2 Jan

CR IP TI ON BS SU

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

Shiite cleric Sadr lends support to Sunni protests

Gunmen in Pakistan shoot dead 7 aid workers

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Globe greets 2013 in rolling New Year’s party

United start 2013 with bang to keep City at bay

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US narrowly averts going off ‘fiscal cliff’

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www.kuwaittimes.net

SAFAR 20, 1434 AH

Senate approves last-gasp deal on crisis

Blaze guts Souq Al-Hareem

KUWAIT: Firemen inspect the site of a fire in Souq Mubarakiya yesterday. A major fire broke out in the morning hours at the Souq Al-Hareem (women’s market) side of the historical place, ravaging more than 35 shops and destroying an old four-storey building. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 2)

Max 21º Min 11º High Tide 01:44 & 15:38 Low Tide 08:59 & 21:12

WASHINGTON: Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are considering legislation to stave off America’s fiscal crisis after a last-gasp deal on taxes passed the Senate overnight. A vote was expected as early as yesterday as Vice President Joe Biden was dispatched to Capitol Hill to win over reluctant Democrats and Republican House Speaker John Boehner huddled with members of his restive caucus.

The White House and top Republicans struck a deal after dramatic 11th-hour negotiations to avert huge New Year tax hikes and postpone automatic spending cuts that had threatened to send the US economy back into recession.

If the legislation passes the House, it will represent a win for President Barack Obama as it raises taxes on the richest Americans - albeit above an income threshold higher than he and other Democrats had wanted. But the victory will be hollow as it fails to tackle the deep spending cuts needed to resolve America’s austerity crisis, setting up the prospect of another bitter Washington battle at the start of Obama’s second term.

After months of agonizing over the crisis, weeks of debate about a possible solution, and days of intense, closed-door bartering, the US Senate voted overwhelmingly 89-8 early yesterday to pass a controversial bill that averts the so-called “fiscal cliff”. Although the midnight deadline was technically missed, any serious impact on the world’s biggest economy will be avoided as long as legislation passes the House of Representatives in the coming days. Obama issued a statement shortly after the 2:00 am (0700 GMT) Senate vote, urging House lawmakers to “pass it without delay”.

If the measure is agreed by both chambers of Congress, tax rates will be hiked on households earning over $450,000 a year but remain where they are for everyone else. While not matching Obama’s campaign threshold of $250,000, it would represent a major concession from Republicans who have stuck solidly to a pledge of no higher taxes since then president George H W Bush failed to win re-election in 1992 after breaking a promise not to raise rates. “ While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without delay,” Obama said in his statement. — AFP (See Page 12)

Iran warns planes near Hormuz

JASK, Iran: A Ghader missile is launched from the area near this Iranian port on the shore of the Gulf of Oman during an Iranian navy drill yesterday. — AP

61 dead in New Year stampede in I Coast ABIDJAN: At least 61 people died and dozens more were injured in Abidjan as crowds that had gathered for celebratory New Year’s fireworks stampeded overnight, Ivory Coast rescue workers said yesterday. An AFP journalist saw many injured children, while images broadcast by RTI television showed bodies stretched lifeless on the ground outside the city’s main stadium. Piles of abandoned shoes and clothing could also be seen at the stadium, where soldiers and police were deployed, along with UN peacekeepers.

“This is a real tragedy on this New Year’s Day,” President Alassane Ouattara said at the scene. “We are all in shock,” he added, saying a period of national mourning would be held. The govern-

ment said 60 people had died, with an average age of 18. Earlier, the head of military rescue workers, Lieutenant Colonel Issa Sako, told journalists that 61 had died.

“Forty-nine wounded were evacuated” by rescue workers, Sako said, adding that other injured victims had gone to hospital on their own. Another rescue official said at least 200 people had been wounded in all. Sako said the flow of people at the stadium had caused a “very large crush” and that “in the crush, people were walked over and suffocated by the crowd”.

Officials said around 50,000 people had gathered for the fireworks. Witnesses said the stampede had broken out after the fireworks ended, though the cause remains unclear. It erupted near the stadium’s main — AFP

TEHRAN: Iran’s navy issued dozens of warnings to foreign planes and warships that approached its forces during a five - day sea maneuver near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a semi-official news agency reported yesterday.

Mehr quoted Adm. Amir Rastgari, spokesman for the exercise, as saying that naval and air defense forces on 30 occasions warned off reconnaissance planes, drones and warships belonging to “extraregional forces” that approached the drill, using a term that the Islamic Republic commonly employs to refer to the militaries of the US and its allies.

The five-day naval drill, dubbed Velayat-91, is Iran’s latest show of strength in the face of mounting pressures over its disputed nuclear program. The West suspects it may be aimed at producing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies. Iran has threatened to close the strait over Western sanctions but has not repeated the threats lately.

The strait is the passageway for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Rastgari said the aircraft and warships heeded the warnings and stayed away. “Various reconnaissance aircraft that sought to penetrate into the drill area were given warnings by the navy and the Khatam-ol-Anbia (air defense force) ... Subsequently, the intelligence planes and drones distanced from the area after receiving the warnings,” Rastgari said.

Iran has used the maneuvers to highlight recentlydeveloped weapons systems. State TV said “Ghader”, or “Capable”, a sea-launched anti-ship missile with a range of 200 km, was among the weapons used in the final day of navy drills yesterday. Ghader missile was delivered in late 2011 to the Iranian militar y and the power ful Revolutionary Guard’s naval division, which is assigned to protect Iran’s sea borders. Iranian officials say the missile can skim the sea to avoid detection and can sink large warships. TV said the navy also used another anti-ship missile, dubbed Noor, or Light, during the drill. It showed several missiles being fired and hitting their targets at sea. Reports on the maneuvers say Iran also used its electronic warfare systems.

Iran’s growing arsenal includes short- and mediumrange ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting targets in the region such as Israel and US military bases in the Gulf. Iran began a military self-sufficiency program in 1992, under which it produces a large range of weapons, including tanks, missiles, jet fighters, unmanned drone aircraft and torpedoes. The maneuvers cover nearly 1 million sq km from the Strait of Hormuz to the northern part of the Indian Ocean, including the Gulf of Oman. — AP

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UAE expats who bounce cheques won’t be jailed

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Syria ushers in New Year with violence

DUBAI: Revellers watch fireworks illuminating the Burj Khalifa early yesterday.

Explosions of colour shot out of the worldís tallest building, illuminating the Gulf city state’s sky as the huge expatriate and tourist hub celebrated the New Year. — AFP

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Fire-fighters battling the huge blaze that gutted the old Mubarakiya market yesterday.

Fire ravages Mubarakiya market New Year day blaze leaves behind a trail of destruction

By Hanaan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: More than 35 shops were charred and an old four-storey building was destroyed in Kuwait City’s Mubarakiya Market on the morning of the New Year’s first day. However, no casualties were reported.

The massive blaze left a trail of destruction in Kuwait’s traditional market. It took five fire tenders to bring the fire under control. The fire was reported at the ‘Souk Al-Hareem’ (women’s market) side of the historical place, where at least 40 firefighters and 14 fire trucks were rushed after an emergency call was received at 9:17 am.

The first unit reached the site within three minutes of the emergency call. Following a comprehensive plan, firefighters evacuated the building, cut off power supply from nearby generators and fought the flames.

The fire was brought under control within a record time, considering the size of the affected premises. “A mild case of suffocation suffered by a firefighter,” General Director of the Kuwait Fire Services Department, Major General Yousuf AlAnsari, said. An investigation would now determine the cause of the fire while KFSD Deputy General Director, Brigadier General Khalid AlMikrad, hinted at legal action in view of violations

Al-Otaibi adamant on grilling Husain

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Several lawmakers have tried to prevail upon MP Saadoun Al-Otaibi to make him drop any plans to file a grilling motion against Minister of Oil Hani Husain over alleged irregularities in staff promotions at Kuwaiti oil firms, especially since the issue is currently under investigations.

“The lawmakers made it clear to Al-Otaibi that his move would find little support in the parliament which would put him in an unenviable position at a time when the public is looking for improved relations between the parliament and cabinet,” sources familiar with the recent talks said.

They added that the MPs proposed requesting a parliamentary investigations committee “as a way out” for AlOtaibi to retract his grilling threat “but Al-Otaibi remains reluctant about dropping his threat.” Separately, MP Badr Al-Bathali called on the cabinet to forward its work program as soon as possible so that parliament could discuss it “and establish the road map based on which the cooperation between the two authorities can move forward.”

Municipality cancels contract The Kuwait Municipality canceled a contract with a company about erecting advertisement hoardings in streets around the capital, Ahmadi, Hawally and Farwaniya governorates since it failed to pay the installments. The contract, reportedly valued at KD31 million, contained a clause allowing the municipality to cancel it in case the company failed to pay its dues in time.

pertaining to safety and security conditions. The fact that the roof of the four-storey building was being rented illegally to house the workers may also attract punitive action. Medical emergency department sent seven ambulances to the site

with 14 medical technicians in anticipation of any possible causalities. One causality was dealt with and the injured was rushed to Amiri Hospital. The injured was an Ethiopian expat who broke his right leg after falling from the building.

Amir asks govt to iron out pending issues with Iraq Public movements in Iraq remain a ‘worry’ KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has directed the government to work towards resolving all pending issues with Iraq as the two countries move to improve bilateral relations, especially since Iraq is now governed by rulers elected by the people.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid AlSabah, revealed this during his meeting last Sunday with members of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

According to sources familiar with the meeting, participants expressed concern about the public movements currently on in Iraq, which the executive and legislative authorities in Kuwait see as “a potential factor that could hurt the relationship between the two countries.”

“The main concern pertains to the continuing sectarian instigation in Iraq

which can leave serious impact on Iraq’s relations with its neighbors,” said the sources who spoke to Al-Qabas on the condition of anonymity.

Kuwait and Iraq are expected to sign nine agreements during an official visit to Baghdad in the near future “including the treaty to drop charges pressed by the Kuwait Airways against its Iraqi counterpart,” said the sources, noting at the same time that Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid told the foreign panel members that “Iraq has started maintenance operations for border demarcation.”

The issue is considered one of the most critical ones still pending between the two countries. Meanwhile, the sources revealed that members of the foreign committee asserted the need for Kuwait to “make use of its good relations with Iraq and Iran to improve its regional position.”

They felt that Kuwait, owing to its geopolitical situation, could emerge as “the main key for the relationship between the two countries and the Gulf states.”

Regarding Iran, the sources revealed that minister Al-Sabah “expressed Kuwait’s concern” about the Bushehr Nuclear Reactor, especially given “confirmed information” indicating that the plant was shut down for the second time most recently due to an electric error. There are also growing concerns about Tehran’s ability to run the facility “as the contract signed with Russia has been extended for six months after it expired by the end of 2012.”

“The Iranians struggled to handle the plant even with Russian help, which adds to the growing concern about how they are going to manage alone when the Russian teams leave for good,” the sources said. Moreover, they added that

Kuwaiti driver killed in motorway crash

minister Al-Sabah spoke with the panel about “information about Iran’s plans to build 24 nuclear reactors along the Arabian Gulf coast,” something the minister said “doesn’t lead a positive impression on Kuwait.”

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid also told the panel that Kuwait’s considered the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the three disputed islands with the United Arab Emirates, as a “violation of an agreement reached between Kuwait and Iran in order to reach a settlement through direct negotiations or the International Court of Justice.” Furthermore, the sources noted that the minister indicated that “Kuwait continues to carry out negotiations with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq pertaining to the neritic zone” shared by the four countries. — Al-Qabas

News

in brief

Newborn found abandoned KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti male driver died in an accident reported recently on the Seventh Ring Road. Paramedics and police rushed to the scene shortly after the accident was reported, and declared the 26-year-old dead on the spot. His body was referred to the forensics department and an investigation was on to determine the circumstances which led to the vehicle losing balance and turning over.

Prank call A hoax call about explosives forced authorities to evacuate a school in Saad Al-Abdullah in Jahra. Students and staff were swiftly evacuated from the campus on Monday morning as bomb squads launched extensive search operations but nothing was found eventually. Jahra police are now trying to ascertain who was behind the prank call. A case was filed at the area’s police station. (Watan) Addict caught A man was arrested at King Fahad Highway for driving under the influence and possessing drugs. The Kuwaiti driver was pulled over by patrol officers who found him in an inebriated state. They also recovered drugs and drug paraphernalia inside his vehicle. The man was taken to the Drug Control General Department to face legal action. (Watan)

KUWAIT: Bukhoor is the necessary ingredient for any welcome in Kuwait. No social event or a wedding starts without it. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Bootleggers in custody Two people were arrested in Jeleeb Al-Shuyoukh recently for being in pos-

454 perished in road fatalities in 2012

session of alcoholic drinks meant for sale.

Patrol officers who ordered a Japanesemade vehicle to pull over became suspicious when its occupants betrayed nervousness and decided to search the vehicle. They found 45 bottles of homebrewed liquor in the car. The Bangladeshi men admitted they were planning to sell the contraband to New Year revelers. The two were taken to the proper authorities to face charges. (Rai) Baby abandoned A newborn was found abandoned near a Nuwaiseeb mosque recently and taken to the Adan Hospital for medical attention. The baby was undergoing tests that would help detectives identify the parents. Paramedics and police had rushed to rescue the infant after worshippers who found the baby at dawn on Monday made emergency calls.

Thieves arrested Two people were arrested while search is on for their third accomplice in a robbery at a grocery shop in Shuwaikh recently. Patrol officers first arrested a suspect after they pursued two men who were trying to flee after spotting the approaching patrol vehicle. The Pakistani man explained that the two had just robbed a shop in the area and also provided description of the car they used.

This helped the police arrest another suspect who had earlier escaped. The shop’s Iranian keeper had reported that robbers had stolen KD360. —Al-Anba

The traffic department stated that 454 people died in road accidents in 2012, 39 less than the 493 deaths in 2011. The department claimed that the number of deaths came down due to increased awareness about road safety among road users. In the meantime, Hawally traffic department authorities announced that 210,949 citations for various violations were handed out in 2012 in addition to 701 service orders. A total of 2,975 road accidents were inspected and 5,012 vehicles detained. The traffic department urged all road users to abide by traffic rules and regulations.

MEW gears for summer demands The Ministry of Electricity and Water plans to enhance its production capacity to meet the projected higher demand next summer. As part of such efforts, it is working on a number of projects including a plan to produce an additional 1,000 megawatts a day at its Subbiya and South Zoor power plants. This was announced by director of the Subbiya plant, Abdul-Aziz Al-Najm, who indicated in a recent press statement that ìextra effortsî are needed to cope with the delay in executing the North Zoor power plant. The delay would require that the capacity of the existing plants be increased to meet the projected demand during the summer. In the meantime, MEW insiders told Al-Rai that the ministry signed an agreement with an investor in the North Zoor power plant project as well as the Partnership and Technical Bureau pertaining to ìpreparations to go ahead with the project soon after the creation of the shareholding companyî tasked with the construction process.

Blood bank to replenish stocks Blood Bank supervisor Dr Rana Al Abdul Razzaq said that the bank was on the way to replenish its blood stocks and even increase these gradually after acute shortages caused by lack of blood donation campaigns in the past.

The Blood Bank organizes blood donation camps at the level of ministries, organizations, universities and other places. Al Abdul Razzaq said that far more blood was currently available in the bank than earlier. However, stocks were still short of the ideal capacity when it comes to certain blood groups, especially the negative groups.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

local Sudanese leader awards Kuwait FM Nile Order ROSARIES, Sudan: Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir awarded Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and KFAED Chairman Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah Sudan’s First-Class Nile Order for contributions to development projects in Sudan.

The Sudanese leader handed the award to Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Abdulwahab Al-Bader while launching Rosaries Dam heightening project.

Al-Bader and Director General and Chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) Abdulatif Al-Hamad arrived here earlier on Monday to attend the opening of the Rosaries Dam heightening project.

The dam is one of the biggest electricity and water storage projects in this Arab country. KFAED has contributed around $52 million to the project, while the AFESD, OPEC Fund for International Development, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Islamic Development Fund and Saudi Fund for Development have contributed to the dam project with a total $441.5 million. The opening of the Rosaries Dam heightening project coincides with the country’s Independence celebration. The Rosaries Dam lies on the Blue Nile, 550km Southeast of Khartoum. The first stage of the dam project was completed in 1966.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the KFAED chief said he was here to represent the Kuwaiti deputy premier and foreign minister, who is also the chairman of the KFAED. He said this occasion coincides with the passing of 50 years since the Kuwaiti fund extended its first loan to Sudan for a railway project. He hailed the Rosaries Dam heightening project as a major development project in the field of energy and farming in Sudan. — KUNA See Page 5

Morsi denies Muslim Brotherhood support ‘Allegation insult to Kuwaitis’ KUWAIT: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi believes that allegations about the Muslim Brotherhood directly supporting its political arm in Kuwait were offensive to Kuwaiti people and said the pan-Arab group was not engaged in any covert activity in any of the Gulf States.

Morsi was responding to a question by a local newspaper as part of an Arab media delegation which called upon the President on Monday.

“Such assumptions are completely untrue and imply an insult to the people of Kuwait and the Gulf countries,” he said in response to Al-Rai’s inquiry about the supposed Muslim Brotherhood influence in Kuwait’s polity.

The Egyptian President further suggested that similar rumors were being spread on purpose to “create divisions between Arab nations.” “[Egypt] respects the people of the Arabian Gulf countries, and I reiterate the fact that maintaining the Gulf’s security is crucial for the region’s collective security,” Morsi said.

He welcomed the delegation of Arab media personalities who participated in the Arab Media Leaders’ forum which concluded in Cairo on Sunday. — Al-Rai

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Teachers Association held an open day at the Equestrian Club recently which was attended by Minister of Information Sheikh Salman AlHmoud Al-Sabah. —Photos by Fuad Al-Sheikh

KUWAIT: Young revelers throng the streets on the eve of the New Year last night.

— Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Christians attend a midnight New Year service at the National Evangelical Church in Kuwait City last night.

Lackluster welcome to New Year in Kuwait Revelers flock to malls, entertainment facilities, seaside

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Since 2008, January 1 has been an officially declared non-working holiday in Kuwait but this year, Kuwaitis and expatriates hardly seemed excited and spent the day like any other. No fireworks marked the day, no crackers boomed, and no one organized huge parties to usher in this New Year.

Some, however, did usher in the New Year with beautiful celebrations at home with their families and loved ones. A few low-key parties were organized at the restaurants, entertainment clubs and hotels. However, those who have come to Kuwait recently were critical about celebrations being so lowkey.

“I don’t know why they cannot organize the same fireworks display that they exhibited last November. It was very nice, and had they organized a similar show for New Year, it would have been surely beautiful as we would have felt the spirit of the New Year,” commented an expat.

“Other countries organize huge gatherings and parties in the street. Of course, we cannot do that here but a fireworks

display could have uplifted people’s spirits. Honestly, I hardly feel that another year has begun. There was no countdown to cheer it in. I feel as if 2013 came in just like that,” another expat observed.

Parties or celebrations are actually not prohibited in Kuwait as long as they follow the rules and guidelines set by the Ministry of Interior. No dancing or alcohol is allowed. However, such elements were noticed in some parties organized at private places or in the comfort of people’s homes.

Organizers can also apply for a permit to party but many local community organizers avoid such gatherings since they attract checks or raids by the authorities.

The entertainment facilities throughout Kuwait offered discounts to New Year revelers, especially those run by Touristic Enterprises. The Scientific Center, along Gulf Street was also open and thronged by many expatriate’s children.

The Kuwait Zoo was bustling with many children in the afternoon. Many families also spent time together by the seaside, with barbeques and a host of other activities, such as football and volleyball.

