centuries and are classified as World Heritage Sites, but which the radicals consider blasphemous. The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has said that it could send up to 3,000 troops to recapture the area.

Among those expected at Friday’s meeting which will be opened by Malian President Dioncounda Traore are new African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

The number-two EU diplomat Pierre Vimont, France’s envoy to the

Sahel Jean Felix-Paganon, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy for the region, former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, will also take part.

European Union leaders vowed to help Mali by backing up an international military force and training Malian defence forces. A draft EU summit statement obtained by AFP said the situation “poses an immediate threat to the Sahel region as well as to West and North Africa and to Europe”.

“The EU will support Mali in its efforts to restore the rule of law and re-establish a fully sovereign democratic government with authority throughout Malian territory,” the statement said.

The EU statement said the bloc “will examine support for the envisaged military force” and “speed up planning of a possible Common Security and

Defence Policy military operation to help reorganise and train the Malian defence forces.”

The EU would also resume development cooperation as soon as Mali’s coup leaders provided evidence of moves to restore constitutional order.

“In the meantime the EU will step up its humanitarian response,” the statement added. Representatives from ECOWAS countries, who are the only ones expected to send troops into Mali, will begin laying out their strategy for recapturing the vast desert area, according to Western diplomats.

They will set out their military needs and take note of what ammunition and ground troops Mali has available. “It has to be very well thoughtout, otherwise the Security Council won’t be on board if it deems the plan to be flawed,” said one diplomatic source. — AFP

Berlusconi denies sex with Moroccan teen ‘I never had an intimate relationship with her’

PARIS: Policemen investigate next to a car used to ram a cash machine of the French bank Credit Lyonnais, yesterday Boulevard Diderot in Paris. — AFP

Attacks, clashes in north Nigeria kill several KANO: Explosions and gun battles between suspected Islamist extremists and security forces hit northeastern Nigeria, leaving several people dead and buildings destroyed in one city, officials and residents said yesterday.

The clashes sparked panic and chaos in the city of Potiskum from late Thursday, with residents reporting a number of dead as well as schools and a government building set on fire. In Maiduguri, the base of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, gunfire and several explosions could also be heard yesterday, but details were not immediately clear.

Police said they were seeking to restore calm in Potiskum and clear unexploded bombs, while some of the ordnance was still detonating. “There are so many bombs here and there, and I can’t give you the casualty figure now, because our men are still in the field to restore calm,” said Patrick Egbuniwe, police commissioner for Yobe state, where Potiskum is located.

A military source said some houses had been destroyed with home-made bombs and a security checkpoint was attacked, but he also could not give a death toll yet. He said Boko Haram was suspected to be behind the violence.

“I cannot ascertain as of now how many people were killed, apart from the one (suspect) that I know who was shot at the checkpoint,” the source told AFP. Potiskum, which has been repeatedly hit by Boko Haram, was under military lockdown on Friday as security forces sought to track down the attackers, while residents described heavy explosions and gunfire, including home-made bombs being thrown at houses.

Two residents spoke of seeing a number of bodies, while one said several schools were burned, including an Islamic seminary. “From where I stand, I can see the local government secretariat completely burned and several shops around it smouldering from last night’s attack,” one resident said.

Another said that “at least five primary schools, including an Islamic seminary, have been burnt in the attacks.” — AFP

MILAN: Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi denied at his trial yesterday that he hosted raunchy parties, had sex with a 17-year-old prostitute or abused his powers by pressuring police officers.

Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with Moroccan exotic dancer Karima El-Mahroug, better known by her stage name as “Ruby the Heart Stealer”. He is also charged with abusing his position as prime minister by telling police to release her when she was arrested for petty theft in May 2010.

“I never had an intimate relationship of any kind with her,” the 76-year-old told the court in only his second appearance at the trial in Milan which began last year and has heard from witnesses describing stripshows at his home.

“I was sure she was 24, as she herself said,” said Berlusconi, who has kept a relatively low public profile since stepping down in November 2011 after dominating Italy’s political scene for much of the past two decades.

“I can exclude with absolute certainty that there were ever scenes of a sexual nature,” he said, referring to parties held at his villa near Milan. “Everything happened in front of the staff and at times my children too came in to say hello,” said the billionaire, who has five children from two marriages which ended in divorce and often boasts of his playboy qualities.

A report in the Corriere della Sera daily said that the trial was “making him anxious, losing him sleep and spoiling his days.” “He considers this a real persecution against him... and knows that it could really damage forever his image as a statesman,” the report said.

Berlusconi’s future is still a matter of heated political debate in Italy, with many supporters in the People of Freedom party that he founded calling for him to return to lead the party in a general election next year.

The “Bunga Bunga”-described by many of his female guests as a type of lap dance that Berlusconi enjoyed-was “only a joke I used to tell which then got picked up by the press,” he told the court’s three female judges. One witness earlier in the trial said she saw girls in nun costumes stripping for Berlusconi, another testified that she dressed up as late US soul singer Whitney Houston and US President Barack Obama before stripping off.

Several witnesses called by the prosecution said women were paid to attend the parties and given a bonus for having sex with Berlusconi. But the former premier said these descriptions constituted “a monstrous operation of defamation” and an intrusion into his private life.

“They were just dinners in which I monopolised the attention, singing, talking about sport and politics and gossiping,” he said. “I never paid money to

have intimate relationships with my female guests and my female guests could not be considered escorts,” he said.

He did however add that his accountant had given Mahroug “several thousand euros after Ruby’s constant requests.” The court yesterday also heard from two musicians who attended the parties, often playing along to Berlsuconi’s songs.

“He never laid a hand on them,” said Mariano Apicella, a guitarist and singer who has put out albums of love songs written by Berlusconi. Pianist Danilo Mariani said that the young women “danced in a sexy, provocative way” but Berlusconi “limited himself to shaking their hands”.

Referring to his phone call to a Milan police station when El-Mahroug was arrested, Berlusconi said he “never put pressure on Milan police”. — AFP

MILAN: Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi waves as he arrives for a court hearing in Milan, Italy, yesterday. Berlusconi has denied in court having had sex with an underage Moroccan girl, or ever paying for sex with any guest at his villa near Milan. — AP

NEWS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Bomb blast leaves 8 dead in Lebanon Anti-Assad security official killed

BEIRUT: A Lebanese policeman (right) uses his mobile phone to film damage at the scene of an explosion in the mostly Christian neighborhood of Achrafiyeh, Beirut yesterday. (Inset) File photo shows Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) chief General Wissam AlHassan. Hassan was killed in a car bomb blast in Beirut. — AFP

Blast kills Bahraini policeman ABU DHABI: A policeman in Bahrain was killed and another critically injured in a bomb attack while on patrol south of the capital Manama, security officials said yesterday, as further unrest convulsed the Gulf Arab kingdom and close US ally. Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet is based as a bulwark against Iran, has been volatile since majority Shiite Muslims began protesting against alleged discrimination last year.

Those protests were initially crushed by the kingdom’s Sunni Muslim monarchy, with martial law and help from Gulf neighbors.

However, smaller scale demonstrations have since resumed and anti-government protesters clash with security forces several times every week in the small island country. The policemen were attacked in the village of Akr late on Thursday by rioters with petrol bombs and an unspecified “explosive device”, the information authority said in a statement, citing Major General Tariq Hasan Al-Hasan, the security chief.

One policeman died of his injuries yesterday

morning while the other was in a critical condition, it said. An investigation was underway to find the assailants, Hasan said. Earlier yesterday, Bahrain’s interior ministry described the incident in the mostly Shiite village as a “terrorist attack”. Thousands of people attended the policeman’s funeral in the mainly Sunni area of Rifaa yesterday afternoon, witnesses said. Some mourners shouted “Down, down with Issa Qassim”, in reference to Sheikh Issa Qassim, a spiritual guide to Shiites in Bahrain.

Qassim is not connected to any party but led a pro-democracy protest of some 100,000 people in March. Bahraini police have been the target of such bombings several times in the past year, most recently in May when four policemen were wounded. Shiites complain of discrimination in the electoral system, jobs, housing and education and say they are mistreated by government departments, the police and the army. Government promises of action to address their concerns have come to nothing, they say. — Reuters

BEIRUT: Senior Lebanese intelligence official Wissam Al-Hassan, who led the investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri, was killed by a huge car bomb in Beirut yesterday. The bomb, which exploded in a busy street during rush hour, killed seven other people and wounded about 80, officials said. The attack prompted Sunni Muslims to take to the streets in areas across the country, burning tyres in protest.

Rubble and the twisted, burning wreckage of several cars filled the central Beirut street where the bomb exploded, ripping the facades and balconies off buildings. Firefighters scrambled through the debris and rescue workers carried off the bloodied victims on stretchers. The blast occurred when many parents were picking up children from school. The attack brought the war in neighboring Syria to the Lebanese capital, confirming fears that the conflict would infect it neighbors.

The war in Syria, which has killed 30,000 people in the past 19 months, has pitted mostly Sunni insurgents against President Bashar AlAssad, who is from the Alawite sect linked to Shiite Islam. Lebanon’s religious communities are divided between those supporting Assad and those backing the rebels trying to overthrow him. Hassan was a leading opponent of Assad within the Lebanese intelligence services. “I can just say that it is true, he is dead,” an official who worked with Hassan told Reuters.

Hassan was also the brains behind uncovering a bomb plot that led to the arrest in August of a Lebanese politician allied to Assad, a major setback for Damascus. He had been a close aide to Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a 2005 bomb attack. He led the investigation into the murder and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah, Lebanon’s pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim group.

Hariri supporters accused Syria and then Hezbollah of killing him - a charge they both deny. An international tribunal accused several Hezbollah members of involvement in the murder. “His killing means striking the head. The (anti-Assad) officials are all exposed now and in danger of assassination. It will be easy to assassinate them now or they will have to leave the country. He was their protector,” the official said.

Amir orders govt to amend...

Continued from Page 1

Crisis deepens Continued from Page 1 addressed Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah, warning him that any amendment to the electoral law could lead to street protests and chaos.

They also warned Kuwait was becoming an autocratic state, and insisted they would oppose that. The state embraced parliamentary democracy half a century ago, but it is illegal under the constitution to criticize the Amir who enjoys extensive authority and must be from the Al-Sabah ruling family, in power for more than 250 years. “The detention of the former MPs is an unwise decision ... It will only fuel tensions in the country and instigate more protests,” former Islamist lawmaker Mohammad Hayef warned on his Twitter account.

Waleed Al-Tabtabai, another former MP, criticized the government’s policy of clamping down on the opposition and arresting its lead-

ers, insisting that what they said at rallies was “allowed criticism aimed at reforms.” Kuwait, an OPEC member which says it sits on 20 percent of global oil reserves and has more than $400 billion of surpluses, has been in a virtual limbo since June 20 when the top court annulled an opposition-dominated parliament.

The historical court verdict also reinstated the pro-government parliament elected in 2009 after it was dissolved in December following street protests and corruption allegations. The house however was dissolved again two weeks ago but the government has so far failed to set a date for next elections amid allegations it is planning to change the electoral law to manipulate the polls results. The Gulf state has been rocked by a series of political crises since 2006 during which the government resigned nine times and parliament was dissolved on six occasions, five of them by the emir and one by the courts. — AFP

The bombing, which was reminiscent of grim scenes from Lebanon’s own 1975-1990 civil war, ripped through the street where the office of the anti-Damascus Christian Phalange Party is located near Sassine Square in Ashrafiyeh, a mostly Christian area. Phalange leader Sami Al-Gemayel, a staunch opponent of Assad and a member of parliament, condemned the attack. “Let the state protect the citizens. We will not accept any procrastination in this matter, we cannot continue like that. We have been warning for a year.

Enough,” said Gemayel, whose brother was assassinated in 2006.

In the aftermath of yesterday’s bomb, residents ran about in panic looking for relatives as security forces blanketed the area. Ambulances ferried the wounded to hospitals, which put out an appeal for blood donations. An employee of a bank on the street pointed to the blown-out windows of his building. “Some people were wounded from my bank. I think it was a car bomb. The whole car jumped five floors into the air,” he said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the government was trying to find out who carried out the attack and said those responsible would be punished. The prospect that Syria’s war might spread to Lebanon has worried many people here and fighting broke out in February between supporters and opponents of Assad in the northern city of Tripoli. Syria had long played a major role in Lebanese politics, siding with different factions during the civil war. It deployed troops in Beirut and parts of the country during the war and they stayed until 2005.

In Damascus, Syrian Information Minister Omran Al-Zoabie told reporters: “We condemn this terrorist explosion and all these explosions wherever they happen. Nothing justifies them.”

Tension between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians in Lebanon has continued after the civil war but has increased with the Syria conflict. Khattar Abou Diab, a Middle East expert at the University of Paris, said the attack was clearly linked to the Syria crisis and Hassan was one of the few security chiefs protecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence. “He wasn’t just an ordinary person. Since 2005, he was a close ally of Rafik al-Hariri and it is a major loss for Lebanon. — Reuters

Around 500 supporters of the opposition including several former MPs meanwhile gathered outside the Palace of Justice in Kuwait City to protest against the decision and to demand freedom for a number of former MPs and activists who are detained. The opposition is expected to stage a procession today to protest against the amendment.

His Highness addressed the nation about the latest developments in the country and how to overcome the challenges facing it. “I have followed with sorrow, pain and serious concern the latest developments in Kuwait,” the Amir said. “I say sorrow...for what I see as threats of chaotic sedition that could jeopardize our country, undermine our national unity, distort our identity, dismember our society and turn us into divided groups, conflicting parties and sects acting against each other and bearing grudge and hostility to each other. I see all these and wonder - Is this Kuwait, which was the model for unity, tolerance, and solidarity?” he questioned.

“I say pain...for what I see of abhorrent rhet-

oric and ethics in public dealings and serious violation of all norms and traditions, rejection and disrespect of the other, growing extremism, inclination to chaos and riot and trespassing all acceptable limits in offenses. I see all these and wonder: Is this Kuwait, which was known by the great ethics of its people and their credibility, loyalty, tolerance, moderation and respect of the state constants?” “I say concern...for the dangers that threaten our dear country and the future of our grandchildren if this present situation drags on,” the Amir went on to say that the repeated crises and problems have crippled the state and its development plans.

“This is the situation now. We go to bed while we have a certain crisis and wake up to another one. Countries are moving forward but we are standing still, if not lagging behind.

Yes, there is some failure in some state institutions as it is the case in other countries, but how we can make a reform in an atmosphere that full of unreal crises that distract attention and waste efforts.” Amir regretted the irresponsible behavior of some people towards the state interests.

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

The man on a mission to debunk Obama ‘myth’ PARIS: He did nothing for AfricanAmericans, left the poor even poorer, his health care reform was a step backwards, and he may yet let another financial disaster erupt on his watch. In short, Barack Obama squandered the huge wave of goodwill that gave the United States its first black president, argues the president and publisher of the high-brow and leftleaning US magazine Harper’s.

John R. MacArthur has been making those points all week as he tours Paris to promote his new French-language book “L’Illusion Obama” that seeks to puncture the myths about the man who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 just a few months after taking power.

MacArthur has also just published “The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America: Or, Why A Progressive Presidency Is Impossible”, an update on a 2008 work that argues that it is next to impossible to beat the money machine and the vested interests that dominate Washington.

“The only question is did Obama squander it (the opportunity for change) or did he know from the beginning that it was impossible. Was it cynical? I hope it wasn’t cynical,” he

said. MacArthur says that Obama’s failure to change US society for the better can best be understood when his time in the White House is contrasted with that of a Democrat predecessor, Lyndon B Johnson. Johnson was vice-president and stepped up when John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Little was expected of this man who was associated with a group of southern Senators who were blocking moves to end racial discrimination against African-Americans, said MacArthur. “There was total pessimism,” he said, qualifying his praise of Johnson with the remark that his escalation of the Vietnam war was a disaster.

“The first thing he does is get in, take Kennedy’s civil rights bill, which is stalled in Congress, and rams it through. You’ve got the most radical progressive piece of civil rights legislation since the (US) Civil War. “He does Medicare, he does huge investments in education, in the environment, in the national parks, he’s a real Social Democrat,” said the publisher, whose new French book is a collection of essays he wrote for his own magazine and Canada’s Le Devoir. Exact opposite of what he promised-Obama, he says,

is the exact opposite. He promised a progressive presidency that would soar above the pettiness of partisan politics, stop the rot of corruption, and clean up campaign fundraising. But, according to MacArthur, it is now clear, as Obama battles the Republican Mitt Romney for the presidency in next month’s vote, that elite interests remain triumphant in the United States. There has been no new dawn.

“The incredible power of the lobbies, the fund-raising racket, the seniority system in Congress etc, patronage, cronyism,” it is all still there, he said. Obama was clearly not as warmongering as his predecessor, the Republican George W Bush, but he escalated the US troop presence in Afghanistan within nine months of coming to power, MacArthur argued.

“He knows it was lost. But he’s thinking tactically: I’ve got to protect my flank against the hawks, the rightwing hawks and the liberal hawks...

That was entirely cynical and cost us vast amounts of money.”

The first African-American leader of the United States has done nothing to advance the status of the black community, he said. “On the contrary, he has done everything he can to

convince people he’s not black, he doesn’t want to be seen as black.” Nor have the poor done any better under his presidency: “The division between rich and poor in our country is at historic levels... You’ve got 15 percent of the people below the poverty line.”

His trademark healthcare reform did nothing to alleviate the plight of the poor and was in fact a “regression because it reinforces the power of the private insurers and puts them at the heart of the system”.

The list of alleged failures to act goes on. “So we’re not going to raise the top marginal rate on income tax, we’re not going raise the capital gains tax, we’re not going to raise the minimum wage... we’re not going to halt the trading in derivatives.” That last failure could lead to to another financial disaster like the sub-prime crisis, said MacArthur. If Obama does get reelected in next month’s vote, could he redeem himself in his second term, and fulfill the wild hopes that were placed in him? “I doubt it. Even if he wanted to, which I doubt, as he tends to concede, he’s going to be jammed up by the Republican majority in the House (of Representatives). It will be a logjam.” — AFP

After few laughs, Obama, Romney back to the fray Rivals target two battleground states

WAUSAU: This photo shows Central Wisconsin Firearm owner Frederick Prehn in his store in Wausau, Wis. — AP

In gun-loving America, Kalashnikov conquers MANCHESTER: Kalashnikovs, the Soviet-designed rifles that became the basic killing tool of armies and militants around the globe, are making a new conquest: the United States. At his workshop in Manchester, New Hampshire, Owen Martin expertly dismantles the Kalashnikov brought to him by a friend. “I’m doing pretty good,” the satisfied young gunsmith says. Also in the workshop is Martin’s friend Mat Devito, a private trainer for would-be marksmen. Devito says the Kalashnikov is all the rage-he’s just finished introducing the military style weapon to 40 women, aged between 15 and 54, who’d “never touched a gun before.”

He says he’s seen a “huge rise” in applications for shooting lessons at his Down Range Firearms Training school, with the Kalashnikov course getting particular demand.

Martin, 30, opened his gunsmith shop, called Snake Hound Machine, nine months ago to meet demand from Kalashnikov owners, some of whom want the powerful rifle for defense at home and others for hunting. His specialty is in customizing Kalashnikovs, which are manufactured at Russia’s Izhmash factory, made at licensed factories in the United States or imported from eastern European states like Romania. — AFP

NEW YORK: President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are returning to the sometimes-nasty rhetoric of a close presidential campaign after a brief truce, renewing their focus on two battleground states and preparing for next week’s final debate. Romney and Obama set aside their differences mostly - to poke fun of themselves and each other Thursday night at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. Today, it’s back to campaigning in Florida and Virginia, two of just a handful of states that will decide the election, now less than three weeks away.

The two candidates are running at a dead heat in the polls just 19 days away from the election, and Obama is hoping his strong performance in last Tuesday’s debate will help him regain the momentum he lost following his poor showing in the first debate two weeks earlier. Obama was planning a speech at George Mason University in Virginia rallying college students in the northern part of the state. Romney was to fly to Florida for a rally with running mate Paul Ryan.

While they’re both focused on the South, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Thursday showed Obama retaining his lead over Romney in Iowa and Wisconsin, two Midwestern battlegrounds. Obama’s campaign circulated a memo high-

lighting the president’s strength during the early voting period in Ohio, where Romney has largely staked his hopes of winning the White House.

But both kept relatively light public schedules as they planned to spend the weekend preparing for the third and final presidential debate, set for Monday in Boca Raton, Florida. Obama was leaving for the Camp David presidential retreat to prepare, while Romney planned preparations in Delray Beach, Florida.

“The next debate is on foreign policy,” Obama told the white-tie audience at the Thursday evening dinner.

“Spoiler alert: We got bin Laden.”

Authorizing the raid that killed the terrorist leader was a high point in Obama’s first term, and polls show voters give him high marks on handling foreign policy.

But the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last month has prompted Romney and Republicans to raise questions about Obama’s policy in the Middle East. In a television interview Thursday, Obama rejected criticism that his administration has offered a confused response to the attack in Benghazi, an accusation Romney has made repeatedly. Of any breakdown that might have led to the killing of four Americans, Obama declared, “We’re going to fix it.”

Obama made the comments on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central.

Host Jon Stewart pressed Obama over his administration’s shifting explanations about the attacks in Benghazi.

When Stewart suggested that even Obama would concede his administration’s coordination and communication had not been “optimal,” Obama said: “If four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal. We’re going to fix it. All of it.” After that interview, Obama headed to the Waldorf Astoria hotel, where he sat one seat over from Romney at the charity dinner, an annual gala that has drawn political leaders and other notables since the end of World War II. The event was a comedic pause in a contest that has drawn increasingly nasty and close.

Romney spoke first at the dinner, which was set to raise $5 million for Catholic charities. Addressing the elegantly dressed crowd, Romney, a millionaire many times over, said, “It’s nice to finally relax and wear what Ann and I wear around the house.” Of Obama, Romney said: “You have to wonder what he’s thinking. So little time, so much to redistribute.” Obama followed, noting his soporific performance in the first debate but also chiding Romney for his wealth. “Earlier today I went shopping at some stores in Midtown,” Obama said. “I understand Governor Romney went shopping for some stores in Midtown.” He looked to his left, where Romney sat, grinning as his opponent laughed. — AP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Muslims trapped in ghetto of fear in Myanmar city SITTWE: Barbed wire and armed troops guard the Muslim quarter of a violence-wracked city in western Myanmar, a virtual prison for the families that have inhabited its narrow streets for generations. The security forces outside the ghetto in the Rakhine state capital Sittwe are not there to stop its residents leavingalthough few dare to anyway-but to protect them from Buddhist mobs after an outburst of sectarian hatred.

In the nearby city centre, life has regained some semblance of normality since the authorities imposed a state of emergency in June in response to Buddhist-Muslim clashes that left dozens dead and tens of thousands homeless. But inside the tense enclave of Aung Mingalar, hundreds of families from the Rohingya Muslim minority group say they are living in fear for their lives. “Rakhines will attack us today,” one man said at Friday prayers last week.

The same evening groups of Rakhine Buddhists-who have also accused the Rohingya of attacks on their communities-gathered outside the barriers, prompting troops to fire warning shots and sparking panic inside. On three separate days earlier in the week, hundreds of ethnic Rakhines-sometimes led by Buddhist

monks-had marched near the perimeter demanding the “relocation” of Aung Mingalar. Their shouts were clearly audible by people within the ghetto, who could only imagine what was happening outside.

“In my opinion, living in the Sahara desert in Africa would be better than living in this situation,” said 28-yearold Mohamed Said, tears welling in his

eyes. “We cannot suffer anymore. We have lost everything but our lives. We are human beings as well,” he said.

Between 3,000 and 8,000 people are thought to live in an area of roughly 0.5 square kilometers, where no traffic circulates and almost all shops have been shuttered. Supplies of foodmainly rice-are provided by the authorities and some benevolent

SITTWE: Muslim Rohingyas stand outside their tents at the Dabang Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, located on the outskirts of Sittwe, capital of Myanmar’s western Rakhine state. — AFP

Buddhist locals, forced to deliver aid discreetly for fear of fanning local resentments. But there is not enough to eat.

Some Rohingya have dared to breach the barriers-which vary from bamboo and barbed wire to simple security cordons-hiding their faces under hoods to prevent people identifying them. But most people have not ventured outside in four months. “This bamboo fence is like a psychological barrier, symbolizing the fear that separates the two worlds,” said Chris Lewa, head of the Arakan Project, which campaigns for Rohingya rights.

Calls are growing for the Muslim quarter to be moved. “If the Aung Mingalar quarter stays in the city centre, the problem will get worse,” said Nya Na, a leader of a monk association.

“I don’t want the two communities to fight. It is risky for them to stay.” The stateless Rohingya have long been considered by the United Nations to be one of the most persecuted minorities on the planet. Viewed as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh by the Myanmar government and many Burmese-who call them “Bengalis”-they face tight restrictions on their movements and limited access to employment, education and public services. — AP

Philippines, China hold talks amid maritime row China flexes muscles with drills amid island row MANILA: Philippine and Chinese officials held “candid” talks yesterday in a bid to improve relations strained by a bitter territorial dispute in the South China Sea, official statements said. A delegation led by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying met Philippine President Benigno Aquino and other senior officials for talks aimed at minimizing tensions and bolstering trade and economic links. “The two sides... had candid and in-depth discussions on the issues existing in their relations and agreed to... properly address differences so as to avoid negative impact,” Fu said in a statement.

Tensions over competing claims to parts of the South China Sea escalated in April this year when ships from the two countries became locked in a standoff over a tiny group of islets called Scarborough Shoal.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to the coasts of neighbouring countries. The Philippines says the Scarborough Shoal is well within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Aquino told Fu that “the Philippines has been fostering a conducive atmosphere so that both sides can come to a mutually beneficial solution to issues of mutual concern”, according to another joint statement.

“Vice Foreign Minister Fu also expressed the Chinese government’s desire to move Philippines-China relations forward,” the statement added, but did not specify if the maritime dispute was discussed. Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio sep-

arately acknowledged that the issue was a topic of discussion, but refused to elaborate. Earlier this week, Aquino said he hoped “ultra-nationalist” sentiment in China would ease after the leadership change there next month, leading to a resolution of the territorial dispute. Philippine officials also presented Fu with a donation of $200,000 to help victims of the recent earthquakes that hit the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou.

EAST CHINA SEA Meanwhile, China dispatched naval vessels, aircraft and helicopters to the East China Sea yesterday, flexing its muscles in exercises likely to further stoke a bristling territorial dispute with Japan. A fleet of 11 vessels, including some warships, along with eight aircraft were sent to waters off its east coast, China said, in Beijing’s most confrontational act yet in a row that has chilled ties between the regional heavyweights.

The one-day exercises were announced late Thursday in a dispatch by the official Xinhua news agency that China’s defense ministry also posted on its website.

State-run China Central Television (CCTV) showed images of several warships and helicopters carrying out maneuvers. It was unclear where in the East China Sea the exercises were taking place. The sea is home to tiny islets known as the Diaoyus in China and the Senkakus in Japan, which are administered by Tokyo but claimed by

Beijing. Tensions in the long-running territorial dispute have soared since the Japanese government’s move last month to formally nationalize the islands, which triggered anti-Japan protests across China and hit the sales of Japanese-manufactured products.