From early morning yesterday, the Gulf Road from Salwa to Kuwait City saw many a holiday reveler as the weather seemed conducive to the spirit of the day.

Mustafa and his family were seen enjoying the day with some friends at the Gulf Road yesterday. “A single-day holiday is definitely not enough, but I really make sure that even if it was just one day, my family should enjoy an outing. So we have barbeques and games here,” Mustafa said.

“Alhamdullahah, the weather is not very chilly and it is not very windy either, so we can really enjoy,” he added.

As expected, Kuwait City was thronged by expatriates on the New Year eve and many were utilizing the day to meet their friends and relatives.

Among this crowd was Laila from the Philippines who telephoned her parents back home. “I can only call when I am in Kuwait City as I do not have a cell phone. We are not allowed to keep one by our sponsor. So I availed of this opportunity to call my parents. I was able to talk to them and my New Year is complete now,” she said. Clearly, everyone found his or her own way to usher in the New Year.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

kuwait digest

Who’s truly suffering injustice?

Writing disgust

By Dr Sajed Al-Adali

By Mohammad Al-Sabti

C

A

dangerous psychological phenomenon has been spreading among a majority of people in Kuwait as everyone has a perceived feeling of being a victim of injustice. Everyone feels victimized by someone else, and based on that feeling, people are making their political or social judgments.

The ministers and government officials often complain about people passing judgments and accusing them of failing to fulfill their duties towards the public. On the other hand, people are usually heard blaming the government for turning their lives into a living hell which they have to go through on a daily basis.

You talk to MPs and they speak about the “injustice” heaped upon them by their voters, who in turn complain about worse forms of injustice that they claim they are suffering at the hands of their representatives in the parliament.

Many Shiites believe that they are an oppressed minority who cannot obtain a license to erect any new place of worship, or is being hired for critical jobs in the army and the police force.

On the other hand, many Sunnis share similar sentiments as they feel Shiites are controlling the centers of power in the state. Tribal citizens, so to speak, also see themselves as having been marginalized when compared to other social categories who, in turn, complain of “favoritism towards tribals.”

Islamists believe that opponents of the Islamic ideology control a majority of state departments, and vice versa. Even women see themselves as suffering “injustice” at the hands of their male counterparts and in the matter of personal status laws, while men complain about “injustice” heaped upon them by the women and what they believe are “prejudiced” family laws.

The political opposition in Kuwait claims to be fighting a war launched against it while pro-government politicians complain about similar injustice meted out by the opposition.

Employees and employers, housemaids and housewives, sponsors and the people they sponsor, contractors and real estate owners, and every category in political, business and social fields feels injustice at the hands of the people they share their respective field with. But who is actually right?

The indisputable fact is that the problem is actually in our heads and in the way we handle any situation. It has nothing to do with the people we share our political, social and career lives with. It is all a delusion affecting our minds and blinding our judgment. We want to continue living with injustice due to a flaw in our ideology.

Our minds simply entertain this bad psychological condition that we have imposed upon ourselves, and are trying to force upon others.

The situation is definitely not the way we see it or as a majority of us do. It could be exactly the opposite, in fact. To put it simply, it cannot be true that everyone who claims to be suffering from injustice is right. — Al-Rai

kuwait digest

Hoping for a year of peace

By Arwa Al-Wiqian

J

ust a few hours away from the New Year, we are bidding farewell and saying goodbye to all those who did not deserve to continue in our life and also welcoming others who would hopefully bring more joy to us in lieu of those we leave behind.

Each year, we bid goodbye to some memories and some people, often both are similar in one way or the other. They both have a certain impact on our lives.

Our life will always remain as a harbor where we stand bidding farewell to ships that will never return ashore and others that, even though they will keep returning, will part from us leaving some pain. Some people have willingly travelled for good, fleeing an oppressive society, and will now turn a new leaf.

Some others may choose to walk away of their own volition and suddenly disappear as if they were a mere mirage in our lives. However, the sweetest thing about life is its continuity, which means it will never stop for one or the other person.

We also say goodbye to a whole year of agonies and pain as well as laughter and joy, a diverse tapestry without which our lives would have been doomed to utter darkness and sadness. We would not feel the touch of angelic purity and kindness if it were not for the troubles created by human beings.

Surely, 2012 was a busy year for all of us. Yet, I have a dream and a wish that each and every one of us will identify some role in our lives and vow to live a life of virtue and harbor good intentions towards others.

How gracious and merciful you have been, Allah, to all of us. You never deprived the disobedient or the poor of Your mercy. We are always in need for Your grace and mercy when we face any crisis.

Dear 2013, we have no choice except to receive you with open arms and our hearts full of love and tolerance. May you find out minds so developed that they are ready to accept others and learn to respect our differences.

If only we could learn not to judge others without even knowing them enough, we would all be so much more humane. If I could feel your pain without even knowing you, it would make me truly belong to humanity.

Dear 2013, have mercy upon those who have experienced humanity. Have mercy on all those who suffer torture on this earth. May you be the harbinger of goodness and bounties for me, my friends and entire humanity and teach me how to readily extend a helping hand to others rather than causing them misery. —Al-Jarida

kuwait digest

What differentiates Kuwaitis?

By Nasser Alabdly

T

his is not a question aimed at denouncing but is a legitimate query prompted by the current political developments. Through this question, we may find an opportunity to review some contemporary developments, including all political and ground level events, and hope to find a clue that helps us understand what is going on.

Before starting to review the past, specifically the last six years as the current events are actually a harvest from those years, we must address certain facts, the most important of which is that the Kuwaiti democracy is not like the western democracy but more like a “compromise” which the former ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, was forced to follow after certain historical and geographical realities led to a certain situation. Therefore, we can escape any comparisons about two different kinds of democracies.

The second fact is that we live in a country which is ruled more by religion and tribes, two entities which are more important than the constitutional institutions which are an outcome of the adoption of the Constitution of Kuwait in 1962.

We will find that these two factors dominate our daily life and are an additional impediment to the development of the democratic project. Despite many attempts to bypass these two factors, or at least understand the role of the civilian state, these remain steadfast for local and regional reasons. Whenever needed, mindsets that propagate these two factors take advantage of the circumstances.

The third fact is that 99.9% of the Kuwaiti people are working in the public sector, and received a lot of privileges and facilities even though many do not actually do any work. It is more than enough that they are enrolled in any of the public sectors to receive a salary of at least £1,500 per month, without being burdened by any bills for electricity, water, telephone or even individual income tax. In addition, education and health services are free of cost, major food items are subsidized to the point of almost being free.

Faced with these three facts, we have to start asking the same question all over again: What differentiates Kuwaitis? And why did all those thousands of citizens came out to protest? Despite the special situation that is unique in their lives, was it support for the democratic project? Was a threat anticipated to constitution or law? Or is it the case that something else forced them to protest which we have not been able to figure out?

The roots of this crisis go back to 1996 when the former National Assembly Speaker, Jassem Al-Kharafi, announced his intention to nominate himself for the next National Assembly Speaker’s post even before the parliamentary elections began, which was unusual.

Generally, the candidates contest the elections, and when they reach the National Assembly as MPs, declare their nomination for the National Assembly Speakership, not before. On the other hand, Al-Kharafi belonged to the traditional business class, which was outside the framework of this position for many years.

Most of the middle class in the country comprises tribes, apart from a large proportion of Shiites who were not comfortable with such developments because are eternally apprehensive of the traditional business class. They believe that the renewal of any alliance between this class and the ruling family means giving up their privileges in the public sector. It also means that this class may take over the means of production again after these were nationalized by the state during the fifties of the last century and became the property of the people. Thus, the middle class will work again for the benefit of those traders, and may lose all privileges secured over the past years. The sentiment was expressed by a tribal MP in one of the National Assembly sessions when he said: “They want us to work as their servants.”

The government failed in its attempt during the Council of 1996, to ensure Al-Kharafi becoming the National Assembly Speaker. So the crisis lingered on for some more time. The government adopted a hostile attitude towards that Council and began looking for its errors till it managed to push a close MP to question one of its ministers. An oppositionist voice commented on such a move by saying: “It is the first time that we see the government questioning the government.”

The government managed to shuffle its cards in that Council and dissolved it, paving the way for the next election that crowned Al-Kharafi as the National Assembly Speaker, and to boost efforts for renewing the alliance.

Some indications in the Council of 1999 confirmed

the fear of the middle class about renewal of the alliance between the government and the traditional business class. Talk started about privatization projects and transferring the ownership of some state facilities to specific companies. Also, the developments opened the floodgates for what came to be known as “B.O.T” (build, own, transfer) projects, which are run by a group of families connected with the traditional business class. The government has failed to allay the fears of the middle class and its components, hence the confrontation between the middle class with its three components (tribes, Shiites, urban) and the merchants.

In this context, a group of tribes and Shiites MPs decided in that Council to form an opposition bloc called “Popular Action Bloc”, comprising 16 MPs in the Council of 1999. They were later joined by the former National Assembly Speaker, Ahmed Sadoun, after he personally felt the pressure of the renewed alliance.

The formation of the Bloc was meant to stop the new alliance so that it does not run roughshod over all historic gains and privileges secured by the middle class through the public sector. It was a battle between the two parties where the “Bloc” managed to overthrow successive governments and councils without letting the real nature of conflict come to the surface.

An unexpected development occurred when the “Popular Action Bloc” split because two influential MPs from the Shiite sect withdrew. At that time, the impact of what was called “The Eulogy Incident” led to a weakening of the Bloc. If the Bloc survived, it was because of the aggressive attitude showed by the rest of the members and their permanent opposition to the Ministers in the National Assembly.

The conflict between the two parties culminated in the election of 36 MPs in the last National Assembly 2012. The Prime Government and the Council were brought down, and later the Bloc was renamed as “The Majority Bloc”. However, a Constitutional Court decision annulled the elections which ended that Council and divested the Majority from a historic opportunity.

Thus, the doors for no-holds barred conflict were left wide open for both the parties until it threatened the very existence of the state and the regime.

In November, the crisis escalated once more in Kuwait and kept recurring, sometimes because of the issuance of a decree amending the Elections Law reducing votes from four to one per voter, and sometimes in the form of peaceful marches and boycott of the elections based on this decree. At other times, it was triggered by Kuwait Prince’s warnings that he would not accept a state of chaos.

Apparently, there are two parties, and one of them supports the Prince’s Decree which reduced four votes system to a single vote one. A majority in this party are from the Shiite movement (National Islamic Alliance “Al-Tahalof Al-Islamy Al-Watany”, Justice and Peace “AlAdalah Wa Al-Salam”, The Message “Al-Resalah”, The Covenant “Al-Methaq”), in addition to Salafist movement (Salafi Islamic Alliance “Al-Tajamo’ Al-Islamy AlSalafi”), and the “Chamber of Commerce and Industry” led by traders, and the Democratic movement (Democratic Platform “Al-Manbar Al-Demoqraty”, Democratic National Alliance “Al-Tahalof Al-Watany AlDemoqraty”). While the other party rejects the Decree of one vote, and includes Islamic Constitutional Movement “Al-Harakah Al-Dostoriah Al-Islamiah”, The Popular Action Bloc “Kotlat Al-Amal Al-Shaby ”, Alagaman, Motair & Al-Awazem tribes.

Behind the scenes, and alongside this class struggle, three parties in the ruling family found an opportunity to recover their gains or at least cut their losses and secure whatever power and wealth they were left with. This is the core of the actual conflict between those movements.

These parties provided these movements with all the reasons to further stoke their fears till it turned into a comprehensive popular movement on the ground.

This movement exceeded all expectations. The three parties in the ruling family are still busy aggravating the political scene because one of them wants to enter the political game and the other wants to keep him out. There is a new factor on the political horizon which represents the regional aspirations that want to take advantage of the pro-democracy atmosphere in Kuwait.

It is happening because there is a free press, platforms such as the National Assembly and political Islamic movements, as well as civil society organizations. These can derive benefit from and use them in the battle for influence in the region. There is a polarization happening among the Gulf States in the context of the Iranian nuclear challenge, regional projects in Syria, Iraq and Jordan, and finally the Shiite crescent.

olumnists of a daily newspaper know that writing on a regular basis is an onerous process in many ways. It is arduous to find adequate time day after day and muster up enough physical energy and psychological orientation to sit behind a desk and turn an idea into a readable narrative. It is also a huge task to find a suitable idea to write about every day. Once a writer undertakes that task and churns out a piece, it continues to haunt him as he wonders whether the article, written amidst ongoing developments and reflecting people’s concerns at the time of publication, will actually appeal to his readers or not. On top of that, the writer is also in competition with his fellow scribes and has to ensure that his work stands the scrutiny of his peers and rises above their work. In no case should his words remain mere ink smudges on the pages of any newspaper, be it printed or in electronic form.

All of this is, of course, true of those writers who really care about their writing and feel responsible about their profession. They are aware that their words can open closed minds and penetrate fortified walls to reach the rulers and commoners, good or bad. On the other hand, those for whom it is only a passing hobby and who masquerade as writers for a kick or for vested interest have little to worry about. They are not even aware what being a writer means. For them, it is merely a way to corner some fame, wallow in some short-lived glamour.

At one level, it is disgusting work. I know that some of you may find the word ‘disgusting’ very offensive. Some might even wonder why on earth we, the writers, go on writing at all if that was the case. The answer is simple: by the time a writer becomes addicted to the process of writing and its continuous tension, it is inevitable that he finds it difficult to live without it. Most writers remain unhappy when on vacation since they are unable to write. They derive happiness from their exertions, churning out words that help them combine their inherently felt responsibility towards themselves as well as towards their readers. A true writer knows that his or her column is awaited and must be filled with ideas regardless of what he or she has chosen to write about.

When asked for whom he writes, the famous Argentinean writer, Jorge Borges, said, “I write for myself.”

For me, I took the liberty to perceive this statement the way I liked. I understood that a true writer likes writing for himself. In other words, he writes according to his own taste and never writes to achieve complete self-satisfaction, which is so hard and tiring to achieve.

At least, as far as I am concerned, it is a state of disgust, particularly when I begin to write an article and turn ideas into written words, but soon the exertions turn into a state of unrivalled joy when the article is finally written and finds its way into a publication.

Therefore, I will never give up writing, nor find comfort in anything else. — Al-Jarida

kuwait digest

Let people judge the NA’s performance

By Aziza Al-Mufarej

E

verything has a gestation period. Even a new medicine has to go through a period of trial when doctors study the results of an experiment and allow some time to see if the drug proves its efficacy or not in treating a certain disease. Nothing justifies launching a vicious attack on an issue without waiting for adequate time to see if a political measure has taken its intended course and has had the right effect. We do not deny that our polity has suffered wounds which are deep and has passed through a tragic phase, and that people are looking for some comfort and peace of mind.

A number of people did all they could to reverse the decision of HH The Amir about the one vote decree, and some even plunged to such abominable levels as to use abusive language to impose their will, but they all failed.

That failure has made them angry and has sparked a bout of madness.

A large number of people gathered together in town squares screaming their criticism of the measures taken

by Kuwaiti authorities to maintain calm, peace and societal security. They wanted to break down the will of the Kuwaiti people but were left disappointed when they found that the common people opted to stand behind their Amir and leader. The public went to the ballot boxes and elected their MPs for the new Assembly despite fierce attempts to make them change their mind and not to participate in the election process.

The detractors were clearly at a loss about what to do but refused to admit defeat as honorable knights do, even though they had inflicted this defeat upon themselves by their own volition since they had refused to participate in the elections. No one had forced them not to. The Majority Bloc came up with a slogan that “A house in which we are not there should vanish” and moved to its plan B with newly sharpened knives.

Now, according to this new plan, the opposition group militias are speaking to the people against the new assembly, and are working on creating despair among the simple people about the future, telling them that nothing but darkness stares them. They are saying that the new Assembly is temporary and will not achieve anything, and that the government will dissolve it unless circumstances changed.

They are saying that the MPs in the new Assembly are simply toys, pliable people whom no one knows and who have little competence.

The people are being told that the MPs elected to the new Assembly will merely serve as rubber stamps and uncritically back all decisions of the government. As for the big agenda of development and reform, they are simply not equipped to handle it. With their mysterious orange evaluation meters, these people have deduced that the MPs are not fit for the task.

In general, the Majority Bloc had earlier asked that it be given nine ministries and had asked the government and the people to try them for four years. Since all Kuwaitis are equal according to the constitution, the new legally elected Assembly has the right to continue serving the country without any obstacles, protests or marches for the next four years. It has the right to let people judge it like they did other Assemblies.

Once the ice melts and the truth surfaces, we can judge this Assembly. — Al-Watan

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

LOCAL

Kuwait Fund notched up main goals since inception: Al-Bader

MOI forms panel to probe protocol error

KFAED, AFESD chiefs in Sudan to open dam project

KUNA apologizes for ‘inadvertent error’

KHARTOUM: The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has notched up its main goals since it was created 51 years ago, primarily its aid to development projects in Arab and developing countries, KFAED Director General Abdulwahab Al-Bader said here on Monday.

In a press statement marking the KFAED’s 51th anniversary of creation, Al-Bader said that KFAED had extended concessionary loans, technical aid, grants and counsel to developing countries. The KFAED’s development aid has played a core role in serving and supporting the foreign policy of the State of Kuwait, and in consolidating its relations with beneficiaries, he said.

Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Abdulwahab Al-bader and Director General and Chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) Abdulatif AlHamad have arrived here to open Rosaries Dam heightening project.

The chiefs of the Kuwait-based funds and their delegations were received by Sudanese Minister of Electricity and Dams Osama Abdalla and several other Sudanese officials.

Several ministers of irrigation and representatives from the member states of the two funds and Arab financial institutions have also turned up here for the same purpose. The dam is one of the biggest electricity and water storage projects in this Arab country.

KFAED has contributed around $52 million to the project, which will be officially launched by Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. The AFESD, OPEC Fund for International Development, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Islamic Development Fund and Saudi Fund for Development have also contributed to the dam project with a total $441.5 million. The opening of the Rosaries Dam heightening project coincides with the country’s Independence celebration. The Rosaries Dam lies on the Blue Nile, 550km Southeast of Khartoum.

The first stage of the dam project was completed in 1966. The heightening works consists of raising of the 10m concrete buttress dam from 68m to 78m, and raising of the earth dams from 30m to 40m while extension from 12.5km to 24.1km. The storage capacity is to be increased from three billion m3 to 7.4 billion m3.

On the KFAED’s 2010-2011/20142015 strategy, Al-Bader said it envisions a hike in annual loans from KD 200 million to KD 250 million on average. It also provides for enabling the KFAED to broaden its activities, especially in bankrolling such development goals as cutting poverty, prioritizing agricultural, health and educational sectors, funding local development banks and social funds and backing small and medium-sized projects as well as creating new jobs, Al-Bader added.

On the KFAED’s recent activities, he pointed to GCC resolutions to help Bahrain and Oman with $10 billion

each for five years, together with another five-year development program for Jordan and Morocco with $5 billion each. Kuwait’s share in the GCC contributions hits $5 billion to Bahrain and Oman and $2.5 billion to Jordan and Morocco, he said, adding that the KFAED was asked to run Kuwait’s $7.5 billion in grants.

The KFAED chief vowed to continue helping and aiding development projects in Arab and developing countries, hinging upon its own resources and scientific experience.

Deputy Director General of the KFAED Hisham Al-Waqayan said the main goals of the KFAED were to help Arab and developing countries achieve their economic and social development and provide their peoples with decent lives. The fund has adequate efficiency and economic and administrative experience to run concessionary loans and technical to beneficiaries, he said.

The fund mainly finances farming, transport, communications, energy, industry, water, sewage, health and education, he added. These projects, which have various development goals, contribute to enabling the beneficiaries to provide their citizens with basic needs, improve their living conditions, cut poverty, and provide infrastructure utilities, he pointed out.

Earlier in the day, the KFAED said in a release marking the 51th anniversary of its establishment that it had initially supported development in Arab countries between 1962 and 1974.

Kuwait then decided to broaden the fund’s activities to include other developing countries all over the world as part of the Gulf nation’s interest in development there, it said. The fund is running Kuwaiti grants worth KD 355 million to Arab and developing countries, in addition to KD 100 million in aid to 22 Muslim nations in the field of food security.

As part of an initiative adopted in 1996 by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to help heavily indebted countries, the Kuwaiti fund is rescheduling the loans of 25 countries, including 24 in Africa and only one in Latin America, according to the release.

On the fund’s local role, it is contributing to local development in Kuwait, it said, adding that it provided the Savings and Loans Bank with KD 500 million to boost its resources by buying 20-year bonds at an easy interest of two percent. It also allocates 25 percent of its profits to the Public Authority for Housing Care. In 2004, it launched a training program for young engineers in Kuwait with an annual sum of KD 1-2 million, it pointed out.

To support Kuwaiti companies, the fund has allowed Kuwaiti contractors to participate in the implementation of its projects, it said.

Until in late August 2012, the fund contributed to bankrolling over 800 projects in some 102 countries around the world with a sum of $15.5 billion; including 16 in Arab world, 40 in Africa, 35 in Asia and 11 in Latin America and Caribbean Sea. — KUNA

Sheikh Sabah Fahad Al-Nasser Al-Sabah

Third Popular Heritage Festival from Jan 15 KUWAIT: The Third Popular Heritage Festival, due to kick off on January 15, is expected to draw a large number of participants from Kuwait and other member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Sheikh Sabah Fahad Al-Nasser Al-Sabah, the head of the organizing and judging committees of the planned event, said yesterday that up to 1,200 contestants have registered their names since opening registration for participation in the festival 15 days ago.

He noted that beauty contests would be held for camels, sheep, falcons and horses, in addition to fishing competitions. Sheikh Sabah Fahad anticipated high turnout and participation in the month-long activity, to be held for the third year in a row with an Amiri Grant. Grand awards worth KD 740,000 would be distributed to winners of the contests, he said, adding that 94 cars would be granted to 600 winners of all competitions.

Steering committee, headed by Sheikh Dhari Fahad AlAhmad Al-Sabah, is installing headquarters of the festival, located on Al-Salmi road, where the animals’ contests would be held.

He praised His Highness the Amir’s patronization of the festival-which encouraged many owners of animals to take part in the competitions. — KUNA

KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Ali AlRashid said on Monday that the Information Minister and State Minister for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud AlSabah has formed an “investigation committee into an administrative error” made by KUNA in one of the agency’s articles.

The Kuwaiti state news agency’s article mentioned the name of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah before the National Assembly Speaker, an error which is commonly regarded as “unconstitutional,” AlRashid told reporters.

“KUNA Chairman and Director General Sheikh Mubarak Al-Duaij Al-Ibrahim Al-Sabah has phoned me apologizing for the inadvertent mistake, underlining that KUNA published the article as per the statement it had received from the Cabinet without correcting the protocol error, and that the constitution states that the name of the National Assembly speaker should be writ-

ten before that of HH the Prime Minister,” he added. Al-Rashid said there was no reason to doubt any intentions for foul play in the report, expressing his confidence the incident would not be repeated in the future.

For its part, KUNA expressed its apologies for the “inadvertent error” it made in the article published on Wednesday, December 26 on the protocol order of names including the National Assembly speaker.

“As KUNA news agency affirms its appreciation and gratitude of the role practiced by the legislative political body headed by its Speaker Ali Al-Rashid, it would like to make clear it had received the statement as it stands from its source, the Cabinet, including the aforementioned protocol error,” read an agency statement. “An investigation is currently underway into the accounts of the publication under the supervision of the agency’s administration in order to make sure the error

is not committed once again in the future.” In this regard, KUNA reiterates its profound appreciation of the National Assembly speaker and utter gratitude for the role of the country’s legislative political body as a main component of the country’s politics and assures its commitment to providing journalism at the highest of standards.

Meanwhile, Al-Rashid noted that parliamentary sessions would be increased from two to three sessions every two weeks “in order to hurry the completion of items on the agenda”, and that “this issue will be presented to the parliament for voting.”

“Parliamentary committees have been called upon to prepare their priorities ahead of their presentation at a National Assembly office meeting early next week in the attendance of the Cabinet. This will outline the priorities to be presented at the National Assembly’s next session for final approval,” he concluded. —KUNA

NBK largest contributor to society ‘Focus on education, environment, health and social programs KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) pioneered its corporate social responsibility programs in 2012, maintaining its position as the largest contributor to the Kuwait community in the private sector.

NBK’s social initiatives and programs included a KD 4 million donation to develop NBK’s Children Hospital, annual donations to the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), recruiting and professional development for Kuwaiti youth and NBK annual Walkathon.

“NBK has a long tradition supporting social and community oriented activities in the country,” Said Nasser Musaed Al-Sayer, NBK Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Bank and Community Committee. “We believe that our people are our most valuable resource and to that end we’ve implemented numerous professional development and training programs to encourage the education and professional development of Kuwait’s youth,” added Al-Sayer.

NBK’s corporate social responsibility program for 2012 covered a range of education, environment, health, philanthropic, social and sports-related initiatives.

HR and educational initiatives In 2012, as part of its commit-

ment to providing job opportunities to new graduates, NBK actively recruited skilled graduates and young nationals. NBK organized more than 40 training programs including NBK Academy, the Summer Internship Program and the first of its kind in the region NBK High Fliers Program in collaboration with the American University of Beirut. NBK hosted several school visits during which hundreds of students were invited to tour the bank and learn firsthand about banking procedures and practices. NBK sponsored the annual conference for the National Union of Kuwaiti Students in the United States.

Environment initiatives NBK is an environment-friendly bank and has launched a range of initiatives - including beach cleanup, energy saving, paper recycling and desert campsite cleanup campaigns.

Health initiatives NBK strongly supports the country’s health care institutions. This year, NBK donated KD 4 million to build a state-of-the-art cancer center at NBK’s Children Hospital. The new center will expand the hospital’s ability to treat children with cancer and blood diseases.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative

launched in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, NBK hosts a British medical team from London’s world famous Great Ormond Street Hospital to treat children at the NBK’s Children Hospital suffering from blood disorders and cancer.

NBK’s Annual Walkathon in its 18th year attracted thousands of participants from all ages and both genders.

Social initiatives For the 20th consecutive year, NBK organized Iftar banquets for fasters during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Throughout the year, NBK also organized several social aware-

ness programs including blood donation drives and breast cancer awareness campaigns.

Nasser Musaed Al-Sayer

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

Kim calls for improved living standards, arms

India launches new system for handling welfare Page 10

Page 9

LONDON: Fireworks light up the Big Ben and the London Eye in central London just after midnight early yesterday. — AFP

World looks to 2013 with hope Violence, economic woes marked 2012 NEW YORK: As the world rang in 2013 with spectacular fireworks displays and showers of confetti, the specter of economic uncertainty and searing violence dimmed some festivities and weighed on the minds of revelers hoping for a better year. “With all the sadness in the country, we’re looking for some good changes in 2013,” Laura Concannon, of Hingham, Massachusetts, said as she, her husband, Kevin, and his parents joined hundreds of thousands of people who celebrated the new year in Times Square on Monday.

Matias Dellanno, 37, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, stood in the middle of the square with his wife and 3-year-old son. His eyes caught the multicolored lighting illuminating the square just before midnight. “I feel a completely new hope for 2013,” he said. “It can’t be any worse than last year, when my business lost clients. It was a rough year for everyone. The new year has to be better!”

Revelers with New Year’s hats and sunglasses boasting “2013” packed the streets in the 35-degree cold to count down the first ball drop in decades without Dick Clark, who died in April and was honored with his name printed on confetti and on one of the crystal panels on the Times Square ball. Syracuse University student Taylor Nanz, 18, said she and a friend had been standing in Times Square since 1:20 pm Monday. They hadn’t moved from their spot

because “if you leave, you lose your place,” she said. “It’s the first time - and the last time,” she said. “Never again.”

Security in Times Square was tight, with a mass of uniformed police and plainclothes officers assigned to blend into the crowd. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly claimed that Times Square would be the “safest place in the world on New Year’s Eve,” and officers used barriers to prevent overcrowding and checkpoints to inspect vehicles, enforce an alcohol ban and check handbags.

In the state capital of California, a midnight fireworks show was canceled after a fight at a Sacramento restaurant ended with two people fatally shot and three wounded.

But in Las Vegas, police and about 300 Nevada National Guard troops kept the night peaceful, with only 13 people arrested. Sin City hosted sold-out concerts featuring Beyonce, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Black Keys, and revelers jammed the Strip to watch as seven hotel-casinos unleashed identical eight-minute rooftop fireworks displays at midnight. The celebrations on the West Coast took place nearly 24 hours after lavish fireworks displays lit up skylines in Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

In Myanmar, about 90,000 people gathered in a field to watch a countdown for the first time, according to organizers. The reformist government that took office in 2011 in the country, long under military rule, threw its first public

New Year’s celebration in decades. In the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai, multicolored fireworks danced up and down the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated with a vespers service in St Peter’s Basilica to give thanks for 2012 and look ahead to 2013. He said that despite all the death and injustice in the world, goodness prevails. A man scaled the scaffolding around St Peter’s Square and draped a banner calling on the pope to “Stop Terrorism”. In Russia, spectators filled Moscow’s Red Square as fireworks exploded near the Kremlin. In Rio de Janeiro, revelers dressed head-to-toe in white as dictated by Brazilian tradition flooded onto Copacabana beach for a concert.

In London, the chimes of the clock inside the Big Ben tower counted down the final seconds of 2012 and fireworks dazzled the sky above Parliament Square. Streamers shot out of the London Eye wheel and blazing rockets launched from the banks of the River Thames. But parts of Europe held scaled-back festivities and street parties, the mood was restrained - if hopeful - for a 2013 that is projected to be a sixth straight year of recession amid Greece’s worst economic crisis since World War II. Festivities were canceled across New Delhi, the Indian capital, amid days of mourning and reflection about women’s safety after a rape victim died on Saturday. In Times Square, some revelers

checked their cellphones for news of lawmakers’ tentative deal to skirt the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of expiring tax cuts and spending cuts that threatened to reverberate globally. The US Senate approved a bill to avert the cliff well after midnight, though a vote in the House was pending yesterday or today. The recent elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and the devastation from Superstorm Sandy also mingled amid the memories of 2012.

“This has been a very eventful year, on many levels,” Denise Norris said as she and her husband, the Rev Urie Norris, surveyed the Times Square crowd waiting for the countdown show with Ryan Seacrest as host. Seacrest remembered Clark and his legacy, saying it was one that would be continued, and that Clark himself had told him: “Seacrest, the show must go on.”

Yvonne Gomez, 53, a physician from Grand Forks, North Dakota., glowed as she and her husband, 63-year-old potato farmer Gregg Halverson, took in the festivities in New York. “I couldn’t begin the new year in a more beautiful way,” she said. “I married him two weeks ago and here we are in the middle of Times Square celebrating the new year - two widowers who found each other.” For Elvis Rivera, of Manhattan, who stopped by Times Square to take photos, 2012 a death and job losses in his family. How did he feel about its end? “Relieved,” Rivera said. — AP

Syria ushers in New Year with more violence DAMASCUS: Syrians woke up to air strikes near Damascus on New Year’s Day as Aleppo airport was closed after repeated rebel attacks, casting doubts on diplomatic drives to end the 21-month conflict. The violence came a day after activists reported finding the corpses of dozens of people who had been tortured, another sign of the gruesome nature of the conflict, and as the regime said it welcomed any initiative for talks to end it. Warplanes bombed the northeastern and southwestern suburbs of Damascus in a fresh bid to push rebels further from the capital, and troops attacked insurgent strongholds on the road to Damascus airport.

“Three air strikes by MiG planes have targeted Daraya since the morning, and the shelling is continuing,” Abu Kinan, an activist from the town southwest of Damascus told AFP over the Internet. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the raids came amid fierce clashes near the towns of Bait Saham and Aqraba along the airport road, and that shelling killed three civilians in nearby Ziabiyeh. Battles have raged for weeks outside Damascus where insurgents have set up rear bases.

Analysts say the army is set on taking total control of

Damascus and its immediate surroundings to create conditions necessary for future dialogue. In northern Syria, where insurgents hold huge swathes of territory, authorities announced the temporary closure of Aleppo international airport after rebel attacks in recent days. “There have been continued attempts by opposition militants to target civilian aircraft, which could cause a humanitarian disaster,” an airport official told AFP. But he added that the airport would be closed for a “very short period of time” while the army tries to regain control of rebel-held areas around it. The Observatory reported that the closure came after a blast, likely due to rebel shelling, hit a civil airplane as it took off on Saturday.

Violence ravaged Syria into 2013 with the gruesome discovery on Monday of what activists said were dozens of corpses in a Damascus neighbourhood.

“Thirty bodies were found in the Barzeh district. “They bore signs of torture and have so far not been identified,” the Observatory said. The Syrian Revolution General Commission gave a higher estimate of 50 bodies, saying “their heads were cut and disfigured to the point that it was no longer possible to identify” them.

The video posted online by activists showed the bodies

of three young boys with their hands bound behind their backs and their throats slit. Their bodies were discovered on Monday in Jubar. The authenticity of the footage could not be verified.

On the diplomatic front, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Al-Halaqi said on Monday the government was open to talks aimed at solving the conflict that monitors say has now killed more than 46,000 people. “The government is working to support the national reconciliation project and will respond to any regional or international initiative that would solve the current crisis through dialogue and peaceful means and prevent foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs,” Halaqi told parliament.

UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said on Sunday he had crafted a ceasefire plan “that could be adopted by the international community”. The proposal involved a ceasefire, the formation of a government and an election plan, and was based on an agreement world powers reached in Geneva in June. The premier said the revolt must be resolved only by the Syrian people, adding that the country was on track to “declare victory over its enemies”. The opposition has already rejected the Geneva accord, insisting that Assad must go before any dialogue can take place. — AFP

ALEPPO: Syrians wait for bread at a bakery in this northern city on Monday. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

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

Health issues cloud end of Clinton’s reign WASHINGTON: Four years ago Hillary Clinton was welcomed with resounding cheers by hundreds of staff at the State Department as, on her first day as the top US diplomat, she declared “a new era for America”. After almost a million miles traveled, 112 countries visited and some 400 days spent on a plane, Clinton is poised to step down as secretary of state, basking in the praise of world leaders for having restored US standing. So it has been surprising that this most-visible of politicians, who has spent decades courting the limelight, has not been seen in public for several weeks because of a series of health scares.

Just as Clinton was expected to return to work this week, doctors revealed Monday she has a blood clot in a vein near her right ear between her skull and brain. It stemmed from a concussion she sustained earlier in December when she fainted due to dehydration from a stomach virus. Her doctors said she should make a full recovery after being treated with blood-thinners, but her prolonged absence has whipped up a frenzy of media hype and rumor now overshadowing her final weeks in the post.

Clinton, 65, has been a vocal advocate for America during her time in office, championing

democracy and what she calls “smart power”. Her raucous laugh has proved infectious in many a setting and like her husband, former president Bill Clinton, she exudes a charisma and warmth which seems to give her an instant connection to people. She leaves behind a reputation as a tireless workaholic, a stickler for detail, as well as someone who likes occasionally to let down her hair subject of many a water-cooler discussion.

But after years grappling with top domestic and global dilemmas, the lawyer, former first lady and ex-New York senator says she now wants to savor life’s little pleasures like reading, writing and watching her favorite TV design show. Born in Illinois in October 1947, Clinton’s rise from being a lawyer trained at Yale University where she met Bill in 1974, to the highest echelons of power has carved a path for women everywhere.

In 2008 she almost made history as she sought the Democratic presidential nomination, and in conceding defeat to Obama she dubbed her votes “18 million cracks” in the glass ceiling barring women from the nation’s highest office. Despite her repeated denials, many are convinced she will run again, although it is possible her health could now become an issue, as she would mark her 70th

birthday in her first year in office. “The Democrats want her to run. And I don’t just mean a lot of Democrats. I mean a whole lot of Democrats, like 90 percent across the country,” Democratic strategist James Carville said earlier this month.

After their bitter primaries battle, most were taken by surprise when Obama nominated her as secretary of state. But Clinton has proved steadfastly loyal, even in many minds taking a bullet for Obama by assuming responsibility for the deaths of four diplomatic staff in the September attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya - a tragedy she calls her “worst time” in office. She has yet to testify publicly since a damning State Department report found security at the mission “grossly inadequate”.

Critics also say Clinton has failed to accomplish any big signature victories - such as Henry Kissinger’s overture to communist China. Analyst Aaron David Miller blamed Obama for keeping such a tight hold on foreign policy matters.

Obama “had an extremely talented and able secretary of state which he has not empowered, not with one significant or consequential issue relating to peace or war,” he told a recent forum. “She found her own agenda. I call it planetary human-

ism. And it was an important one. It was gender equality, women’s issues, social media, technology, environment,” added the former advisor to six secretaries of state.

Many commentators highlight Clinton’s role in restoring America’s image abroad, deeply damaged during the interventionist years of former president George W Bush. Clinton worked hard, for instance, for a rapprochement with Pakistan - a key but wary ally in the war against the Taleban in Afghanistan - and knitted together western approval for tighter Iran sanctions. During a trip to China in early 2012, she pulled off a dramatic diplomatic coup by successfully negotiating safe passage to the US for dissident Chen Guangcheng.

Many Republicans remain wary of her, however. They are fixated with the strident image she left from the 1990s and her clumsy attempt as first lady to reform healthcare. Time and again however she has proved herself a master of reinvention even overcoming the public humiliation of Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1998. Now she insists that it is time to rest, and if her daughter, Chelsea, obliges even welcome a long-awaited grandchild into her life. — AFP

Clinton has blood clot close to brain Top US diplomat expected to make full recovery

CARACAS: Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pray during a mass on Monday. — AFP

Venezuelans praying as Chavez health worsens CARACAS: Backers of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez prayed and called off New Year’s Eve festivities Monday as the cancer-stricken leftist leader took a turn for the worse, fueling doubts about his political future. Venezuelans prayed in church and a downtown square after the government announced that Chavez suffered “new complications” from a respiratory infection following his fourth cancer-related surgery on Dec 11 in Cuba. His vice president and political heir, Nicolas Maduro, broke the news from Havana on Sunday night, saying the condition of the 58-year-old leader was delicate and that he faced an uphill battle.

Maduro decided to stay in Cuba for “the next few hours” to check on the ubiquitous “Comandante,” the face of the Latin American left and fierce critic of the United States who has led the oil-rich nation for 14 years. Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela’s science and technology minister as well as the president’s son in law, took to Twitter to try to tamp down rampant social media speculation that the end might be near, or had already come. “My fellow countrymen: do not believe ill-intentioned rumors.

President Chavez has spent the day calmly and stable, with his children at his side,” said Arreaza who is in Cuba with other family members.

Back in Caracas, crews took down the stage of a downtown concert site while Information Minister Ernesto Villegas invited Venezuelans to gather at Plaza Bolivar to “pray with joy and optimism” for Chavez. “I deeply love him and would give my life for him. There should be millions like Chavez,” Haydee Dominguez, a 50year-old secretary, said at the gathering led by Villegas. Others teared up at the San Francisco church while several ministers attended a special mass for Chavez at the Miraflores presidential palace at midday. At a meeting point for

Chavez followers in Plaza Bolivar, “Chavistas” choked up as they contemplated the health of their leader. “We are all praying for the health of our comandante,” said Miriam, one of the people gathered at the square. “There can’t be any party here.”