China has since then taken a number of steps seen as snubbing Tokyo, including refusing to send top officials to a global economic conference in Japan this month.

A Foreign Ministry official in Beijing blamed Tokyo for ratcheting up tension in the region when asked about the exercises at a regular press briefing yesterday. “The heating up of the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan is entirely caused by Japan’s illegal act of purchasing the islands,” spokesman Hong Lei said. “The Chinese government’s resolve and determination to safeguard national territorial sovereignty is unswerving.”

China has previously sent maritime surveillance ships and fisheries patrol vessels to waters near the islands as the row has escalated. On Tuesday, a Chinese naval flotilla passed near separate islands that are internationally recognized as Japanese.

Tomorrow, Japan’s navy marked its 60th anniversary with a major exercise involving about 40 ships in waters south of Tokyo.

The navy’s most modern vessels-including destroyers and conventionally-powered submarines-along with 30 naval aircraft, participated in the event. —Agencies

N Korea threatens to hit South over leaflets SEOUL: Impoverished North Korea threatened yesterday to open fire on South Korea if it allows activists to go ahead with plans to drop anti-North leaflets on its territory, its most strident warning against its long-time foe in months. North Korea, which is still technically at war with the South after their 1950-53 conflict ended in merely a truce, often uses shrill rhetoric denouncing its rich, capitalist neighbor and threatening all-out war.

A looming presidential election in the South and plans to deploy longer-range missiles by the government in Seoul have angered the North and prompted an escalation of belligerent commentaries from Pyongyang. “We had similar threats last year and they did not stop us before and this is not going to stop us this time,” said Pak Sang-hak, a North Korean exile who defected to the South 12 years ago. He is the leader of a coalition of groups of North Korean exiles and human rights activists who plan to launch giant balloons containing 200,000 leaflets criticizing North Korea’s government for the second year running.

Some of the leaflets, printed on plastic bags, will contain $1 bills. As well as the dollars, the bags themselves are said to be prized by North Koreans, many of whom often lack daily necessities. South Korea’s defense minister told parliament that its military would retaliate in the event of any attack. South Korea’s military has come under pressure after it failed to detect a North Korean soldier walking across the world’s most heavily armed border until he knocked on the doors of soldiers’ barracks. — Reuters

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

50 years after war India chafes over defeat to China NEW DELHI: Fifty years ago India tasted bitter defeat at the hands of China in a brief border war, and the memory still spooks New Delhi’s leaders as they try to compete with their powerful Asian neighbor. In 1962, badlyequipped Indian troops were humiliated in the four-week battle over the Himalayan frontier, with Chinese forces pouring through the mountains and advancing as far as the plains of Assam.

China then withdrew to the current border but it still claims much of the remote Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, and the dispute consistently sours efforts to improve ties between the regional rivals. In the last 20 years, both countries have experienced rapid development but China’s faster economic growth and its emergence as a world power has only underlined India’s misgivings over the war that began in October 1962.

“There is no doubt that the war still plays a key role in defining our diplomatic ties with China,” said Sreeram Chaulia, head of the Jindal School of International Affairs near New Delhi. “A sense of insecurity dominates the equation. India will never forget the war, nor can it forgive China for

advancing so far into its territory.”

The border between India and China has been the subject of 14 rounds of fruitless talks since the war and, despite warm words during official visits, friction remains high on the border itself. Indian army officials say troops deployed by both countries hoist national flags near the border, and even throw cigarette butts into the disputed zone, to express their claims over the territory. “Fifty years after its worst military debacle, India is still playing catch up. China is way ahead of India in the security and economic spheres,” G Parthasarthy, a retired army officer and former diplomat in New Delhi said.

“We still cannot match their prowess and the border talks yield no significant results. They just keep the issue brewing.” In their last major disagreement, China protested angrily during the Indian 2009 election campaign when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh, which China marks on maps as a part of its Tibet region. Both sides accuse each other of reinforcing the military presence in the area, with India now deploying about 20,000 soldiers and

also building roads and an airfield to improve its transport and logistic links.

As India and China focus on maintaining economic growth, another outbreak of fighting appears unlikely and last month they decided to resume joint military exercises in an outward sign of improving ties. “We have reached the very important consensus of further promoting the friendly, strategic partnership,” China’s Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said after meeting his Indian counterpart A K Antony last month.

On the economic front, India in August invited China to invest in its new flagship manufacturing zones as part of a push to broaden commercial relations and cut a ballooning trade deficit. India’s trade deficit with China soared 42 percent to nearly $40 billion in the last fiscal year, while total bilateral trade climbed 27 percent to $75 billion.

Some analysts say the rivalry once fought in the Himalayas is now a proxy war in smaller regional countries as China tries to increase its influence in Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. China is helping India’s archrival Pakistan in key strategic projects

and some western countries are concerned about its plan to help Islamabad build more nuclear power plants. “Earlier they fought over a small territory, now they are fighting for regional dominance,” said Nani Gopal Mahanta, a political science professor in the northeast state of Assam. “India and China may declare their longstanding brotherhood but the fact is their relation is shrouded in darkness.”

A recent survey by the Washingtonbased Pew Research Center showed an overwhelming majority of Chinese are wary of India’s growth, with 62 percent admitting they have a negative opinion of India. Just 23 per cent said they saw India favorably.

For India, where confidence in the country’s economic prospects has recently faltered, the reality that China is racing further ahead as the dominant force in the region only fuels suspicion.

“As both nations grow and develop, our greatest challenge is how India learns to live with China,” The Times of India said in an editorial to mark 50 years since the war. “We fear China, we envy China, we don’t want to be China but we want to be as efficient as China.” — AFP

Bangladeshi father denies son involved in bomb plot Son ‘religious but not a fanatic’

HELMAND PROVINCE: Afghan National Police lay down their guns during lunch time at their base in Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan yesterday. Afghanistan’s police are routinely targeted by insurgent attacks in southern Afghanistan, one of the deadliest regions in the country. — AP

Roadside bomb kills 19 wedding guests KABUL: A huge roadside bomb ripped through a minibus carrying guests to a wedding party in Afghanistan yesterday, killing 19 people and wounding 16 others, officials said. Most of the victims were women and children in the attack that took place in the northern province of Balkh, in the district of Dawlat Abad around 40 kilometers from the provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif. “All the victims were civilians and mostly they were women and children,” the police spokesman for Balkh, Shir Jan Durrani said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but similar attacks are usually blamed on Taleban insurgents fighting to overthrow the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai. The president condemned the attack as a “terrorist and inhumane” act, his office said in a statement, adding that the death toll had risen to 19 from the 15 originally reported.

Taleban attacks tend to be focused in the south and east of the country, with the north escaping the worst of an insurgency that has raged for 11 years since the Islamists were ousted from power in a US-led invasion.

But parts of Balkh province, including the area around Dawlat Abad, have seen an increase in Taleban activity in recent years despite the presence of more than 100,000 NATO troops in the country. Afghan weddings are often lavish affairs, drawing hundreds of relatives and guests from far afield in the war-torn land, and guests have in the

past been hit by similar attacks. The United Nations says 1,145 civilians were killed in the war in the first six months of this year, blaming 80 percent of the deaths on insurgents, with more than half caused by roadside bombs.

Last year as a whole, a record 3,021 civilians died in the war, the United Nations has said. The UN blamed insurgents for 80 percent of the civilian casualties in 2012, saying pro-government forces, which include NATO, were responsible for 10 percent. Women and children accounted for about 30 percent of this year’s casualties, again mostly victims of roadside bombs. The improvised explosive devices, are also responsible for a large percentage of the deaths among the US-led NATO force helping fight the Taleban.

The foreign combat troops are due to withdraw by the end of 2014 and there are fears that the Taleban will extend their activities across wider swathes of the country against ill-prepared Afghan forces. Several analysts, including Candace Rondeaux of the International Crisis Group and Gilles Dorronsoro of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have predicted a government collapse and a new civil war. This sort of forecast contrasts sharply with predictions by the NATO military and Western governments keen to get out of an unpopular war that Afghan forces will be able to defend the country after 2014. — AFP

DHAKA: The father of a Bangladeshi man accused of attempting to blow up the New York Federal Reserve Bank denied on Thursday that his son was involved and said he was the victim of a “racist conspiracy.” Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, was arrested on Wednesday in New York and faces charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda.

“This is nothing but a conspiracy.

There is still a racist conspiracy there,” his father, Quazi Mohammad Ahsanullah, told reporters in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

“The intelligence of the USA is playing with a mere boy whom we sent for higher study. The allegation against my son is not true at all. He could not even drive a car.

How was he caught with a van?”

Nafis appeared in a Brooklyn court on Wednesday.

The criminal complaint against him said he had entered the United States in January and that he had said he was in contact with members of al Qaeda overseas. The complaint said he had travelled by van with a man to a New York warehouse where Nafis assembled what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb.

The man he believed to be an accomplice was in fact an undercover agent working for the FBI and the explosives were not in working condition.

He was arrested later in a hotel near the bank. Nafis had been a business student at North South University, a prestigious private institution in Bangladesh, before

leaving to study computer science in the United States. Officials at Southeast Missouri State University said they were assured by the FBI that the school was never threatened by Nafis, who was enrolled in a new cyber security curriculum from January through May. “We are very dismayed and concerned that a former Southeast student would be involved in an alleged act of terrorism,” university President Kenneth Dobbins said on Thursday in a letter to staff and students.

Student Jim Dow, who knew Nafis, told KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, that Nafis did not speak badly about the United States but harbored some frustration over employment. “The only thing I ever heard him say he didn’t like about the United States is he didn’t have enough money and he couldn’t get a job, being on a student visa,” Dow said. Dobbins said Nafis requested in the summer to have his school records transferred to a college in Brooklyn.

Nafis’ father, a senior vice president of a private bank, said Nafis was the more religious of his two children, but in no way a fanatic. He told reporters he had asked the government for help “so that our son will not fall victim to an arranged story”.

“He fell into trap,” he said. “We talked with him 24 hours before he was arrested.” A representative for the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn rejected the suggestion that Nafis was entrapped. “He directed all the key elements. It was all under his direction,” spokesman Bob Nardoza said. — Reuters

Wall Street retreats on earnings disappointment

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Starbucks launches first cafe in India

Business

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Hong Kong shares gain, China underperforms

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Egypt plans to pull plug on all night shopping

BRUSSELS: European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, right, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso participate in a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels yesterday. European leaders are gathering again in Brussels to discuss how to save the euro currency from collapse and support countries facing too much debt and not enough growth. —AP

EU seal bank plan to beat crisis Cameron talks tough on Europe BRUSSELS: European leaders agreed yesterday to police thousands of eurozone banks beginning next year as they sought to boost growth in their austerity-battered economies and create much-needed jobs.

By the close of a two-day summit, France and Germany had patched up differences over how to beat the debt crisis, although the new watchdog for 6,000 banks will come too late to re-float Spanish lenders via a dedicated rescue fund.

Leaders also hailed a 120-billion-euro ($155-billion) package of measures to try and kickstart a climb out of recession as social and political unrest hits Greece and Spain. Ideas included using proceeds from a proposed tax on financial transactions to tackle youth unemployment currently running in these two countries at more than 50 percent.

Difficult decisions remain to be taken in two more summits before Christmas, as Britain’s David Cameron threatened to veto

the European Union’s budget for the rest of the decade and snub the Nobel Peace Prizegiving ceremony in Oslo in December.

Conflicts in Syria and Mali, as well as Iran’s disputed nuclear programme also figured among their chief concerns. But with market pressures considerably eased since the summer, eurozone and EU leaders found common ground with the fresh commitment to bird’s eye bank supervision led by the European Central Bank.

This is supposed to anchor a re-designed economic and monetary union that leaders are beginning to believe-after three years in full crisis mode-can make the euro more attractive to EU states still outside the currency bloc.

After an 11-hour session into the wee hours to reach the bank supervision deal, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was not about “trying to bargain for extra days or months,” but rather ensuring a “solid legal framework” could be found by year-end.

“We need democratic legitimacy,” she said, plus further clarity on dealing with eurozone banks in non-euro territories, especially the global financial centre of London, and vice-versa. “There will not be a retroactive direct recapitalisation,” she said.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said a Merkel plan to create a “super-commissioner” with powers to intervene directly in states’ tax-and-spending plans flopped.

French President Francois Hollande said the summit outcome was “a good deal” but he resisted a German push to change the EU treaty next year after a December summit that is meant to nail down “concrete” moves to tighten centralisation of economic policy.

Hollande said he didn’t see the “utility of adding new mechanisms.” He did, however, suggest that the fruits of a financial transactions tax (FTT) that a group of EU states want to start next year be “dedicated to youth training” to get a lost generation of European youths into employment.

The French leader also urged a “quick decision” on the resumption of Greece’s long-paused bailout.

Recent EU-wide praise for Greece has suggested a more sympathetic hearing for a two-year extension Athens seeks on its commitments, though leaders urged the coalition government to stick to the goals of its debt bailout.

“The country’s reserves are only sufficient until November 16,” Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said, while adding that “the climate has changed” among partners in Brussels.

Hollande, who will shortly follow Merkel in visiting Greece himself, also warned against “adding austerity to austerity” by imposing harsh conditions on Spain if it were to request a full sovereign European bailout.

In a clear sign that social unrest is far from over, Spain’s main unions called a general strike for November 14. —AFP

business SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Egypt plans to pull plug on all night shopping Proposal aimed at saving electricity

ATHENS: School students protest in central Athens against austerity measures affecting the education budget as they hold a banner which reads “Bread, Education Freedom: Dictatorship didn’t end in 1973”, yesterday. — AP

Islamic finance body appoints new CEO KUALA LUMPUR: The International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM), a company backed by central banks located mainly in Asia and the Middle East, appointed yesterday a new chief executive ahead of its first issuance due within the next few months.

Kuala Lumpur-headquartered IILM has delayed its first issuance of short-term sukuk, or Islamic bonds, twice since it began operations last year. The company, which aims to help sharia-compliant banks manage liquidity and create a liquid cross-border market for Islamic instruments, said that Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim would take over as chief executive, replacing Mahmoud AbuShamma who was hired in February 2011 on a three-year tenure.

Rifaat was the first secretary general for the Islamic Financial Services Board and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, IILM said in a statement. “Rifaat has an impressive career track record in Islamic finance and will certainly add value to the work of IILM,” the chairman of IILM’s governing board, Dr Mohamed Y. Al-Hashel, said in the statement.

IILM is set to launch its first sukuk of $300 million to $500 million within the next few months, AbuShamma told Reuters in an interview on Oct 2. The company has faced a challenge to ensure it complies with laws in all of the 12 countries in which its members operate, AbuShamma said in the interview. Eventually, IILM will issue sukuk totalling more than $2 billion a year, AbuShamma predicted. —Reuters

CAIRO: Buying a pair of trousers at one in the morning has never been a problem in Cairo, but a new government proposal to slash trading hours could effectively pull the plug on the city that never sleeps. Minister of Local Development Ahmed Zaki has warned that the government is considering legislation that would see shops close at 10 pm and restaurants at midnight.

“Tourist establishments” with a special licence such as hotels and bars, would be exempt.

The proposal aimed at saving electricity and increasing productivity, which could come into force at the end of the month, has sparked heated debate, some self-examination and much mockery. “It will never work. This is Egypt, we stay up late, we’re up all night,” said Mohammed Mohsen, 38, a parking attendant on a busy Cairo shopping street. “I’m sure there are better ways to save electricity.”

Cairo, with its all night traffic jams and buzzing nightlife, was named the world’s “most 24-hour city” in a 2011 study by the social networking site Badoo. Minister Zaki said that as well as saving energy, it would help the workforce become more productive.

“People have to go to sleep so they can work the next day. We’re not telling people to go to bed at sunset,” Zaki said in a phone interview with the private ONTV satellite channel.

Seemingly exasperated by the criticism, he asked: “Is there any country in the world that stays up all night?”

The government said it had consulted governors, shop owners and chambers of commerce across the country who all agreed with the proposal. But the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of

Commerce (FECC) says more consultation is needed and has called for an urgent meeting next week to discuss the issue. “It will save energy, it will make the streets calmer, people will go home and rest, (street cleaners) will be able to clean up,” Zaki said. “It’s all logical and reasonable,” he insisted.“It’s a stupid idea,” said Ahmed Farrag, a waiter in a Cairo cafe. “Most people start coming to these coffee shops at around 9 pm. What are you going to do? Kick them out? How is anyone supposed to make money?”

Like Farrag, many who work evening shifts to supplement a low-paying day job have the most to lose. The longer the cafes stay open, the more money they make, particularly from tips, he

says. Around him, about a dozen people gathered to offer their own energy saving tips to the minister. “He should shut down half the street lights,” said one.

“He should turn off the electricity from two in the morning to six in the morning,” said another under a forest of flickering billboards in Cairo’s Downtown neighbourhood.

“They want to turn us into Switzerland overnight,” said Ahmed Mahmoud, 63, laughing at what he called “a silly idea” as he was out buying shoes. “What next, they’re going to give us sleeping pills to make sure we’re all in bed on time?”

Some see it as the first indication that the Islamists in power want to impose their strict mores on the rest. — AFP

CAIRO: Foreign tourists walk at a shopping center in downtown Cairo yesterday. Minister of Local Development Ahmed Zaki Badr has warned that the government is considering legislation, aiming at saving electricity and increasing productivity. — AFP

Yemen takes tough sell message to US businesses NEW YORK: It has to be one of the toughest jobs around - trying to sell US businesses on the investment potential of one of the poorest nations on Earth, a country battered

by Islamist militants who bomb, assassinate and kidnap.

Yet it is a job US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein is taking on by leading a delegation of 10 Yemeni businessmen on a 10-day, five-city tour of the United States. “We think there are great opportunities. There’s money to be made investing in Yemen,” Feierstein, a career diplomat, said on Thursday. This is the first time the US Embassy in Sanaa has organized a Yemeni business delegation to visit US companies.

Just last week masked gunmen fatally shot a Yemeni who worked in the security office of the US Embassy, leaving behind a wife and seven children. A month ago the embassy was stormed by protesters angry about an anti-Islam film made in California.

The task of promoting Yemen seems daunting and could draw a parallel to the 2011 film “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” starring Ewan McGregor as a fisheries expert hired by an eccentric sheik to bring fly-fishing to the parched land. Still, the Yemeni business executives, who arrived in New York on Wednesday, presented an upbeat image of their nation. “The overall situation in Yemen is improving,” said Fathi Abdulwasa Hayel Saeed, chairman of the Yemeni Businessmen Club. “Yes, there are challenges. Yes, there are security issues but Yemen is such a virgin country where there are a lot of opportunities to do business.

“I think a lot of American companies have been shy from coming to Yemen, while other nationalities like from Europe and Southeast Asia have been coming to Yemen even in the difficult times,” Saeed said. Their itinerary also takes them to Kansas City, Houston, Washington, D.C., and San

Francisco. The executives come from the construction, pharmaceuticals, medical and technology industries.

However, much of the discussion focused on developing clean water, a precious commodity in the dry Arabian peninsula landscape, as well as renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

“Yemen needs power to grow the economy,” said Wael Zokari, chief executive officer of Griffin International, the technology arm of conglomerate Griffin Group. “The technology we need comes from the United States,” he said. Yemen produces less than half the electricity it needs now, let alone for the infrastructure it wants to build to grow an economy that contracted 10.5 percent in 2011 to under $29 billion.

The International Monetary Fund estimates 40 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day and earlier this month forecast economic contraction of 1.9 percent for this year. However, in September nearly

$8 billion in international donor pledges were collected to help support the government’s budget, which is under severe strains because of frequent attacks on its oil pipelines.

According to Feierstein, there is a misperception that Yemen’s oil and gas production is “going to run dry over the next few years.”

He said oil companies, including major US producers, are interested in taking another look at the country because much of it has never been explored. A survey by Houston-based oil and gas consultant Knowledge Reservoir is under way to calculate more accurately its gas reserves, a US State Department official traveling with the delegation said. The storming of the US Embassy in Sanaa occurred in conjunction with the violence on Sept 11 in Libya in which the US ambassador to Libya, another diplomat and two US security men were killed in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi. —Reuters

business SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

UK watchdog stops short of energy tariff ruling LONDON: Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem stopped short of endorsing Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge to force suppliers to give their cheapest tariff to consumers, in measures to simplify domestic gas and electricity bills yesterday.

The Ofgem proposals follow a review of the household energy market that identified tariff complexity, poor supplier behaviour and a lack of transparency and competition in a market dominated by six gas and electricity utilities.

Cameron took the sector by surprise on Wednesday when he said that Britain would introduce laws to make energy suppliers give customers the lowest tariffs amid frustration over rising consumer bills.

Energy Minister John Hayes later backtracked on Cameron’s pledge and said the government was only considering introducing such a law. Ofgem’s decision to omit such measures likely

reflects the risks and difficulties of implementation.

The prime minister’s announcement raised fears that it would actually disadvantage consumers as suppliers would react by simply withdrawing their lowest tariffs from the market.

Instead, Ofgem said it was consulting on banning complex multi-tier tariffs, making all tariffs show a standing charge and single unit price, and limiting the number of tariffs each supplier was allowed to offer.

The proposals would also force suppliers to print their cheapest tariff on consumers’ bills, ensure fair treatment under threat of fines and the regulator would take steps to promote collective switching.

The chairman of the energy and climate change select committee, Tim Yeo, warned that investors may take their money elsewhere if last-minute attempts to write Cameron’s pledge

WTO hands Obama victory in US-China steel dispute GENEVA/WASHINGTON: The World Trade Organization barred China from imposing duties on certain US steel exports, siding with US President Barack Obama in a dispute with Beijing over a type of steel made in two election battleground states. The case involved duties imposed by China on “grain-oriented electrical steel,” which is used in the cores of high-efficiency transformers, electric motors and generators.

The steel is made by AK Steel Corp of Ohio and ATI Allegheny Ludlum of Pennsylvania.

Although the specialty steel case is tiny compared with other trade disputes with Beijing, the WTO ruling gave Obama a timely win as he defends himself against accusations by his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, that he is soft on China.

“Today we are again plainly stating that we will continue to take every step necessary to ensure that China plays by the rules and does not unfairly restrict exports of U.S. products,” Obama administration trade representative Ron Kirk said in a statement.

China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement on its website that it will “handle this case according to WTO regulations”. But ministry spokesman Shen Danyang criticized “politicization” of trade issues during the US presidential campaign. “A few American politicians have been gossiping about China-US economic relations. We oppose this kind of politicization of economic and trade relations,” Shen told a news conference, adding that China had “some worries” that campaign rhetoric could affect broader ties.

When the Obama administration filed the case, the volume of specialty steel trade with China was in the range of $250 million. That pales in comparison with the auto and auto-parts trade at issue in the most recent case Washington filed against China in September. The volume of auto parts trade alone amounted to about $12 billion in 2011, according to the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

Derek Scissors, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Thursday’s ruling was “a small benefit for the Obama campaign because it can advertise ‘beating China’ in Ohio, but it’s not a benchmark for anything.”

Obama has won WTO victories against Beijing in areas ranging from intellectual property rights to financial services to raw materials trade and has launched several other challenges, such as a case against Chinese export restrictions on rare earth materials.

He has also created an interagency trade enforcement unit to devote more resources to ensuring China and other countries abide by global trade rules. The Romney campaign repeated on Thursday that China was stealing US jobs and that Obama was not standing up to Beijing.

The United States brought the steel case in September 2010 after China accused US exporters of “dumping” - or selling at unfairly low prices - on the Chinese market and levied punitive duties on the steel imports. —Reuters

into a forthcoming Energy Bill delay its November publication date.

At stake is 110 billion pounds ($177 billion) of investment government says is needed to decarbonise Britain’s energy network and which the forthcoming Electricity Market Reform Bill aims to attract.

“The later the Bill reaches the statute books, the later investment in urgentlyneeded new electricity-generating capacity, and in particular in low-carbon generation, will come forward,” Yeo told Davey.

Energy UK, Britain’s energy industry association, backed Ofgem’s proposals for setting the record straight after uncertainty following Cameron’s remarks.

“As Ofgem’s proposals and the Energy Bill are debated, clarity of plans and certainty of proposals will be essential, as well as open consultation and decision-making that is grounded in

facts and evidence,” Angela Knight, Energy UK’s chief executive said.

“Investors will require confidence in our policy and regulations if we are to attract investment in energy that is needed in the next decade, to boost economic growth and add to the 600,000 already employed in the sector,” Knight added.

Others interpreted Ofgem’s stance as edging closer to the proposal made by the Prime Minister.

“The default to cheapest tariffs at the end of fixed-term contracts even goes some way to fulfilling the Prime Minister’s off-the-cuff pledge to ensure customers get the lowest tariffs,” Liberium Capital said in a research note. Britain’s six dominant energy suppliers, Centrica, Germany’s RWE, and E.ON, Scottish Power , SSE and France’s EDF, will eventually be obliged to comply with the regulator’s proposals. —Reuters

Wall Street retreats on earnings disappointment GE profit meets forecasts NEW YORK: US stocks fell yesterday in the wake of disappointing results from Microsoft and Google a day earlier, with shares of General Electric dropping nearly 3 percent after reporting improved profit but falling short of revenue estimates.

Blue chip stocks led declines. General Electric Co shares fell 2.7 percent to $22.22 after the company reported quarterly revenue that was less than analysts had expected, crimped by a stronger dollar.

Still, GE reported growth in quarterly profit as US and Asian demand for its electric turbines and railroad locomotives offset the impact of slowing European growth and demand.

McDonald’s Corp shares slumped 3.5 percent to $89.69 after the company reported a lower quarterly profit that missed analysts’ expectations.

Despite the day’s declines, the S&P 500 has advanced 1.4 percent this week so far.

The Dow is up 1 percent and the Nasdaq is up 0.2 percent for the week.

Peter Cecchini, managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York, said he rarely remembered a time when blue chips “slumped the way they did this week, and the broader market, especially the S&P, did not fade thereafter.”

Out of the 116 S&P 500 companies which have reported so far in this earnings season, 60 percent have exceeded analysts’ estimates. Earnings are expected to drop 1.8 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data, compared with a forecast drop of 2.3 percent earlier in the week.

Data showed US home resales fell in September as the stock of properties on the market dropped, a reminder that America’s housing sector is a long way from a full recovery despite recent signs of improvement. Market reaction was muted.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 92.04 points, or 0.68 percent, at

13,456.90. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 7.60 points, or 0.52 percent, at 1,449.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 17.49 points, or 0.57 percent, at 3,055.38.

“We believe it is still premature to conclude that the rally that began in June is over, and we would need to see the S&P break below 1400, the five month relative performance uptrend of stocks versus

$61.88. Microsoft Corp’s said late Thursday its quarterly profit fell a greater-thanexpected 22 percent, as sales of computers running its Windows operating system dipped and some revenue was deferred ahead of the upcoming releases of its core Windows and Office products. The stock was down 2 percent at $28.91.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, with technology stocks hit hard after Google’s sur-

NEW YORK: In this Thursday, Oct 18, 2012, file photo, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stock markets fell yesterday as disappointing US corporate earnings provided a reason to book profits on recent gains while investors waited for a progress report from European leaders concluding a summit on the region’s debt crisis. —AP bonds reverse,” said Robert Sluymer, analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York.

Diversified US manufacturer Honeywell International Inc reported a 10 percent rise in quarterly earnings as declining natural gas prices helped boost profit at its UOP chemical arm, offsetting weakness in Europe. The stock rose 0.7 percent to

prisingly weak earnings disappointed investors.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the stock market crash of 1987, or Black Monday, when the Dow Jones index plummeted 22 percent for the worst single-day percentage loss on Wall Street. —Reuters

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

US firm takes stake in Australia’s GrainCorp SYDNEY: Australian agribusiness GrainCorp was in a trading halt yesterday after US food giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) bought a 10 percent stake in the firm, prompting speculation of a US$2.8 billion takeover. GrainCorp said in a statement that leading agricultural commodities trader ADM “wishes to engage in discussions with GrainCorp concerning a potential transaction”. However, GrainCorp “has received no formal proposal”, it said in the statement.

“Should GrainCorp receive a proposal from ADM, the board will review the proposal as well as other options

to maximise value for GrainCorp shareholders.” A significant block of GrainCorp shares, equivalent to 10 percent of the company, were traded early yesterday at Aus$11.75 per share, Dow Jones Newswires said.

The price-a 33 percent premium on GrainCorp’s previous closing price of Aus$8.85 on Thursday-valued the company at about Aus$2.7 billion (US$2.8 billion), according to the report.

GrainCorp services about 30,000 grain producers in the eastern states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria and South Australia and has one of the largest

grain storage, handling and logistics networks in the nation. Its combined storage capacity is more than 21 million tonnes at about 280 country sites, seven bulk port elevators and two speciality terminals. Its network is aligned with rail and road links for transporting grain to market.

ADM is one of the world’s biggest food companies, producing goods from cottonseed and peanuts to ethanol and animal feed, while it is also a large manufacturer of biodiesel and ethanol. GrainCorp requested that the trading halt last until Tuesday. — AFP

Borrowing gives UK hope on budget goal Slower public spending growth helps govt

DUBLIN: Sean Quinn, once Ireland’s richest man, arrives at the High Court in Dublin, Ireland yesterday. The case of the bankrupt billionaire has been adjoruned for two weeks after the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which accuses Quinn of owning 2.9 billion Euros, said “significant new material” had emerged which required consideration by the courts. — AFP

Moscow police nab TNK-BP official amid Rosneft talks MOSCOW: Moscow police said yesterday they had arrested a TNK-BP oil executive on fraud charges that come as the Anglo-Russian group braces for an acquisition by the state giant Rosneft.

A Russian interior ministry statement said TNK-BP state relations manager Igor Korneyev tried to sell government posts while working for the private oil firm for up to $3 million apiece. TNK-BP later stressed in is own statement that Korneyev’s “detention is not related to his work in TNK-BP”. The announcement came as Russia’s third-largest crude producer negotiates an acquisition bid by the government-controlled Rosneft company and follows board tensions between the Anglo-Russian group’s Russian tycoon co-owners and BP. TNK-BP has emerged into one of Russia’s most profitable oil companies since being formed in 2003 at a time when President Vladimir Putin was hoping to generate a Western-fuelled investment boom in the country’s oil sector. But BP was forced to give up on the lucrative company-responsible for a quarter of its 2011 output-and put up its interest for sale on June 1 after irreconcilable differences with partners over management and dividend payments.

Tensions had been rising since the billionaires blocked BP’s 2011 attempt to forge an Arctic oil exploration alliance with Rosneft that eventually went to US rival ExxonMobil. Rosneft for its part has lodged a reported offer of more than $25 billion in cash and shares for the TNK-BP stake-more than a rival bid that was being prepared by the Russian

tycoons themselves.

The Soviet-born oligarchs have since announced an initial agreement to sell their own stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft for a reported sum of $28-29 billion-a move aimed at removing likely tensions between the new partners.

Analysts believe Rosneft is keen to win full control of TNK-BP and become responsible for about half of the crude produced in Russia. The BP deal will already make Rosneft the world’s largest publicly traded crude maker-its 3.15 million daily barrels of oil daily ahead of ExxonMobil’s 2.3 million barrel figureand responsible for more than 40 percent of Russia’s oil.

BP has seen its own offices repeatedly raided at sensitive points of its stay in Russia and the timing of Friday’s announcement renews alarms that police were being used by one of the parties to pile on the pressure during negotiations. A Moscow court confirmed late yesterday that Korneyev was actually arrrested two weeks ago and could therefore be legally held behind bars until December 5 without formal hearings.

The judge did not explain why the police waited until the Rosneft negotiations to make the TNK-BP criminal case public. But analysts said someone appeared to be trying to put extra pressure on the company at a crucial stage in talks. “We have $25 to $28 billion sitting on the table for which the Russians would like to sell their part of TNK-BP to Rosneft,” said Bureau of Economic Research analyst Maxim Blant.—AFP

LONDON: Britain’s budget deficit turned out to be smaller than feared in the first six months of the current tax year, giving the government hope it can meet this year’s deficitcutting target. Yesterday’s data reduces the chance that finance minister George Osborne will need to announce extra spending cuts or tax rises in a half-yearly budget statement on Dec. 5 to ensure borrowing in the current tax year falls in line with March’s budget forecast.

However, the government may still have to announce cuts for future years if it is to meet another goal, that of putting debt as a share of national income on a downward path by 2015. The Office for National Statistics said public borrowing in the first six months of the tax year was 2.6 billion pounds higher than the same period a year ago at 65.1 billion pounds, once certain one-off factors were stripped out. This compares with a 10.6 billion pound overshoot estimated last month for the first five months of the tax year, and makes it more likely that Osborne will succeed in trimming borrowing for 2012/13 to 120 billion pounds from 122 billion in 2011/12.

“This is much, much better than they would have thought only a month ago,” said Brian Hilliard, economist at Societe Generale. “It’s still an overshoot compared to the plans but it does make their life a bit easier.”

However, Osborne’s plan to eliminate Britain’s underlying budget deficit remains controversial as his Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition nears the midpoint of its term in office. Initial plans to achieve eliminate the deficit by 2015 have been pushed back two years as growth has been far weaker than forecast, and at 8.0 percent of GDP last year, Britain’s budget deficit was still the largest of any major European country.

The opposition Labour Party says the pace of cuts is selfdefeating, arguing that any savings made are outweighed by lower tax revenues caused by slower growth. And trade unions plan a big rally in London on Saturday to protest against austerity. Nonetheless, Friday’s data comes at the

end of a rare week of good economic news for the government. Employment is the highest since records began in 1971, inflation is near a three-year low, and economists expect data next week to show an end to Britain’s second recession since the 2008 financial crisis.

But the broader economic outlook is still weak, with economists forecasting a 0.3 percent fall in output for 2012 as a whole, and just 1.1 percent growth in 2013. David Miles, the most dovish member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, said in a newspaper interview on Friday that this weakness still justified a “super-expansionary” stance for monetary policy.

The improvement in Britain’s public borrowing this year was driven by a sharp downward revision to earlier estimates of borrowing between April and August, as well as lower than expected borrowing in September.

The government’s preferred measure, public sector net borrowing excluding financial sector interventions, fell to 12.8 billion pounds in September from 13.5 billion pounds a year ago, well below economists’ forecasts for an unchanged reading due to lower borrowing by local authorities and public corporations.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, which publishes a new assessment of Osborne’s fiscal plans on Dec. 5, said central government spending was growing at a slower pace than forecast. But these benefits were outweighed by very weak growth in tax revenues - largely due to lower corporation tax payments because of disruption to North Sea oil and gas production. A return to growth should make the budget position easier over the next six months, and economists predict only a small overshoot of 2012/13’s 120 billion pound goal, with Barclays seeing a 6 billion overshoot and Capital Economics 7 billion. But if tax revenues do not pick up, and central government spending accelerates to grow at the planned rate, the overshoot would be nearer 15 billion pounds, the non-partisan Institute for Fiscal Studies said.—Reuters

MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (back C) sits in a railway car as he chairs a meeting on the development of railways and railway service in Moscow, yesterday, with Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov (R) and Russian Railways Chief Vladimir Yakunin (L) attending. — AFP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Indian Hotels shares slide after Orient bid MUMBAI: Shares of Indian Hotels, part of the giant Tata Group, slid nearly six percent yesterday after the firm announced an unsolicited offer worth $1.86 billion to acquire Orient-Express Hotels. Indian Hotels fell 5.5 percent to 66.3 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange on investor concerns about the cost of the proposed acquisition announced late Thursday, analysts said.

Indian Hotels Co Ltd and Charme II Fund, an Italian private equity fund managed by Montezemolo and Partners SpA, have sent a letter to Orient-Express Hotels Ltd proposing the purchase, the Indian company said in a statement.

“Obviously, in a large acquisition like this, there will be concerns on whether a company is overpaying for

assets,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of equities at SMC Global Securities in Mumbai. Indian Hotels said it would finance the acquisition through debt and equity and that the funds needed were already in place.

Indian Hotels, which owns the iconic seafront Taj Mahal Palace in India’s financial hub Mumbai, said it had already acquired a 6.9-percent stake in Orient-Express. It said it now wished to buy the remaining 93.1 percent in an all-cash offer, adding that Orient-Express would remain an “independent and autonomous company”.

Indian Hotels said combining with Orient-Express is a “strategically compelling opportunity” for both companies as well as for shareholders. Orient-Express said in a separate statement that it had “received an unsolicited

letter” from Indian Hotels. The board “expects to evaluate the proposal carefully and respond in due course in accordance with the best interests of the Orient-Express Hotels Ltd and its shareholders,” Orient-Express said in the statement on its website.

This marks the Indian company’s second attempt to tie up with the Bermuda-based luxury global chain. In 2007, Orient-Express spurned an approach by Indian Hotels on grounds its brand value might be diluted by an association with the Indian company which owns the premium Taj hotel chain in India and abroad.

Orient-Express owns or part-owns 49 properties including 40 deluxe hotels and also offers high-end train and cruise travel, according to its website. — AFP

Starbucks launches first cafe in India ‘India is one of the largest markets in the world’

KUALA LUMPUR: Chairman of Astro Malaysia Holding Berhad Tun Zaki Tun Azmi (L) hits a gong to mark the listing debut of Astro Malaysia at the Malaysia Stock Exchange in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — AFP

Malaysia’s Astro sees soft gains on market return KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s biggest payTV firm Astro rose 3.3 percent from its IPO price yesterday, below expectations for its return to the bourse in Southeast Asia’s third-largest share sale this year. Astro shares opened just one percent higher at 3.03 ringgit ($1.00) on the Kuala Lumpur exchange, only slightly higher than the 3.00 ringgit offer price set for the $1.5 billion flotation. But two hours into trading it edged up to 3.10 ringgit.

However, analysts, who had forecast the stock to open up to 10 percent above its offer price, said they expected it to gain throughout the day with traders initially staying on the sidelines. “I think it will catch up,” Ooi Chin Hock, a dealer with Malaysia’s M & A Securities, told AFP. Astro dominates the nation’s pay-toview television market, reaching almost half the country’s 6.6 million households and offering more than 150 different channels. The share offer was launched despite a volatile global economy that has forced the delay of other major IPOs in Asia, including a planned $2.5 billion Formula One listing in Singapore.

Astro chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan said the company was confident of growth over the next five years. “We are operating against a backdrop of an increasingly affluent and young demographic...

That’s where our growth story is going to come from,” she told reporters.

Astro said it will use some of the money from the share sale for capital expenditures, such as upgrading the equipment it offers, and debt repayment. Astro, controlled by Malaysia’s second richest man

Ananda Krishnan and state investment firm Khazanah Nasional, was delisted from the Malaysian stock exchange following a 2010 buyout by its owners.

The move was aimed at “re-energising” the company’s growth, such as expanding its ventures in China and India and investing in its new Internet Protocol TV projects.

At that time, Astro said a re-listing would “certainly be considered when (it) achieves a more stable earnings profile”. When the company was taken private it was valued at $2.6 billion.

The offer had seen demand for the institutional portion — 1.26 billion sharesoutstrip supply by more than 30 times, with 16 so-called cornerstone investors.

Demand for the remaining 259.9 million shares made available to the public was also high, underscoring appetite for new listings in Malaysia despite a broad weakening in the global IPO market this year.

Palm oil giant Felda Global Ventures Holdings raised $3 billion on the Kuala Lumpur exchange in June, followed by the $2 billion dual listing of IHH, Asia’s biggest hospital operator, in Malaysia and neighbouring Singapore.

Global accountancy firm Ernst and Young said Bursa Malaysia was the thirdbiggest in terms of funds raised in IPOs in the second quarter of 2012, following the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.

Analysts credit the divestment push and government efforts to encourage IPOs and boost the economy as elections approach, but say the Malaysian exchange is unlikely to supplant Asian IPO capitals like Hong Kong and Singapore. — AFP

MUMBAI: Starbucks, the world’s biggest coffee chain, launched its first Indian outlet yesterday in an upscale part of Mumbai, becoming the latest global firm to tap the urban youth’s growing taste for caffeine.

The Seattle-based firm has finally entered the vast Indian market in a joint venture with the country’s giant Tata conglomerate-with menus especially adapted to appeal to local tastes in a country better known for its tea.

Speaking at the launch, the company’s chairman and chief executive Howard Schultz described India as “one of the largest markets in the world for Starbucks” and pledged that prices would be competitive.

“The competition here is ferocious. We’re coming here priced to succeed, to make it as accessible as possible,” Schultz told reporters at the new two-storey cafe in south Mumbai’s Horniman Circle, also home to a luxury Hermes store. Like other Western chains that have come to India, such as Pizza Hut, Starbucks is offering “Indianised” versions of its staple hot drinks and baked goods to appeal to local palates. Items on the menu include a murg tikka panini, cardamom-flavoured elaichi mawa croissants and Himalayan mineral water.

The usual Starbucks varieties of coffee are available but some of the beans have been sourced from Tata estates in India. The price of a medium-sized cappucino is 115 rupees ($2.15) while a caffe americano costs 110 rupees.

“We’re trying to be respectful of Indian culture,” said Schultz. “I say with humility we must earn the respect of the Indian customer. We’re not coming here taking anything for granted but certainly we intend to succeed here.”

India has traditionally been more of a tea-drinking nation, but the coffee bean’s stature is shooting up among young and urban professional classes, who seem drawn as much to Western-style cafes as they are to the drink itself.

Starbucks will compete for their rising disposable incomes with Indian-owned Cafe Coffee Day, which dominates the market, and well-established foreign chains such as Britain’s Costa Coffee and US Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

But the new entrant is likely to be successful, in part thanks to being a very well-known brand globally, said Pratichee Kapoor, associate vice president in food services and agriculture at Indian consultancy Technopak.

“Starbucks provide a very good space between a cafe and a five-star hotel, if I don’t want to spend as much as at a five-star hotel,” Kapoor told AFP. India’s cafe market, estimated at $230 million this year, is expected to grow about 13-14 percent over the next five years, according to a Technopak report ahead of the Starbucks launch. In the last five years, 1,250 new cafes have popped up across the country, and another 1,000 are expected by 2017, the report said.

Company officials remained tight-lipped at Friday’s launch on how many cafes were planned, saying that two more were coming up in Mumbai in the next week and they would start operating in New Delhi next year.

“It’s a very good socialising platform for people, this cafe market. It welcomes people to spend time and to have a good time. It’s very attractive to young people,” Kapoor said.

Among India’s 1.2 billion people, the average age is under 30, giving it one of the world’s youngest and biggest workforces. Though many of them may be drawn away from traditional “chai”, it was business as usual yesterday for tea seller Narayan Gujjar on a street of south Mumbai’s business district, where his customers gathered to sip and chat.—AFP Stirring his steaming mix of the spicy brew, he said he had never heard of Starbucks and was unruffled by the competition. “I have my fixed customers, they will come,” he said. —AFP

MUMBAI: Starbucks Chief Executive Officer Howard Shultz, left, speaks during the inauguration of the first India outlet of Starbucks in Mumbai, India, yesterday. — AP

business SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Japan’s NEC revises up profit forecast TOKYO: Japanese information technology firm NEC said yesterday it has revised its half year forecast from a loss to a healthy net profit, with reports saying demand for iPhones was helping the company.

For the first six months to September, NEC now predicts a net profit of 8 billion yen ($100 million), compared with its earlier forecast of a net loss of 24 billion yen. It expects an operating profit of 47

billion yen on sales of 1.45 trillion yen, against its previous forecast of 1 billion yen profit on sales of 1.40 trillion yen.

Shares in NEC surged 10.48 percent to close at 137 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. The Nikkei business daily said NEC’s carrier network business has seen brisk sales due to demand for faster mobile Internet networks known as long-term evolution (LTE), used in Apple’s flagship smartphone iPhone 5.

“The LTE build out is certain to grow, fuelled by the bullish cell phone industry next-generation service rollout. This should continue to benefit NEC,” a market analyst at a domestic brokerage told Dow Jones Newswires.

NEC said in a statement that the upward revision was made “mainly due to the improvement in the IT solutions business and carrier network business as a result of increased sales”. Continued

efforts in structural reforms and in cost reductions as well as profit from the sale of liquid crystal display-related patents also contributed to the revised forecast, it said.

The company left unchanged its fullyear forecast, projecting a net profit of 20 billion yen on sales of 3.15 trillion yen for the year to March 2013. NEC plans to announce its results for the AprilSeptember period on October 26. —AFP

Asian markets mixed after week-long rally Moody’s not to downgrade Spain’s credit rating

HONG KONG: A ferry crosses Victoria Harbour in front of the Hong Kong skyline yesterday. The IMF cut its growth forecasts for developing Asia, blaming a slowdown in Europe and the US, and warned that China’s attempts to boost its economy had not taken hold. —AFP

HK shares gain, China underperforms HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares recorded a seventh-straight day of gains yesterday, as investors rotated into laggard growth-sensitive sectors on signs of a stabilising Chinese economy, powering the Hang Seng Index to a seventh-straight weekly gain as well.

Mainland Chinese markets edged lower on the day, trimming their third-straight weekly gain with Chinese companies expected to start posting third-quarter corporate earnings starting next week.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.2 percent on the day and 2 percent this week to 21,551.8, equalling a winning streak recorded between December 2010 and January 2011. The benchmark is now just 1 percent shy of the 2012 intra-day high at 21,760.3, recorded on Feb. 20.

The Shanghai Composite Index and the CSI300 Index of the top Shanghai and Shenzhen listings each slipped 0.2 percent on Friday, but rose 1.1 and 1.2 percent, respectively, this week.

Mainland Chinese markets underperformed offshore peers for a second-straight week. The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong, or the H-share index, followed last week’s 3.8 percent gain with a 3.3 percent rise this week.

The Hang Seng Index A/H premium index ended this week under 100 for the first time since August last year, suggesting the premium that onshore shares trade over their offshore peers is now wiped out. “We are still in the early to mid-stages of this rebound in Chinese equities, but next week’s earnings will be ugly and probably won’t be the catalyst for the next leg up,” Hong Hao, chief equity strategist at Bank of Communications (BoCom) International Securities, told Reuters.

Hong said investors will continue to rotate into growth-sensitive sectors that have been laggards and with cheap valuations.

“There is no reason to be too bearish, especially after data yesterday showed that domestic demand (in China) has held up reasonably well, putting a floor on the slowdown in the real economy,” he added.

The crucial role of domestic demand in China was underscored by data on Friday that showed foreign direct investment inflows fell 3.8 percent in the first nine months of 2012 from a year ago, extending the longest run of declines since the depths of the 2007-08 financial crisis.

A slowdown in overseas markets led the Ministry of Commerce to warn yesterday that exports, too, face an uphill battle despite better-than-expected September data. —Reuters

HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed yesterday as a week-long rally fuelled by upbeat data out of China and rising hopes for the future of the eurozone was stalled by profit-taking.

Investors did not seem to be immediately moved by news out of Europe that leaders had reached a deal on a banking union within the trading bloc.

Tokyo closed 0.22 percent higher, adding 19.82 points to 9,002.68, Sydney rose 0.26 percent, or 11.7 points, to 4,571.1 and Hong Kong was 0.15 percent, or 33.05 points, higher at 21,551.76.

But Seoul lost 0.78 percent, or 15.28 points, to end at 1,943.84 and Shanghai eased 0.16 percent, or 3.39 points, to 2,128.30.

Traders took a breather after regional markets enjoyed a strong rally this week following data from China indicating the world’s number two economy may have bottomed out, while woes in Spain and Greece also looked to have eased.

China said Thursday its economy grew in the third quarter at its slowest pace since early 2009, but it was in line with expectations, while other indicators pointed to an upturn in the next three months.

That followed figures at the weekend showing exports surged in September. In Europe a decision by Moody’s not to downgrade Spain’s credit rating, and reports that Madrid was edging closer to asking for rescue money, lifted confidence that the region’s debt crisis was being addressed.

Talks between Greece and its international creditors on giving the country more time to implement muchneeded reforms also looked to be progressing.

And yesterday in Brussels European leaders vowed to set up a banking union throughout 2013, with diplomats saying a final summit statement would commit EU states to “agreeing” on a supervisor for eurozone lenders by the end of the year. A French government source said the European Central Bank would be tasked with supervising all of

the 6,000 eurozone banks, but that its role would only come into effect “from the beginning of 2014”.

The slow pace of implementation was seen as a weakness in the plan, which had no real effect on Asian shares yesterday. On currency markets the euro held up after a week of gains.

It bought $1.3068 and 103.64 yen, compared with $1.3067 and 103.60 yen in New York late Thursday.

compared with $1,736.30 late Thursday.

In other markets: Taipei fell 0.76 percent, or 56.65 points, to 7,408.76.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 1.59 percent to Tw$86.7 while Hon Hai Precision was 1.94 percent lower at Tw$85.8. Manila closed flat, edging down 3.58 points to 5,432.36. Alcorn Gold Resources slid 6.38 percent to 13

BEIJING: People buy ice cream at a McDonald’s, American fast food restaurant, in Beijing yesterday. Foreign investment in China fell again in September and a government spokesman said yesteday it was too early to forecast a recovery in trade. —AP The dollar was at 79.35 yen against 79.28 yen. Oil prices were down. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for November, was down 10 cents to $92.00 a barrel in morning trade, while Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December was six cents lower at $112.36.

Gold was at $1,736.60 at 0800 GMT

centavos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. dropped 0.30 percent to 2,670 pesos. Ayala Land fell 1.07 percent to 23.20 pesos. Wellington slipped 0.34 percent, or 13.79 points, to 3,988.16. Sky City added 1.0 percent to NZ$3.99, Fletcher Building fell 2.9 percent to NZ$7.37 and Fisher & Paykel Appliances was flat at NZ$1.27. —AFP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012 www.kuwaittimes.net

Enraged anti-US mobs set back Pakistan cinema PAGE 23

A woman inspects the interior of a plywood, timber and perspex dome titled ‘Mirador’ by artists Rachel Couper and Ivana Kuzmanovska at the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney on October 18, 2012. — AFP

London museum dresses up

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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he group - made up of Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Sarah Harding - have confirmed, that after months of speculation, they are getting back together and will release a new single, a greatest hits album and will embark on a tour next year to celebrate their 10-year anniversary as a band. The five girls are thrilled to be back together and can’t wait to perform together again on tour. Speaking at a press conference at London’s Corinthia Hotel, Kimberley said: “It felt like the right time. It feels comfortable to be back together - like a comfort blanket.” Cheryl added: “Touring is the best thing about what we do. And to get to say thank you to the fans is just amazing.” There will be four new songs on the album, entitled ‘Ten’ - including the new single ‘Something New’ - and fans can vote on the tracklisting for Disc 2 of the record at www.girlsaloud.com. The five girls have been secretly working on their single for a few weeks and had their meetings at the same hotel they stayed in when they won reality TV show ‘Popstars: The Rivals’ in 2002. Nicola said: “We stayed in the same hotel we stayed in the night we got in the band.” ‘Ten’ will be released on November 26, which will be followed up by a 12-date arena tour which kicks off in Cheryl’s hometown, Newcastle upon Thames, in Northern England, on February 21. The run of concerts ends in Liverpool on March 20 and tickets go on sale on October 26 via the band’s official website.

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he 44-year-old singer - the daughter of the late Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla - has left Los Angeles to live in England and only felt ready to make a new album after making some other changes to her life. The mother-of-four told The Sun newspaper: “I just needed a break, a change of scenery. I had to get rid of everything that was around me. “I felt I was in a draconian web that I had helped spin and I needed to unspin. “It was only by clearing out the bad people - ‘friends’, employees, everyone with the exception of my immediate family - that I was inspired to write songs again.” Lisa Marie - who is believed to have quit Scientology earlier this year - believes the “toxic” influences around her had left her “angry, unhappy and disturbed” but she now feels much better about herself. She added: “I was very angry before. But I didn’t know why I was angry because I could not see what was around me, what I was connected to. “I was surrounded by unbelievably disgusting, despicable and toxic people. I cannot even begin to explain it but it would make an incredible movie. “I was shadow-boxing. I was angry, unhappy and disturbed, and because my life was being controlled like I was a puppet. I was fighting a lot. “But getting away, waking up with the bad stuff gone, meant good stuff came up. I began to write again.” The musician has been married to guitarist Michael Lockwood since 2006. She was previously wed to Danny Keough, the late Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.

he ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’ actress wed the ‘Men In Black’ star in 1997 and she has praised Will as the best husband ever and admits she couldn’t be happier with her family.

Jada - who has two children, Jaden, 14, and 11year-old Willow, with Will - said: “There are no negatives being married to Will Smith! I swear Will has to be one of the most outstanding fathers. Not only just loving him, and him being my husband, but when I look at how he loves his children, I go, ‘Thank you! I made such a good choice.’ I hit the jackpot with that one.” Jada also says being married to Will has made her grow as a person as well as realising the importance of letting him be his own person. She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “Part of being in a partnership is that you have to support the spirit of it. Being in a partnership like that has forced me to become bigger and to grow, and to allow him to grow and be all that he’s meant to be on this planet. You realise that once you learn how to give it, then you receive it.”

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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espite being part of squeaky clean boy band One Direction, Zayn likes to think of himself as a bit of a rebel and feels he is “misunderstood” by people.

According to the Daily Star newspaper, he said: “I am a bit of a bad boy. I like to use the term ‘misunderstood.’ I have tattoos and I mess around. That’s part of my image, so it’s cool.” Zayn is not the only member of the group with tattoos, with Harry Styles - who already has several pieces of body art including a star, the letter A, and a clothes hanger recently getting the words “Things I can” inked on the inside of one arm, and “Things I Can’t” on the other while in the Irish capital Dublin. Harry wasn’t the only member of the

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he 53-year-old music mogul has enjoyed a string of dates with Louise Griffiths - who was previously engaged to Formula 1 star Jenson Button until 2005 - and even invited her to his Beverly Hills home to celebrate his recent birthday. A friend of Louise told The Sun newspaper: “It is very early days but there is certainly a chemistry between them.”