Chavez had declared himself cancer free in July, more than a year after being diagnosed with the disease in the pelvic region. The exact nature of the cancer has never been made public. He was re-elected in October but announced a relapse earlier this month and rushed to Cuba for another operation. On Monday on Twitter, hashtags translating into expressions such as “Chavez will live and conquer” and “I love Chavez” were numerous, while others speculated about his health.

One of the people discussing Chavez’s health was Jose Rafael Marquina, a Venezuelan doctor who lives in the United States and has claimed in the past to have reliable sources informing him about the president. “The respiratory failure continues without any improvement and the kidney function continues to deteriorate,” he wrote on Twitter. The government has denied such rumors. Chavez is scheduled to be sworn in on Jan 10 but the government has indicated that the ceremony could be postponed if the president is not fit by then.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in the Oct 7 election, predicted Monday that there would be “big changes” in 2013. The opposition coalition, Democratic Unity Table, called for dialogue with the government to deal with what it called an “emergency”. Veppex, a Miami-based association of 25,000 Venezuelans living outside their country as refugees or political exiles, insisted the constitution must be respected verbatim and new elections held if Chavez is indisposed. — AFP

NEW YORK: Top US diplomat Hillary Clinton was in a New York hospital yesterday because of a potentially dangerous blood clot near her brain, but doctors said she should make a full recovery. Clinton, still in hospital early on New Year’s Day, was admitted to the New York Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday following the discovery, and is being treated with blood thinners to dissolve the clot. Doctors said she will be released once the medication dose has been established. A routine scan revealed “that a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis had formed,” doctors Lisa Bardack, of Mount Kisco Medical Group and Gigi ElBayoumi, of George Washington University, said. They described it as “a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear”.

But they were also quick to offer reassurances saying in their statement that “it did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage”.

They added: “In all other aspects of her recovery, the secretary is making excellent progress and we are confident she will make a full recovery. She is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff.”

The globe-trotting diplomat has not been seen in public since succumbing to a stomach virus on returning from a trip to Europe on Dec 7, which forced her to cancel a planned visit to North Africa. It’s a rare absence for the most popular member of President Barack Obama’s cabinet, who has been a highly visible and loyal supporter of his foreign policy agenda, traveling almost a million miles in her four years in office. A Gallup poll released Monday showed Clinton again topping an annual list of the woman most admired by Americans, winning support from 21 percent of those surveyed. It is the 17th time she has topped the list, a landmark for Gallup.

But Clinton, 65, has made it clear she intends to step down in the coming weeks, once Senator John Kerry, tapped by President Barack Obama to replace her, is confirmed by the Senate. Clinton first fell ill with the bad stomach bug on her return from her trip, causing her to become dehydrated. She fainted and suffered a concussion. Dr Neeraj Badjatia, chief of neurological critical care at the R Adams Cowley Shock and Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, told AFP a clot in the head was “not

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton listens to a reporter ask a question during a news conference with African Union Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (not seen) after their meeting at the Department of State in this Nov 28, 2012 photo. — AP common”, stressing however he was not involved in Clinton’s treatment.

While Clinton’s doctors have said she has not suffered any stroke or neurological damage, Badjatia said “because it is a type of blockage of a blood vessel in the brain, it is what we consider a type of stroke, and one of the rarest types of stroke we have.” “It’s a very unusual form, and... it’s an unusual complication of a mild head injury,” he explained, adding it was hard to estimate the incidence of such clots as “it’s found when you are looking for it ... many times it’s diagnosed by happenstance”. Badjatia highlighted that there is also “significant monitoring” by doctors of patients prescribed anti-coagulants, and the secretary may need to be on the drugs for at least three months.

It is not the first health scare for Clinton, who suffered a blood clot in her leg in 1998 when she was first lady. Though once seen as a deeply divisive figure, she now has approval ratings above 60 percent. And many believe

she will run again for the White House in 2016, despite being narrowly defeated by Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2008. It is possible however that her health could become an issue in any White House bid, as she would mark her 70th birthday in her first year in office.

Clinton’s lengthy absence from public life had sparked claims from some of her fiercest critics that she was faking illness to avoid testifying before lawmakers investigating a deadly attack on a US mission in Libya. The Sept 11 assault on the US mission in eastern Benghazi, in which the US ambassador and three other American officials were killed, sparked a political firestorm in the United States. A subsequent State Department inquiry found security at the compound was “grossly inadequate”. A separate report released Monday by the Senate homeland security committee slammed the State Department for making a “grievous mistake” in refusing to shut the mission down. — AFP

Russian ban on American adoptions comes into force

ZELENOGORSK, Russia: People write “2013” with sparklers as they celebrate the New Year at the shore of the Gulf of Finland in this city about 55 km from Saint-Petersburg early yesterday. — AFP

MOSCOW: Russia’s controversial ban on adoptions of Russian children by American families came into force yesterday, days after its signing by President Vladimir Putin sparked an international outcry. The ban is part of a law rushed through parliament to hit back at the United States over its passing of a law sanctioning Russian officials implicated in the death in jail of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009. But opponents say it makes Russian orphans - many with physical or mental difficulties - the blameless victims of a diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow.

The law came into force as expected after being signed by Putin on December 28, Russian state media said. The blanket ban brings to an end a process that according to the US State Department has seen US families adopt more than 60,000 Russian children over the past 20 years. It also forbids US citizens who are deemed to have hurt the rights of Russians from entering Russia, and allows the authorities to shut down NGOs funded by the United States.

The ban on adoptions caused an unusual amount of dissent within the political establishment, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicating his discomfort and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of social policy Olga Golodets vehemently opposed. The anti-Putin opposition is trying to play on the splits within the elite by holding a mass rally against the law on January 13 in central Moscow, which organisers hope will muster up to 20,000 people.

The idea of a march through central Moscow ending at the State Duma, which passed the law, has not found favour with the city hall and tough negotiations on agreeing a route are expected after the New Year holidays. “We will insist on our route,” said one of the march’s organisers, the journalist and activist Alexander Ryklin. “I hope that the city hall understands that they need to observe the laws and sometimes

remember that Russia has a constitution which is in effect and sometimes needs to be observed,” he told Moscow Echo radio.

Activists have said that American families were in particular prepared to adopt ill Russian children and the law risks consigning the most disadvantaged to orphanages for the rest of their childhood. There is also concern about over 50 children caught in limbo after the law thwarted ongoing adoption processes, where in some cases the orphans had already met future adoptive parents. Kremlin children’s rights envoy Pavel Astakhov has promised they will be found Russian families who will be specially selected by regional governors. Astakhov has also raised the prospect of the Kremlin banning all foreign adoption in the future, leaving some to conclude the aim is to show Putin’s Russia as a strong nation in no need of foreign help.

The US State Department described the ban on adoption of Russian children by Americans as “politically motivated” and said that Washington deeply regretted the move.

Veteran Republican Senator John McCain went even further, saying: “I often wonder how much lower the Russian government under President Putin can stoop. “But to punish innocent babies and children over a political disagreement between our governments is a new low, even for Putin’s Russia.”

The death of Magnitsky - who was charged with the very tax scam that he claimed to have uncovered - in pre-trial detention in 2009 has become a symbol of human rights abuses in the Russian prison system. The Russian legislation responding to the US Magnitsky Act was dubbed as the Dima Yakovlev law, named for a Russian boy adopted in the United States who died after being locked in a hot car by his adoptive US father in 2008. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

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

From UFOs to ‘tsunami bomb’: NZ secrets revealed WELLINGTON: A new book has revealed rare historical gems buried in New Zealand’s national archives, including a bizarre WWII plan to create a “tsunami bomb” and military files detailing supposed UFO sightings.

Author Ray Waru said he wrote “Secrets and Treasures” to highlight the material publicly available at Archives New Zealand in Wellington - where almost 100 km of shelf space is crammed with historical artefacts. “It was totally overwhelming at the beginning,” he told AFP. “I knew I wanted to get in the important things, the Treaty of Waitangi (New Zealand’s founding document), the Declaration of Independence, the women’s suffrage petition, and a few other things. But once you start digging, one story leads onto another and I’d just follow my nose.”

The suffrage petition Waru refers to contains 36,000 signatures and was dramatically unfurled on the floor of the New Zealand parliament in 1893 by supporters of women’s right to vote.

Stretching for almost 300 m, the petition, currently undergoing restoration, proved successful and led New Zealand, then a British colony, to become the first country in the world to grant women the vote later that year. Alongside notable historical docu-

ments, such as a letter written by explorer captain James Cook before his final voyage, are curiosities like “Project Seal”, a top-secret US-New Zealand attempt to create a doomsday device to rival the nuclear bomb.

The project was launched in June 1944 after a US naval officer noticed that blasting operations to clear coral reefs around Pacific islands sometimes produced a large wave, raising the possibility of creating a “tsunami bomb”.

Explosive tests carried out in waters north of Auckland led scientists to conclude that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 massive blasts offshore could create a 10-m tsunami capable of inundating a small coastal city. “It was absolutely astonishing,” Waru said. “First that anyone would come up with the idea of developing a weapon of mass destruction based on a tsunami... and also that New Zealand seems to have successfully developed it to the degree that it might have worked. “I only came across it because they were still vetting the report, so there it was sitting on somebody’s desk (in the archives).”

Waru said the project was shelved in early 1945, despite the success of initial, small-scale tests. “If you put it in a James Bond movie it would be viewed as fantasy but it was a real thing,” he said. Among the other oddities in the

archives are Defence Department records of hundreds of UFO sightings by members of the public, military personnel and commercial pilots, mostly involving moving lights in the sky.

Some of the accounts include drawings of flying saucers, descriptions of aliens wearing “pharaoh masks” and alleged examples of extra-terrestrial writing.

New Zealand’s most famous close encounter was when a television crew recorded strange lights off the South Island town of Kaikoura in 1978.

However, in a disappointment for ET spotters, the military concluded the lights could be explained by natural phenomena such as lights from boats being reflected off clouds or an unusual view of the planet Venus. Waru said it was seemingly humdrum documents, like school magazines from the early 1900s extolling the virtues of the British Empire, that provided a window into the attitudes of the past. “There’s masses of records and kilometres of important files but you realise pretty quickly that every piece of paper is related to an individual at some point in time,” he said. “So it gives the modern researcher a peek into the private lives of individuals, which I found interesting -divorce files from Dunedin, letters a young soldier wrote home to their parents.” — AFP

WELLINGTON: Author Ray Waru inspects files at New Zealand’s national archives on Dec 7, 2012. — AFP

Kim calls for improved living standards, arms North Korean leader makes rare address

HONG KONG: Protesters hold a picture of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on New Year’s Day yesterday. — AP

Thousands march against HK leader HONG KONG: Tens of thousands in Hong Kong protested yesterday against the city’s leader Leung Chun-ying as pressure mounts against the Beijing-backed politician who has been embroiled in an illegal construction scandal since taking office in July. Thronging the streets on New Year’s Day, crowds of people, some dressed in black with colourful banners and wearing longnosed Pinocchio masks, chanted “Leung Chunying step down” in a rally that snaked several kilometres towards government headquarters.

While Hong Kong is a largely stable financial hub with a strong rule of law, the political heat has risen over Leung’s failure to adequately explain seemingly innocuous building work on his home, corroding public trust and raising suspicions he may have covered up the scandal last year as he campaigned for the leadership. “CY Leung does not have the ability and credibility to handle even his own personal scandals. How can he lead Hong Kong in a proper way with political and economic development?” said protest organiser Jackie Hung.

Leung said last month he had been negligent and apologised for how he handled questions over his illegally built basement. Such work is common to maximise living space in spacestarved Hong Kong, but similar minor violations have ensnared several prominent officials over the past year. By the evening, organisers put the turnout at the protest at around 130,000, though police said 17,000 had showed up. The demonstration was largely peaceful, though police main-

tained a heavy presence after two journalists were roughed up by pro-government supporters at a rival rally on Sunday.

In a statement, Leung said the government would “humbly” listen to the public’s views.

Several thousand of Leung’s supporters also staged a pro-government New Year rally. China’s senior leaders including premier Wen Jiabao have warned of Hong Kong’s “deep rooted conflicts” in the past, though Beijing has so far publicly endorsed Leung’s administration when he made a duty visit in December. In a stormy half year since taking office, Leung has also had to contend with a raft of policy challenges including an unpopular pro-Beijing education curriculum that was later shelved, high housing prices, and a massive influx of mainland Chinese visitors.

Leung, sometimes dubbed the “wolf” for his perceived abrasive style and close ties to the Communist Party, has a chance to assuage some public discontent in a policy address in midJanuary, though populist measures aimed at cooling a red-hot property sector and alleviating poverty have so far had only a limited impact on the public mood. While Hong Kong is generally considered an open and liberal business haven, its leaders since 1997 - when the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule - have sometimes struggled politically in the face of mass popular demands for democracy and more accountable governance. A half million strong anti-government rally in 2003 later forced former leader Tung Chee-hwa from office mid-term. — Reuters

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un yesterday called for improving the economy and living standards of his impoverished nation with the same urgency that scientists showed in successfully testing a long-range rocket recently. Kim’s first New Year’s speech, delivered on state TV, was peppered with rhetoric, with calls for boosting the military’s capabilities and making the science and technology sector world class. But other passages in the speech were also an acknowledgement of the poor state of the country’s economy that has long lagged behind the rest of the region.

North Korea has little arable land, is prone to natural disasters and struggles to grow enough food for its 24 million people. The annual New Year’s Day message lays out North Korea’s policy goals for the year. But Kim gave no indication whether he plans to introduce economic reforms or allow free enterprise, except to say the economy should be underpinned by science and technology. “The industrial revolution in the new century is, in essence, a scientific and technological revolution, and breaking through the cutting edge is a shortcut to the building of an economic giant,” he said.

He then pointed at the success of a long-range rocket that North Korea fired on Dec 12, ostensibly carrying a satellite into space. “Let us bring about a radical turn in the building of an economic giant with the same spirit and mettle as were displayed in conquering space,” he said. North Korea has hailed the rocket as a big step in peaceful space exploration.

Washington and others called the launch a banned test of ballistic missile technology and a step in Pyongyang’s pursuit of a nuclear tipped long-range missile.

North Korea has tested two atomic devices since 2006, both times weeks after UN condemnation of a longrange launch. A recent analysis of North Korea’s main nuclear test site indicates readiness for a possible third

PYONGYANG: North Korean people watch a fireworks display for New Year’s Day. (Inset) North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un delivers a New Year’s Day address in Pyongyang. — AFP atomic explosion. Kim made no mention of nuclear weapons, but indicated that military will continue to be boosted. “The sector of defense industry should develop in larger numbers sophisticated military hardware of our own style that can contribute to implementing the Party’s military strategy,” he said. “Only when it builds up its military might in every way can it develop into a thriving country and defend the security and happiness of its people,” Kim said.

The speech itself was a signal that Kim will continue with a leadership style more in line with his gregarious grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung who routinely addressed his people on New Year’s Day, than with his father, Kim Jong Il, who avoided making public speeches. He never gave a TV address during his 17-yearrule, and his New Year’s messages were published as joint editorials in the nation’s three major newspapers.

With the speech - the first televised New Year’s Day message by a North

Korean leader in 19 years - Kim Jong Un has tried to tap into North Koreans’ fond memories of his grandfather, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in South Korea. The rocket launch boosted public morale, Koh said. “Now people are expecting him to improve the economy and help them live better economically,” Koh said. “Kim Jong Un knows that and feels the pressure of meeting that demand.”

Kim, who took power after his father’s death on Dec 17, 2011, has asserted control over the government and the military by dismissing its powerful chief Ri Yong Ho. Some other officials who were viewed as more moderate, including Kim’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek, were elevated. South Korean president-elect Park Geun-hye has said she will make efforts in her five-year term to boost aid and engage North Korea. “If Kim Jong Un is going to engineer a shift from ‘military-first’ to ‘It’s the economy, stupid,’ he is going to need Seoul’s encouragement, and he doesn’t

have five years to wait,” John Delury, an analyst at Seoul’s Yonsei University, wrote recently. He said it’s up to South Korea “to unclench its fist first, so that the leader of the weaker state can outstretch his hand.”

Kim’s speech avoided harsh criticism of the United States, its wartime enemy. North Korea has used past New Year’s editorials to accuse the US of plotting war. In other signs of changes in the country - at least at a superficial level - North Korea also had its first grand New Year’s Eve celebration, with residents of the capital treated to the boom of cannons and fireworks at midnight. In Pyongyang, residents danced in the snow at midnight Monday to celebrate the end of a big year for North Korea, including the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung and the first year of Kim Jong Un’s leadership.

Fireworks lit up the cold night sky, and people stood in fur-lined parkas, taking photos and laughing and dancing with each other in plazas. — AP

Boy killed, 400 hurt in Philippine revelry

MANILA: Celebratory gunfire killed a four-year-old boy and more than 400 others were injured by powerful firecrackers in typically rowdy New Year celebrations in the Philippines, officials said yesterday. A bullet hit the boy in the back as he was playing outside his home in Manila’s suburban Mandaluyong district, said the city’s police chief Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina. He said police are trying to trace the gun owner but admitted it may take time in a country where unlicensed firearms are widespread. “We caught 10 people firing indiscriminately, most of them were private security guards who were drunk,” he said over DZBB radio.

Espina said policemen found to have fired their guns to usher in the New Year would also be disciplined.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said 404 people nationwide were either burned or maimed by firecrackers, about half of them young children. “Some of the injuries were serious and could lead to lifelong disabilities,” he said. Among them was a teenage boy whose hand had to be amputated. “He picked up what he thought was an unlit firecracker left on the road. It exploded in his hand,” the boy’s mother, Mariel Lou Pateno, said at the packed trauma section of one Manila government hospital. “We hope the numbers will not rise but we are expecting more to arrive within the day,” Alfonso Nunez, one of the doctors at the hospital who worked through the night, told reporters.

An AFP photographer saw two men in their 50s in hospital with burns to the eyes and face due to firecrackers. The capital’s fire department said 12 blazes were reported overnight, including a school that caught fire due to fireworks near a sprawling slum area. No one was injured although dozens of families were left homeless. It is a tradition in the mostly Catholic nation of about 100 million to greet the New Year by making noise, in a belief it will drive bad spirits away. However hundreds are hurt annually by firecrackers and stray bullets, despite strict orders from President Benigno Aquino for police to clamp down on guns and ban powerful firecrackers. — AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

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

India launches new system for handling welfare NEW DELHI: India will send billions of dollars in social welfare money directly to its poor under a new program inaugurated yesterday, aiming to cut out the middlemen blamed for the massive fraud that plagues the system.

Previously officials only handed out cash to the poor after taking a cut - if they didn’t keep all of it for themselves - and were known to enroll fake recipients or register unqualified people.

The new program would see welfare money directly deposited into recipients’ bank accounts and require them to prove their identity with biometric data, such as fingerprints or retina scans.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has described the venture as “nothing less than magical”, but critics accuse the government of hastily pushing through a complex program in a country where millions don’t have access to electricity or paved roads, let alone neighborhood banks. The program is loosely based on Brazil’s widely praised Bolsa Familia program, which has helped lift more than 19 million people out of poverty since 2003. It was to begin in 20 of the country’s 640 districts yesterday, affecting more than 200,000 recipients, and will be pro-

gressively rolled out in other areas in the coming months, Chidambaram said Monday. The country has 440 million people living below the poverty line. “In a huge new experiment like this you should expect some glitches.

There may be a problem here and there, but these will be overcome by our people,” Chidambaram said. He appealed for patience with the program, which he called “a game changer for governance”. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the ruling Congress party of using the program to gain political mileage ahead of elections expected in 2014.