After one date, Louise - a former contestant in TV talent show ‘Fame Academy’ - tweeted: “Going to bed as the sun is coming up. Haven’t done that in a while! #fun. (sic)” However, the brunette beauty’s pal insists the relationship isn’t serious yet as Louise is wary of Simon’s reluctance to commit to one woman. The source added: “She knows there are commitment issues. Currently this is not serious, but the beginnings of a promising relationship.” Simon’s spokesperson Max Clifford revealed he is unsure who the TV talent show judge is currently dating. He said: “There have been two or three very attractive ladies who people are asking about in relation to Simon and I’m not sure of any of them.” The ‘X Factor’ chief was recently romantically linked to Carmen Electra.

He got engaged to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy in 2010 but they split a year later, and his other previous girlfriends include Sinitta and Terri Seymour.

Simon - who is known for remaining close to his former girlfriends after they split - previously admitted he likes to see the women in his life “fight”. He said: “Every girl wants to be number one and they’re very territorial. “I like the fight, because otherwise I’d have a dull group of girlfriends.”

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he 33-year-old actress appeared as Miranda Frost in ‘Die Another Day’ opposite Pierce Brosnan in 2005 and though she is proud of her work on the film, she finds it frustrating that the tag seems to supersede all her other work.

She said: “Not that it’s an insult - I’m proud as hell of it. “I was delighted to be a Bond girl, but if that’s your moniker forever, it’s a bit annoying.” Rosamund was recently left annoyed when she was stopped in the street by a fan who asked, “Are you the Bond Girl?” She recalled: “I said, ‘I’m an actress - is that what you mean.’ “ Despite her frustration about being labelled, Rosamund is pleased she is part of a “cool club” of actors who have starred in the iconic 007 film series. She said: “It just seems like a very cool punctuation mark on the CV. It’s a cool club to be part of.” Rosamund recently worked with Pierce again on ‘Long Way Down’ and says it was “nice” to look back on their previous experience together. She told the Daily Mail newspaper: “It was nice to be 10 years on and feel that familiarity and camaraderie. We started reminiscing about Bond, and you realise that it’s such a magic thing to do.”

—Bangshowbiz

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successful group to get tattoos in the city. Louis Tomlinson told fans on twitter that he and Liam Payne both got inkings of screws, to match existing ones already inked on their bandmates Harry and Zayn Malik. Louis tweeted: “So Me and Liam joined the crew and got two screw tattoo’s on our ankles, now we all have it except Niall! Come on @NiallOfficial.” However, Niall Horan is said to have a fear of needles and refused to join the other boys as they got inked.

he Wanted singer has an irrational fear of the pattern and was horrified to discover his room in the hotel he arrived at in New York is covered in them. He tweeted: “Great got to my hotel room and it’s my worst nightmare. Polka Dots on the walls, bed sheets, floors! #SivaHatesPolkaDots #Phobia (sic).” Siva even revealed his longterm girlfriend, luxury shoe designer Nareesha McCaffrey never wears the offending pattern around him. When a fan asked him “So is Nareesha not allowed to wear anything with polka dots on it?” Siva jokingly replied “She knows the rules!” Siva then decided to go straight to sleep so he could try and forget about the “nightmare of a room”. He tweeted: “Gonna go sleep now and pretend I’m not in this polka dot covered nightmare of a room.

Goodnight TWFanmily (sic).” Siva recently revealed he found a fan amongst his belongings when he moved house. The heartthrob was confused when he saw an unlabelled box amongst his belongings in a moving truck and was even more surprised when he discovered its contents. He said: “We moved out

to different apartments and we had a moving vans going all over London. “And in my moving van there was an unknown box and in that box was a fan and the fan was in there for about three hours. And so I got out and saw this random box and I opened it up and the box is lined with plastic and there was a girl ... a red faced girl sweating! She stank. She was in there for three hours. She wasn’t supposed to smell like roses, was she?”

Weekender SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Gaddafi corpse inspires artist trio T

he day after Muammar Gaddafi died, Chinese artist Yan Pei-Ming set to work painting a wall-sized oil of his corpse-the first in an unlikely trio of artworks inspired by the Libyan strongman’s grisly demise. “He died such a dramatic, cruel death,” the artist, who lives and works in France, told AFP. “He became a victim of his own victims”. “The day after he died, I started work on the subject based on the images that were available to me.”

Entitled simply “Gaddafi’s corpse, October 21, 2011”, the resulting artwork went on display at the David Zwirner gallery in New York last springalthough it has yet to find a buyer.

Measuring 4.0 metres by 2.8 (13 feet by 9), the oil in shades of grey depicts the dictator’s body lying on the ground, in a mortuary chamber in the Libyan city of Misrata. “All revolutions end in blood. It’s an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” added Yan, who was born in 1960 and lived through China’s cultural revolution before arriving in

France in 1980. The artist, who made a name for large monochrome paintings of historic figures, had previously depicted Mao Zedong on his death bed.

His Gaddafi work was shown as part of a series entitled “Black Paintings”, a reference to the dark works produced by the Spanish master Francisco Goya at the end of his life. While Arab artists so far seem to have shied away from Gaddafi’s death as subject matter, according to the Arab World Institute in Paris, at least two European artists have also tackled it. Britain’s Jenny Saville, 42, is working on a giant painting of Gaddafi’s corpse, his face spotted with blood amid a whirlwind of grey and black hues, surrounded by mobile phones.

“What I found most disturbing about the (press) images was not Gaddafi’s body, or the light, but the telephones,” Saville said this year in a forum at Modern Art Oxford, a British gallery where she held her first solo

exhibition. “(There was) this incredible body lying out in this cold storage unit with hundreds of hands holding telephones,” said Saville, whose work has often focused on the body and its deformities.

Saville, who was born in Cambridge and works out of a studio in Oxford, has been one of the most expensive artists in the world over the last 15 years. The lesser-known Italian artist Luca del Baldo is also to showcase a series of works built around the death of Libya’s iron-fisted ruler, as part of an exhibition opening in mid-December near Como in northern Italy.

One of them, entitled “Ubu King, Gaddafi’s head”, shows the dictator’s mutilated face in shades of blue and red. “I am not trying to cause a scandal, or to shock people,” explained the artist, who says he received anonymous emails ordering him to take all Gaddafi-related work off his website.

“An artist cannot only produce work to decorate museum or apartment walls,”

he told AFP. “Goya, too, used to depict violence and death.”

Fascinated like Saville by the human body-and by corpses-del Baldo said his idea “was not to show Gaddafi as a figure to be idolised.” “For me, he’s a kind of mafia boss, with an actor’s side to him. He’s a bit like a character out of an operetta-at the same time as being a dictator.” While the three works on Gaddafi were enough to justify a focus article in a specialist review, The Art Newspaper, earlier this month, experts say they remain an isolated phenomenon. The monitoring firm Artprice found next to nothing when searching for “Gaddafi” in its image database.

And the Arab World Institute, which closely follows the contemporary Arab art scene, told AFP it has spotted nothing on the subject. —AFP

Art and Culture of the late Shang Dynasty

Visitors walk past an exhibit entitled “stone kneeling anthropomorphic figure with tiger head and claws, 1,200 BC,” during an exhibition about “King Wu Ding and Lady Hao: Art and Culture of the late Shang Dynasty” on display at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. —AFP photos

A bronze human mask from 1,200 BC is on display.

A visitor looks at bronze spearheads.

Weekender SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

From Dorothy to Darth Vader, London museum dresses up D

The ruby slippers worn by Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in the 1939 movie ‘The Wizard of OZ’ are displayed at the Hollywood Costume exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. —AFP photos

orothy’s blue and white dress and her sparkling ruby slippers have travelled from Oz to London’s Victoria and Albert museum, where more than 130 of cinema’s iconic costumes star in a new exhibition. The show, which opens to the public Saturday, examines the role of costume design in a century of cinema storytelling, from Charlie Chaplin to the recent remake of “Anna Karenina”, with a journey through hits from Hollywood’s Golden Age. It includes Judy Garland’s gingham dress that saw Dorothy home in “The Wizard of Oz”; the green velvet gown that Vivien Leigh wore in “Gone with the Wind”; and the floor-length black dress for Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.

But the exhibition is far more than a fashion show: it highlights a distinctive type of design that guest curator Christopher Frayling said people often failed to understand. “It’s got to work at a particular moment, worn by a particular person, under particular lights, in a particular story, directed by a particular person,” he told AFP. “At that moment it has to be photographed

A chiffon dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the 1959 film ‘Some Like it Hot’ is displayed.

and the costume has to work.” As Meryl Streep said in an interview featured in the exhibition, next to her costumes from films such as “Mamma Mia!” and “The Iron Lady”, “on every film, the clothes are half the battle in creating the character”.

Also on display are costumes worn by characters such as comic book superhero Batman, the sci-fi icon Darth Vader, boy wizard Harry Potter and Cleopatra. The “Deconstruction” gallery explains a costume designer’s research process, “Dialogue” explores the collaboration between filmmakers, actors and designers and the “Finale” presents famous costumes worn by Hollywood favourites.

“Behind every costume, there is always a designer who began with a written word to create a real person,” Assistant Curator Keith Lodwick said.

One of the designers featured is Edith Head, who collaborated time and time again with Alfred Hitchcock and won eight Oscars in a career spanning more than 50 years with both Paramount and Universal studios.

When she worked on Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, Head was instructed to use only green or blue for the costume worn by actress Tippi Hedren.

Head opted for an omnipresent pale green suit that could be worn throughout the entire film. “They hoped the audience would almost forget what she was wearing. But there’s an art to that,” Lodwick said.

The show also looks at how costume designers have worked within a constantly evolving technological landscape.

Despite computer-generated imaging and motion-capture used to create characters in a movie like “Avatar”, Lodwick said costumes are still designed for actors to wear, even if the on-screen character is created by an animator. “The animator has not replaced costume design,” he said.

Gathering together the costumes from more than 60 lenders was like a “treasure hunt” that spanned five years.

And the most prized gem may be one of the original ruby slippers, which will be on public display in Europe for the first time since Dorothy wore them on her quest to find the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the 1939 classic. On loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington DC for four weeks, the sparkly slippers will be reunited with Dorothy’s signature dress for the first time since the film was made. “That’s wonderful magical costume design, living beyond the film,” Lodwick said of the slippers, which have become part of “modern mythology”.The “Hollywood Costume” exhibition runs until January 27. —AFP

A costume worn by US actor Tobey Maguire in the 2002 movie ‘Spider-Man’ is displayed.

Visitor look at costumes displayed.

US actor Sylvester Stallone’s satin boxing shorts worn in the movie ‘Rocky’ are displayed.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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or as long as Pakistan has existed, film lovers flocked to the Nishat cinema, sinking into seats in its plush auditorium to watch Hollywood imports, Bollywood hits and homegrown productions. All that came to an end last month when an enraged mob set fire to the building, trashed furniture and looted equipment-all in the name of defending the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and protesting against a cheap American web trailer that infuriated Muslims.

Eight other cinemas were destroyed-in the conservative, northwestern city of Peshawar and the more cosmopolitan financial capital Karachi-dealing a huge blow to Pakistan’s already troubled film industry.

The arson and vandalism has cost scores of jobs and leaves even fewer sources of secular entertainment in a country where a conservative right-wing Islamist agenda whips up the street, and moderates are sidelined in public discourse. “We didn’t make that disgusting film against our beloved Prophet, and like everyone else we protested against it. So why loot and destroy cinemas and render hundreds of people jobless?” asked Nawab Huzoorul Hasan, the Nishat manager.

The auditorium which once held 1,000 seats is now a mess of rubble, twisted metal and up-ended chairs. Its staircase is crumbling and its projector room destroyed. What remains of the gallery could collapse at any time. Fire destroyed the cinema’s beautiful ornate ceiling. The giant screen is gone. The wall behind is blackened.

Workers say September 21 was the worst physical attack on cinemas in Pakistan’s 65-year history and another setback for a film and entertainment industry that has been nearly stripped bare by decades of Islamisation. “The cinema culture had just begun to revive when this fatal blow happened,” said Mustafa Qureshi, an actor famous for playing villains in Punjabi films in the 1980s. When General Zia ul-Haq seized power in a bloodless coup in 1977, the country had around 1,000 cinemas.

Today, there are just over 100 left. “People used to save up to go to the movies once or twice a month. Pakistani music was all the rage and dancers were immensely popular,” said Qureshi. Pakistan banned Bollywood films in 1965, and although exceptions were made for individual films, Zia is credited with making Pakistan more right-wing, more Islamic and less tolerant of secular entertainment and of minorities.—AFP

An Indian artist pastes moustaches on to a clay model of a devil for the upcoming Durga Puja festival at a makeshift camp yesterday. — AP

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ourteen lifeguards fired last month after appearing in uniform at the city pool in a parody of “Gangnam Style,” the Korean pop music video that has been viewed hundreds of millions of time online, are getting their jobs back. The City Council in the Southern California town of El Monte voted to rehire them pending a management review at the aquatic center, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune (http://bit.ly/TtLfPJ ) reported.

The lifeguards’ parody of the video by Korean pop star PSY showed them in city-issued swimsuits dancing underwater and on diving boards at the pool. The “Gangnam Style” video has spawned countless such spoofs. City officials had said the workers violated employee conduct standards and prohibitions on use of city property. The lifeguards countered, saying they were off the clock when they made the video.

The controversy quickly gained attention, as the lifeguards received support from many local residents - and even from PSY. Hundreds of people attended a City Council meeting this month to defend them. At that meeting, it was announced that a contractor had been hired to review the aquatic center’s management, policies and procedures, including the steps leading to their firing.

Mayor Andre Quintero recommended they be rehired, saying that if the lifeguards were employed, they would be more likely to cooperate with the independent review. Opponents said they wanted to see the results of the investigation completed before deciding whether the lifeguards should get their jobs back. The council voted 3-2 on Tuesday to allow them to return. — AP

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This photograph taken on October 3, 2012 shows commuters passing by a burnt out Nishat cinema, in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi. — AFP

ountry-pop star Taylor Swift has won over a legion of devoted fans in the past six years with her raw, honest lyrics of romance and heartbreak. Now, at the grand age of 22, the five-time Grammy winner is says her new record “Red,” to be released on Monday, “the most adventurous album I’ve ever made.” “‘Red’ is really kind of diary entries of the last two years of my life,” Swift told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“There were beginnings and ends and there were ups and downs, and lessons that I learned and then had to learn all over again the exact same way ... the ups and downs of the whole experience of falling in love and being let down and letting go and starting over,” she said. “Red,” Swift’s follow-up to her 2010 best-seller “Speak Now,” sees the singer-songwriter collaborate with the likes of British singer Ed Sheeran and pop music producer Max Martin.

The catchy pop-infused lead single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” was an instant hit when it was released in September, becoming Billboard’s most-downloaded first week digital single. And like many of Swift’s other songs, it had fans guessing over which of her many brief but high-profile romances she was referring to. John Mayer? Joe Jonas? Taylor Lautner? Jake Gyllenhaal? Swift isn’t telling.

“It helps me to know that 90 percent of what those little blog posts and articles say isn’t true at all,” said Swift, who is currently dating Conor Kennedy, 18, the son of Robert F Kennedy Jr. “The one bit of privacy that I have is knowing that

I know who inspired those songs and I don’t tell anyone. “For me, keeping my private life private and only sharing it with people through my music allows me to have that connection with my fans and not shut them out of anything. But it allows me to also have something that’s just mine.”

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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oud, coarse, but hard-working and supportive, the fictional denizens of a Rio suburb hold a mirror up to Brazil’s emerging middle class in a wildly popular soap opera. Brazilian telenovelas have traditionally depicted the melodramas of the elite, but Globo TV’s “Avenida Brasil” breaks new ground by turning the spotlight on the millions of Brazilians now making up the so-called C class.

Rising prosperity in the emerging regional powerhouse and social programs introduced by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have pulled some 40 million people out of grinding poverty over the past decade. Now the increasingly prosperous C class, partly made up of former slum dwellers, makes up nearly 50 percent of the country’s 194 million people. “It was a great idea to base the show on the emerging middle class,” said sociologist Geraldo Tadeu, of Rio’s University Research Institute.

“This is a reflection of the new Brazil, of the families who made it, acquiring money but not necessarily good manners.” An estimated 38 million Brazilians tune into the show every evening at 9 pm, with millions commenting on its every twist and turn via Twitter and other social media. Rio taxi drivers have even been known to watch while driving.

According to the Ibope polling institute, the show-which debuted in March and ends Fridayreached its highest 49-point rating ever and a 76 percent market share on Monday. “Avenida Brasil” fever even forced President Dilma Rousseff to reschedule a Sao Paulo campaign rally in support of a candidate in the upcoming mayoral election so that it would not coincide with the show’s last episode.

The plot revolves around the quest for revenge by young Nina, who as a child was abandoned in a Rio garbage dump by her evil stepmother Carminha and her boyfriend Max, after they rob Nina’s father Genesio and push him to his death.

Years later, Nina returns and gets a job as a cook in the suburban mansion of Tufao, a rich and cuckolded former football star who is now married to Carminha.

Other characters include ignorant members of the nouveaux riche notorious for their poor taste and bad Portuguese. But “Avenida Brasil” also includes entrepreneurs, hard-working people still struggling to move up, and fun-loving, beer-drinking Rio suburbanites, fond of eating rice and black beans and reading gossip magazines.

“It is an emerging class, which consumes and is proud of itself. This is very important,” Mauro Alencar, an expert on Brazilian teledrama, told Globo News in a recent interview. The name of the show refers to the main avenue which links the city center with the northern Rio suburbs, where the fictional Divino neighborhood is located.

The residents all know each other, they meet in the one and only bar and they shop in a store owned by the president of the local soccer club.

The characters say they lead humble lives of which they are proud, but Divino is a long way from Rio’s periphery, where hundreds of thousands of people still live in slums riven with drug violence. Brazil is now the world’s sixth largest economy and will host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in a sign of its growing global presence, but economic growth has slowed in the last year and a half. — AFP

Foreign artists perform opera Aida at the Qatari capital’s Katara Opera House in Doha on October 18, 2012. First performed in 1871 in Egypt, the production brings together more than 80 musicians, 12 ballet dancers, 35 actors and eight of the most renowned Verdi singers, along with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. — AFP

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ason Aldean admits it was really hard to keep his big announcement a secret. It was a doozy, after all. The hard-rocking country music star made a whirlwind run around the eastern US on Thursday, announcing shows at Boston’s Fenway Park, Chicago’s Wrigley Field and on the University of Georgia campus in the space of 12 hours.

“I’ve known about these shows for a while so it’s been hard for me keep quiet, you know?” Aldean said. “I found myself every now and then telling a friend, ‘You can’t tell nobody, but, uh, guess what?’”

Aldean will make the first appearance by a country music performer at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. And the show at Georgia’s Sanford Stadium next spring will be the first - and mostly likely the last - between the hedges.

“This was No.1 on my list and to say I’m excited about this show, this is probably the most excited I’ve ever been about any of my shows,” the Macon, Ga, and lifelong Bulldogs fan said. Aldean managed to keep secret the announcement in Boston, where Red Sox players David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Jarrod Saltalamacchia helped announce the show as part of a clip played on the video board. But by the time he took to the air for Chicago, fans were on to him. One tracked his private plane and gave updates along the way. And as sundown came, students and even university officials were tweeting about the impending announcement, made by coach Mark Richt, and a surprise performance.

He played a handful of hits for more than 1,000 enthusiastic fans who turned out to Legion Field before getting aboard his bus to head to out on a short vacation with his family. It’s a well-deserved break. The singer released his fifth album, “Night Train,” this week.

That title is an apt metaphor for his career, which has been steaming along on a steep trajectory. About the only thing he hadn’t attained yet was a series of stadium shows, and he’s crossing that goal off the list on the “Night Train” tour in 2013.

Aldean is one of country’s top draws, but the stadium appearances will move him into rare company. Currently, only Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney regularly have that kind of drawing power. But Aldean has earned the status, selling more than 1.9 million tickets on his yearlong “My Kinda Party” tour that wraps up in Dallas on Oct 27.

“You think about how long ago he started, you know, playing the small gigs, holes in the wall and honky-tonks. I mean that’s what he did. How do you get here? There’s no logical path. It has to consume you,” said Chris Parr, one of his managers.

The stadium tour isn’t the only sign Aldean’s career continues to pick up speed. Billboard predicts “Night Train” will sell more than 400,000 in its first week, which would make it the year’s No 2 debut behind Mumford & Sons’ “Babel.” That’s roughly two times what his multi-platinum fourth album “My Kinda Party” sold in Week 1. And

the 35-year-old singer is up for three awards, including top honor entertainer of the year, at the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 1. The first single from “Night Train,” “Take a Little Ride,” had the highest-selling digital debut for a solo male country artist and was the fastest rising No. 1 on the country song charts this year.

“I think the reason is it’s been two years since we released an album,” he said. “Obviously, the ‘My Kinda Party” record was a big album, a career-changing album for me. I think it was just that wait, people anticipating the next album. And we put the album up on iTunes so people had a chance to go stream the album live, so I hope that’s part of it - they actually like what they’re hearing. That’d be nice.”—AP

Country singer Jason Aldean poses with a Chicago Cubs baseball shirt during a news conference at Wrigley Field to announce his 2013 Night Train Tour on Thursday, Oct 18, 2012, in Chicago. — AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

This photo shows a model wearing a design from the Marchesa Spring 2013 collection at Fashion Week in New York. — AP photos

O

n the catwalk, Look No. 2 might be worth a second look. Yes, it’s usually the opening outfit - and model that gets the fanfare, but the next one out can make a strong statement, too. Zac Posen opened his fashion show last month with Naomi Campbell in a floral, feminine daytime dress. Of course that made a huge splash. It was a hard act to follow, but Isabeli Fontana, who came out in a bold red number, certainly kept the crowd’s attention.

It’s often that runway runner-up - the one the audience sees after their cellphones go back in their bags and they’ve uncrossed their legs, and after the photographers get the lighting and distance just right - that lingers in one’s consciousness. “The second look is the moment where everyone becomes concentrated and focused. That’s where the focus of the show starts,” says Posen. “The first look is transitional, and as the first image, it has an impact, but it’s the second look that I’d call ‘the focus look.’”

Nanette Lepore says she sees the opener as the title page, but the second look is the first chapter to each collection. It has to draw in the stylists, retailers and editors right away and be followed by a strong third outfit to fully hook them. “I wish every look could be important, but for the first three looks, we want to have high impact. They set the tone,” Lepore says.

Marchesa’s Georgina Chapman and Yigal Azrouel both pick up on that storytelling theme. Azrouel says he uses the first look as the eye-catching cover art, but it’s not always fully reflective of everything else that’s still to come. It’s from the second look that he’ll build a message of consistency, he explains. “It’s the second look where you realize what you are

This photo shows a model during the presentation of the Oscar de la Renta Spring 2013 collection at Fashion Week in New York.

going to go through.” “You try to put the collection as a story, and you have to consider where the look fits with the narrative,” says Chapman, who had Jessica Stam in the second slot following Fontana from backstage this past season.

Changes, though, are the norm, right up until the catwalk lights come up. “I do have the sketches in a certain order, but you don’t have the lineup set in stone until you have every finished garment,” Chapman says. “I keep an open mind until the end.” More often it’s the outfit, not the model, that stirs a last-minute switch, says Lepore.

“I tend to clump things together by a color story in the beginning, but you might see that you have too much of your favorite color, or you’ve used too many of your favorite prints,” she explains. She might not notice until fittings are done, so it’s easier to change the order of the models than their clothing. Lepore says she tries to match the right model to the outfit that’s her best color, shape and vibe.

“You have to follow some flow and sequence. You don’t want to do a swimsuit and jump right into ballgowns, no matter how good the model looks or who she is,” she says.

Still, it’s the opener and the finale, especially for show-stopping red carpet gowns on runways such as Marchesa or Oscar de la Renta, that are the most prestigious, says Roman Young, director of image and development at Wilhelmina Models. The second model would be more like the best supporting actress at the Academy Awards.

“The second look can be quite important. You can miss the first look, especially if it’s an a-typical runway and people don’t know exactly where to look,” says Young, pointing to the winding or rounded runways favored by Prada,

This photo shows fashion from the Spring 2013 collection of Nanette Lepore in New York.

Alexander Wang and Joseph Altuzarra. The photos of the second model are often better, too, he notes.

Models are concerned about their placement in the lineup, Young says. “In the casting process we’re pushing for those opening three slots or the closing slots,” he says. “...

With my friends who are designers, when they are making their choices, I’ll get the call the night before - usually really late. They’ll say, ‘I have a gift for you. Your girl is opening the show.’ Or, they’ll say, ‘I have a surprise for you, and your girl is in the second position or in the top three.’ They know that’s important to us.”

It could be moments before a show starts that the order will be juggled again. “Sometimes you see the designer starting to shuffle because, for example, they decide ‘whimsy’ should be the opening look, and the girl who thought she was going to open is moved to No. 4,” Young says. “You don’t quite have girls kicking each other down the stairs or clawing at each other when that happens, but it can be heartbreaking.” — AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

M

acy’s is firing its first salvo at the millennials. The venerable department store chain is launching 13 new brands and expanding 10 other existing labels that it believes will resonate with shoppers in that 13-to-30 age group. The roster includes an exclusive Marilyn Monroe fashion collection and a men’s T-shirt line from an upstart called Fatal Clothing, which specializes in tattoo-influenced designs. The chain also will be offering a collection of runway-inspired fashions that will change monthly.

The new fashion offerings, which are being rolled out this fall and next spring, represent the first phase of the retailer’s intensive campaign to attract the highly soughtafter group. The millennials generation is the first to grow up with cellphones and the Internet and its members are accustomed to getting fast access to anything they want.

In March, Macy’s restructured its merchandise team to focus on those shoppers and plans to make other major changes in the next three years to further rope them in.

Those range from infusing tablets and other technology into the shopping experience to changing displays more frequently. The intense focus comes as Macy’s and other retailers are paying more attention to members of the generation who are entering their peak earnings and spending years.

The Boston Consulting Group defines millennials as being between ages 16 to 34, and says that in the US they numbered about 79 million last year. By 2030, they are expected to far outnumber baby boomers, 78 million to 56 million. And they’re a challenging bunch. The techsavvy group likes to spend and it likes brands, but shops differently.

Boston Consulting Group released a study earlier this year based on a survey of about 4,000 millennials. The research showed millennials trust their Facebook friends more than corporate ads or experts, and tend to favor spending at specialty stores, discount stores, online or outlet stores. And they put a premium on speed and convenience. Christine Barton, a partner at the Boston Consulting Group, says the department stores have a big opportunity to grab this customer, but they need to “refreshen their franchise.” Millennial females spend one third more on clothing than those in the 35 to 74 age range - regardless of income or race. Male millennials spend twice as much on clothing per year than men in previous generations.

These photos show clothing displays which are a part of the Macy’s Millennial strategy. — AP photos

The average millennial “shops everywhere, and she has access to everything,” said Molly Langenstein, executive vice president and general merchandise manager for millennials and new business development at Macy’s.

“That is the challenge for everyone going after the millennials.” Last year, Langenstein’s group began interviewing thousands of shoppers in the 13-to-30 age group to better understand their needs.

“We’re getting in front of them,” she said. Macy’s has two departments that serve millennials: mstylelab, which caters to the 13-to-22 age group, and Impulse, which is geared toward shoppers from age 19 to 30. Langenstein noted that focusing on brands is important for this generation. Macy’s, which has corporate offices in both Cincinnati and New York, also operates upscale Bloomingdale’s but is focusing on millennials with its namesake stores. The Marilyn Monroe collection will be housed in the mstylelab department. Langenstein says the icon’s name, which has more than 4.2 million Facebook fans, resonated with young shoppers questioned in its surveys. The collection, which will be priced from $29 to $89, will offer figure-flattering silhouettes, she says.

Also, next spring, Macy’s is launching an exclusive clothing collection under sneaker brand Ked’s. For fall, Macy’s launched the Truth or Dare shoe collection, a collaboration with Madonna. The line features over-theknee black boots and studded spiked-heel pumps. For its Impulse department, Macy’s has teamed up with MADE Fashion Week, a partnership with Milk Studios that has a venue for the fashion’s up and comers every runway season. Starting for spring, each collection will feature about 20 to 30 runway-inspired pieces and will be priced at about $65. Among the brands Macy’s is expanding is Material Girl, a collection inspire by Madonna and her daughter Lola that launched during the fall of 2010. For spring, Material Girl will expand beyond clothing and offer jewelry, handbags and accessories. — AP

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Hybrid vehicle battery creator Ovshinsky dies DETROIT: Stan Ovshinsky, the self-taught inventor who developed the nickel-metal hydride battery used in the hybrid vehicle industry, has died at his home in suburban Detroit after a fight with cancer. He was 89.

Ovshinsky, who ran Energy Conversion Devices, a car battery development company, also created a machine that produced 9-mile-(14 1/2-kilometer)long sheets of thin solar energy panels intended to bring cheaper, cleaner power to homes and businesses.

His son, Harvey Ovshinsky, said his father was passionate about science and alternative energy, but also

Google, Samsung to sell Chrome laptop for $249 SAN FRANCISCO: Google is dangling a low-priced laptop computer in front of consumers as rivals Microsoft and Apple prepare to release their latest gadgets. The lightweight computer unveiled Thursday will sell for $249 and is being made in a partnership with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which also makes smartphones and tablet computers that run on Google’s Android software. The laptop will run on an operating system revolving around Google’s Chrome Web browser.

Like other so-called Chromebooks, this laptop doesn’t have a hard drive. It functions like a terminal dependent on an Internet connection to get to information and applications stored in large data centers run by Google Inc or other technology providers. It’s the least expensive Chromebook that Google has released in the two years that it has been working on the product line. Google and Samsung released a slightly more sophisticated Chromebook priced at $449 in the late spring. The lower-priced model will go on sale early next week in more than 500 Best Buy stores in the US, as well as on various websites. Google hopes to begin accepting online orders at its Play store by this weekend.

Google Inc. appears to be trying to beat Microsoft and Apple to the punch with the discount Chromebook. Microsoft Corp is poised to release Windows 8, a dramatic makeover of its famous operating system, on Oct 26. The long-awaited makeover is designed to run on touch-based tablets, as well as laptop and desktop computers. A variety of manufacturers will be selling a hodgepodge of Windows 8-powered personal computers and tablets. The prices of most of those machines, including a tablet made by Microsoft, will range from $500 to $1,000.

Apple Inc. says it plans to show off a new product Tuesday.

The event is widely expected to be the coming-out party for a slightly smaller version of its hot-selling iPad. The mini iPad is expected to feature a 7.85-inch screen compared to the nearly 10-inch (25.4-centimeter) screen of the pioneering iPad. Industry analysts expect Apple to price a smaller iPad in the $249 to $299 range in an effort to siphon sales away from other scaled-down tablets, such as Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire.

Now, Google has a laptop vying for a piece of the same market. “This is a big step in the journey for us,” said Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of Chrome and apps. “I think it’s generally an exciting time in the computing industry.” Like tablets, the discount Chromebook will rely on a computer chip design known as ARM, instead of Intel Corp microprocessors. The ARM architecture is more energy efficient, extending the duration of batteries between charges. With an 11.6-inch screen, the new Chromebooks also will have a larger display than tablets selling in the same price range.

The laptops will be set up to automatically use all of Google’s services, including its search engine, Gmail and YouTube video site. Because the laptop lacks a hard drive, Google also is offering 100 gigabytes of free storage on computers kept in its eight data centers. Those remote computers provide the backbone for Google’s online storage service, Drive. Despite the low price, the new Chromebook will face a tough time winning over consumers because it isn’t set up like a traditional PC with a hard drive, said Gartner Inc. analyst Carolina Milanesi. “A lot of people are going to see it and think, ‘Once I have it, what exactly do I do with it?’” Milanesi predicted.—AP

about civil rights and other social causes. He said his father died of complications from prostate cancer Wednesday night at his home in Bloomfield Hills. “Here was a man who spent his youth and his adulthood determined to change the world,” the younger Ovshinsky said. “That’s not a 9-to-5 job. My father worked tirelessly 24-7, even up until he got sick, to change the world and its attitude toward sustainable energy and alternate platforms for information.”

Stan Ovshinsky, for whom ovonics was named, made possible such technological discoveries as the solar-pow-

ered calculator. Ovonics changes the electrical resistance and structure of materials in response to sunlight. He never went to college, yet he earned about 200 US patents and was a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received numerous honorary degrees. Born in Akron, Ohio, Ovshinsky and his late wife, Iris, founded Energy Conversion Devices Inc. in 1960. The company developed and applied his inventions to the fields of information and energy. “Back then the environment was not a problem,” he said in 2001. —AP

British engineers create petrol from air, water Engineers produce liters of synthetic petrol LONDON: A small British company has developed a way to create petrol from air and water, technology it hopes may one day contribute to large-scale production of green fuels. Engineers at Air Fuel Synthesis (AFS) in Teeside, northern England, say they have produced 5 liters of synthetic petrol over a period of three months. The technique involves extracting carbon dioxide from air and hydrogen from water, and combining them in a reactor with a catalyst to make methanol. The methanol is then converted into petrol.

By using renewable energy to power the process, it is possible to create carbon-neutral fuel that can be used in an identical way to standard petrol, scientists behind the technology say. “It’s actually cleaner because it’s synthetic,” Peter Harrison, chief executive officer of AFS, said in an interview.

“You just make what you need to make in terms of the con-

tents of it, so it doesn’t contain what might be seen as pollutants, like sulphur,” he said. The work is part of a two-year project that has so far cost around 1 million pounds ($1.6 million).

The green petrol will not appear on forecourts any time soon, though. “We can’t make (the petrol) at pump prices, but we will do eventually,” Harrison said. “All we need is renewable energy to make it, and so when oil becomes a problem we will be able to make a contribution to keep cars moving or to keep aeroplanes moving.” AFS said it was confident the technology could be scaled up to refinery size in the future. Each of the processes that go into making the fuel already take place separately on an industrial scale. For now, however, AFS plans to build a commercial plant in the next two years that will produce around 1,200 litres a day of specialist fuels for the motorsports sector, Harrison said. — Reuters

SPACE: This image released by NASA shows part of the small pit or bite created when NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity collected its second scoop of Martian soil at a sandy patch called ‘Rocknest’. — AFP

Rover Curiosity eats first Martian dirt NEW YORK: NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity tasted Martian dirt for the first time on Thursday, testing equipment needed to assess if the planet most like Earth in the solar system has or ever had the ingredients for microbial life. The sampling of about a baby aspirin’s worth of Martian sand was slightly delayed while scientists puzzled over unusual brightly colored flecks in the hole carved out by Curiosity’s scoop. Initially, the team believed the bright flecks were shed by the rover, similar to bits of plastic debris discovered last week. “The science team started to classify these sort of differently, calling them ‘schmutz,’” Curiosity lead scientist John Grotzinger, with the California Institute of Technology, told reporters in a conference call. “We had a lot of fun with that, labeling them and comparing, but in the end it turns out we really feel this is a different sort of particle,” he said. While not completely ruling out the chance that the flecks are rover debris, most of the team now

believes they are naturally occurring, perhaps a mineral that was fractured by the rover scoop. To be on the safe side, scientists commanded Curiosity to dump that sample and collect sand from another site for processing in the onboard laboratory. The aim is to get an ingredient list of minerals in the Martian soil.

“We got to believing there were things around us and began to look at everything through that lens,” said mission manager Richard Cook, with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “We definitely are more aware of what’s out there now and are more careful about everything we look at,” Cook said. In August, Curiosity landed inside a 96-mile-wide (154-km-wide) impact crater near the Martian equator on a $2.5 billion, two-year mission to determine if Mars had the chemistry to support and preserve microbial life. The mission is NASA’s first astrobiology initiative since the 1970s-era Viking probes. — Reuters

technology SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Streaking fireball stuns stargazers Meteor lights up California sky OAKLAND: A streaking fireball lit up California skies and stunned stargazers Wednesday night, and professional observers say more meteors are on the way. The exploding streak was visible over the San Francisco Bay area and other parts of Northern California, and there were also reports of a loud boom. “It looked like a plane crash or rocket,” said Philip Terzian, an amateur astronomer who happened to photograph the meteor while atop a ridge around Palo Alto. Terzian had gathered there with a group of other astronomy enthusiasts. The group had not met in some time and just happened to be there for the meteor. “It was a ‘Holy Cow!’ moment,” he said. Other observers described the streak as crescent shaped, and reddish orange in color.

The sound people reported could have been a sonic boom from the meteor traveling faster than the speed of sound, said Jonathan Braidman, an astronomy instructor

with the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland. “It’s like a jet fighter,” he said. Braidman said the meteor was likely metal and rock

from the asteroid belt. Astronomers at the center estimated its size as that of a car although Braidman said it probably broke into much smaller

CALIFORNIA: A shooting star is seen above the Montebello Open Space Preserve in Palo Alto, Calif. Streaking fireballs lighting up California skies and stunning stargazers are part of a major meteor shower, and the show is just getting started, professional observers said. — AP

pieces before hitting the ground and then scattered over hundreds of miles. Wednesday’s light streak comes as astronomers expect a more dramatic light display this weekend that is part of the large, fast Orionid meteor shower, so-named because it has the Orion constellation as a backdrop.

The Orion meteors are space debris from Halley’s Comet, and they become visible as the earth crosses through their trail, according to the Sacramento Bee. Braidman said he does not think Wednesday’s meteor and this weekend’s Orionid shower are connected. The shower’s peak is supposed to be Saturday night and Sunday morning. Wednesday’s meteor sighting was at least the second in Northern California in recent months. A meteor that exploded April 22 was seen over a large part of the region and Nevada. That explosion prompted a group of scientists to go up in a slow-moving airship and look for meteorites. — AP

Academies dismiss study linking GM corn to cancer PARIS: A controversial study that linked genetically modified corn to cancer in lab rats is a “scientific non-event,” six French scientific academies said yesterday. “This work does not enable any reliable conclusion to be drawn,” they said, adding bluntly that the affair helped “spread fear among the public.” The joint statement-an extremely rare event in French science-was signed by the national academies of agriculture, medicine, pharmacy, sciences, technology and veterinary studies. It was sparked by research published in September that said rats fed with so-called NK603 corn and/or doses of Roundup herbicide developed tumors. The paper, led by Gilles-Eric Seralini at the University of Caen, unleashed a storm in Europe, where GM crops are a highly sensitive issue.

Critics accused Seralini of manipulating the media to boost the impact of his findings, branded his experiments as shoddy or fraught with gaps or bias.

Two fast-track official investigations into the study, ordered by the government, are due to be unveiled on Monday. The academies’ statement said: “Given the numerous gaps in methods and interpretation, the data presented in this article cannot challenge previous studies which have concluded that NK603 corn is harmless from the health point of view, as are, more generally, genetically modified plants that have been authorized for consumption by animals and humans.”

In withering terms, it dismissed the

study as “a scientific non-event.”

“Hyping the reputation of a scientist or a team is a serious misdemeanor when it helps to spread fear among the public that is not based on any firm conclusion,” the academies said. NK603 is a corn, also called maize, made by US agribusiness giant Monsanto. It has been engineered to make it resistant to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup. This enables farmers to douse fields with the weedkiller in a single go, thus offering substantial savings.

The study was published on September 19 in a peer-reviewed specialist journal called Food and Chemical Toxicology. Seralini is a well-known opponent of GM crops, and his research was funded in part by an alliance comprising anti-GM campaigners and supermarket chains that have invested heavily in organic food. Funding for scientific research by a partisan group or commercial interest is not at all unusual. To avoid any bias, the results are supposed to be scrutinized by independent scientists-the peer review-before they are published.

But the academies said that, in this particular case, peer review had failed.

The study claimed to be the first to look at rats and GM crops over the rodents’ normal lifespan of two years, as opposed to the standard 90 days. Two hundred male and female rats were split into 10 groups of 10 animals. One was a “control” group which was given ordinary rat food that contained 33 percent non-GM corn, and plain water. Three

groups were given ordinary rat food and water with increasing doses of Roundup, reflecting various concentrations of the herbicide in the food chain.

The other six were fed rat food of which 11, 22 or 33 percent comprised NK603 corn, either treated or not with Roundup when the corn was grown. The researchers said they found that NK603 and Roundup both caused similar damage to the rats’ health, whether they were consumed together or on their own. “For the first time ever, a GM organism and a herbicide have been evaluated for their long-term impact on health, and more thoroughly than by governments or the industry,” Seralini said on September 19. “The results are alarming.”

But the six academies said “conventional statistical analysis... showed no significant difference between the (rat) groups... in contrary to the wording used by the authors of the article for the public.” Official watchdogs in Germany and in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have also cast doubt on the paper’s conclusions. Seralini declined to comment on the academies’ statement.

Elsevier said the journal would shortly publish criticisms that other scientists had made of the study, as well as a response by Seralini. “If we conclude that changes need to be made to the peer review process, that will be communicated openly to readers of the journal,” it said. — AFP

Yahoo to exit South Korea SEOUL: Yahoo Inc said it will close its South Korean web portal and an Internet advertising business, cutting its losses in a market where it has struggled for over a decade. Yahoo’s South Korea unit said yesterday its Seoul office with over 200 employees will be shut by the end of this year. The decision comes after former Google executive Marissa Mayer took the helm at the struggling US Internet company in July.

The closure of the Korean arm is part of efforts to “create a stronger global business by realigning resources,” Yahoo Korea said in a statement. Since entering South Korea in 1997, Yahoo has operated a namesake portal in Korean and an Internet advertising company, Overture Korea. Yahoo’s South Korean market share has become negligible in recent years as users flocked to Naver, Daum and other portals operated by South Korean Internet firms.

Yahoo Korea was also hurt by the rapid adoption of smartphones and the mobile Internet, which made it more difficult to attract advertisers to web portals designed for desktop computers. Overture Korea added to problems by failing to renew key advertising deals. Yahoo Inc has been struggling against competition from Google and Facebook, failing to lift its advertising revenues even though companies increased their online marketing budgets. Yahoo replaced two CEOs in a year. A Yahoo Korea official said Yahoo doesn’t plan to close other overseas businesses. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings on Monday. Yahoo Korea is wholly owned by its US parent company. — AP

CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

KUWAIT KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (18/10/2012 TO 24/10/2012) SHARQIA-1 TAKEN2 :2D THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) TAKEN2 :2D THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

SHARQIA-2 THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

NO SUN+TUE+WED

SHARQIA-3 LOOPER (DIG) 12:30 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 3:00 PM LOOPER (DIG) 5:15 PM LOOPER (DIG) 7:30 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 9:45 PM LOOPER (DIG) 12:05 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-1 THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 1:30 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 4:00 PM NO FRI+SAT CAMERAMAN GANGATHO RAMBABU (DIG) (Telugu) 4:00 PM FRI+SAT THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) 7:00 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 9:00 PM THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) 11:00 PM THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) 1:00 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-2 LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) NO FRI+SAT DAMARUKAM (DIG) (Telugu) FRI+SAT LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-3 THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) TAKEN2 :2D THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 5:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-1 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 12:45 PM AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) 3:00 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 5:45 PM AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) 8:00 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 10:45 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 12:45 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-2 THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-3 STUDENT OF THE YEAR (DIG) (HINDI)1:30 PM NO THU THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 1:30 PM THU THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 4:45 PM STUDENT OF THE YEAR (DIG) (HINDI)7:00 PM STUDENT OF THE YEAR (DIG) (HINDI)10:00 PM THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 1:00 AM

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 12:45 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

FANAR-4 THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) TAKEN2 :2D THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) TAKEN2 :2D THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-6 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

FANAR-5 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

MARINA-1 LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) THE EXPATRIATE: 2D LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) THE EXPATRIATE: 2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-7 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) 12:45 PM STUDENT OF THE YEAR (DIG) (HINDI)3:30 PM NO THU AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) 3:30 PM THU AIYYAA: 2D (Hindi) 6:30 PM STUDENT OF THE YEAR (DIG) (HINDI)9:30 PM AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

MARINA-2 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 1:30 PM PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 3:30 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 5:45 PM PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 8:00 PM PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 10:00 PM PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 12:05 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED MARINA-3 THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) TAKEN2 :2D THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) TAKEN2 :2D THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

AVENUES-2 THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D THE EXPATRIATE: 2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-3 LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

AVENUES-4 LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

AVENUES-5 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

AVENUES-8 THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH THE IMPOSTER THE IMPOSTER THE IMPOSTER THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM

AVENUES-9 THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-10 THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-11 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

360 º- 1 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

360 º- 2 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 3 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE APPARITION :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE APPARITION :2D LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:15 PM 6:00 PM 8:45 PM 11:30 PM

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

360 º- 4 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM

HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 10:15 PM HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 5 THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH:2D FRI+SAT THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH:2D PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH:2D PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 360 º- 6 THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) THE ILLUSIONAUTS (DIG-3D) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM 12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

360 º- 7 THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 2:00 PM THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 4:15 PM THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 6:30 PM NO THU (18.10.2012) French Film Festival Show “War is declared” PM THU (18.10.2012) French Film Festival Show “The Artist” PM THU (18.10.2012) THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 8:45 PM NO THU (18.10.2012) THE EXPATRIATE: 2D 11:00 PM 360 º- 8 LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:45 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

360 º- 9(VIP-1) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:45 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

6:30 8:30

360 º- 10(VIP-2) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 12:45 PM PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 3:00 PM PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 5:15 PM PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 7:30 PM NO THU (18.10.2012) Special Show “PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG)” for Ms. Lulwa Salem Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah 7 : 3 0 PM THU (18.10.2012) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 9:45 PM PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) 12:05 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 11 THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG)

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM

360 º- 12 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

360 º- 13 THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN THE DARK KNIGHT RISES RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:45 AM

TV listings SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

00:45 Buggin’ With Ruud 01:35 I’m Alive 02:25 Sharkzilla 03:15 Beast Lands 04:05 Mutant Planet 04:55 Predator’s Prey 05:20 Escape To Chimp Eden 05:45 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Talk To The Animals 07:25 Dogs 101 08:15 Crocodile Hunter 09:10 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 10:05 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 10:30 Breed All About It 11:00 Natural Born Hunters 11:25 The Really Wild Show 11:55 Wildest Latin America 12:50 The Magic Of The Big Blue 13:45 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 14:40 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 15:35 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 16:30 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 17:25 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 18:20 Wild France 19:15 Wild France 20:10 Tigers Attack 21:05 Wildest Latin America 22:00 Bad Dog 22:55 Cats 101 23:50 I’m Alive

00:30 01:25 02:10 03:00 03:55 04:25 05:20 06:10 06:35 07:05 07:30 08:20 09:15 10:05 11:00 11:50 12:40 13:30 14:20 15:05 15:50 16:40 17:30 18:20 19:15 20:10 21:00 21:45 22:35 23:20

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 03:00 03:10 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:10 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:10 10:30 11:00 11:10 11:30 12:00 12:10 13:00 13:10 13:30

Antiques Roadshow Fantasy Homes By The Sea Fantasy Homes By The Sea Living In The Sun Saturday Kitchen MasterChef Living In The Sun MasterChef Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Gok’s Clothes Roadshow Gok’s Clothes Roadshow Gok’s Clothes Roadshow Gok’s Clothes Roadshow

BBC World News America BBC World News America BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News Talking Books BBC World News Weekend World One Day In BBC World News Horizons BBC World News World Features The Ideas Exchange BBC World News Fast Track BBC World News The Culture Show BBC World News Middle East Business Report BBC World News Click BBC World News Weekend World One Day In BBC World News Football Focus Horizons BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News World Features Newsnight

14:00 14:30 15:00 15:10 15:30 16:00 16:15 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:10 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:15 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:10 23:30

BBC World News Talking Books BBC World News Weekend World Equestrian World BBC World News Sport Today Fast Track BBC World News Dateline London BBC World News World Features The Ideas Exchange BBC World News Final Score BBC World News The Culture Show BBC World News Sport Today Fast Track BBC World News Click BBC World News World Features Dateline London

00:30 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 00:55 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 01:20 Foster’s Home For...

01:45 Foster’s Home For...

02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 The Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10 05:30 Ben 10 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:30 Casper’s Scare School

07:00 The Marvelous Misadventures...

07:25 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu 07:45 Grim Adventures Of...

08:35 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 08:55 Level Up 09:20 Evil Con Carne 09:35 Transformers Prime 10:00 Ben 10: Omniverse 10:25 Regular Show 11:15 Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out 11:40 The Amazing World Of Gumball 12:05 Johnny Test 12:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 12:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 13:20 The Powerpuff Girls 14:10 Green Lantern: The Animated Series 14:35 Transformers Prime 15:00 Angelo Rules 15:50 Ben 10: Omniverse 16:15 Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out 16:40 Eliot Kid 17:30 Regular Show 18:20 Adventure Time 18:45 The Amazing World Of Gumball 19:10 Johnny Test 19:35 Ben 10: Alien Force 20:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 20:25 The Powerpuff Girls 21:15 Grim Adventures Of...

22:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 22:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 22:50 The Powerpuff Girls 23:40 Chowder

00:00 02:00 04:15 06:00

Rage Of The Yeti-PG15 The Town-18 The Daisy Chain-PG15 The Transporter-PG15

08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Blank Slate-PG15 Fighting-PG15 Four Brothers-PG15 Blank Slate-PG15 Smoke Screen-PG15 Four Brothers-PG15 Ronin-18 Bending The Rules-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Homecoming-18 The Borrowers-PG Spud-PG15 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 The Artist-PG Despicable Me-FAM Love Hurts-PG15 Honey 2-PG15 16 To Life-PG15 The Company Men-PG15 Bad Teacher-18 Priest-18

01:30 02:00 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 Leno 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 11:00 Leno 12:00 12:30 14:00 16:30 17:00 20:00 Leno

Weeds Girls Friends With Benefits Friends With Benefits Two And A Half Men The Tonight Show With Jay Friends Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Two And A Half Men Friends With Benefits The Tonight Show With Jay Friends Two And A Half Men Friends With Benefits Friends Late Night With Jimmy Fallon The Tonight Show With Jay

21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

The X Factor U.S. Glee Survivor: Philippines Glee Good Morning America The View Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The View The X Factor U.S. Glee Perception Live Good Morning America Emmerdale Coronation Street House C.S.I. C.S.I. Miami Breakout Kings

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Fairly Legal Survivor: Philippines Perception Grimm The X Factor U.S. Perception Fairly Legal Emmerdale Coronation Street Castle Glee The X Factor U.S. Survivor: Philippines Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Castle Fairly Legal Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Castle House C.S.I. C.S.I. Miami Breakout Kings Grimm

01:00 RoboCop 3-PG15 03:00 The Killing Room-18 05:00 The Rocketeer-PG15 07:00 The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course-PG15 09:00 Fatal Secrets-PG15 11:00 The Rocketeer-PG15 13:00 Men In Black-PG15 15:00 Fatal Secrets-PG15 17:00 The Warlords-PG15 19:00 Malibu Shark Attack-18 21:00 Bending The Rules-PG15 23:00 Burning Bright-18

FOUR BROTHERS ON OSN ACTION HD

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Next Friday-18 The 40 Year Old Virgin-18 That’s What I Am-PG15 Cheaper By The Dozen-PG Cheaper By The Dozen 2-PG Feed The Fish-PG15 Flipped-PG My Last Five Girlfriends-PG15 Feed The Fish-PG15 Nothing To Lose-PG15 Big Fat Important Movie-18 How To Be A Player-18

01:30 03:15 05:00 07:00 PG15 08:30 10:45 12:45 PG15 14:30 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:00

Square Grouper-18 The Last Gamble-PG15 Up Close And Personal-PG The LXD: The Uprising BeginsA L’origine-PG15 The River-PG15 The LXD: Secrets Of The RaA L’origine-PG15 Random Hearts-PG15 Senna-PG15 Essential Killing-18 Black Snake Moan-18

00:00 02:00 03:30 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 PG15 13:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Last Gamble-PG15 Marley & Me: The Puppy Years-PG Teen Spirit-PG15 Bound By A Secret-PG15 Monte Carlo-PG15 The Smurfs-PG My Afternoons With MargueritteTim Richmond: To The Limit-PG15 According To Greta-PG15 The Smurfs-PG Crazy, Stupid, Love.-PG15 The Debt-18 Hereafter-18

00:00 Freddy Frogface-PG 02:00 Blue Elephant 2-FAM 04:00 Emilie Jolie-PG 06:00 Freddy Frogface-PG 08:15 Tom Tom & Nana-FAM 10:00 The Ugly Duckling In The Enchanted Forest-FAM 12:00 Emilie Jolie-PG 14:00 Little Einsteins: Rocket’s Firebird Rescue-FAM 15:45 Marco Macaco-FAM 17:45 The Ugly Duckling In The Enchanted Forest-FAM 19:45 Robots-PG 22:00 Marco Macaco-FAM

02:30 03:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 17:30 19:30 20:00 22:00

Trans World Sport Premier League Snooker European Tour Weekly ICC Cricket 360 ITM Cup Live ITM Cup Trans World Sport Live International Rugby Union ITM Cup ICC Cricket 360 Live Currie Cup Futbol Mundial Live Currie Cup Live European Challenge Cup

01:00 03:00 03:30 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 12:00 15:30 16:00 20:00 22:00

European Challenge Cup ICC Cricket 360 Darts Kiteboard World Cup Downtown Showdown Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport Live PGA European Tour Premier League Snooker PGA European Tour Weekly Live PGA European Tour International Rugby Union Currie Cup

00:30 Tour 02:30 03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 09:30 13:30 14:00 16:00 17:00 21:30 22:30 23:30

Sailing World Match Racing Futbol Mundial Total Rugby PGA European Tour Weekly AFL Highlights Trans World Sport Golfing World PGA European Tour Weekly European Challenge Cup Live Asian Tour Golf Total Rugby European Challenge Cup Trans World Sport Asian Tour Golf AFL Highlights Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial

00:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 01:00 WWE SmackDown 03:00 WWE Bottom Line 04:00 UFC Unleashed 05:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 06:00 UFC Unleashed 07:00 V8 Supercars Extra 07:30 Live V8 Supercars Championship 09:15 WWE Vintage Collection 10:15 WWE Bottom Line 11:15 WWE SmackDown 13:00 V8 Supercars Extra 13:30 V8 Supercars 15:00 UAE National Race Day Series 15:30 NHL 17:30 WWE SmackDown 19:30 V8 Supercars Extra 20:00 V8 Supercars 21:30 UFC

what’s on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

W

hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Galleries in Kuwait Gallery Tilal Gallery Tilal is located in Shuwaikh, Jahra road, Tilal Complex, M3-M4. For more information check out their facebook page.