As a first step, the government has said it plans to begin directly transferring money it would spend on programs such as scholarships and pensions. Eventually the transfers are expected to help fix much of the rest of India’s welfare spending, though Chidambaram said the government’s massive food, kerosene and fertilizer distribution networks - which are blamed for much of the corruption and lost money - would be exempt. The program will eliminate middlemen and transfer cash directly into bank accounts using data from Aadhar, a government project working to give

every Indian identification numbers linked to fingerprints and retina scans.

Currently hundreds of millions of Indians have no identity documents.

On Monday, 208 activists and scholars published an open letter expressing concern that the government was forcing the poor to enroll in Aadhar to get welfare benefits without putting safeguards in place to protect their privacy.

They also expressed fears the government planned to eventually replace the food distribution system for the poor, the largest program of its kind in the world. “Essential services are not a suitable field of experimentation for a highly centralized and uncertain technology,” they wrote.

Others said the government was trying to do too much too soon. “A very important concern is are we ready for this sort of thing? The banking infrastructure is very poor, people are far from these banks, when they exist they are overcrowded. Sometimes people have to walk for a day to get to the bank,” says Reetika Khera, a development economist with the New Delhibased Institute for Economic Growth.

Mihir Shah, a member of India’s Planning Commission accepts that the government’s timeline is “unrealistic,”

NEW DELHI: Impoverished and homeless people stand in a queue to receive free food from a volunteer organization in front of a temple yesterday. — AP but said many critics had confused the reach the vast majority of India’s poor, lack of readiness with flaws in the plan and villages needed banking infraitself. “My question to them is is it bet- structure and Internet connectivity. “It ter than what is there today? That is the is going to take time and it will happen only when it happens whatever the only way we can judge policy.

I don’t think there’s a perfect solu- deadline. It will be rolled out only tion to any of mankind’s problems,” he when these conditions are in place,” he said. Shah said a lot more work needed said. But if the deadline “pushes us to to be done before cash transfers could fix the lacunae that currently hamper become a reality across the country. the roll out of cash transfer, then we’re The identification drive needed to in the right direction.” — AP

7 Pakistan charity workers shot dead Five female teachers among those killed

NEW DELHI: An Indian man shouts slogans during a protest to mourn the death of the gang-rape victim yesterday. — AP

Bomb planted near rape suspect’s home NEW DELHI: Indian police arrested a man yesterday as he tried to plant a crude bomb near the home of one of the suspects in the New Delhi gang-rape case as a backlash against widespread sex crimes gathered steam. As protests against harassment and violence against women continued, a chart-topping Indian rapper known for his sexually explicit lyrics also became embroiled in a growing campaign against sexism and misogyny in Indian society.

Yo Yo Honey Singh, whose hits include “My home my village”, saw his New Year’s Eve concert in New Delhi cancelled following an online campaign which highlighted lyrics allegedly inciting abuse of women. His 2007 track “Prostitute” refers to him having violent sex with a woman after he forces her to “dance naked” and includes the line: “You will scream and run but where can you go... I will take your life”. The furore over the rap star comes as the country comes to terms with the December 16 gang-rape in which a 23year-old medical student was repeatedly assaulted and violated with an iron bar while being driven around in a bus for 40 minutes. She died from internal injuries in a Singapore hospital at the weekend and her ashes were immersed Tuesday in the holy Ganges river by her family near their native village in northern Uttar Pradesh state. The unnamed girl, whose parents had sold land to fund her studies, had been out to the cinema with her boyfriend when she was lured onto the bus by a gang of reportedly drunk joyriders.

Sexual violence and gang-rapes are commonplace in India, but the case has brought simmering anger - particularly among young urban women - to the boil

and led to protests in the capital and calls for the death penalty for rapists. Police said they had arrested a 37-year-old man yesterday in the narrow by-lanes of a slum in southwest Delhi after he allegedly tried to plant a crude bomb near the house of one of six suspects detained by police for the Delhi rape. The low-grade device was filled with explosives usually used in firecrackers, a police official told AFP. Protests in India, which continued on Monday and on New Year’s Eve, have also spilled to other parts of the world with people taking to the streets in Hong Kong, Islamabad, London and Kathmandu. Yesterday, about 30 women’s rights activists protested outside the Indian consulate in Hong Kong, urging authorities to enact tougher laws to punish sex crimes. The government, which has faced a wave of anger, has set up a panel headed by a former chief justice to recommend changes to the criminal law dealing with sexual crimes. The panel, which was set up last week, had already received more than 17,000 suggestions until Monday, The Indian Express newspaper reported.

Also yesterday, the Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the six suspects for the gang-rape risked the death penalty if found guilty and the case against them appeared very strong. “We have a solid case with very good evidence... a magistrate has recorded the victim’s dying declaration and we have a prime witness, the girl’s friend, who has identified the rapists,” Shinde told The Economic Times newspaper. The victim’s boyfriend, whom friends said she intended to marry, tried to prevent the rape and is likely to give crucial evidence during what is expected to be a fast-tracked trial. — AFP

HONG KONG: Participants hold placards as they attend an ‘anti-violence towards women’ march near the Indian consulate yesterday. — AFP

PESHAWAR: Six women and a man working for a Pakistani health and education charity involved in vaccinations were shot dead on their way home from a community centre yesterday, officials said. Police said they were investigating whether there was any link to the Taleban or other Islamist militants, who have been blamed for past attacks on charity workers and on health education projects in particular. The attack took place about 65 km northwest of the capital in the Swabi district.

The victims were all Pakistanis and worked at a local centre called Ujalla, which runs a school and a health clinic.

Five of the women were teachers, the sixth was a health worker and the man worked as a health technician, officials said. They were being driven home from the village community centre when they were attacked, said Abdul Rashid Khan, Swabi police chief. “Four men came on two motorbikes. They attacked their van, a Toyota HiAce. They opened fire to the right and left of the van and fled,” Khan told AFP. “Six women and a man have died. The driver is injured,” he added. Police said the women were aged 20 to 35 and the male health technician was 52.

Doctor Mohammad Sheerin at the local Bacha Khan medical complex said one man had been critically wounded and evacuated to the northwestern city of Peshawar. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Police said it was investigating whether there was a link to Islamist militancy but the head of the charity said the organisation had not been threatened despite working on polio immunisations. The Taleban banned polio vaccinations in the tribal region of Waziristan, condemning the campaign as a cover for espionage after the jailing of a doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden using a hepatitis vaccination programme.

Last month nine polio vaccination workers were shot dead in a string of attacks in Karachi and the northwest. The Taleban denied responsibility for the killings, but the deaths prompted the UN children’s agency and the World Health Organization to suspend work on polio campaigns. Javed Akhtar, executive director of the charity, said the

organisation provides vaccines, including during last month’s campaign, but said he did not know if its polio work was a motive for the attack. “ The centre is involved in a child immunisation program. It also provides polio drops,” he said, adding that his organisation had received Western funds, including from the German government, through a Pakistani poverty alleviation fund.

the matter,” he said in a statement. Last month a Swedish woman charity worker died after being shot in the chest in Lahore where she worked for the US-founded Full Gospel Assemblies, which runs charities including a technical training institute and adult literacy centre. In Aug 2011 US development worker Warren Weinstein was kidnapped after gunmen tricked their way into his Lahore home.

SWABI, Pakistan: Relatives mourn next to a body of a charity worker following an attack by gunmen yesterday. — AFP Other charity workers in the northwest called for protection. “Schools and NGOs have been threatened in the recent past. Several government schools had been bombed in the last several months,” said Rooh ul-Amin, who heads an umbrella organisation of charities in Swabi. He said eight months ago the guest house where he receives visitors was bombed and another bomb was found near his office four months ago. Idrees Kamal, the coordinator of Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network (PCSN), demanded that the killers be arrested, and called for protection and compensation.

“PCSN will formulate a joint strategy to tackle

Pakistani officials believe he is being held by Al-Qaeda and Taleban extremists in Pakistan’s lawless northwest. In April 2012, a British Muslim Red Cross worker was beheaded after being kidnapped in the southwestern city of Quetta. Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Taleban insurgency for five years, as well as a separatist Baluch uprising in the southwest. It also suffers from routine attacks blamed on a series of hardline Islamist factions. Islamabad says more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism in the country since the 9/11 attacks on the United States. — AFP

Afghans say prisoner releases offer hopes KABUL: Afghan peace negotiators yesterday welcomed the release of eight Taleban prisoners who had been held in Pakistan, hailing the move as a significant boost to efforts to end 11 years of war. The High Peace Council, set up to conduct negotiations with the Taliban, said the releases underlined that neighbouring Pakistan was supporting talks as US-led NATO combat troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

Support from Pakistan, which backed the 1996-2001 Taliban regime, is seen as crucial to peace in Afghanistan after NATO’s departure.

Former Taleban justice minister Nooruddin Turabi was among the eight freed on Monday, adding to 18 others released in November after appeals from Kabul. Afghan officials believe Taleban leaders released from Pakistani jails could help bring militants to the negotiating table. “It is a practical step in the right direction,” said Ismail Qasimyar, head of international relations for the peace council.

“It shows the Pakistani authorities have opened a new chapter for positive cooperation with Afghanistan. “Pakistan can play an important role in bringing peace to Afghanistan. We welcome this move

and hope those freed will become peace messengers,” he told AFP. But analysts say the freed men have little influence over current Taleban leaders and doubt whether they will even encourage them to open peace talks. The Taliban refuse to talk directly with the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai, which it regards as a “puppet administration” of the United States. The most senior Taleban figure detained in Pakistan, former deputy leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, has also not yet been released. “So far none of those released have done anything significant,” said Waheed Mujda, a former civil servant in the Taleban government.

“Turabi was an important individual when they were in power but by the time he was taken prisoner about two years ago he wasn’t. We don’t know what these men will be able to do for the process.” Mujda added that Turabi, who was a Taleban military commander and a deputy to supreme leader Mullah Omar, was believed to be seriously unwell. Pakistan-based analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai was also sceptical about the impact of the releases.

“These people have no authority as they have already been replaced by

others,” he warned. “They will not even go to Taliban-held areas, they may even prefer to stay in Pakistan.”

Pakistan issued a statement saying eight detainees, including Turabi and Abdul Bari, the governor of Helmand province during the hardline Taliban regime, had been set free. Their current location was not known.

Foreign ministry spokesman in Islamabad Moazzam Ahmad Khan said the move would “further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process” after Pakistan in November

released 18 Taliban prisoners on the request of the Afghan Peace Council. Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the release of Turabi and three others, rather than the eight men cited by Pakistan. “Four of our friends, including Mullah Turabi, have been freed.

They will join their families shortly,” he told AFP. The Taleban were ousted by a US-led invasion in 2001 and there are concerns that a civil war could erupt if Afghanistan’s army and police are unable to impose stability after NATO’s withdrawal. — AFP

KABUL: An Afghan woman holds her child as she waits to receive winter supplies yesterday. — AFP

11

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

Analysis

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Issues

Financial to do list for 2013

By Linda Stern ake resolutions if you must: When you vow to track every dollar and never waste money again, you feel all clean and shiny for at least a few hours into the new year. But that doesn’t usually last. Resolutions get broken because they are too lofty and too illdefined. It is better to break your resolutions down into a specific to do list: here are the money moves to make now and in the coming weeks that will insure you’re in a better financial place before 2013 ends. l Analyze your enter tainment budget.

Television service used to be free, except for the electricity to run it. Now you have to choose cable versus satellite dish and then add on movies from a host of services via a host of devices. Monthly budgets for a family run well over $100, just for television, so it’s worth figuring out what you watch and how you watch it and comparison shop for the cheapest way to do that. Often, cable and satellite providers will cut you a better deal if you say you’re ready to quit their service. In today’s fast-shifting environment, re-do this analysis once a year at contract renewal time. l Put one savings on auto-pilot. There is nothing new or revolutionary about this particular exercise, but it works. Choose a low-cost stock mutual fund from a direct-seller. Authorize the fund to sweep a set amount out of your checking account every month. Even $100 will make a difference over time. Just ignore this fund, except to watch it build over time. l Max out your credit cards - not with borrowing, but with rewards. After five years of tight credit, card issuers are coming back at consumers with a new waves of rewards. Look at all of the cards you already have - if you haven’t paid them off, send all of your available money to the highest rate card until you kill the balances, one at a time, as quickly as possible. Then compare the rewards they pay for travel, groceries, gas and any other categories that are important to you. l Refinance your mortgage. Make your move now if you expect to be in your home for at least five years. Nobody can predict when rates will rise, but they aren’t likely to go down. At some point over the next 10 years, those rates are likely to look excellent. Furthermore, many people who were unable to refinance before because they didn’t have enough equity in their homes may get relief from recent increases in home prices. l Buy life insurance. If you have a family that depends on you, and you don’t already have six times your income in term coverage, it’s time to buy. Rates have been falling for more than a decade, but now that’s over and some are heading back up, says Byron Udell of Accuquote.com.

Furthermore, some life insurance companies are giving up on some product lines that they believe are unprofitable in today’s low interest rate environment. l Update your resume. Many workers have been stalled at work for five years or more. But the economy is improving, so it’s a good time to brush up on needed skills, rewrite your resume and start networking via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and your own personal connections.

Even if you want to stay where you are, it’s a good career move to stay abreast of what’s going on all around. l Organize your info and look at your money.

All good financial planning starts here. If you have balances on your credit cards, make a list of all of your cards, with their effective interest rates and balances. Your debt-payoff strategy will become clear. If you don’t know how you spend your money, embrace a program like Quicken or an online aggregator like Mvelopes or Mint.

Investing for retirement or otherwise? Find a program or system that allows you to track your investment mix and your returns on a quarterly basis. Set it up now, and your investment decisions will be made easier all year long. — Reuters

M

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

US economy would dodge bullet for now

By Jason Lange A deal worked out by US Senate leaders to avoid the fiscal cliff was far from any grand bargain of deficit reduction measures. But if approved by the US House of Representatives, it could help the country steer clear of recession, although enough austerity would remain in place to likely keep the economy growing at a lackluster pace. The Senate approved a last-minute deal early Tuesday morning to scale back $600 billion in scheduled tax hikes and government spending cuts that economists widely agree would tip the economy into recession. The deal would hike taxes permanently for household incomes over $450,000 a year, but keep existing lower rates in force for everyone else.

It would make permanent the alternative minimum tax patch that was set to expire, protecting middle -income Americans from being taxed as if they were rich. Scheduled cuts in defense and

non-defense spending were simply postponed for two months. Economists said that if the emerging package were to become law, it would represent at least a temporary reprieve for the economy.

This keeps us out of recession for now, said Menzie Chinn, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The contours of the deal suggest that roughly one-third of the scheduled fiscal tightening could still take place, said Brett Ryan, an economist at Deutsche Bank in New York. That is in line with what many financial firms on Wall Street and around the world have been expecting, suggesting forecasts for economic growth of around 1.9 percent for 2013 would likely hold. At midnight Monday, low tax rates enacted under thenPresident George W Bush in 2001 and 2003 expired. If the House agrees with the Senate - and there remained considerable doubt on that score - the new rates would be extended retroactively.

Otherwise, together with other

planned tax hikes, the average household would pay an estimated $3,500 more in taxes, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank. Budget experts expect the economy would take a hit as families cut back on spending.

Provisions in the Senate bill would avoid scheduled cuts to jobless benefits and to payments to doctors under a federal health insurance program.

Like the consensus of economists from Wall Street and beyond, Deutsche Bank has been forecasting enough fiscal drag to hold back growth to roughly 1.9 percent in 2013. Ryan said the details of the deal appeared to support that forecast. That would be much better than the 0.5 percent contraction predicted by the Congressional Budget Office if the entirety of the fiscal cliff took hold, but it would fall short of what is needed to quickly heal the labor market, which is still smarting from the 2007-09 recession.

We continue to anticipate a significant economic slowdown at the start of the

year in response to fiscal drag and a contentious fiscal debate, economists at Nomura said in a research note.

In particular, analysts say financial markets are likely to remain on tenterhooks until Congress raises the nation s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling, which the US Treasury confirmed had been reached on Monday. While the Bush tax cuts would be made permanent for many Americans under the budget deal, a two-year-long payroll tax holiday enacted to give the economy an extra boost would expire.

The Tax Policy Center estimates this could push the average household tax bill up by about $700 next year.

The suspension of spending cuts sets up a smaller fiscal cliff later in the year which still could be enough to send the economy into recession, said Chinn. He warned that ongoing worries about the possibility of recession could keep businesses from investing, which would hinder economic growth. ‘You retain the uncertainty,’ Chinn said. — Reuters

Maduro channels Chavez, lacks his charisma

By Daniel Wallis and Brian Ellsworth e uses Hugo Chavez’s bombastic language, brandishes the constitution and showers opponents with vitriol at every turn. But Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro is struggling to replicate the extraordinary charisma of his boss, who is battling to recover from cancer surgery in Cuba. Named as heir apparent by Chavez just before the president returned to Havana for his fourth surgery in December, the 50year-old former bus driver has become the face of the socialist government in South America’s top oil exporter. Though diplomats say he is easy-going in conversations behind closed doors, in public he can be just as caustic and combative as Chavez, the former soldier who has led Venezuela for the past 14 years.

Having made few notable decisions so far during his three-week tenure as stand-in president, Maduro has not offered many clues as to how he would lead if he were at the helm of a post-Chavez Venezuela. “Every day, Hugo Chavez makes us better patriots and better Venezuelans. He has created a generation of revolutionaries and blazed a trail for us,” Maduro told one rally last week, lionizing Chavez in gushing and quasi-messianic terms. “We swear on the constitution that we will be loyal to his leadership ... that we will confront all US imperialist aggression, and dismantle the lies of the bourgeois traitors.”

Chavez, 58, has not been seen in public nor heard from since early December, adding to speculation that his polarizing rule could be coming to an end. Late on Sunday, Maduro said the president was suffering a third set of complications after surgery, and remained in a “delicate” state. If Chavez died or had to step down, new elections would be held within 30 days. Maduro, who also served as foreign minister for the last six years, would be the candidate of the ruling Socialist Party, or PSUV. Sometimes dressing casually like Chavez in a track suit to address supporters, he has taken on the president’s hectoring style too, slamming opposition leaders as “miserable traitors”. His day-to-day-activities have been dominated by swearing-in ceremonies for governors elected in a regional vote in which the PSUV won 20 of 23 state governorships. In one particularly vituperative attack, he excoriated opposition candidate Henrique Capriles for having the nerve to campaign in Chavez’s hometown of Sabaneta during his failed presidential bid earlier this year. “He dared profane the sacred revolutionary earth of Sabaneta,” Maduro said at the inauguration of Chavez’s older brother Adan as governor of their home state, Barinas. “He came here to offend the people. He had the gall to say he would win even in Sabaneta, the bourgeois rich kid,” Maduro said, spitting out the final phrase like a playground insult.

Several times he has sounded choked up with emo-

H

tion, and he cried as he told one crowd the president could count on them forever. “Beyond this life we will be loyal to Hugo Chavez!” He has peppered his speeches with references to a state-backed campaign called “I am Chavez.” During the inauguration of one public transport project he strayed into an awkward metaphor by saying: “Chavez is the cable car.” But his daily appearances on state television have lacked the relaxed, manof-the-people charisma of his boss, who was always ready to hug a child or crack a joke with workers during his many tours of building sites, hospitals and oil refineries. The opposition has called him a “poor copy” of Chavez.

Maduro has made no major decisions despite a consensus among business leaders and economists that Venezuela desperately needs a currency devaluation to shore up a yawning fiscal deficit and ease import bottlenecks caused by a shortage of hard currency. He has made no apparent use of ample powers granted by

Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro delivers a speech during a military parade in Anzuategui state on Dec 28, 2012. — AFP

Chavez this month that include authorizing debt issues and approving congressional budget allocations to ministries. At best, he has offered vague hints of policy changes, including a veiled suggestion to limit costly subsidies for public services such as electricity and a one-sentence comment that Venezuela’s exchange control system could be “improved.”