Al M Gallery Al M. Gallery is located in Kuwait City, Salhiya Complex, Mezanine 2, Gate 4, Place 16. Working hours: Sunday - Thursday 10 am-3 pm and 5pm - 9pm. Saturday by appointment only.

CAP Kuwait CAP Kuwait is a nonprofit venture, supported by an extensive private collection of modern and contemporary artwork.

The Contemporary Art Platform is located in Industrial Shuwaikh Block 2, St. 28, Life Center, top floor (Across from the Shuwaikh Immigration Dept).

IDF meets Indian minister

I

ndian Doctors Forum, Kuwait hosted a meeting with the visiting Indian dignitary E Ahamed, the minister of state for external affairs and minister of state for human resources development. Dr Vinod Grover welcomed the minister and his delegation including the officials at the Embassy of India. In his presidential address, Dr Amir Ahmed spoke highly about the minister and his achievements in various fields towards uplifting the poor and downtrodden. Ahamed also raised the issues being faced by the members of IDF and requested the minister to intervene and help resolve these issues. Dr N. Nampoory highlighted and briefed the minister on the various community welfare activities like the free

medical consultation camps, health awareness seminars and school health programs being done by the forum under the umbrella of Kuwait Medical Association and with the blessing and advice from the Ambassador and officials at the Embassy of India in Kuwait. The annual IDF Docfest and IDF gabqa are social events attended in large number

by Kuwaitis. IDF and the entire Indian community felt honored when His Highness the Amir of Kuwait patronized IDF Docfest. This single gesture underlined not only the acceptance of IDF in the Kuwait society but more importantly the cordial relationship between India and Kuwait.

Former President of IDF Dr Ramesh

Pandita presented a memorandum to the minister. The minister was impressed by the range of activities done by IDF and appreciated the efforts exerted by the forum to improve and strengthen IndoKuwait relations. The minister assured the IDF authorities to seriously look into the problems faced by Indian doctors as a result of delay of verification of the attested degree and post graduate degree certificates. A memento was presented by IDF to the minister and to the Director at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on the occasion. Dr Usha Rajaram thanked the minister and his delegation and wished them good health.

(Early) Election Day at the US embassy

O

n October 21, 2012 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, US citizens are invited to cast their vote at the US embassy waiting room outside the front gate. Eligible voters may submit already-completed state ballots for mailing to election officials in the US. For those US citizens who have not registered or received their ballots, Federal Write-In Absentee Ballots will be provided.

Election Day is now three weeks away and the Embassy remains committed to ensuring that all eligible US citizen voters have their ballots counted this election season. (Early) Election Day affords everyone the opportunity to ensure their absentee, or Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot will be counted this election season.

All eligible voters are welcome to take advantage of this opportunity to vote in this year’s election!

Visit us online at kuwait.usembassy.gov http://www.facebook.com/USEmbassyQ8 http://twitter.com/#!/USEmbassyQ8 @USEmbassyQ8 http://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassyq8 http://www.youtube.com/USEmbassyQ8

MMF holds interactive session with Prof Nalapat

M

alayali Media Forum (MMF), Kuwait held an interactive session with Prof M D Nalapat, Honorary Director, Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal University and UNESCO Peace Chair.

Nalapat, who arrived in Kuwait as a delegate of the just-concluded ACD summit, underlined the importance of the summit in the context of a fast-changing geopolitical scenario in Asia and especially in the region. He also shared

views with the MMF members on a wide range of issues and expressed strong opinions on emerging political situation in India.

what’s on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Embassy Information

BSK students visit Kuwait Metal Recycling Centre (MRC)

Y

ear 8 students at The British School of Kuwait (BSK) have been learning about the damage that rubbish and discarded materials can do to our precious environment. Instead of throwing things away what is the alternative? Can anything useful be done with our ‘rubbish’?

To answer these questions, the Year 8 students visited one of the largest Metal Recycling Centres (MRC) in the Middle East. The MRC has been open for25 years, encouraging the Kuwaiti population to process with their waste in a more positive, less environmentally damaging, way.

Armed with worksheets, clipboards and hard hats, the students quizzed the MRC staff and saw how rubbish was broken up, sorted and prepared to be reused. The scale of the centre left many of the students speechless- a rare occurrence!! Information gained will be used to produce promotional videos and presentations encouraging the school community to be more ‘green’ and environmentally aware. This visit is one of many field trips undertaken by the BSK Geography team as part of their course work.

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office).

In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will remain closed from Wednesday to Monday, 24-29 on the occasion of holy Eid Al-Adha.

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The Canadian Embassy in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 7:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed for lunch from 12:30 to 13:00. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

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EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on Oct 24, 2012 -Wednesday-Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami) ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE

Students complete PGA Everton Coaching Course

T

hirty eight students from the Hawally Pakistan English School completed their first P.G.A. Everton Coaching Course of the season at Shaab Park recently.

The program is sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company and is part of the Premier Goal Academy ‘Football in the Community’ initiative. All the players received certificates from Everton F.C. New courses will be held after Eid Al-Adha.

The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait would like to remind that the external polling station No 90046 was created in the Embassy’s premises at the following address: Hawalli, Jabriya, bl.10, str. 6, build. 5. The working hours of the polling station: Sunday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Monday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Tuesday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Wednesday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Thursday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Friday from 10.00 to 13.00 pm; Saturday from 10.00 to 13.00 pm On October 28, 2012 the working hours of the polling station from 8.00 am to 20.00 pm. Please be advised to refer to the Embassy to check your data in the Electoral Register as well as to pick up your personal invitation from the polling station if you did not receive this document by post.

HEALTH SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Iraq hires Indian nurses to plug shortfall BAGHDAD: Iraq has welcomed dozens of Indian nurses in recent days to plug a shortfall in its hospitals and healthcare facilities, which have suffered tremendous attrition in recent years, officials said.

A total of 31 Indian nurses have arrived to work in the southern province of Diwaniyah, and 35 have been assigned to Baghdad’s Medical City hospital, though information on hirings in other provinces was not immediately clear. “They will be divided into several groups depending on their specialities and experiences,” Diwaniyah health department chief Adnan Turki told AFP yesterday. “Their presence will help to fill the shortage of nurses in our province.” On October 8, the health ministry introduced 35 Indian nurses who had been

assigned to Medical City hospital, which lies in north Baghdad.

“We are expecting a very nice experience here,” Marly Thomas, a 24-year-old nurse from Lucknow in India’s Uttar Pradesh province said at the time. “We are all thinking that we will learn more from here.”

The Indian embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did a spokesman for Iraq’s health ministry. Iraq’s healthcare system has been improving in the years since the worst of the country’s communal bloodshed, when hospitals were flooded with injuries and fatalities tied to the rampant violence. But it still suffers from “massive attrition” of health-care professionals, said a UN report issued last year. — AFP

HONG KONG: A man looks around in front of high rise buildings shrouded in a haze of heavy pollution for the third consecutive day in Hong Kong. Hong Kong announced yesterday measures to cut down emissions from power companies starting in 2017, in an ongoing effort to tackle air pollution in the often-smoggy southern Chinese city. — AFP

Meningitis suit seeks freeze of pharmacy owners’ assets Latest fallout of deadly meningitis outbreak BOSTON: The officers behind New England Compounding Center have been targeted in a lawsuit that seeks to freeze their personal assets, the latest fallout for the pharmacy linked to the deadly meningitis outbreak.

Peter McGrath, a former federal prosecutor, said he was spearheading a civil case that alleges NECC and company officers Barry and Lisa Cadden and Greg Conigliaro are responsible for the tainted steroid injections that have killed 20 people so far. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an unnamed plaintiff in Middlesex County Superior Court in suburban Boston, court records show.

“We want to pierce the corporate veil and go after the individuals,” McGrath said yesterday in a telephone interview. “My clients are in a lot of pain.” His firm, based in Concord, New Hampshire, is representing several people injured in the meningitis outbreak.

NECC’s public relations firm did not return a call seeking comment. Federal authorities are investigating how NECC supplied hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers with large orders of compounded drugs and whether it violated state laws regulating pharmacies. US authorities say Framingham, Massachusetts-based NECC distributed thousands of vials of a contaminated steroid that has put 14,000 people at risk of contracting meningitis.

In the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court, the John Doe plaintiff is seeking a court order on Nov. 6 to freeze the

assets of the company and the named officers. Such a “prejudgment remedy” is allowed in Massachusetts state courts during pending litigation. Members of the Boston-area family whose own the pharmacy and related companies spent several million dollars on luxury homes in the months before US authorities shut down their operations. Greg Conigliaro is a recycling entrepreneur who joined forces with his pharmacist brother-in-law, Barry Cadden, and other family members to start NECC in 1998. His sister Lisa, also a pharmacist is married to Cadden.

The real estate transactions, disclosed in publicly available deeds filed in March and April, provide a glimpse into the Conigliaro family’s fortune before authorities moved in and shut down the pharmacy operations of NECC and Ameridose LLC, a related, but larger drug manufacturer and compounder.

In March and April, Greg Conigliaro paid $2.4 million for a beachfront home on Cape Cod, while his brother Doug Conigliaro paid $4.2 million for a penthouse condo on Beacon Street in Boston’s tony Back Bay neighborhood, the deeds show. About the same time, a real estate venture owned and managed by the two brothers paid $4.6 million to buy the state-of-the-art facility that Ameridose used to win new customers and to rapidly expand its business, real estate records show. Ameridose previously leased the building. —Reuters

RICHMOND: A variety of health technology accessories are displayed in Richmond, Virginia. While losing weight and staying fit can be tough, technology can help play an important role in keeping a person accountable, tracking his or her progress and making workouts more effective. —AP

D-Day for crunch biodiversity talks HYDERABAD: Negotiators sought yesterday to persuade wealthy nations to bankroll ambitious targets for stemming the loss of Earth’s dwindling natural resources. Just days after 400 plants and animals were added to a “Red List” of species at risk of extinction, ministers from more than 80 countries are set to conclude biodiversity talks in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

UN countries agreed at a conference in Japan in 2010 to reverse by 2020 the worrying decline in natural resources that humans depend on for food, shelter and livelihoods. But the 20-point plan has been hamstrung by a lack of money for conservation efforts such as creating nature reserves or funding research at a time of global financial austerity.

Delegates told AFP that the talks continued late into Thursday night, with the scale and timing of financing still a sticking point. “It’s looking a little lacklustre,” green group WWF said of the version of a draft deal on the table by Friday morning, without going into detail.

According to the conference program, a three-hour plenary session is scheduled to start at 0930 GMT for the adoption of a final report. “I won’t say there is a deadlock in the discussions,” said Joe Hennon, spokesman for the European Commission’s environment commissioner Janez Potocnik.

“The discussions are still going on, they are by no means finished,” he told AFP with just hours to go to the deadline. Some negotiators want to see rich countries agree in Hyderabad to doubling their biodiversity assistance to the developing world by 2015. In return, a draft negotiating document insists that 75 percent of developing countries must have included biodiversity as a national development priority by 2015. One of the key holdups in the negotiations, said delegates, was that countries like Canada were loath to commit more money given that most recipients have failed to file reports evaluating their biodiver-

sity spending and needs.

“In the difficult economic circumstances in Europe, it’s unlikely that we’ll have a big financial deal,” WWF conservation expert Lasse Gustavsson said Thursday. And British Environment Minister Richard Benyon said that London was happy to contribute but wanted to be sure “that we are not leaving ourselves open to putting greater burden on our taxpayers”.

Held under the auspices of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Hyderabad meeting is meant to come up with tangible ways to execute what have become known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

They include halving the rate of habitat loss, expanding water and land areas under conservation, preventing the extinction of species on the threatened list, and restoring at least 15 percent of degraded ecosystems. A quarter of the world’s mammals, 13 percent of birds, 41 percent of amphibians and 33 percent of reef-building corals are at risk of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “Red List”, updated on Wednesday.

Estimates vary, but experts say hundreds of billions of dollars will be required to achieve the targets set in Japan. The money agreed on Friday should be spent on improving and expanding conservation areas, training and scientific research.

It could also help poor countries cut subsidies for practices that harm the environment, such as overfishing, replacing these with grants that support green projects instead.

The ministerial section of the talks, which opened on Wednesday, comes at the tail-end of two weeks of tough negotiations by senior bureaucrats from 184 CBD parties.

The convention, to which 193 countries are signatories, marks its 20th anniversary this year. It has already missed one key deadline when it failed to meet the target set to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. — AFP

CLASSIFIEDS 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

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Clinics Rabiya

24732263

Rawdha

22517733

Adailiya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Khaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Qadisiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

SITUATION VACANT

ACCOMMODATION A room available in a furnished 2 bedroom flat in Salmiya ñnear the bus stop for a working class lady.

Please call 99702658.

18-10-2012

Live-in maid wanted for a small family in Farwaniya. Full time. Contact: 50833103.

10-10-2012

Bed space available for a Keralite bachelor near Amiri hospital next to Holiday Inn downtown.

Contact: 99387111, 97929183.

I, Megala Devi, holder of Indian Passport No: G1871523 converted to Islam do hereby change my name to Ayesha Banu. (C 4179)

CHANGE OF NAME

FOR SALE LOST A Nissan Maxima in very good condition with one year registration validity. Tel: 90908406.

20-10-2012 Toyota Camry GL, model 2012, color silver, km done 13,000, alloy rim, original paint. Price KD 4,880. Tel: 66507741.

(C 4181) 17-10-2012 Toyota Corolla 2008, dark grey color (1.6 CLR). KD 2,350.

Mob: 50699345. (C 4177)

Policy No. 6330001223 issued by the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan Gulf zone on the Life of Mr. Mohammad Sultan Kaler Mushtaq Ahmed is reported to have been lost.

Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the Manager (PHS) State Life P.O. Box No. 11278, Dubai, UAE within one month from this date.

18-10-2012

SITUATION WANTED Australian Engineer with twoEngineering (Civil/ Elect) & four Master Degrees (Engg/Prog Mgmt/ Education/MBA). 23 years experience in Dubai/ Qatar/ Australia, looking project Mgr / QHSE Mgr job.

Contact: 65695468. (C 4160) 7-10-2012

TUITION Maths teacher over 20 years experience. Tuition: KS2/3, IGCSE, AS/A2, CIC2C3C4, S1S2, M1M2, familiar with all boards. Contact: 66710630.

(C 4183) 20-10-2012

Prayer timings Fajr:

04:33

Duhr:

11:33

Asr:

14:47

Maghrib:

17:13

Isha:

18:30

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Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

information SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines SVA QTR JZR QTR JZR SVA SAI ETH PIA GFA UAE ETD OMA FDB MSR QTR JZR THY DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC JZR SVA KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY GFA QTR FDB ETD BAB GFA UAE JZR MSR IRM MSR GFA BBC FDB JZR KNE QTR SVA KAC RJA KNE KAC JZR KAC QTR KAC IZG KAC JZR JZR ETD UAE UAL IRC GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY KAC KAC KAC QTR BAB KAC FDB

Arrival Flights on Saturday 20/10/2012 Flt Route 4583 JEDDAH 6130 DOHA 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 4581 JEDDAH 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 239 ISLAMABAD/SIALKOT 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR 529 ASSIUT 4667 MEDINAH 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 223 BAHRAIN 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 871 DUBAI 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 5066 MASHAD 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 96 JEDDAH 57 DUBAI 325 NAJAF 472 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 562 AMMAN 640 AMMAN 476 JEDDAH 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 1908 JEDDAH 134 DOHA 538 SHARM EL SHEIKH 4161 MASHAD 118 NEW YORK 535 CAIRO 357 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 6791 MASHAD 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 176 GENEVA/FRANKFURT 502 BEIRUT 542 CAIRO 144 DOHA 438 BAHRAIN 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI

Time 00:05 00:05 00:15 00:20 00:30 01:05 01:30 01:45 02:05 02:20 02:25 02:30 02:50 03:10 03:20 03:25 03:55 04:35 05:00 06:00 06:15 06:30 06:35 06:40 07:00 07:15 07:30 07:45 07:50 08:05 08:15 08:20 08:20 08:25 08:30 08:40 09:00 09:20 09:30 09:35 10:00 10:45 11:05 11:25 11:55 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:45 13:50 14:15 14:25 14:30 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:15 15:15 15:30 15:45 16:00 16:00 16:20 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:15 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:40 18:45

KAC MSR JZR KAC KAC JAI KAC IRA AXB OMA MEA QTR KNE GFA KNE ALK KLM UAE JZR BBC ABY SYR QTR JAI JZR KAC FDB AIC GFA UAL JZR DLH FDB MSR THY DHX JAI

104 620 175 1728 674 572 774 607 393 647 402 146 460 221 474 229 415 859 135 43 129 341 136 576 513 614 61 975 217 981 239 636 51 614 772 372 574

LONDON ASSIUT DUBAI MEDINAH DUBAI MUMBAI RIYADH MASHAD KOZHIKODE/COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT DOHA MEDINAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH COLOMBO AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA SHARJAH DAMASCUS DOHA COCHIN SHARM EL SHEIKH BAHRAIN DUBAI CHENNAI/GOA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN AMMAN FRANKFURT DUBAI CAIRO ISTANBUL BAHRAIN MUMBAI

18:45 19:10 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:40 19:50 19:55 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:30 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:50

Airlines IAC FDB UAL DLH MSR DHX JAI THY ETH UAE SVA FDB RBG ETD SVA MSR QTR KAC QTR SVA JZR KAC SVA RJA KAC JZR GFA THY SVA KAC CLX BAW FDB SVA KAC JZR ABY JZR GFA IRA KAC UAE QTR

Departure Flights on Saturday 20/10/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 52 DUBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 373 BAHRAIN 573 MUMBAI 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 5739 JEDDAH 68 DUBAI 3554 ALEXANDRIA 306 ABU DHABI 5735 JEDDAH 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 1911 JEDDAH 149 DOHA 5745 JEDDAH 560 SOHAG 1913 JEDDAH 5737 JEDDAH 643 AMMAN 1915 JEDDAH 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 5751 JEDDAH 537 SOHAG 792 VIETNAM 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 5771 MEDINAH 171 FRANKFURT 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 224 BAHRAIN 614 SHAHRE KORD 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA

Time 00:05 00:10 00:25 00:30 00:35 00:40 00:50 02:15 02:45 03:45 03:45 03:50 04:00 04:05 04:10 04:20 04:50 04:55 05:40 05:45 06:00 06:05 06:40 06:50 06:55 6:55 7:05 7:10 7:40 8:05 8:15 8:25 8:25 8:50 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:25 9:35 9:35 9:40 10:00

KAC FDB ETD IRA KAC GFA KAC MEA JZR JZR IRC JZR UAE MSR KAC KAC MSC KAC JZR JZR SYR KAC SVA GFA FDB MSR KAC KAC KNE SVA KAC SVA RJA JZR QTR KAC ETD JZR QTR UAE JZR GFA ABY UAL SVA QTR FDB SVA MSR MSC JZR KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC OMA MEA GFA JZR SVA DHX KAC ALK KLM KAC ABY ETD UAE KAC QTR KAC KAC JAI QTR AXB FDB GFA SVA KAC KAC

117 56 302 602 773 214 541 405 324 324 6802 776 872 623 103 1917 406 785 480 176 342 1919 5747 220 58 611 1921 673 473 5753 617 503 641 786 135 513 304 538 141 858 134 216 128 982 511 145 64 5743 621 402 184 1923 361 571 62 283 648 403 222 502 5749 171 1925 230 417 1927 120 308 860 343 137 301 205 575 147 390 60 218 5767 411 415

NEW YORK DUBAI ABU DHABI SHIRAZ RIYADH BAHRAIN CAIRO BEIRUT NAJAF NAJAF AHWAZ JEDDAH DUBAI SOHAG LONDON JEDDAH SOHAG JEDDAH SABIHA DUBAI DAMASCUS JEDDAH JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO JEDDAH DUBAI JEDDAH JEDDAH DOHA JEDDAH AMMAN RIYADH DOHA TEHRAN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN SHARJAH BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA DUBAI JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA DUBAI JEDDAH COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI DHAKA MUSCAT BEIRUT BAHRAIN LUXOR JEDDAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH COLOMBO DAMMAM/AMSTERDAM JEDDAH SHARJAH ABU DHABI DUBAI CHENNAI DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD COCHIN DOHA MANGALORE/KOZHIKODE DUBAI BAHRAIN JEDDAH BANGKOK/MANILA KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:25 10:45 11:30 11:55 12:05 12:05 12:10 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:30 12:55 13:00 13:10 13:15 13:20 13:35 13:55 14:10 14:25 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:05 15:15 15:40 15:45 15:45 15:50 15:50 16:15 16:25 17:20 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 19:20 19:25 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:05 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:45 21:10 21:15 21:35 21:45 21:50 21:50 21:55 21:55 22:05 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:40 23:40 23:50

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Cauley, Dawson share McGladrey lead SEA ISLAND: Bud Cauley and Marco Dawson shared the first-round lead on eight-under par 62 at the $4 million McGladrey Classic on Thursday, two shots in front of a chasing trio.

Cauley had eight birdies without a bogey. Dawson joined Cauley atop the leaderboard despite having to take drops after two wayward tee shots. He salvaged a par to limit the damage at the par-five seventh, where his tee shot had found the water.

Boo Weekley, Australian Rod Pampling and England’s Greg Owen were two shots back on 64. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love was in a group on 65 that included Colombian Camilo Villegas, New Zealand’s Danny Lee, Zach Johnson and David Toms. The tournament is the penultimate PGA Tour event that counts toward the money list. The top 125 on the list earn full playing privileges for next

season and Dawson is at number 216.

Dawson said he can’t afford even to think about that right now. “I’m so

far away from it that the only thing I can do is just try and play well,” Dawson said. “And when I am playing

ST SIMONS: Bud Cauley tees off on the 17th hole during the first round of The McGladrey Classic PGA Tour golf tournament in St Simons Island, Ga. — AP

Revamped Toulon ready for Cardiff TOULON: Toulon face Cardiff Blues in the second round of the European Cup tomorrow a revamped side from the one that lost the Challenge Cup final to the Welsh region three seasons ago. Only six players in the current Toulon squad, including English legend Jonny Wilkinson and exSpringbok Joe van Niekerk, were present when the Mediterranean club went down 28-21 to the Blues in Marseille in May 2010. Since then Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal, who made his fortune from the comic book industry, has invested heavily in the well-supported club, bringing in a raft of big names in a bid for Top 14 and European success.

“I remember it very well,” said Jocelino Suta, Toulon’s Vanuatu-born lock who has just received a call-up to the France squad ahead of the November internationals. “We were in it in the first half but the game turner was Jonny’s exit (with a back injury in the 47th minute). “Without him, we didn’t manage the kicking game well against a team that played all the balls and all kicks right though to the final whistle.” Aside from Suta, Wilkinson and Van Niekerk, the other Toulon players present were hooker Sebastien Bruno, Georgian prop Davit Kubriashvili and Argentina flanker Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

Scrum-half Pierre Mignoni has since hung up his boots, but now coaches Toulon’s backline, and professed himself satisfied with the team’s winning start to their European Cup campaign - a convincing 37-16 victory over southern neighbors Montpellier. “It was very important to start this competition well, especially at home,” Mignoni said, with the Blues going down 3433 to Sale in Pool 6’s other match.

“We know that if we want to qualify, you have to win almost all the matches. It’s a good start, but we’ll

head to Cardiff very motivated in a bid to bag a second victory.” One player who will doubtless be happy to return home, at least temporarily, will be Wales prop Gethin Jenkins, who signed for Toulon from the Blues in off-season. His decision to opt for a French club has put in danger his participation in the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in June/July 2013.

Currently struggling to displace England’s Andrew Sheridan from Toulon’s front row, Jenkins has started five of the Lions’ last six Test matches on the 2005 and 2009 tours.

But the versatile prop and Lions coach Warren Gatland have both been warned that Jenkins will not be

able to join the Lions for the start of next summer’s tour if the French club qualify for the Top 14 final on June 1.

Either way, the European Cup is the perfect stage for Jenkins to showcase his talents that have seen him win three Grand Slams with Wales.

“It’s been a big change in terms of the lifestyle and culture and the rugby is completely different,” Jenkins recently said of his move to Toulon.

“I’ve enjoyed it, obviously although I haven’t played as many games as I’d have liked, but I’m getting used to the surroundings. “In France I’ve been on the bench a few times so there are positives in that you get a certain amount of rest. — AFP

New Jersey race to be postponed Organizers ‘ran out of time’ LONDON: Next year’s inaugural Grand Prix of America in New Jersey will be postponed to 2014 because local organizers need more time to prepare, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said yesterday. “They’ve run out of time,” said Ecclestone. “There’s all sorts of things...and they didn’t quite think it all through. They’ve had a wake-up call but the wake-up call came too late. “The couldn’t get everything ready in time,” added the 81year-old. “That’s the bottom line.”

He said the plan now was for a race in 2014, when the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi is also due to make its debut on the calendar after that year’s Winter Olympics there. The waterfront Grand Prix of America, with the New York skyline as a backdrop, had been penciled in for June 16 next year with an asterisk against it.

It would have followed a weekend after the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal as a North American doubleheader. Ecclestone had raised doubts about the Jersey race in September when he said organizers had not com-

plied with the terms and conditions of the contract, which he added had subsequently lapsed.

The local Jersey Journal reported late on Thursday that there would be an official announcement about the postponement. It said that, according to two local mayors familiar with the situation, the promoters were behind with road repairs and obtaining permits for the course on public roads at Port Imperial, Weehawken and West New York. There was no immediate comment from race promoter Leo Hindery. The New Jersey race would have given the United States a second round of the championship after this season’s inaugural grand prix at the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, next month.

Formula One has not raced in the United States since 2007, when the US Grand Prix was held at Indianapolis, but teams are eager to return to a country that is a key market for sponsors and car manufacturers but one that the sport has found hard to crack over the years. — Reuters

well, just to keep it going instead of kind of messing it up like I have during the year.” Weekley says he thinks his game is good enough right now to keep his card in sight. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “I finally started making some putts, and I’ve been hitting the ball good, pretty good the last two weeks, and finally today the putts showed up, so-hoping I carry it on this week.” Pampling has been on the edge before. Last season he missed the cut at the final event, but still ended up at 125th on the money list.

He says it’s a stressful way to end a season. “It hasn’t been a lot of fun the last few years,” Pampling said. “I’ve been playing good, but I haven’t scored. And it’s all down to the putting. Nothing is going in.” Cauley, 22, has no such worries, having reached 55 in the world and made more than $1.7 million this season. — AFP

Grillo takes 4-shot lead PERTH: Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo vaulted to a fourshot lead at the halfway mark of the $Aus2 million ($2.04 million) Perth International yesterday. The 20year-old Grillo, in his first year as a pro, came to Australia trying to improve his lowly 516 world ranking and to keep his European Tour card for 2013. But after rounds of 66 and 67 in the European Tour co-sanctioned event at the Lake Karrinyup course, the former top amateur is poised for his maiden professional victory. “My goal this week was having a good one to keep my card for next year. I mean, if I can win, awesome,” Grillo said. Grillo led American Bo Van Pelt (70-67) and local professional Jason Scrivener (68-69). Van Pelt flew the flag for the tournament’s big names with compatriot Jason Dufner working his way into the event with a well-compiled 67, which left him trailing Grillo by five shots. Grillo has become popular with local galleries and he thrilled them with two eagles on the front nineholing a 100-metre wedge shot from light rough and holing a bunker shot.

The Argentine has never led a professional event before although he did lead his country Open championship at the halfway mark when he was an amateur.

His father introduced him to golf as a nine-year-old and by the time he was 14 he was playing for his country in senior events. He has played in the amateur Eisenhower Cup for Argentina and on his only other trip to Australia he finished well back in the World Amateur Golf Championship in Adelaide.

Grillo attended the IMG Golf Academy in Florida for a number of years before turning professional. He wants to join the USPGA Tour but has started his professional career in Europe. England’s Paul Casey carded 75 to be nine shots off the pace but 2011 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel had 76 to miss the halfway cut by a shot. The South African grimaced when he pushed a short putt on the last to the right to deny him a spot in the field over the weekend. “I’ve really enjoyed my time in Perth. Hopefully, I can come back soon to redeem myself,” Schwartzel said. World No10 Dufner felt his round could have been at least a couple of shots better. “I had a really nice round. Could have been a really special round. I did not play the par fives well but it’s good to get a nice round under my belt and look forward to the weekend,” he said. Van Pelt is playing well in spite of having three weeks off and losing his clubs on the flight to Australia. “It’s a very challenging golf course and it’s fun to play. — AFP

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

No 2 Oregon runs over Arizona State TEMPE: Oregon lost a fumble on its second play, setting up a touchdown and a quick 7-0 deficit. Cause for concern?

Yeah, right. Arizona State could have scored three quick touchdowns and the Ducks probably wouldn’t have been worried. Shrugging off their early miscue as if it never happened, the second-ranked Ducks ran over Arizona State in an overpowering first half, turning what was supposed to be a duel in the desert into a statement-making 43-21 victory over the Sun Devils on Thursday night.

“They came out and scored, but the one thing I love about this team is that they don’t flinch,” Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. “We talk about playing a full game and this team bounced back.” Facing its first true road test, Oregon turned one of Arizona State’s biggest games in years into another we’ve-seen-this-before Ducks’ rout by running over the Sun Devils in the first half. The Ducks (7-0, 4-0 Pac-12) had their way against what had been the Pac-12’s best defense, racing to a 36-point halftime lead and rushing for 406 yards for their nation-leading 12th straight road victory.

Kenjon Barner got Oregon started with a 71-yard touchdown two plays after Arizona State’s opening score, finishing with 143 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries.

Freshman Marcus Mariota held up in his first game in a hostile environment, running for 135 yards and a touchdown, passing for another score, even catching a TD pass from his backup. Oregon’s defense did its part, too, chasing quarterback Taylor Kelly all night while holding the Sun Devils in check until its reserves gave up a couple of long drives late.

Hoping to move past No 2 Florida in the BCS standings, the Ducks picked up a big road win against a gritty opponent to open a season 7-0 for the fourth time in school history - and second in three years. “We just came out and did what we have to do,” said Barner, who eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the third straight game and fourth time this season. “We came out and executed well. We made big plays, plays that we’re supposed to make.” Arizona State (5-2, 3-1) got the start it wanted, scoring a touchdown on its first play after Oregon’s fumble.

The Sun Devils wilted after that, unable to make up for the early loss of star defensive tackle Will Sutton or find a way to slow down the Ducks as they raced past. Kelly, the Pac-12’s pass efficiency leader, threw two interceptions that set up Oregon touchdowns in the first half and had 93 yards on 10-of-18 passing while running for his life seemingly on every play. Arizona State’s defense, its anchor through the first six games, allowed 454 total yards, including 48 more rushing than it had the previous four games combined.

With a chance to make a statement of their own, the Sun Devils didn’t come close. “We do have a good football team, but we got beat by a really, really good football team tonight,” Arizona State coach Todd Graham said. “There’s no doubt in my mind, they’re one of the best, if not the best team in the country.”

Sun Devil Stadium hadn’t been the stage for a game like this for some time, maybe back to 2005, when Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and No. 1 Southern California beat the Sun Devils 38-28. Oregon had become the standard for success in the West, winning three straight Pac-12 titles, last season’s Rose Bowl and earning a trip to the BCS title game the year before that. The Ducks may be even better this season, again scoring points quickly and in bunches, with an improved defense to go with it. Arizona State was one of the surprises the first half of the season, winning five games and nearly pulling out a sixth under Graham in his first season.—AP

Greatest test awaits super horse Frankel ASCOT: Frankel will seek to rubberstamp his standing as the world’s greatest ever racehorse in the appropriately named Champion Stakes here on Champions Day today. However, to win his 14th race in 14 starts, in what is widely expected to be his final bow, the four-year-old colt - named after the late Bobby Frankel a former trainer of the horse’s owner Prince Khalid Abdullah - faces his greatest test. While he has just four serious rivals - his older brother Bullet Train will fulfil his usual role as pacemaker - they include last year’s winner Cirrus des Aigles and Nathaniel, who to date has got the closest of all Frankel’s rivals beaten half a length on the champion’s debut two years ago.

Frankel, who will be bidding for his 10th Group One success, will also be running over 1 1/4 miles for only the second time and also on his least favored soft ground, all combining to give his rivals some reason to be optimistic. However, his legendary trainer Henry Cecil, who says he is the best horse he has ever seen, says soft should not be a problem although if it deteriorated to heavy then alarm bells will start ringing. “I’m pretty confident he will be fine in soft ground but if it’s heavy, we are in no man’s land,” said 69-year-old Cecil, who has been sustained by Frankel’s exploits while undergoing treatment for throat cancer. “He has never encountered it and with his action and turn of foot, I cannot be sure he would appreciate it.”

However, Cecil, who has experienced some of his greatest moments at Ascot including a record 70 winners at the Royal meeting, said Frankel was in prime form for his task. “I could not be happier with him. He seems full of himself.” Prince Khaled’s racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe acknowledges that with German Derby winner Pastorius also in the field Frankel - who in 10 of his wins has won by a minimum of four lengths - faces his greatest challenge. “Certainly this is his toughest test,” said Grimthorpe. “It’s building up to be a really true test for him. I think it’s exciting. “I’ve always come into this with the attitude that we have to enjoy him. The horse has done everything that we could possibly have dreamt about and I hope he’ll run a huge race on Saturday.”

Cirrus des Aigles couldn’t be more of a contrast to Frankel, unfashionably bred and a bit of a freak really as the six-year-old French gelding has defied logic and collected three Group One prizes in the past year. His plucky trainer Corine Barande-Barbe, who has far less firepower in terms of financial backers and horses compared to Cecil, is relishing the enormous challenge facing her stable star. “This is a great challenge, and whatever the result it will be a great experience,” Barande-Barbe said. “It’s the opportunity to meet the best ever horse in England, and we’ll go to him, because he didn’t come to us!”—AFP

YORK: In this file photo, Frankel ridden by Tom Queally canters to the start of the Juddmonte International Stakes, during day one of the 2012 Ebor Festival at York Racecourse, York, England. — AP

‘A small step’ towards normality for Pakistan KARACHI: International cricket of a sort returns to Pakistan this weekend for the first time since the Sri Lanka team were attacked in 2009, but a resumption of tours by overseas sides remains a distant prospect.

An International World XI captained by Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya and featuring several former South African and West Indian Test players will take on a Pakistan All Stars side led by Shahid Afridi in two Twenty 20s in Karachi today and tomorrow.

It is the first cricket featuring top foreign players in Pakistan since a deadly militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009, which prompted overseas sides to stop touring the cricket-mad but troubled country. After a three-and-a-half year drought, enthusiasm for this weekend’s games is high, with fans snapping up tickets and players talking up the short tour, a personal initiative of the sports

minister of Sindh province Mohammad Ali Shah. “I took it as a challenge,” Shah, himself a club-level cricketer said. “I don’t claim it will instantly revive international cricket in Pakistan but I am sure that these matches will change views on our country.” The Lahore attack, which left eight Pakistanis dead and seven of the Sri Lankan contingent injured, turned the Pakistan team into cricket nomads, forced to play “home” series at neutral venues in England, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. While security in much of Pakistan has improved since 2009, bombings and shootings are a near-daily occurrence as the country battles homegrown Taliban, and the chance of any high-profile tours looks very distant.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) almost convinced Bangladesh to tour in April this year, only to have their hopes dashed by the Dhaka

High Court, which blocked the tour on security grounds. Ehsan Mani, the former president of the International Cricket Council, the sport’s governing body, hailed this weekend’s matches as a step on the way to normalizing Pakistan’s position. “This is a commendable effort,” Mani said. “The visiting team has some well known players and I am sure when they return they will tell people about Pakistan and it could prove a small step in a long process.” But the PCB has done its best to keep this weekend’s matches at arm’s length, terming them “unofficial” and insisting it bears no responsibility for security, fearful that any breach would set back the rehabilitation process. Indeed, since the Bangladesh humiliation the PCB has been very reluctant to say anything about its efforts to persuade overseas sides to visit, leading many to wonder if they are making any efforts at all in this direction. —AFP

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Disappointing teams face off in NFL Week 7 NEW YORK: Two of the NFL’s most disappointing teams meet in Charlotte tomorrow. And two more of them meet in Cincinnati. The Dallas Cowboys head to the Carolina Panthers having lost three of their last four after an uplifting opening victory over the New York Giants. Dallas had designs on taking charge of the NFC East, especially following the victory in the Meadowlands, but finds itself in last place in the division thanks to bad time management, critical dropped passes and a conference-high nine interceptions off Tony Romo. “We need a victory, bad,” fullback Lawrence Vickers said. “This is very critical to get this win.”

Carolina didn’t have such high expectations, but the Panthers expected to build off Cam Newton’s offensive rookie of the year campaign and at least contend in the NFC South. Instead - and even with New Orleans and Tampa Bay struggling - the Panthers are an also-ran

with one win, ranked 23rd in yards gained and 25th in points scored; in 2011 they finished seventh in total offense and fifth in points scored. “This team relies heavily on this offense, and that’s been different than in years past,” veteran receiver Steve Smith said. “And yet we haven’t done anything consistently that would help our defense stay off the field. All we’ve done is kind of been middling around a little bit and been real lethargic and left (the defense) out there on the field longer than they should be.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers can’t be accused of that; their offense has been very protective of the ball (only four turnovers) and quite productive through the air, ranking seventh in yards passing. But Pittsburgh has the appearance of a team in transition, particularly on the offensive line and everywhere on defense, where injuries have been damaging - star safety Troy Polamalu won’t play tomorrow night. “It comes down

to playmaking,” Coach Mike Tomlin said, “and we haven’t made enough significant plays.” When they head to Cincinnati, the Steelers will find an AFC North rival which is reeling. The Bengals flopped against Miami at home, then in Cleveland, handing the Browns their first win. Their big play defense has yet to materialize.

“It’s not time to jump ship,” offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “We’re 3-3 just like everybody else in our conference. At the end of the day, it’s not about wins and losses, it’s about who makes the playoffs.

“Our goals are all still right there in front of us.

Somebody that’s 3-3 has to go win some games and get in the playoffs. Why not be us?” The American Football Conference teams features seven teams with 3-3 records, including the entire East division, and the only teams with winning records face each other when the Houston Texans welcome Baltimore.—AP

Tigers rout Yankees 8-1 DETROIT: Phil Coke stormed into Jim Leyland’s office and sprayed the veteran manager with some of Detroit’s celebratory bubbly. When Leyland tried to take cover in a bathroom, Coke chased him - a fitting scene involving an unsung reliever whose role changed with little warning and a skipper who never stopped believing in his team. “I just reminded everybody when we took our punches all year, ‘You know what? Let’s just wait till the end, and then if we have underachieved, I will be the first one to admit it,’” Leyland said. “So hopefully we’ve quieted some doubters now. The guys just stepped it up when we had to.” Leyland and the Tigers are heading to the World Series now. Max Scherzer capped a stupendous stretch for Detroit’s rotation, and the Tigers won their second pennant in seven years by beating the New York Yankees 8-1 Thursday for a four-game sweep of the AL championship series. Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta hit two-run homers in a four-run fourth inning against CC Sabathia, who was unable to prevent the Yankees from getting swept in a postseason series for the first time in 32 years.

Without a World Series title since 1984, Detroit lost to Texas in last year’s ALCS, lost slugger Victor Martinez to a seasonending knee injury in January and quickly replaced his offense by signing Prince Fielder. The excitement of that bold acquisition subsided a bit when the Tigers struggled to a 26-32 start in the AL Central, but they overtook the Chicago White Sox in the final 10 days of the regular season and won the division with an 88-74 record, matching the Cardinals for the fewest wins among the 10 playoff teams.

Through it all, Leyland kept an even keel. There was urgency in the Detroit clubhouse, but never panic. The closest the manager came to a major change of course was when closer Jose Valverde gave up four runs in the ninth inning of Game 1 against the Yankees. Detroit won that game anyway, and Coke got the save in Games 2 and 3 in Valverde’s place.

Coke also was on the mound at the end of the finale. “It’s been really fun,” Coke said.

“It’s been a blast. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity than have us going to the World Series, have a chance to participate and do the best job I can for the team.”

Contrast that to the Yankees, who changed lineups drastically throughout the playoffs in a futile attempt to jumpstart an anemic offense. After scoring in

just three of 39 innings during the series, New York headed home to face unpleasant questions about its future following a postseason of awful hitting, benched stars and veterans showing the wear and tear of age. Alex Rodriguez, the $275 million third baseman, was out of the starting lineup Thursday for the third time in the playoffs. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera could only watch following season-ending injuries.

Rodriguez at least played Thursday, flying out with two on in the sixth as a pinch hitter and grounding out in the ninth. “Baseball’s not an easy game,” Rodriguez said. “You wish you could go out and, again, hit .400 and hit the ball all over the park and hit home runs but the one thing that I’m proud of is just kept coming out, working hard, battling, never gave up. And we win as a team, we lose as a team.”

The game ended with Fielder, Detroit’s $214 million acquisition, catching Jayson Nix’s popup. The Tigers spilled onto the field for a celebration that began near second base and eventually moved closer to the third-base line. General manager Dave Dombrowski hugged Leyland - who is in the final year of his contract while owner Mike Ilitch rubbed the 67-year-old manager’s right shoulder. “I’ve got a great bunch.

We don’t have one hot dog in the bunch,” Ilitch said. “They’re all great guys. ... The Tigers are something special.”

Detroit won its 11th American League pennant and first since 2006. The Tigers have five days off before the World Series starts Wednesday at defending champion St. Louis or 2010 winner San Francisco.

The Yankees, with a big league-high $222 million payroll, hit .188 in the postseason - a record low for a team that played at least seven games - and .157 in the LCS. New York went quietly in the ninth inning, with the Comerica Park crowd chanting “Sweep!” while the last three batters were retired in order. In the postseason, Detroit’s rotation has been impeccable. Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister allowed only two earned runs against the Yankees. New York was shut out once and totaled six runs in the series. “We all know what’s at stake, we all know every single game’s different, we need to go out there and pitch our best,” Scherzer said. “When we do that, that’s when we give the team a chance to win.” Scherzer allowed a run and two hits in 5 2-3 innings, struck out 10 and walked two. —AP

SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree (15) jumps over Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) during the first quarter of an NFL football game in San Francisco on Thursday, Oct 18, 2012. — AP

49ers rebound with win over Seahawks SAN FRANCISCO: Delanie Walker’s third-quarter touchdown catch made the difference Thursday as San Francisco beat Seattle 13-6 in a tough defensive battle to seize the lead in the NFL’s NFC West division. San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith completed 14 of 23 passes for 140 yards, one touchdown and one interception and David Akers booted a pair of field goals for the 49ers, who rebounded from a lopsided loss to the New York Giants last weekend in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship game.

Frank Gore ran for 131 yards on 16 carries for San Francisco and had five catches for 51 yards to help the 49ers come out on top in their first division match-up of the season. “I was expecting a close, physical game because that’s how both our games were last year,” Smith said. “I didn’t expect a big stat game, but this was a really tough one that we had tonight. “This is a very satisfying win for the whole club.”

Seahawks signal-caller Russell Wilson endured a difficult game, completing just nine of 23 passes with an interception for the Seahawks, who had two first-half field goals from Steven Hauschka. Seattle had won two straight coming into the game, but fell to 4-3. Seattle led by three at halftime but had to punt on the first possession of the second half. San Francisco capped a drive with Smith’s 12-yard touchdown throw to Walker, and

the 49ers’ Dashon Goldson then intercepted Wilson.

Smith then threw an interception of his own before San Francisco completed the scoring with a second field goal from Akers with 5:24 to play.

The contest kicked off a week of NFL action that includes an AFC East division clash between perennial contenders the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. The Jets travel to New England tied with the Patriots for the division lead at 3-3, and Jets coach Rex Ryan was typically bullish on his team’s chances. “I want them to know, and they know, that I think we’re going to beat them,” Ryan said. “Look, I recognize they’re a great football team and (Bill) Belichick’s a great coach. I’ve never once said he wasn’t. But we’re not going to back down or concede anything.

There’s plenty at stake tomorrow, with the winner remaining the standard-bearer in the division. If it’s the Jets, they’ll be 3-0 in divisional play and have an advantage in potential tiebreakers. “A division opponent is critical. We’ve only played one of those games this year,” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady noted. “They’re going to try to figure out what they need to do to stop us and we’ve got to figure out ways to move the ball and really put the ball in the end zone.” Brady made it clear that 3-3 isn’t a record the Patriots are too proud of, nor is it something that troubles them too much.—AFP

sports SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

WADA chief considers drug cheat amnesty SYDNEY: The chief of the World AntiDoping Agency yesterday said he is considering an across-the-board amnesty for drug cheating athletes in the wake of the revelations involving cyclist Lance Armstrong. The testimony of Armstrong’s fellow riders and team-mates has proved to be a key element in exposing what the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) described as “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen”.

There has been a debate within the cycling world about whether an amnesty is needed to encourage oth-

ers to come forward to give further evidence. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president John Fahey said the idea has merit and it was likely to be considered once the Armstrong appeals process had run its course. “I’m very interested in that suggestion,” Fahey told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio yesterday. “Let me say it’s not up to cycling to decide on an amnesty, it is a matter that the World Anti-Doping Agency would have to decide.”

Fahey, a former Australian politician, said he was not aware if the talk of an amnesty had spread to other sports. “But

do you leave it at simply cycling, or do you say ‘well look, let’s have an amnesty across the board and if there is a problem in any other sport including cycling-let everybody come clean and let’s start again’? Fahey said. “That suggestion is one which I am sure my board would be very interested in entertaining.” Fahey said the scope of the findings in USADA’s report had surprised him. “I had no idea that (doping measures) went to the extent that that report indicates,” he said.

“I think the whole world right now is looking to see what is cycling going to do about the problem that clearly is being demonstrated.”

Warning shot to the cycling world Rabobank pulls sponsorship over doping PARIS: The Lance Armstrong affair yesterday prompted a major sponsor to cut ties with cycling, in a warning shot to its embattled governing body, raising questions about whether the sport can ever restore its tainted image. Rabobank, which has sponsored a professional cycling team for the last 17 years, claimed the sport had been irrevocably damaged by a succession of doping cases, not just the high-profile scandal involving seventime Tour de France winner Armstrong.

The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last week placed the Texan at the heart of what it said was the biggest doping program in sports history, which has heaped pressure on cycling’s governing body and seen Armstrong lose a string of highprofile backers. Armstrong yesterday

change for the better in the foreseeable future,” he said, later telling a news conference that the damning USADA report into Armstrong was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. “What the USADA showed us is that international cycle racing is not only sick but also at the highest level within cycling, including a number of the relevant authorities, including checks on the use of doping,” he added.

Rabobank has been the standard-bearer for Dutch cycling and enjoyed success but it has also been mired in doping scandals, including one involving Danish rider Michael Rasmussen when he was wearing the leader’s yellow jersey on the 2007 Tour de France.

On Thursday, the team said it had suspended Spanish cyclist Carlos Barredo

MEEUWEN: World champion and Olympic champion Marianne Vos of the Rabobank cycling team trains in Meeuwen yesterday. The sponsor of her team, Dutch bank Rabobank, announced that they will stop sponsoring the team. —AFP made his first public appearance since the publication of the USADA dossier, at a celebrity charity fundraiser for the Livestrong foundation in his home town of Austin, Texas. “We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport,” Rabobank board member Bert Bruggink said in a statement.

“We are not confident that this will

after it was announced that he was facing disciplinary action from the International Cycling Union (UCI) for allegedly breaking blood-doping rules. The UCI for its part said it “understood the context” of Rabobank’s decision but the withdrawal is a clear warning that the sport could see further financial backing fall away unless it takes strong action to stamp out the scourge of doping. British cyclist David

Millar, who served a ban for drug offences but is now an outspoken opponent of doping, slammed Rabobank’s decision, which leaves its cyclists without a team sponsor next season.

“Dear Rabobank, you were part of the problem. How dare you walk away from your young clean guys who are part of the solution. Sickening,” he wrote on his Twitter account @millarmind. The 1987 Tour de France winner Stephen Roche meanwhile urged caution, as cycling began a painful examination of its recent past-amid talk that its image may never recover-assessing that the sport had turned the page from widespread doping.

“Cycling has come along a lot since 1999 (when Armstrong won his first Tour). Maybe it got worse before getting better in the early 2000s but definitely in 2010, 2011, 2012... cycling has come on an awful lot,” the Irishman said. The fallout from the Armstrong affair has been felt the world over, with Cycling Australia (CA) announcing that its vice-president, Stephen Hodge, had resigned after admitting taking performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career. His departure follows former Olympian Matt White, who was sacked this week from his job as part of CA’s men’s road racing program and as sporting director of the Orica-GreenEDGE team, also after saying he doped during his career.

US rider Levi Leipheimer, who gave evidence against his former team-mate Armstrong, was also ditched by his current team, Omega Pharma-Quick Step.

The UCI announced in an email that it would respond to the USADA dossier in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday.

Meanwhile, a report in Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper on Thursday claimed that a host of top riders and even whole teams were linked to the sports doctor who oversaw Armstrong’s doping program, stoking fears of fresh controversy. The report, based on a probe by Italian investigators, implicated former Giro d’Italia winner Michele Scarponi, although he denied any wrong-doing. —AFP

The International Cycling Union is studying USADA’s report to see if it will accept the findings, based upon testimony from 26 witnesses that include 11 former Armstrong team-mates. However, it could reject Armstrong’s punishment of a life ban and being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, likely setting up a hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Armstrong is becoming increasingly isolated in the face of the devastating doping report and this week stood down as chairman of Livestrong, the cancer charity he founded. Commercial sponsors, including Nike and brewer AnheuserBusch, have severed ties with him. —AFP

More Australian fallout over Armstrong scandal SYDNEY: Senior Cycling Australia official Stephen Hodge yesterday became the latest casualty of the US Anti-Doping Agency case against Lance Armstrong when he said he would resign as vice-president. Hodge, 51, had a nine-year professional road career from 1987 and said he took part in doping for the last six of those years so he could gain team selection to major races such as the Tour de France. His confession came two days after Cycling Australia (CA) sacked Matt White from a part-time role after he also admitted to doping during his pro career.

“My main motivation in doing this was to ensure CA wasn’t damaged by choices I made 20 years ago, which in the current environment looked like a real possibility,” Hodge told reporters. He said the decision had weighed on him.

“The thing that makes me saddest is the impact on family and friends and colleagues and other cyclists, who you’ve disappointed,” he said. “I’m not sure it’s a weight off my shoulders, because I’ve caused a lot of sadness in some ways. “However, clearly for me it was the only thing and the right thing-that’s a comfort, I guess.”

Hodge began his tenure on the board as the Chair of the Athlete’s Commission in June 1999 and in 2007 he was elected vice-president of the board, a position he has held up to now. Hodge said in a letter written to and released by CA that during a stage of his career as a professional cyclist he took performance enhancing drugs-”a decision I am not proud of”.

“I am sorry I did it. It was wrong. I apologize unreservedly to CA, my family, friends, colleagues and cycling fans,” he said.

Hodge said when he made CA aware of his situation he offered to resign and it was agreed that he would immediately stand aside from all CA board duties in advance of submitting his formal resignation. “At no point have I been involved in any CA board meetings or discussions in relation to the termination of Matt White’s contract,” Hodge said in his letter.

He becomes the second Australian cycling figure to admit to taking performance-enhancing drugs during their previous professional riding career. White, 38, admitted last weekend that he was part of a strategy of doping when he rode on the Armstrong-led US Postal Service cycling team from 2001 to 2003.

He said he was stepping down from his jobs as the sports director of the emerging Australian professional team OricaGreenEDGE and was subsequently sacked from his role in Cycling Australia’s men’s road racing program. White is currently facing an investigation by the Australian Sports AntiDoping Authority (ASADA), which said this week it became aware of allegations of doping made against him by American cyclist Floyd Landis in 2010. Hodge refused to draw any former or current Australian riders into his decision to resign. “I’m not calling on anyone else to take action. Today is about my decision to do this,” he said. “I made a decision for my own reasons and that, of course, is what everyone is free to do.” —AFP

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

‘FIFA virus’ hits Real’s pursuit of Barcelona MADRID: Real Madrid are battling an injury crisis ahead of their home clash with Celta Vigo yesterday as World Cup duty threatens the team’s La Liga pursuit of bitter rivals Barcelona. Madrid coach Jose Mourinho faces the loss of up to seven of the 19 players who went off on international duty after the vital 2-2 draw with Barcelona in their last league game.

It’s a problem which has left “los blancos” the main victims of what the Spanish press have dubbed the “FIFA virus”.

Despite the draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou two weeks ago, Madrid still have an eight-point gap to make up on their Catalan rivals, a task made even more difficult by the loss of so many key defenders. Right-backs Alvaro Arbeloa, injured in Spain’s 1-1 draw with France,

and Fabio Coentrao are unavailable for a number of weeks while left-back Marcelo is expected to be out for three months after breaking his foot in a Brazil training session.

Midfielder Sami Khedira and forwards Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain picked up knocks with their national sides and all could be rested ahead of an important Champions League tie at Borussia Dortmund next Wednesday.