When the nation’s main business chamber, Fedecamaras, applauded that statement, within a day Maduro responded: “We’re not going to give dollars to Fedecamaras. What this revolution is going to give them is headaches.” His speeches suggest any Maduro candidacy would be driven by the huge emotional outpouring from supporters if Chavez were to leave office or die, whipped up with pledges to follow the president’s “revolutionary” course. Political leaders who have worked with him say his experience as a union leader and diplomat could help him build ties at home and abroad. Any policy difference between Maduro and Chavez, however, would likely only become clear well after he became president.

Sensing another chance to win power just months after being beaten by Chavez at October’s presidential vote, the opposition is keen to exploit any signs of a rift within “Chavismo”. Many opposition supporters suspect there are hidden tensions between Maduro and Diosdado Cabello, another powerful Chavez ally from the PSUV’s military wing who has a key role as leader of the National Assembly. There have been few indications of a split. But Maduro and Cabello were at pains to stress their unity during last week’s meetings to inaugurate new PSUV state governors - most of which began with the audience standing for a recording of Chavez singing the national anthem. Cabello quipped that wealthy opposition leaders had been taking time out from Christmas holidays abroad to pray that he and Maduro would start fighting each other. “They keep thinking I’ll ignore the comandante’s order,” he scoffed.

“He was very clear ... He chose comrade Nicolas Maduro, knowing that under him the revolution will not be lost.”

Cabello and other senior PSUV officials, including Maduro’s wife, Attorney-General Cilia Flores, have suggested Chavez’s Jan. 10 inauguration for his new sixyear term could be postponed. That would outrage the opposition and drive emotions on all sides even higher, but that date could prove to be a diversion.

Without any clarity on Chavez’s condition, and the growing possibility that after four operations in 18 months he may no longer be fit to govern, many Venezuelans are expecting change and few are confident enough to make predictions. “There are simply too many moving pieces,” wrote Charles Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Venezuela who now heads the San Diego-based Institute of the Americas think tank. “My bet is that a deeply polarized and de-institutionalized Venezuela will be both turbulent and unstable for the foreseeable future.” — Reuters

Business WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

Troubled Kingfisher Airlines loses license

How drug traffickers use HSBC to launder money

Page 15

Page 14

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama makes a statement about fiscal cliff negotiations from the White House yesterday. — AFP

US seals ‘cliff’ deal, crisis eased Senators vote 89-8 to raise taxes on the wealthy WASHINGTON: The Senate moved the US economy back from the edge of a “fiscal cliff” yesterday, voting to avoid imminent tax hikes and spending cuts in a bipartisan deal that could still face stiff challenges in the House of Representatives. In a rare New Year’s session at around 2 am, senators voted 89-8 to raise some taxes on the wealthy while making permanent low tax rates on the middle class that have been in place for a decade. But the measure did little to rein in huge annual budget deficits that have helped push the US debt to $16.4 trillion.

The agreement came too late for Congress to meet its own deadline of New Year’s Eve for passing laws to halt $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts which strictly speaking came into force yesterday. But with the New Year’s Day holiday, there was no real world impact and Congress still had time to draw up legislation, approve it and backdate it to avoid the harsh fiscal measures. That will need the backing of the House where many of the Republicans who control the chamber complain that President Barack Obama has shown little interest in cutting government spending

and is too concerned with raising taxes.

All eyes are now on the House which is to hold a session today. Obama called for the House to act quickly and follow the Senate’s lead. “ While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without delay,” he said in a statement. “There’s more work to do to reduce our deficits, and I’m willing to do it. But tonight’s agreement ensures that, going forward, we will continue to reduce the deficit through a combination of new spending cuts and new revenues from the wealthiest Americans,” Obama said.

Members were thankful that financial markets were closed, giving them a second chance to return to try to head off the fiscal cliff. But if lawmakers cannot pass legislation in the coming days, markets are likely to turn sour. The US economy, still recovering from the 2008/2009 downturn, could stall again if Congress fails to fix the budget mess. “If we do nothing, the threat of a recession is very real.

Passing this agreement does not mean negotiations halt, far from it. We can all agree there is

more work to be done,” Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, told the Senate floor.

A new, informal deadline for Congress to legislate is now today when the current body expires and it is replaced by a new Congress chosen at last November’s election. The Senate bill, worked out after long negotiations on New Year’s Eve between Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, also postpones for two months a $109 billion “sequester” of sweeping spending cuts on military and domestic programs. It extends unemployment insurance to 2 million people for a year and makes permanent the alternative minimum tax “patch” that was set to expire, protecting middle-income Americans from being taxed as if they were rich.

‘IMPERFECT SOLUTION’ The tax hikes do not sit easy with Republicans but conservative senators held their noses and voted to raise rates for the rich because not to do so would have meant increases for almost all working Americans. “It took an imperfect solution to prevent our constituents from a very real financial pain, but in

my view, it was worth the effort,” McConnell said. House Speaker John Boehner - the top Republican in Congress said the House would consider the Senate deal. But he left open the possibility of the House amending the Senate bill, which would spark another round of legislating.

“The House will honor its commitment to consider the Senate agreement if it is passed.

Decisions about whether the House will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until House members ... have been able to review the legislation,” Boehner and other House Republican leaders said in a statement. Boehner has struggled for two years to get control over a group of several dozen Tea Party fiscal conservatives in his caucus who strongly oppose tax increases and demand that he force Obama to make savings in the Medicare and Social Security healthcare and retirement programs.

A campaign-style event held by Obama in the White House as negotiations with Senate leaders were taking place on Monday may have made it more difficult for Republicans to back the deal. In remarks to a group of sup-

porters that resembled a victory lap, the president noted that his rivals were coming around to his way of seeing things. “Keep in mind that just last month Republicans in Congress said they would never agree to raise tax rates on the wealthiest Americans. Obviously, the agreement that’s currently being discussed would raise those rates and raise them permanently,” he said to applause before the Senate deal was sealed.

Obama’s words and tone annoyed Republican lawmakers who seemed to feel that the Democrat was gloating. “That’s not the way presidents should lead,” said Republican Senator John McCain, Obama’s rival in the 2008 election. A deal with the House yesterday, while uncertain, would not mark the end of congressional budget fights.

The “sequester” spending cuts will come up again in February as will the contentious “debt ceiling,” which caps how much debt the federal government can hold.

Republicans may see those two issues as their best chance to try to rein in government spending and clip Obama’s wings at the start of his second term.— Reuters

Plan B for business in Beirut to avoid bust BEIRUT: As civil war rages in neighboring Syria and with tourism from the Gulf non-existent, hardened Lebanese merchants are surviving on a mixed bag of individual initiative, well-off Syrian tourists and help from expats. Sitting in her lifestyle boutique, with evening gowns displayed opposite a fully stocked bar, Sophie Salame says the Lebanese “always have a plan B.” “We have had tough times, but I cut costs and by the end of the year came up with better results,” she said. Her strategy included early sales and personally emailing Arab clients whose governments she wishes had not issued travel warnings.

“The Arabs are boycotting us. They want to take a stand on the government’s position on Syria,” she said, adding that a holiday influx of expatriates and an exodus of upper class Syrians has been a saving grace. “There are two kinds of refugees,” she said.

Since the 21-month revolt erupted, hundreds of thousands of less fortunate Syrians have fled to

Lebanon, where a weak and divided government has adopted a policy of “disassociation” from the bloody conflict. Over the summer, the oil-rich Gulf states urged their citizens to avoid Lebanon after Syria-linked clashes and kidnappings rocked the long-time shopping and nightlife hub.

This badly affected tourism and the economy in general, said Violette Balaa, an economic analyst and strategy manager at First Protocol, an event planning agency. “On the surface, this decision was security-related, because of fears of instability or kidnappings, but it is political and aimed at punishing Lebanon for its position on the Syrian issue,” she said. There has been a dramatic slump in tourism, which normally accounts for 22 percent of GDP but has dropped as low as 10 percent, Balaa said. The decline in tourists from the Gulf did not stop Salame from flying in a designer from London to create her dazzling window displays. “It cost me a small fortune. But I could not let Christmas pass

Crisis-hit Sudan opens dam in conflict state ROSEIRES: A torrent of water surged yesterday into Sudan’s Blue Nile river at the launch of the expanded Roseires dam, which officials say should help develop one of the country’s poorest regions where insurgents are fighting the government. A strategically-important structure, the 66year-old dam is already a major power generator for a Sudan struggling with economic crisis since South Sudan separated last year with most of the country’s oil production. It is located on the Blue Nile near Ethiopia and the expansion has cost $460-million. After four years of work and the resettlement of 20,000 families, Roseires dam now stands 10 meters higher, doubling its storage capacity to allow additional power generation and agricultural irrigation, officials said. “ The significance is very huge,” Industry Minister Abdulwahab Mohammed Osman said on

the sidelines of the ceremony held to mark the country’s 57th Independence Day. He said millions of feddans of land will be irrigated or provided with additional water because of the project. The dam’s capacity has risen to 7.4 billion cubic meters. Sudan has been aggressively trying to tap its abundant Nile waters for power generation and agricultural development. In 2009 it opened the $2-billion Merowe dam north of Khartoum and is also building the connected Atbara and Seteet hydroelectric projects in Gedaref and Kassala states.

The government sees agriculture as one way of trying to boost revenue after the separation of South Sudan, following a 23-year civil war, deprived the north of most of its export earnings and precipitated an economic crisis with soaring inflation and a sinking currency. —AFP

without it,” she said. “Lebanese love life and they love to spend money, even in tough times.”

CRUISING, NOT BUYING The luxury Beirut Souks shopping centre is still packed, but according to Balegh, who works in a fashion store, most people were “cruising and not buying.” Business nosedived after the assassination last October of intelligence chief Wissam Al-Hassan, which was widely blamed on the Syrian regime by Lebanon’s pro-revolt opposition, he said. Joanna, in a lingerie shop, said customers are buying only the basics and constantly bargain-hunting. “We mostly count on tourists, but there are no tourists in Lebanon now,” she said. Most of her customers are Lebanese or Syrians. Sales are far lower than in previous years, she said-”not only in this souk, all over the country.”

In one sign of hard times, the traditional New Year fireworks display sponsored by construction giant Solidere was cancelled. Tony Eid, founder of the merchants’ association in central Beirut, expressed regret, but added: “In times of crisis, everyone has to double his efforts in order to gain the most... or lose the least.” Tony Salame of Lebanese luxury boutique Aishti, said retailers must put their best foot forward. “If you take away the window displays, the fireworks, the advertising, people are going to think it’s over, that Beirut is no longer a destination. And that’s not the case.” “It’s easy with a recession to cut down on everything but in the medium term it will hurt us.”

Francois, 49, works in Saudi Arabia and brings his family back for 10-15 days every holiday season out of patriotism. “With the money we spend here we could go to many places in Europe or Asia, but we come here to help the economy,” he said. Not all foreign tourists have been scared off.

In mid-afternoon two Jordanians rushed out of the Souks, crisp bags from Aishti and chocolatier Patchi in hand. “Just a teeny bit of holiday shopping,” beamed the well-heeled young woman as her friend hurried her along to catch their flight home to Amman. — AFP

BEIRUT: A Lebanese man looks at a shop window in Beirut’s ‘Souks’ shopping district in the center of the Lebanese capital. As civil war rages in neighboring Syria and with tourism from the Gulf non-existent, hardened Lebanese merchants are surviving on a mixed bag of individual initiative, well-off Syrian tourists and help from expats. — AFP

UAE decriminalizes bounced cheques DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates will stop imprisoning expatriates for writing cheques that bounce, Abu Dhabi daily The National reported yesterday, citing a senior official. The UAE’s tough penalties for defaulting on loans, which is a criminal offence in the Gulf Arab monarchy, were relaxed for Emirati citizens in October after a royal decree. “In line with the directives of Sheikh Khalifa... and in the spirit of fairness and equality, the courts have stopped as of last month accepting collateral cheques presented as a criminal tool against expatriate debt defaulters,” Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, head of the legal affairs department at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs was

quoted saying. In July a British businessman who had been jailed for nearly three years in Dubai for writing bad cheques was released when his conviction was overturned following a seven-week hunger strike. The UAE has no bankruptcy laws to protect debtors and many have called for the decriminalisation of bounced cheques.

“Federal public prosecutions in the country have, indeed, released expatriate detainees as has been the case of their Emirati counterparts who were freed last October,” The National quoted judge Jassem Saif Buossaiba, head of the judicial inspection department at the Justice Ministry, as saying. — Reuters

business

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

Wall St ends 2012 riding high on ‘cliff’ NEW YORK: US stocks closed out 2012 with their strongest day in more than a month, putting the S&P 500 up 13.4 percent for the year, as lawmakers in Washington closed in on a resolution to the “fiscal cliff” negotiations. The S&P 500’s gain for the year marks its best performance since 2009, as stocks navigated through debt crises in Europe and the United States that dominated the headlines. Still, with numerous issues involving budget talks unresolved, markets could still be open to a shock should the deal break down unexpectedly.

Fittingly, in the last session of the year, stocks bounced back and forth on the headlines out of Washington, as both President Barack Obama and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell issued statements indicating a deal to avert the cliff was close. “The worst news could have been the president coming out and saying, ‘We don’t have a deal and we’ve giving up,’ and he didn’t say that,” said Ron Florance, managing director of investment strategy for Wells Fargo Private Bank, based in

Scottsdale, Arizona. “My personal skepticism, I don’t trust anything out of Washington until it is signed, sealed and delivered, and it is not signed, sealed and delivered.” While a deal on the cliff is not yet official, investors may be ready to take on more risk next year in hopes of a greater reward.

McConnell said an agreement had been reached with Democrats on all of the tax issues in the potential deal, removing a large hurdle in the talks.

An agreement is needed in order to avert a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that many believe could push the US economy into recession. A source familiar with the matter said an emerging deal, if adopted by Congress and President Barack Obama, would raise $600 billion in revenue over the next 10 years by increasing tax rates for individuals making more than $400,000 and households earning above $450,000 annually.

Despite the uncertainty, the market encountered only occasional bouts of volatility this

year. For the first time since 2006, the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX, the market’s favored indicator of anxiety, did not surpass the 30 level, a threshold that usually signals heightened worry among investors. “Given all the threats in 2012, the VIX was relatively tranquil,” said Bill Luby, the author of the VIX and More blog in San Francisco, citing the crises in Spain and Greece, along with constant intervention from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 166.03 points, or 1.28 percent, to end at 13,104.14. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 23.76 points, or 1.69 percent, to finish at 1,426.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 59.20 points, or 2.00 percent, to close at 3,019.51.

Monday’s gains enabled the S&P 500 to snap a five-day losing streak, its longest skid since September. The S&P 500 closed out 2012 with a 13.4 percent gain for the year, compared with a flat performance in 2011. The Dow rose 7.3 percent in 2012 and the Nasdaq climbed 15.9 percent. Financials were the strongest of the

S&P’s 10 industry sectors this year, gaining more than 26 percent, led by Bank of America, which more than doubled in 2012, and was the best performer of the Dow industrials. Of the S&P’s 10 sectors, only defensively oriented utilities ended the year lower, falling 2.9 percent.

Gains in Apple Inc, the most valuable US company, helped lift the Nasdaq. The stock rose 4.4 percent to $532.17, lifting the S&P information technology sector index up 2.2 percent.

For the year, Apple rose 31.4 percent, ending with a market value of about $501.4 billion.

Each of the Dow’s 30 components finished the session in positive territory, led by a 3.2 percent climb in Caterpillar Inc to $89.58. Volume was modest, with about 6.06 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, slightly below the daily average of 6.42 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of 6 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, four stocks rose for every one that fell.— Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

BUSINESS

Minimum wage gap grows wider between states OLYMPIA: With a bump in the Washington state minimum wage to $9.19 an hour, high school student Miranda Olson will edge closer to her goal of buying the black Volkswagen Beetle she’s been researching online.

Olson is only able to pick up part-time hours working at a cafe after classes and on weekends. But the extra pennies she’ll earn in 2013 will add up over the coming weeks and months.

“It’s not much, but it’s something,” said Olson, 16, who works at Wagner’s European Bakery and Cafe in Olympia.

“Every bit helps.”

Many workers around the country won’t be as lucky as residents of Washington state, which is raising its minimum wage Tuesday by 15 cents an hour even though it already has the highest state baseline in the country. Minimum-wage workers in Idaho

will make nearly $2 an hour less in 2013 than their counterparts living just one state to the west. Automatic increases designed to compensate for inflation have steadily pushed up wages in some states, even through the recession, expanding the pay gap between areas that make annual adjustments and those that don’t. Of the 10 states that will increase the minimum wage Tuesday, nine did so automatically to adjust for inflation.

Rhode Island lawmakers approved that state’s wage increase in the past year. Paul Sonn, legal co-director at the National Employment Law Project, said he hopes more states will start looking at automatic adjustments as the economy recovers. He said the model - which Washington state adopted in 1998 - helps avoid sudden jolts as states try to catch up with each

other. “We think there’s a case that it’s better for everyone, including the business community, to have predictable, regular, small increases every year,” Sonn said. The automatic adjustments aren’t much. Washington’s bump will mean those who work 40hour weeks will earn an extra $6 a week - enough for a couple lattes - or about $300 a year.

Hundreds of thousands of workers are expected to get a pay increase with the wage adjustments that begin New Year’s Day. Along with Washington and Rhode Island, the changes will occur in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont.

Among the nine states with automatic adjustments, the average minimum wage is $8.12 an hour, up from a little under $8. States that do not have automatic changes operate with an aver-

to get ahead of the game. He also raised prices on one-third of his menu items by 25 cents.

Natasha Baker, 22, who works at Hume’s restaurant in Portland, recently moved back in with her mother but hopes to move to another apartment in January. She said the extra $5 or $6 she’s earning every week with the salary boost is OK but won’t make a huge difference. “I don’t usually look at what I get paid,” she said.

“I’m more directed on what’s being taken out, which is more discouraging than anything.” In Montpelier, Vt, restaurant owner Irene Facciolo said she supported the 14-cents-an-hour increase in the minimum wage for her employees. She said the move from $8.46 to $8.60 an hour wasn’t much.

“We don’t have a problem with it at all,” Facciolo said. — AP

age minimum wage of about $7.40 - a difference of about $1,500 a year for a full-time worker. Many states, including Idaho, follow the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, either because they’ve tied their minimum wage to that threshold or because the stateenacted minimum is lower than that.

San Francisco has set the highest local minimum wage and will have workers paid at least $10.55 an hour in 2013. Groups such as the National Restaurant Association oppose further increases in federal or state minimum wages, arguing that it’s an ineffective way to reduce poverty and forces business owners to cut hours, raise prices or lay off workers. At Tom’s 1st Avenue Bento, a downtown Portland lunch spot, owner Tom Hume said he boosted pay for minimum-wage workers before the end of the year in order

France to water down 75% tax after setback Tax plan rejection a political blow to Hollande

NEW DELHI: An Indian customer service representative stands inside the closed window of a Kingfisher Airlines booking counter at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. — AFP

Troubled Kingfisher Airlines loses license MUMBAI: India’s troubled Kingfisher Airlines has lost its permit to fly after a deadline to renew its suspended license expired, the national aviation regulator said yesterday. The news is a fresh blow for the debt-laden carrier whose operations have been grounded since October after employees went on strike over unpaid wages. “Kingfisher’s flying permit has lapsed,” Directorate-General of Civil Aviation chief Arun Mishra said. “They failed to provide additional details on the funding of operations,” Mishra added, referring to Kingfisher’s revival plan submitted to the DGCA last month.