Mourinho will have to be creative to fill the full-back berths. Michael Essien has experience on the right while Sergio Ramos could also be used there with Raphael Varane or Raul Albiol coming into the centre of defense.

Even using Varane is in doubt after the youngster picked up a muscle injury

while playing for the French Under-21 side. Youngster Nacho Fernandez could make his first start of the season at leftback. Leaders Barcelona have few worries as they go to Deportivo La Coruna on the same evening, looking to make it four wins from four on the road. One player unaffected by the international break was midfielder Andres Iniesta.

“I didn’t play the full 90 minutes of the two matches with Spain so I’m in good shape, my (groin) injury is forgotten and we all hope to be fit for the Depor game which will be complicated especially after the break,” he said. “There’s a long way to go, all sides go out to win games, particularly Madrid who are the current champions and they will want to win the title again so we can’t take the points for

Villas-Boas primed to end Chelsea’s unbeaten run LONDON: Andre Villas-Boas has warned his old club Chelsea that Tottenham are desperate to end the Blues’ unbeaten start to the Premier League season. Spurs boss Villas-Boas will face Chelsea today for the first time since being sacked by Roman Abramovich in March following a miserable nine-month reign at Stamford Bridge. The former Porto coach has a chance to get his own back this weekend when league leaders Chelsea visit White Hart Lane and, while Villas-Boas insists he isn’t motivated by thoughts of revenge, he admits his players are relishing the chance to inflict some pain on their London rivals. Not only did Chelsea, by then managed by Villas-Boas’s former assistant Roberto Di Matteo, beat Spurs in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, but they also denied the north London club a place in the Champions League.

Spurs finished fourth, which should have guaranted a Champions League spot, but Chelsea, who came sixth, took the last English berth after winning the competition. Now a win would move fifth-placed Tottenham within two points of Chelsea and Villas-Boas said: “In the end there is one thing which has been to a certain extent blown out of proportion this is certainly not a personal matter. “But it is the team who took this club out of the Champions League, this is the team who prevented this team from playing in the FA Cup final last year.

“We never know how the game can develop. But certainly, a good game might hopefully give us a chance to go nearer the top, which is what we want.” Although Chelsea have won six of their seven league matches this term, the European champions could be vulnerable today as they will be without suspended captain John Terry. The defender starts his fourmatch ban for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand after deciding not to appeal against the Football Association’s punishment, while England midfielder Frank Lampard is a doubt with the knee problem that forced him to miss both of his country’s recent World Cup qualifiers.

If Chelsea slip up, then second placed Manchester United, currently four points off the top, will hope to take advantage at home to Stoke. However, Alex Ferguson’s team have already lost twice this season and Portugal winger Nani admits they face another tricky test against physical Stoke. “It is always hard to play against Stoke because they play a different kind of football to most teams in the Premier League,” Nani said. “They are very physical and have very strong players. It is also difficult because most of the game is in the air.

“But it is very important because when you play at home, you have a good chance to win these games.”

Defending champions Manchester City are one place behind United going into today’s trip to in-form West Bromwich Albion. Roberto Mancini’s men have struggled to hit peak form at the start of their title defense and they can’t afford to underestimate sixth placed Albion, who have been the season’s surprise package. Albion would go above City with a win and boss Steve Clarke said: “It’s a great game for us.

“I think our home form has been excellent, in fact our form in general has been excellent, and we look forward to probably the biggest challenge so far.”

Arsenal travel to struggling Norwich hoping France striker Olivier Giroud can fire them back into the top four. The Gunners are seventh at present but that should change if Giroud maintains his good form. After a slow start, Giroud scored his first Premier League goal in Arsenal’s last match - a 3-1 win at West Ham - and also netted in France’s midweek draw against Spain. “After the West Ham game I felt a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I am convinced this last goal will also do me a lot of good,” Giroud said. Tomorrow, Sunderland host Newcastle in the Tyne-Wear derby, looking for their first win over their bitter rivals since 2008. — AFP

granted,” he said. “Also we have to concede that at the moment Atletico Madrid are our closest rivals.”

Tomorrow, Atletico face a tough away game at Real Sociedad who have won their three home games to date this season. Atletico are level with points with Barca at the top and eight ahead of city rivals Real. But their Turkish midfielder Arda Turan is another victim of the international break and will miss tomorrow’s game along with Diego Costa who has a troubled knee.

Raul Garcia is the likely replacement for Turan while Atletico will look to the rich goalscoring form of Gustavo Falcao to continue a run of nine straight victories in all competitions since the opening day 1-1 draw at Levante. — AFP

City skipper Kompany eyes World Cup goal BIRMINGHAM: Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany admits he wants to follow up his Premier League title triumph by helping Belgium qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Kompany is set to return to the City defense for today’s trip to West Bromwich Albion after missing the 3-0 home win over Sunderland with a calf injury. The 26-year-old centre-back proved his fitness by scoring in a 2-0 win for Belgium against Scotland on Tuesday.

That result has left Belgium top of their World Cup qualifying group, level on points with Croatia but six clear of third-placed Serbia, as they bid to reach the finals in Brazil. And Kompany, such an instrumental figure as City ended their 44-year wait to win the title last season, is determined to ensure Belgium are able to join the party in Brazil in two years. “I live for this team (Belgium),” he said.

“I won the title with Manchester City, but going to the World Cup is one of the main objectives of my career, a priority.”

The trip to the Hawthorns represents the start of a tough few days for City manager Roberto Mancini and his reigning champions. Despite winning their last two topflight matches against Fulham and Sunderland, City, who announced on Thursday that their 20-year-old Swedish striker John Guidetti has signed a new three-year contract, have yet to hit top form this season and face a battle to stay in the Champions League next week. After losing to Real Madrid and drawing against Borussia Dortmund, Mancini’s expensively-assembled side head for Amsterdam knowing defeat to Ajax on Wednesday could all but kill off their chances of reaching the knockout stages, so a victory at the Hawthorns would be the ideal start to a crucial period.

Standing in the way of City’s hopes will be West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster, who has followed the lead of Wayne Rooney by hailing opposite number Joe Hart as the one of the world’s leading goalkeepers. Manchester United and England striker Rooney this month described City’s Hart as the “best keeper in the world” and Foster admits it is hard to disagree. “He is without a doubt one of the best keepers in the world,” said Foster. “I’ve had a chance to see him in training for England. “He’s got everything you want from a top goalkeeper. He’s got the physical attributes but you also need to be very mentally strong too - that’s such a strong part of his game. “He tries to make every save possible. The fact he’s keeping a team like Manchester City in games is amazing.”

The sixth-placed Baggies, who begin the weekend just a point adrift of City, will defend one of only two remaining perfect Premier League home records Chelsea have the other-and Foster insists that is a statistic they can maintain come today. “You need a little bit of luck on your side, as you do against all the top teams really,” Foster said. “The fact we had such a good start suggests that we might get something from Manchester City because our home form has been very good so far.” Romelu Lukaku (ankle) is expected to be fit, while Steven Reid, Chris Brunt (both hamstring) and Billy Jones (knee) are all doubts. — AFP

sports SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Nani expects Utd to get rough ride from Stoke MANCHESTER: Manchester United winger Nani is expecting a physical confrontation with Stoke when Sir Alex Ferguson’s team returns to Old Trafford for the first time since their surprising loss to Tottenham. Beaten twice already in their opening seven Premier League games of the season, United know there is little margin for error against Tony Pulis’ side after their surprising 3-2 home reverse to Spurs late last month. But Nani is also aware that Stoke-who may have only won one game this season but have also only lost one match, by a solitary goal at league leaders Chelsea-present a difficult fixture on the return from the international break. “It is always hard to play against Stoke because they play a different kind of football to most teams in the Premier League,” Nani told the club’s in-house broadcaster MUTV.

“They are very physical and have very strong players. It is also difficult because most of the game is in the air.

We need to be strong and try to play our game. “We are playing at home and we have to believe we can win the three points. It is very important because when you play at home, you have a good chance to win these games.” With international fixtures behind them for the foreseeable future, United face a potentially pivotal period of seven league games in five weeks which could make or break their attempts to wrestle the league title away from local rivals Manchester City, especially as their next league game comes at current leaders Chelsea.

“It is a good time for us,” said Nani.

“We had a very good result last time against Newcastle before the international break so we are confident and it

is a good time to start to believe. “But we do not set long-term targets - our only target is to always win the game and to finish on top.” United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is still without skipper Nemanja Vidic (knee) and fellow defender Phil Jones (knee). However, Chris Smalling could return to the defence after recovering from a metatarsal fracture which has kept him out of action since last season.

Ashley Young is also in contention to make a return following a knee injury while Ferguson is likely to start with Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie together after both strikers scored for their respective countries during the international break. Rooney has netted three times for England since he last wore a United shirt in the 3-0 win at Newcastle on October 7 and van Persie scored his 31st goal for the Netherlands on Tuesday. Meanwhile,

Stoke’s French midfielder Steven Nzonzi is looking to take inspiration from a shock win at United last season when his team attempt to end a nightmare eight-match Old Trafford losing run in the league.

The Stoke player was part of the Blackburn side that, despite eventually suffering relegation, sentenced United to a shock 3-2 defeat in front of their own fans on December 31. “It is one game, and people may not give us much chance today, but similarly nobody gave Blackburn a chance when we went there last season, and look what happened that day,” Nzonzi said. “We have performed well this season and picked up points from games where people may not have thought we would get anything. We are moving in the right direction and I am really enjoying being a part of it all.” —AFP

Man United players to wear anti-racism shirts ‘Let’s Kick It Out’ MANCHESTER: Alex Ferguson has revealed all his players will wear the anti-racism “Let’s Kick It Out” t-shirts ahead of their game with Stoke this weekend despite pleas from Reading striker Jason Roberts to boycott the show of unity. The Manchester United manager hit out at Roberts for going against the campaign, with the Reading striker believing the anti-discrimination body have failed to tackle racism over the last year in the wake of the John Terry and Anton Ferdinand case. Roberts said on Thursday: “I find it hard to wear a T-shirt after what has happened in the last year. I won’t wear one.

“I’m totally committed to kicking racism out of football but when there’s a movement I feel represents the issue in the way that speaks for me and my colleagues, then I will happily support it. “I think people feel let down by what used to be called ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’. People don’t feel like they have been strong enough.” But Ferguson believes every

player in the country should back the plan to ensure the right message is given and insisted all his players - including Rio Ferdinand whose brother was involved in the John Terry case - will wear the shirts before the game at Old Trafford.

“I have to disagree with Jason Roberts, he is making the wrong point,” Ferguson said. “Everyone should be united, all the players in the country wearing the top, the warm-up tops.

“I do not know what point he is trying to make or trying to put himself on a different pedestal to everyone else. “He really should be supporting all the rest of the players who are doing something. If you are doing something then everyone who believes in it should do it together, we should not have sheep walking off.

He is making the wrong message. “Yes, all my players will wear it. All the players will be wearing it, except for Roberts who seems to be different.” Ferguson has revealed Ashley Young will return to action against Stoke after a lay-off

with a bruised cartilage and is hoping the former Aston Villa winger can add more attacking threat to his forward-laden United side.

“I don’t think he is forgotten, it’s always the same when a player is injured. Very few players cross the ball as well as he can, his goal-scoring ratio is very good. “I don’t think you can forget that or underestimate it. I think any player with the ability to come to our club from Aston Villa will want to do well.” The return of Young and the recent comeback of Darren Fletcher added to the good form of Tom Cleverley means Ferguson is more than happy with his midfield options despite claims United are light in the area. He added: “Young coming back gives us another option. The strength in our squad is in the attacking options and we are getting better in the midfield with Darren Fletcher coming back. “Cleverley is also doing well and Anderson. All the fears about midfield positions are evaporating.” —AFP

Terry affair damaged England’s reputation

John Terry

LONDON: The reputation of English football has been tarnished by the long-running John Terry affair, according to Football Association chairman David Bernstein. Chelsea skipper Terry decided not to appeal against a fourgame ban for using racist language towards Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand on Thursday, bringing to a close an unsavoury chapter that put racism under the microscope. Terry, who was cleared in a lawcourt of racism in July, apologized for his “inappropriate” language on Thursday although he continued to express “disappointment” at the FA’s ruling. Bernstein said having football dragged through the lawcourts marked a difficult period for the English game which has made large strides in erasing racism from stadiums.

“The decision by John Terry not to appeal his FA charge hopefully brings to a close a difficult period for the domestic game in England in which, unfortunately, the reputation of English football has been damaged,” Bernstein said in a statement.

“It is a shame that one high-profile incident has had such a major impact.

“But this single event should not be allowed to overshadow the massive strides taken by players, managers, clubs, leagues and so many across the national game in terms of equality and inclusion. “The damage of this affair is not irreparable, but as events this week have shown there are still many lessons to be learnt in the wider fight against racial abuse and discrimination of all types. “No player should suffer the intolerable abuse the likes

of which Danny Rose was subjected to in Serbia.” The FA have complained to world governing body FIFA after Tuesday’s under-21 match in Serbia was marred by incidents of alleged racist abuse towards England’s black players. While campaigns in England such as “Kick it Out” have been successful in the fight against discrimination, the Terry affair which has rumbled on for a year and led to the resignation of former England coach Fabio Capello as well as his own retirement from international football, have cast a cloud over the game. “John Terry has now been sanctioned and held accountable for his actions. I am pleased he has apologized and we must now draw a line under this matter. However, we too will learn from the case,” Bernstein said. —Reuters

Matches on TV (Local Timings) English Premier League Tottenham v Chelsea 14:45 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Fulham v Aston Villa 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Swansea v Wigan 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD West Ham v Southampton 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD West Brom v Man City 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Man United v Stoke 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Liverpool v Reading 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Norwich City v Arsenal 19:30 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Spanish League Malaga v Real Valladolid Aljazeera Sport +2 Real Madrid v Celta Aljazeera Sport +3 Valencia v Athletic de Bilbao Aljazeera Sport +5 Deportivo v Barcelona Aljazeera Sport +3

17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Italian Calcio League Juventus v Napoli 19:00 Al-Jazeera Sport +1 SS Lazio v AC Milan 21:45 Al-Jazeera Sport +1 German Bundesliga Fortuna Dusseldorf v Bayern 16:30 Dubai Sport +9 Wolfsburg v SC Freiburg 16:30 Dubai Sport +7 Bayer Leverkusen v FSV Mainz 16:30 Dubai Sport +6 Dortmund v Schalke 16:30 Dubai Sport +2 Werder Bremen v Borussia 19:30 Dubai Sport +2 French League PSG v Stade Reims Aljazeera Sport +4 Valenciennes v Lorient Aljazeera Sport +7 Stade Rennais v Montpellier Aljazeera Sport +4 Nice v Saint Etienne Aljazeera Sport +8

18:00 21:00 21:00 21:00

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

As Barcelona loom, Celtic target St Mirren GLASGOW: Celtic striker Tony Watt insists the Hoops are fully focused on defeating St Mirren today despite Barcelona looming in a mouth-watering Champions League tie three days later. The Hoops players know they need a win against Danny Lennon’s team today in order to stay top of the table. But despite having the prospect of playing against one of the best teams in Europe to look forward to Watt says his side will be not be distracted from their domestic duties.

“People say that all the time but you can only play what is put in front of you,” the Scotland under-21 star said. “St Mirren are the next team up for Celtic and if we don’t beat them we will go into the Barcelona game on a downer so we need to win this match.

“I scored my first Under-21 goal at St Mirren Park and also netted a couple in the Youth Cup last season so it has been a good ground for me.”

Watt has been in sensational form since bursting on to the scene last season with a double against Motherwell after coming on as a substitute.

Despite finding the net four times the teenager has started just three games for Celtic and says he doesn’t consider himself an established first-team player. “I am not a first-team regular as I have only started three games,” Watt said. “You cannot call yourself a firstteam player after three appearances but if I play 30 games this season maybe I will look at things differently.

“I’d never get ahead of myself and I don’t go out and tell everybody I am

playing every week because I’m not.

“I am massively ahead of where I thought I would be at this stage of the season as I reckoned I would be in the reserves or out on loan.

“It is there in front of me and I know I am not a first-team regular although I don’t see myself as back-up, more a member of the first-team squad.”

Celtic will be without James Forrest and Scott Brown for the match against St Mirren after the pair picked up knocks while on international duty while fellow Scotland star Kris Commons is a doubt with a hamstring strain. Meanwhile St Mirren skipper Jim Goodwin says the match against the Hoops will represent his side’s toughest test so far this season but hopes the absence of Celtic captain Scott

Brown will help the Buddies. “We all know how important a player he is to Celtic,” he said. “He really is the heartbeat of Celtic’s team. Hopefully with him missing that will play into our hands. But they have got such strength in depth.”

Elsewhere today, second-place Hibernian face a tough trip to Dingwall to take on Ross County, second-bottom Dundee United will try and kickstart their campaign when they host Aberdeen at Tannadice and St Johnstone host Kilmarnock. Hearts, who have been hit with a transfer embargo after failing to pay wages on time to some players and manager John McGlynn for the second month running, take on Motherwell at Tynecastle tomorrow. — AFP

Italian League Preview

Title-chasing Napoli take aim at unbeaten Juventus MILAN: Napoli will put their Serie A title credentials on the line today in a top-of-the-table clash against Juventus that is reviving memories of Diego Maradona’s fairytale spell at the club. Napoli have not won the championship since 1990, three years after Maradona’s goals helped the Partenopei to an historic first of two league titles in 1987.

And as Walter Mazzarri’s side prepare for the mouthwatering clash at Juventus Stadium, the Old Lady of Turin boasts a league record 28 titles and an unbeaten streak extending to 45 games.

Napoli, however, have plenty going in their favor.

Mazzarri’s side are playing attractive, attacking football that has left their Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani top of the league scoring charts on six goals and they are the only other unbeaten team in the table. Although still early in the campaign the game-historically regarded as a battle between the rich northerners and poor southerners-has dominated headlines for two weeks, relegating Italy’s ongoing World Cup campaign to the inside pages.

On fans’ forums memories of Napoli’s 3-1 win over Juventus in November 1986, six months before Maradona led them to an historic title triumph, have been evoked. Napoli are also the only team since May 2011, when Juve’s unbeaten run began, to beat the Turin side in a 2-0 Italian Cup victory. On paper both sides will be aiming for nothing less than three points. A draw would do neither any favors and give hope to Lazio and Inter Milan, who sit third and fourth respectively at four points adrift. Mazzarri said Napoli were confident “because we can put any team in difficulty” but played the diplomat in denying Juve had so far been given an easy ride.

“Not even the European champions Chelsea beat Juve,” he said in an interview with La Repubblica newspaper referring to Juve’s 2-2 Champions League draw at Stamford Bridge. “No, they are really strong.” While Juventus usually count on several national team regulars, caretaker coach Massimo Carrera, standing in for the still suspended Antonio Conte, is not worry-free. Keeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon remains a doubt with the left adductor muscle injury which forced him out of Italy’s 3-1 win over Denmark on Tuesday.

And while midfielder Andrea Pirlo will be ready to play his usual orchestrating role ahead of a three-man ‘Azzurri’ defense of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, Carrera may have to send out a makeshift attacking pair. Mirko Vucinic returned from international duty with a cold, meaning Fabio Quagliarella could get to start against his former and hometown club. “We know we’ll come up against a team that can cause problems for us during the game. This is why we’ll need to pay attention all the way through until the end,” he told Sky Italia. — AFP

German League Preview

Bayern hunt record BERLIN: Bayern Munich will set a new Bundesliga record if they claim their eighth straight win since the season began at Fortuna Dusseldorf today, while champions Borussia Dortmund host neighbours Schalke. While Bayern arrive hoping to rewrite Bundesliga history Dusseldorf are looking for their first home victory this season having claimed both their league wins so far on the road.

A victory would also be coach Jupp Heynckes’ 300th in the Bundesliga.

Bayern will be without winger Arjen Robben for the forseeable future with his thigh muscle injury needing more time having struggled with the injury since Munich’s 3-0 win over Wolfsburg at the end of September. “It’s nothing serious, but we can not say exactly when the pain will be resolved,” Bayern’s director of sport Matthias Sammer told German magazine Kicker.

“We are doing him no favors to constantly discuss what day he comes back.” Bayern defender Jerome Boateng has said the Bavarians’ Germany stars are eager to get back to Bundesliga business to erase the memories of Germany’s shock 4-4 draw with Sweden.

Munich had seven players on the pitch for Germany in Berlin when Sweden began their fight back from 4-0

Jupp Heynckes down on Tuesday to score four goals in 30 minutes and stun their hosts by sealing a draw in their World Cup qualifier.

“We are back at Bayern, the national team is behind me now,” he said curtly as Bayern enjoy a five-point lead at the top of the table. “It is important that we get back into things quickly after being with the national team and find our rhythm again. “We want to remain on top and far ahead of the other teams.”

Boateng admitted it was the “first and hopefully last time” he had experienced a 4-4 draw, but insisted the Sweden game now had “nothing to do with the Bayern players”. Dortmund, fourth in the league, take on third-placed Schalke at home today with a nine-point gap to close behind Bayern.

“Schalke have brought some calm

back into the club and they have a good team, which has massive improvements in quality and they are serious contenders for the title,” said Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl. “Overall, our team has more potential and I hope we show it today.” Dortmund will be without midfielders Mario Goetze, who has a thigh injury, and Jakub Blaszczykowski, who has an ankle injury, but defender Mats Hummels and midfielder Sven Bender return from injury. In contrast, Schalke are missing Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos and midfielder Julian Draxler, who has a fractured arm.

Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink is waiting on the fitness of Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart for tomorrow’s match at home against VfB Stuttgart.

The 29-year-old midfield maestro was unable to train on Thursday with a groin problem and Fink is hoping the Oranje star can take part with his team chasing their fourth win in five games.

Hamburg are eighth in the German league while Stuttgart are 15th, just above the relegation places. Stuttgart’s hopes suffered a dent in midweek after it emerged Germany striker Cacau is expected to be out for at least the next three months after tearing both his medial and cruciate knee ligaments in training. — AFP

French League Preview

Marseille under threat PARIS: Carlo Ancelotti may rest several key players, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, at home to Reims as Paris Saint Germain attempt to close the three point gap on French league leaders Marseille. The Sweden captain inspired his country’s astonishing fourgoal comeback in Germany in midweek when the sides finished 4-4 in a World Cup qualifier, but has only trained lightly along with Brazilian teammate Thiago Silva as Ancelotti has one eye on next week’s Champions

League trip to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb. If the 53-year-old Italian handler opts to rest his prized asset, it will give another chance for inform striker Kevin Gameiro to pick up the slack.

“I knew that competition would be tough for places but I showed the coach what I could do against Sochaux (scored twice) and I am not giving up and will do anything to be in the team,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough game against a promoted side who will come

here to play,” the 25-year-old French international told L’Equipe. The capital outfit remain unbeaten in league action but take on one of the early surprises in Reims for today’s afternoon match at Parc des Princes. Just Fontaine who scored a record 13 goals during the 1958 World Cup for France, was in the Reims side when they last won the French title in 1962, but the team coached by Hubert Fournier haven’t been beaten in six matches on their climb to fifth. — AFP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Sports

49ers rebound with win over Seahawks

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MOSCOW: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark returns a ball to Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova during the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow yesterday. — AFP

Wozniacki dethrones Cibulkova Stosur, Ivanovic cruise into Kremlin Cup semis MOSCOW: Third seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark yesterday defeated defending champion Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia to advance to the WTA semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup. Former world number one Wozniacki won 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1 to record her ninth win over Cibulkova, who is 14th in the WTA rankings, in their 12th head-to-head meeting. “It was a very good match today as both of us played very well,” Wozniacki said. “The difference at the end was that I could just keep my highest level up and I managed to win the most important points, especially at the beginning of the third set.” The 22-year-old Dane, who is currently 11th in the world but could still break into the WTA’s top 10 by season’s end, broke twice in winning the opening set. The rivals traded with breaks throughout the second set, Cibulkova pulling the scores level at one set all after winning a tiebreak. But early in the deciding set, the 23-year-old Cibulkova received treatment on her bandaged right leg. And the Slovak never fully recovered, unable to resist the power and precision of Wozniacki, who broke twice to take the set and the match on her first matchpoint.

In today’s semi-final, Wozniacki will face Sofia Avidsson of Sweden, who saw off seventh seed Maria Kirilenko, the last Russian player in the draw, with a 6-3, 6-3 win. In the ATP section of the event, Malek Jaziri saw off Czech Lukas Rosol in straight sets 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 to become the first Tunisian player to reach a semifinal. “I’m really happy to reach the semi-finals here,” Jaziri said.

“And if I’m lucky enough, why not make my first ATP final?” Jaziri will face the winner of the match between second seed Andreas

Seppi of Italy and Japan’s Tatsuma Ito, who was seeded eighth here, for a place in the last four. Croatian giant Ivo Karlovic also breezed into the semis, beating Frenchman Edouard RogerVasselin 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to face the winner of the match between fourth seed Brazilian Thomaz Belucci and Pole Jerzy Janowicz.

Also, former No 1 Ana Ivanovic and 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur advanced to the Kremlin Cup semifinals with straight-set victories yesterday. Ivanovic beat Vesna Dolonc 6-4, 61, while the top-seeded Stosur defeated Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3. Stosur won six consecutive games in the first set but trailed 3-1 in the second set. She recovered with a break in the sixth game and later served out the match at love. The Australian will next face Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion in Saturday’s semifinals.

In the men’s tournament, second-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy advanced to the semifinals by beating Tatsuma Ito of Japan 6-2, 61. “I served well when I needed and do not have much to complain about my game today,” Seppi said. “I had two breaks with doublefaults from him and it helped a lot.” Seppi, who won his second career title in Belgrade in May, will next play Malek Jaziri, who became the first Tunisian to reach an ATP semifinal when he beat Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 6-3. “I hope I’m lucky enough to make my first ATP final,” Jaziri said. “But anyway, I’m already happy with my performance here.” Also, Croatian veteran Ivo Karlovic had 23 aces to beat French qualifier Edouard RogerVassellin 7-6 (4), 6-3.— Agencies

Tipsarevic rolls into Vienna semi-finals VIENNA: Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, still jet-lagged from playing in Shanghai last week, enjoyed a swift 6-2, 4-2 passage to the semi-finals of the ATP Austrian Open yesterday after Slovenian opponent Aljaz Bedene quit with a thigh injury. The 63-minute result was welcomed by the second seed, who had played both singles and doubles the day before while still feeling the residual effects of a flight from Shanghai. “I had an easy day and I really needed it,” said Tipsarevic, who is fighting to book one of three remaining spots in the season wrap-up World Tour Finals next month in London.

“After my matches and stretching last night, I finished at about 1:30 am. “He was having trouble with his leg, it was not doing him any good,” Tipsarevic said of the 89thranked Bedene. Tipsarevic has now won his last 34 matches against players ranked outside the top 75. The Serb will wait for a winner from 2001 champion and popular German Tommy Haas, the fourth seed who won his 500th career match on Thursday, and Slovenia Grega Zemlja, whom Tipsarevic beat at the US Open. —AFP