But the airline said there is no “cause for concern” as the rules allow for the renewal of a permit within two years of expiry. “Kingfisher is confident of securing approval from the regulator on the restart plan, licence approval and reinstatement of its operating permit,” its spokesman Prakash Mirpuri said in a statement late Monday. Kingfisher, con-

trolled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, owes millions of dollars to banks, airports, fuel suppliers and its staff and has been looking for a foreign investor to inject fresh funds.

The firm has been the worst-hit of India’s airlines in 2012, with the industry plagued by high jet fuel prices, fierce competition, price wars and shabby airport infrastructure. The carrier was India’s second-largest until a year ago but its share shrank to just 3.5 percent-the smallest in the country-before operations stalled completely. Kingfisher said it was in talks with foreign investors including Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways after the government cleared investment by foreign airlines in the key transport sector. Aviation analysts have expressed doubt over Etihad’s purported interest in Bangalore-based Kingfisher given the Indian firm’s debt load, which is estimated at $2.5 billion by the consultancy firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. — AFP

PARIS: The derailment of President Francois Hollande’s 75 percent millionaires’ tax presents a chance to water down a scheme which hurt France’s image with investors but the Socialist leader is unlikely to give up without a fight. Hollande pledged to press ahead with a redrafted tax on the wealthy next year after the Constitutional Council’s decision on Saturday to strike down the emblematic rate on income over 1 million euros ($1.32 million). But the Socialist president, who won office in May, avoided referring specifically to the 75 percent rate which has made some of France’s wealthy, including film star Gerard Depardieu, announce they will move abroad.

“We will still ask more of those who have the most,” Hollande said in a televised New Year’s address on Monday, without providing details of the new proposal.

Among bankers at least, expectations are growing that the tax may look very different when the government comes back with a revised plan even if the original had strong public backing. “I suspect this tax will be shelved,” said Philippe Gudin, a France economist for Barclays and a former Treasury official. “For the (low amount of) revenue it would raise, the outcry it has provoked and the damage it has done to France’s image, it would be more sensible if it were quietly buried.”

The Council said the tax was unfair as it would hit married couples where only one partner earned above a million euros but would not affect couples where each earned just under a million.

Opinion polls show that six in 10 French people back the tax. But while it would have affected only 2,000-3,000 people and raised just

a few hundred million euros a year, criticism from the business sector and high earners has been incessant. Hollande finds himself stuck between trying to appease investors who see him as anti-business and showing voters he remains serious about making the rich cough up more taxes.

Political analyst Olivier Duhamel said the government could accept the Council’s ruling by making the tax applicable to households, rather than individuals, and possibly raising the income threshold to 2 million euros. Alternatively, it could using the rejection as justification for ditching the whole idea.

“In politics, when things get difficult, you are stuck with unpleasant choices,” Duhamel said. The ruling has little effect on public finances but it has embarrassed the government just weeks after a public relations fiasco over attempts to rescue two idled steel furnaces.

Hollande will be wary of compounding his problems. “Giving up the 75 percent tax without a fight would be an admission of weakness,” said Stephane Rozes of the

CAP political consultancy. French media have reported even one of Hollande’s economic advisers muttered in private that a 75 percent tax rate amounted to turning France into “Cuba without the sunshine”. Deutsche Bank’s Gilles Moec also believed Hollande had little to gain by picking a fight with his own supporters but might go for the higher 2 million euro threshold. “If they scrap it entirely they don’t gain much and they get into trouble with their left wing. This would be a compromise,” he said.

BLINKERED STATE Hollande has been walking a tightrope since taking power in May as he tries to square election promises with the financial market demands without infuriating leftwingers in government. Famous for having once said that he disliked rich people, he vowed from day one to fight Europe’s focus on austerity policies and partially reversed a law that raised the retirement age. After six months in power, Hollande announced market-friendly moves to raise sales

French President Francois Hollande

taxes and fund tax relief for companies, explaining that the crisis made this necessary.

He also capitulated to furious entrepreneurs who revolted over plans to raise capital gains taxes in 2013, agreeing to scrap the measure for small business owners. “This march forward has not been without bumps or setbacks,” Hollande said. “I recognize that, but I have set a calendar of reforms to come out of this crisis faster and stronger.”

Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said in an interview that the French were aware of challenges facing the country as the government seeks to reverse a rising trend in unemployment by the end of 2013. “We need to reform, which requires effort, and Francois Hollande is aware of the challenges,” he said. “But success lies at the end of the road and the marker of that success is this (unemployment) goal.”

Hollande seems to be struggling, however, to find the right path to tread. The 75 percent tax reversal is the latest in a series of communications gaffes. Hollande was ridiculed in November after London Mayor Boris Johnson, a British Conservative, likened his government to revolutionaries for threatening to nationalize a steelworks where ArcelorMittal planned to shut blast furnaces. In the end, the government secured only a promise that furnace workers would get jobs elsewhere, infuriating unions. The tax setback is a new blow. Senate finance commission head Jean Arthuis said Hollande’s government had been punished for its “dogmatic blinkered state and its amateurism”. Critics said Hollande was now in a corner over how to tweak the tax to make it apply to households - like regular income tax - without making it apply to tens of thousands of couples. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds

.2740000 .4510000 .3680000 .3050000 .2800000 .2890000 .0040000 .0020000 .0761760 .7421590 .3880000 .0720000 .7275550 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2807000 GB Pound/KD .4535550 Euro .3706080 Swiss francs .3069940 Canadian dollars .2821390 Danish Kroner .0496650 Swedish Kroner .0431080 Australian dlr .2914930 Hong Kong dlr .0362120 Singapore dlr .2296300 Japanese yen .0032590 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0764540 Bahraini dinars .7448590 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0748730 Omani riyals .7293750 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka

3.262 5.145 2.894 2.213 3.224 232.710 36.800 3.499

.2840000 .4630000 .3780000 .3130000 .2910000 .3020000 .0067500 .0035000 .0769410 .7496180 .4060000 .0770000 .7348670 .0510000 .2828000 .4569480 .3733810 .3092910 .2842500 .0500360 .0434310 .2936740 .0364830 .2313480 .0032830 .0051910 .0022300 .0029200 .0035670 .0770260 .7504310 .4000000 .0754330 .7348320 .0069430

Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - transfer Irani Riyal - cash Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

6.855 9.209 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 75.230 77.515 733.750 749.300 76.818

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.700 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 45.478 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.316 Tunisian Dinar 183.120 Jordanian Dinar 397.940 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.893 Syrian Lier 3.065 Morocco Dirham 340.990 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 282.000 Euro 376.750 Sterling Pound 457.690 Canadian dollar 287.320 Turkish lire 157.480 Swiss Franc 312.470 Australian dollar 295.540 US Dollar Buying 280.800 GOLD 311.000 157.000 81.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

0.161 0.242 3.380 399.560 0.191 95.420 45.900 4.330 235.700 1.826 51.600 732.370 3.050 7.270 77.990 75.280 231.970 35.220 2.686 459.600 44.400 312.100 3.400 9.570 198.263 76.870 282.300 1.360

10 Tola 1

GOLD ,764.990

Sterling Pound US Dollar

399.520 0.190 94.420

Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

3.240 234.200

310.600 3.400 9.410 76.770 281.900

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 457.600 281.900

748.500 47.400 398.850 734.000 77.850 75.600

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer

732.190 2.902 6.870 77.560 75.280 231.970 35.220 2.218 457.600

749.54 45.52 401.04 732.63 77.74 75.28

Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar terling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

281.850 283.480 456.305 373.085 309.060 746.190 76.715 77.365 75.125 397.310 44.735 2.213 5.144 2.900 3.496 6.847 691.380 4.270 9.370 3.695 3.370 92.045

Al Mulla Exchange Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia

SELL CASH

296.600 749.820 3.840 286.900 553.700 45.900 50.900 167.800 47.740 376.400 37.070 5.490 0.032

SELL DRAFT

295.100 749.820 3.518 285.400

232.000 45.261 374.900 36.920 5.145 0.031

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams

SELL DRAFT

297.01 287.69 312.30 374.69 281.50 457.46 3.34 3.521 5.133 2.212 3.217 2.896 76.71

SELL CASH

296.000 288.000 311.000 373.500 283.000 457.500 3.690 3.667 5.500 2.370 3.600 3.050 77.400

Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

281.500 375.100 461.700 286.000 3.290 5.142 44.290 2.198 3.518 6.850 2.899 749.700 76.730 75.230

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

business

New Year revelers defy Spain’s economic woes MADRID: Uncowed by cold, rain and recession, revelers in Madrid on Monday sought to numb the pain of economic crisis with a glass of wine and plenty of cheer as the New Year reached Spain. Armed with snacks and bottles, hundreds gathered in the evening rain on the capital’s Puerta del Sol square for the countdown to 2013, set to be a fifth year of crisis for Spain. Manuela Ibanez, 51, who came from Barcelona with her two daughters, said however: “At times like this we forget the crisis.” Sol has been the scene of numerous protests against crisis reforms, but with its clock tower it is also a prime spot to count down to the midnight chimes.

Wrapped up against the cold, Ibanez and family brought a bottle of cider-instead of Cava sparkling wine-and bunches of grapes for the traditional Spanish new year rite: the gobbling of 12 grapes, one with each chime at midnight. “We will drink from the same bottle, we will kiss each other and wish each other happiness and good health for the coming year. That is the most important thing,” she said. “For a few moments we will stop thinking about our problems.” Several hundred people gathered under umbrellas in the square, with thousands more expected to arrive by midnight.

Earlier a horde of joggers sped shouting and smiling along the avenues of Madrid in the 10-kilometre (six-mile) New Year fun-run. Cheered on by bystanders, the runners - 40,000 according to organizers-raced through the evening chill in orange tops, red Santa hats and reindeer antlers. Spaniards had as much cause as any Europeans to reflect bitterly this New Year ‘s Eve. The recession has thrown millions out of work and into poverty, according to official figures and aid groups. Madrid town hall said it was expecting about 240 people to attend a New Year dinner for the needy at one of its main homeless shelters, where shrimps, salmon and chocolate were on the menu.

More than one in four workers is unemployed and an economic contraction of 1.5 percent is forecast for 2012. In 2013, the government foresees a further 0.5-percent slump but independent economists expect it to be sharper. Standing beneath the white face of the clock on the Puerta del Sol, Ibanez’s

daughter Sandra, 22, said 2013 is the year she will finish university, where she is studying to be a translator. “I think it is going to be quite difficult in Spain to find work in that area,” she said, standing beside her boyfriend Manuel Ortiz, 25, a waiter, who wore a black and white jester’s hat. “I may end up leaving for France or Britain,” she added. “It will be a year of big changes and important decisions.” — AFP

Sharp considers $1.15 billion public offering TOKYO: Embattled Japanese electronics firm Sharp is considering making a public share offering worth more than 100 billion yen ($1.15 billion) early this year, a report said yesterday. The public offering could take place in the spring with the firm hoping to use the funds to strengthen its mainstay liquid crystal display (LCD) business and improve its creditworthiness, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said. Sharp has started talks with major creditor banks and wants to include the capital increase scheme in a mid-term business plan to be announced as early as February, the mass-circulation daily said without naming its sources.

The cash-strapped company said in December it had struck a 9.9-billion-yen capital injection deal with USbased chipmaker Qualcomm as it moves to repair its tattered balance sheet. The Qualcomm deal will see the pair jointly develop energy-efficient LCD panels for smartphones using the Japanese firm’s technology, with the US company initially getting about 2.64 percent of Sharp’s stock. —AFP

BORDER: Chinese paramilitary policemen build a fence near a concrete marker depicting the North Korean and Chinese national flags with the words “China North Korea Border” at a crossing in the Chinese border town of Tumen in eastern China’s Jilin province. — AP

N Korean leader vows radical economic shift SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un called yesterday for a “radical turnabout” in the impoverished country’s economy in a rare New Year’s address that also appeared to offer an olive branch to South Korea. Kim’s speech, broadcast on state television, was the first of its kind for 19 years, since the death of his grandfather and the North’s founding president Kim IlSung. Kim’s father and the country’s previous ruler, Kim JongIl, never made a major address to his people.

The year 2013 will be one of “great creations and changes in which a radical turnabout will be effected”, Kim said, adding that “the building of an economic giant is the most important task” facing the country. Praising the success of the country’s space scientists in launching a long-range rocket last month, Kim said a similar national effort was now needed on the economic front.

“The entire party, the whole country and all the people should wage an all-out struggle this year to effect a turnaround in building an economic giant and improving the people’s standard of living,” he said. But he offered no specifics for how this might be achieved by the isolated state, which is already under multiple sanctions and relies on its sole major ally China for 70 percent of its foreign trade. When Kim Jong-Il died in December 2011 he left a country in dire economic straits-the result of a “military first” policy that fed an ambitious missile and nuclear program at the expense of a malnourished population.

Despite a rise in staple food output, daily life for millions is an ongoing struggle with under-nutrition, according to a recent World Food Program report. The address will be closely

scrutinized in South Korea, which has just elected its first woman president, the conservative Park Geun-Hye, who has signaled a desire for greater engagement with Pyongyang.

Kim’s tone was conciliatory as he urged a scaling down of tensions between the two Koreas who remain technically at war.

“An important issue in putting an end to the division of the country and achieving its reunification is to remove confrontation between the North and the South,” Kim said. “The past records of inter-Korean relations show that confrontation between fellow countrymen leads to nothing but war,” he added. The South’s president-elect Park has distanced herself from outgoing President Lee Myung-Bak’s hardline policy towards Pyongyang. But in her first policy statement following her election victory last month, Park made it clear she still saw Pyongyang as a serious threat and would put national security before any trust-building program.

Yu Woo-Ik, the South’s unification minister, said the North should not test the patience of the international community with missile and nuclear programs. In his address Kim made it clear that building the economy did not mean a complete shift away from his father’s “military first” policy. “The military might of a country represents its national strength. Only when it builds up its military might in every way can it develop into a thriving country,” he said. The UN Security Council is still considering whether to punish Pyongyang for its rocket launch, which most of the world saw as a disguised ballistic missile test. The speech lauded the launch as a historic national achievement and stressed the need to develop more “sophisticated military hardware”. —AFP

MADRID: People gather for New Year’s celebrations in Madrid, Spain yesterday. — AP

How drug traffickers use HSBC to launder money Dollars smuggled to Mexico; Cartels export US goods to Colombia NEW YORK: When several Colombian men were indicted in January 2010 on money-laundering charges, the case in Brooklyn federal court drew little attention. It looked like a bust of another nexus of drug traffickers and money launderers, with mainly small-time operatives paying the price for their crimes. One of the men was Julio Chaparro, a 48year-old father of four who owned three factories that made children’s clothing in Colombia.

But to US authorities the case was anything but ordinary.

Chaparro, prosecutors alleged, helped run a money-laundering ring for drug traffickers that took advantage of lax controls at UK-based international banking group HSBC Holdings Plc. It was one of the most important leads for US investigators pursuing a case against the bank that eventually led to a $1.9 billion settlement on Dec 11. Chaparro was “basically putting the orchestra together” and investigators saw “him as a major player in terms of cleaning a lot of money,” said James Hayes, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York. Known as ICE, the agency and its task force led the probe.

The Colombian’s lawyer, Ephraim Savitt, said Chaparro was a middleman in the operation, but disputed the extent of his client’s role, saying he was the “page turner of sheet music for the conductor.” Chaparro, who was arrested in Colombia in 2010 and extradited to the United States in 2011, pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy count in May and is awaiting sentencing in 2013. An HSBC spokesman declined comment. Much about the trail that drug traffickers used to move US dollars - the proceeds from drug sales - through HSBC and other banks remains unclear. By design, the process is layered to evade detection.

But a review of confidential investigative records that originate from two US Attorney office probes and federal court filings in New York and California, as well as interviews with senior law-enforcement officials, shows how investigators tracing the activities of people who allegedly worked with Chaparro were able to expose large-scale money laundering at one of the world’s biggest banks. The federal lawenforcement task force - named after El Dorado, the mythical city of gold in South America - used wire taps, email and computer searches, information from at least one inside source, and old-fashioned surveillance, to piece together the ring’s operations.

SMUGGLED ACROSS BORDER Drug cartels sold narcotics in the United States and routed the cash to Mexico, often using couriers to smuggle it across the border. That cash would then be put into bank accounts at HSBC’s Mexico unit, where large deposits could be made without arousing suspicion, according to US Department of Justice documents. In one filing, US prosecutors said, Chaparro and others allegedly utilized accounts at HSBC Mexico to deposit “drug dollars and then wire those funds to ... businesses located in the United States and elsewhere. The funds were then used to purchase consumer goods, which were exported to South America and resold to generate ‘clean’ cash.”

In a typical transaction, a middleman in a drug cartel would offer to deliver consumer goods, such as computers or washing machines, to Colombian businesses on favorable terms. Another person in the United States would buy the goods from firms using funds from drug trafficking, and fulfill those orders. Money launderers exploited the laxness of HSBC in policing shadowy money flows, the Department of Justice said earlier this month. Failures included not conducting due diligence on customers, not adequately monitoring wire transfers or cash shipments and not having enough employees to run anti-money laundering systems.

US Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer called the lapses “stunning failures of oversight.”

The situation was so bad, according to the Department of Justice, that in 2008, the head of HSBC’s Mexican operations was told by Mexican regulators that a local drug lord described the bank as “the place to launder money.” The Chaparro probe, led by ICE and the Justice Department, converged over the past two years with two other investigations - led by federal prosecutors and investigators in West Virginia and by the Manhattan district attorney resulting in this month’s settlement with HSBC. HSBC and its employees avoided criminal indictments, as the bank agreed instead to a deferred-prosecution deal that forces it to strengthen controls and accept a compliance monitor. Today, Chaparro sits in a federal detention center in Brooklyn, reading the Bible and awaiting sentencing, said Savitt, a former US prosecutor in Brooklyn, who submitted a list of questions to Chaparro for Reuters. “He is contrite, regretful and ashamed about his crimes,” Savitt said. “He wants to serve his time and rejoin his family. He understands that a prison term could prevent that from happening for many years.” Under federal guidelines, he could face 15 to 18 years in prison.

ON CHAPARRO’S TRAIL The El Dorado federal task force, based in a building on the west side of Manhattan near Chelsea Piers, serves as an umbrella organization for some 250 law-enforcement officials from state, local and federal agencies. One of the taskforce supervisors is Lieutenant Frank DiGregorio, a former New York detective who spent years tracking the so-called Black Market Peso Exchange, which is used to convert dollars to Colombian pesos through trading in goods.

DiGregorio along with two younger investigators - Graham Klein and Carmelo Lana - led the HSBC case.

The overall probe began in 2007 when investigators analyzed how courier companies ferried cash through airports in Miami and Houston, a person familiar with the case said. They ultimately tracked that to HSBC’s operations in Mexico and then connected it to funds moving through New York. A tipping point in the investigation came in 2009 when El Dorado agents arrested a man named Fernando Sanclemente. Two sources familiar with the case say Sanclemente was an operative in Chaparro’s network.

Sanclemente, who was charged with allegedly conducting financial transactions tied to narcotics trafficking, is free on bail with a $200,000 bond, according to the latest court docket entry, which dates to January 2012. His lawyer, James Neville, declined to discuss the status of the case.

According to a criminal complaint filed against him by Lana, the El Dorado agent, on June 30, 2009, task force agents followed Sanclemente for more than two hours as he drove around Queens in New York to ferry cash from drug sales. Sanclemente first met with a person for about “30 seconds” on one street corner, and left with a yellow plastic bag. Later that night, he drove to a Dunkin’ Donuts near LaGuardia Airport, where a black livery cab pulled up and the driver handed him a black bag. The El Dorado team followed Sanclemente to Laurel Hollow, New York, some 40 minutes away, where the investigators stopped and searched him, finding about $153,000 in the two bags. At Sanclemente’s apartment, investigators said they found ledgers and documents consistent with money laundering.

With the arrest, investigators gained insight into Chaparro’s alleged transactions. At one point, investigators set up undercover bank accounts where they were able to get Chaparro’s network to wire proceeds that could be traced back to HSBC’s Mexico operations, according to people familiar with the situation and a Department of Justice filing in the HSBC case. —Reuters

Malabar Gold & Diamonds opens 79th showroom in Dharmapuri DHARAMAPURI, Tamil Nadu: Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one amongst the world’s top jeweler retailers, strengthened its presence in Tamil Nadu by inaugurating its most awaited showroom at Netaji Bypass Road, Dharamapuri, on December 30, 2012. The showroom was inaugurated by Sri Anpalakan, Member of Legislative Assembly, in the presence of Malabar Group chairman M P Ahammed, Group Executive Director AK Nishad. This is the group’s Seventh outlet in Tamil Nadu and 79st worldwide. “The company plans to increase its worldwide retail network by targeting to complete 220 stores by the year 2015, of which 35 will be in Tamil Nadu,” said MP Ahammed, Chairman, Malabar Group.

The showroom showcases exquisite collection of 100% BIS Hallmarked 916 Gold, IGI Certified E F Color V V S clarity diamond jewellery, PGI certified platinum jeweler and BIS hallmarked silver jeweler & articles and premium watch brands with international warranty. Besides, the exclusive brands of Malabar Gold & Diamonds such as Divine-Indian Heritage Jeweler, Era-Uncut Diamond Jeweler, Mine-Diamonds unlimited, Ethnix-Handcrafted designer Jeweler, Starlet-Kid’s Jeweler and Precia-Precious Gem Jewellery were also displayed.

“Surya, the popular film hero in south Indian film industry is our Brand Ambassador in Tamil Nadu. At present the group has showrooms in the cities of Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode and Salem. The group plans to branch out its network to Hosur, Velacheri and Vadapalani, Pondicherry, Ramanathapuram, Vellore, Kumbakonam, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Trichy, Tuticorin, Tiruvannamalai by 2013. The group aims to set up 35 showrooms across Tamil Nadu by 2015 with supply chain centers at Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy,” said V S Shafeeque, Regional Director, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, and Tamil Nadu.

The transparent price tag, buy back guarantee, exchange policies and lifelong free maintenance for ornaments and service of professionally trained management team are some of the specialties of Malabar Group. The jeweler’s Gold Purchase Scheme enables its customers to book gold on monthly basis and to hedge against soaring gold prices. MP Ahammed, Malabar Group Chairman & their new brand ambassador, Suriya had announced their latest CSR initiative of the brand, a commitment of educational scholarship under its ‘Empowering Education, Empowering Womanhood’ initiative in

Chennai. This initiative will provide Rs. 2 cr as educational scholarship for 10000 higher secondary girl students in government schools across Tamil Nadu for a year.

The initiative is aimed to create awareness towards the education of women which is

very vital in the betterment of every family.

For moulding quality citizens for the country they have turned their concentration also towards promoting education and career oriented programs and scholarship. As part of this they sponsored 200 scholarships and 4

gold medals for school teachers and institutional leaders for the promotion of excellence in school education in India, joining hands with ‘ leading schools’ project of IIM Kozhikode. As a part of the corporate social responsibility initiatives, Malabar Gold & Diamonds has earmarked a portion of its turnover for charitable activities under the aegis of Malabar Charitable Trust. Medical charity, which was started during 1999, is providing lifesaving drugs to the poor and to date more than 2, 98, 000 patients have been benefited.

Malabar Housing Charity, which was started during 2004 with the objective of building homes for the poor and underprivileged, has so far built more than 5,770 houses.. It has also conducted many litter free awareness campaigns & projects for social well-being as a part of the Green India initiative. The group is expanding across India & GCC and its expansion plan also goes to the Far East countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangkok, Singapore, China, and Ceylon and also to US and UK. Malabar Gold & Diamonds recently launched its job portal www.malabarjobs.in for prospective job seekers, creating job opportunities for educated and talented candidates.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft sees obstacles in 2013 2012 most epic in software giant’s history SEATTLE: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has been known to use hyperbolic adjectives, but was he on the mark when he described 2012 as “the most epic in Microsoft history”?

It was the year, after all, in which the company launched Windows 8, a radical revamp of its flagship operating system. It was also a year when Microsoft launched or previewed new versions of nearly all its products and services; debuted its first branded computing device, the Surface tablet; and announced it was moving from focusing almost primarily on software toward becoming a devices-and-services company.

So how epic did 2012 turn out to be?

“There’s a term in aviation: V1. It’s when an aircraft has reached a velocity at which it has to take off,” said Wes Miller, an analyst at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft.

In 2012, Microsoft’s efforts were all about achieving V1. And now, “we’re heading toward cruising altitude but we don’t know how long that will take or how bumpy it will be,” Miller said.

Here’s a look at significant events in Microsoft’s 2012 “epic,” “V1” year, and some challenges that experts think the company faces in 2013.

WINDOWS 8 LAUNCH: The moment the entire company had been working toward for years came Oct. 26, when Microsoft launched Windows 8 and Windows RT (the version of Windows 8 designed to run on ARM-based chips — primarily mobile devices).

Reports have been mixed on how successful they’ve been so far. Microsoft said 40 million Windows 8 licenses were sold in its first month, outpacing Windows 7 in upgrades.

While that seems to be a good start, given how much the company spent on marketing, 40 million is “modest at best,” said David Johnson, an analyst at Forrester Research.

Forrester found that interest in Windows 8 among large businesses was higher than expected.

Among consumers, Forrester found that buyers were reporting confusion with Windows 8 and problems with applications not working correctly, though once they got past the initial learning curve, many using Windows 8 on touch-screen devices seem to like it.

SURFACE LAUNCH Microsoft built much buzz for the lateOctober launch of Surface, the company’s first branded computing device. But the buzz didn’t necessarily translate into big sales or exclusively glowing reviews. In fact, the reviews were mixed, with most praising the hardware but, ironically, dinging the software.

Microsoft has not released sales figures for Surface, which initially had been sold just in Microsoft retail stores and online.

The company has since pushed up its schedule to produce more Surface units, selling them now at big-box retailers such as Staples and Best Buy. Al Hilwa, an analyst with IDC, says he

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer regards Surface as an experiment to help Microsoft’s hardware partners “imagine what Windows devices might look like” and “see how far down this path to go.”

WINDOWS PHONE 8 LAUNCH Microsoft launched the latest version of its 2-year-old smartphone platform at an October event designed to showcase how its tiled design and features can make it a very personalized device.

It’s too soon to say, though, whether Windows Phone 8 will finally allow Microsoft to significantly increase its smartphone market share from about 3 percent in the US and 2 percent worldwide.

Early signs show a bit of progress. In the 12 weeks ending Nov. 25, Windows Phone held 5.1 percent of global smartphone sales, compared with 1.7 percent the year before, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. In the US, it held 2.7 percent in 2011 compared with 2.1 percent in 2012.

Will Stofega, an analyst with IDC, says he understands why Microsoft has been focusing on reaching consumers with its Windows Phone. But he thinks Microsoft needs to start pitching more aggressively to large businesses as well.

WINDOWS SERVER 2012 LAUNCH Though overshadowed by Windows 8, the launch of Windows Server 2012 is “the hidden gem in the year,” said Michael Cherr y, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft.

Cherry calls it “an excellent release, chock full of improvements to the core services including networking, storage, virtualization and management.”

The only downside he sees is a lack of documentation about how to implement the improvements.

OFFICE 2013/OFFICE 365 In September, Microsoft introduced the next versions of its Office productivity suites, to be launched in the first quarter of 2013. The most drastic change: In addition to selling Office the traditional way — in a box or downloaded — Microsoft will be offering it via a subscription service.

Dubbed Office 365, this online version of Office had been available to small businesses for a while now. But with its launch, Office 365 will be available to consumers for $8.33 a month (or $99.99 a year), for use on up to five PCs or Macs.

From what he’s seen of preview versions so far, Directions on Microsoft analyst Miller calls the next version of Office “really thoughtfully designed.”

DEVICE-AND-SERVICES COMPANY Ballmer spoke often in 2012 about Microsoft’s transition into a devices-andservices company. It made several significant steps in this direction, including focusing on Office as a subscription service and launching the Xbox SmartGlass application, which attempts to better connect the company’s devices to the content offered through its Xbox console and Xbox Live service.

Really, Microsoft had little choice, given the shift toward mobile devices and connectivity everywhere.

“What we might have previously characterized as separate areas of competition — in devices, in content, in cloud services, in operating systems — really are now one large competition among a couple of key players: Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon,” said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research.

That means the companies are battling for customer investment and loyalty to an entire ecosystem marked by the services and content the company provides, accessible via its devices.

STEVEN SINOFSKY’S DEPARTURE Mere weeks after Microsoft launched Windows 8, its chief shepherd, Windows President Steven Sinofsky, left the company.

The announcement was sudden and largely unexpected. The consensus on the cause: that Sinofsky, though known for delivering products on time, was also an abrasive, controversial figure at a time when Microsoft needed a more collaborative approach both within the company and with its partners.

Two of his top lieutenants are now taking the reins in the Windows division. Julie Larson-Green, formerly head of program management for Windows, will lead all Windows software and hardware engineering. Tami Reller, chief financial and marketing officer for Windows, will also take on business and marketing strategy for the division.

MICROSOFT VS GOOGLE Microsoft and Google have been fighting on a number of fronts, and the battles seemed to escalate in 2012. The two companies fought over patents in courtrooms in several countries. They battled via ad campaigns over transparency and privacy practices. And most recently, Google tinkered with its mail, contacts and calendar syncing technology in a way that makes it difficult to be used with some Microsoft technology.

A large part of the friction comes from Google’s inroads into areas traditionally dominated by Microsoft. “The subtext is: What used to be a battle between the two companies in the consumer space has clearly bled over into the enterprise space as well,” Forrester’s Golvin said. — MCT

Steven Sinofsky

ASIA IT OUTLOOK

What’s in store for technology in 2013

T

he economic outlook in Asia will continue to stay positive in 2013 with emerging markets while taking the lead in driving the economy forward to face immense pressure in improving business performance, productivity and higher levels of efficiencies, according to cloud computing services provider EMC Philippines.

Ronnie Latinazo, EMC Philippines country manager said, “forward looking organizations look to IT as a way to achieve business priorities and objectives.

As Asian businesses invest heavily in building resilient infrastructures, analyst firms like Canalys predict total IT investments to grow an average of 5 percent per annum to reach $152 billion by 2016. This supports global spending patterns with analyst firms like IDC predicting an increase in cloud storage spending to reach $22.6 billion by 2015.”

The rise of big data 2012 saw the continued and healthy industry adoption of cloud computing but the industry really experienced widespread adoption of enterprise mobility in 2012 driven largely by BYOD trends and the consumerization of IT. Businesses reviewed and adopted technologies that could help employees leverage the efficiency and flexibility of mobile, cloud-enabled networks in a manner that is seamless, personalized and secure. The rampant adoption of portable smart devices accelerated the ease to create, consume and share data at high speeds and exponentially larger quantities causing businesses to look at more effective ways of managing and leveraging this data growth. Shifting business demands had a direct impact on IT spending as Canalys reported that global datacenter transformation will spend at US$128 billion this year-up 6 percent from 2011, with Asia Pacific accounting for a quarter of global data center investments in five years.

“We see businesses embracing transformative and disruptive technologies to improve their capability to support rising big data trends from social platforms and within the business environment. In addition, there was a perception

shift that saw the IT department move from being a cost center to a value center,” Latinazo said.

“The rise in the big data phenomenon led businesses to re-think the power of big data analytics. Businesses are using big data analytics to gain business insights and empower decisions. In the public space, pre-empting the spread of diseases and gaining insights into voter preferences during elections are fast becoming a reality. And EMC is at the forefront of this trend,” Latinazo said.

To tap into, and put a human face on, the societal impact of big data, EMC launched last year a groundbreaking, globally crowdsourced initiative that is based on the premise that real-time visualization of data collected by satellites, and by billions of sensors, RFID tags, and GPS-enabled cameras and smartphones around the world.

These technologies “are enabling humanity to sense, measure, understand and affect aspects of our existence in ways never before imagined,” according to Latinazo.

What’s next for 2013 EMC Philippines foresee continuing momentum in the following areas in 2013: 1. IT TRANSFORMATION: Consumerization of IT and BYOD trends are fuelling demand for technologies that are more responsive and offer anytime, anywhere and any device access in a reliable, scalable and secure manner.

Virtualization and cloud-based services form a large part of this transformational journey. 2013 will pave the way for a more mature IT environment where transforming applications, infrastructure and backup capabilities are critical for businesses moving in an era of mobility and business intelligence.

2. BIG DATA: 2013 will be an even more promising year of big data and data scientists, as businesses look to leverage analytics to uncover greater business insights and derive value for that competitive edge. By 2016, Asia Pacific will generate the most cloud traffic - 1.5 zettabytes annually . Organizations will do well to harness the power and value of big data to improve business agility and intelligence for higher productivity and a better return on investment. In line with the explosive demand for analytics, Gartner and IDC report that there will be a shortage of data scientists to manage the data, quoting a demand of one million big data jobs in the Global 1,000 companies by 2015, but only onethird of those will be filled . Research firm Nucleus claims that public and private sector organizations that leverage technology to examine large and complex data sets will see a return on investment of 241 per cent. Businesses will need to look into its big data talent pool early on to meet the challenges of the coming year.

3. TRUSTED IT: Virtualization, cloud computing, mobile technologies and the emergence of big data applications have dramatically altered how organizations create, deliver and manage information. The increasing exposure of information within rapidly-expanding IT infrastructures, application portfolios and cloud environments opens organizations up to new forms of security risk.

Organizations will increasingly need to develop systems and solutions that mitigate these risks as well as be able to observe regulatory compliance for data protection.

“Against a challenging economic backdrop, EMC will continue to operate from a position of strength to innovate and accelerate customers’ journey to cloud computing, helping organizations store, manage, protect and analyze information in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way,” Latinazo said.

BEIJING: A worker uses a mobile phone as he rests beneath a lantern at the Summer Palace prior to a new year count-down event in Beijing on December 31, 2012. — AFP

Sony stops production of PlayStation 2 TOKYO: Sony has ended Japanese production of its best-selling PlayStation 2 (PS2). The hardware first went on sale in March 2000 in Japan and since then more than 150 million PS2 consoles have been sold. The PS2 was so popular that it outsold its replacement for the first three years that the PlayStation 3 was available. By ending production, Sony has fuelled rumors it is putting manufacturing resources towards the PlayStation 4.

Although Sony is ending production in Japan this does not mean no more games will be produced for the PS2. For instance, another instalment of the Final Fantasy series, called Seekers of Adoulin, is due to be released in March 2013. In total, about 11,000 games are believed to have been made for the gadget over

its 12-year lifespan.

Japanese gaming and entertainment site Famitsu reported that Sony has told the nation’s retailers that it will not provide any more PS2s for sales in shops.

Once existing stock is sold no more will be forthcoming. Sony has yet to say whether it will stop production for other territories as well. The PS2 is credited with being the best-selling game console of all time and its wide use is also thought to have aided the popularity of DVDs as a drive for the disks was built in to the machine. Despite rumours that Sony will make announcements about the PS4 in mid-2013, the firm has not given any official details of the specifications of the hardware nor when it might be released.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

H E A LT H

Space travel can accelerate Alzheimer’s WASHINGTON: Long journeys into deep space, including a mission to Mars, could expose astronauts to levels of cosmic radiation harmful to the brain and accelerate Alzheimer’s disease, said US research Monday. The NASA-funded study involved bombarding mice with varied radiation doses, including levels comparable to what voyagers would experience during a mission to Mars, and seeing how the animals managed to recall objects or locations. Mice that were exposed to radiation were far more likely to fail those tasks-suggesting neurological impairment earlier than such symptoms typically appear. “Galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future

astronauts,” said Michael O’Banion, a professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center and senior author of the study published in scientific journal Plos One. “This study shows for the first time that exposure to radiation levels equivalent to a mission to Mars could produce cognitive problems and speed up changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.”

NASA is planning manned missions to a distant asteroid in 2021 and to Mars in 2035. A round trip to the Red Planet could take as long as three years.

While space is filled with radiation, Earth’s magnetic field generally protects the planet and people in a

FDA approves 1st new tuberculosis drug in 40 years

WASHINGTON: The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a Johnson & Johnson tuberculosis drug that is the first new medicine to fight the deadly infection in more than four decades. The agency approved J&J’s pill, Sirturo, for use with older drugs to fight a hard-to-treat strain of tuberculosis that has not responded to other medications. However, the agency cautioned that the drug carries risks of potentially deadly heart problems and should be prescribed carefully by doctors. Roughly one-third of the world’s population is estimated to be infected with the bacteria causing tuberculosis. The disease is rare in the US, but kills about 1.4 million people a year worldwide. Of those, about 150,000 succumb to the increasingly common drug-resistant forms of the disease.

About 60 percent of all cases are concentrated in China, India, Russia and Eastern Europe. Sirturo, known chemically as bedaquiline, is the first medicine specifically designed for treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. That’s a form of the disease that cannot be treated with at least two of the four primary antibiotics used for tuberculosis. The standard drugs used to fight the disease were developed in the 1950s and 1960s. “The antibiotics used to treat it have been around for at least 40 years and so the bacterium has become more and more resistant to what we have,” said Chrispin Kambili, global medical affairs

leader for J&J’s Janssen division.

The drug carries a boxed warning indicating that it can interfere with the heart’s electrical activity, potentially leading to fatal heart rhythms. “Sirturo provides much-needed treatment for patients who don’t have other therapeutic options available,” said Edward Cox, director of the FDA’s antibacterial drugs office. “However, because the drug also carries some significant risks, doctors should make sure they use it appropriately and only in patients who don’t have other treatment options.”Nine patients taking Sirturo died in company testing compared with two patients taking a placebo. Five of the deaths in the Sirturo group seemed to be related to tuberculosis, but no explanation was apparent for the remaining four.

Despite the deaths, the FDA approved the drug under its accelerated approval program, which allows the agency to clear innovative drugs based on promising preliminary results. Last week, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen criticized that approach, noting the drug’s outstanding safety issues. “ The fact that bedaquiline is part of a new class of drug means that an increased level of scrutiny should be required for its approval,” the group states. “But the FDA had not yet answered concerns related to unexplained increases in toxicity and death in patients getting the drug.” —AFP

low earth orbit from such particles. But once astronauts leave orbit they are exposed to a shower of various radiation. Over the past 25 years, NASA has funded research to determine the potential health risks of space travel, aiming to develop countermeasures and determine whether or not the risks might imperil extended manned missions to deep space.

Several previous studies have shown the potential cancer, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal impact of galactic cosmic radiation. But the University of Rochester study examined the potential impact of space radiation on neurodegeneration, and in particular the biological processes in the brain that con-

tribute to the development of Alzheimer’s.

The brains of the mice also showed signs of vascular alterations and a greater than normal accumulation of beta amyloid, the protein “plaque” that accumulates in the brain and is one of the hallmarks of the disease. “These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer’s disease,” said O’Banion.

“This is yet another factor that NASA, which is clearly concerned about the health risks to its astronauts, will need to take into account as it plans future missions.”—AFP

Philippines ‘sin tax’ dampens New Year fun MANILA: A “sin tax” on cigarettes and alcohol dampened the New Year party spirit when it was introduced in the Philippines yesterday, as part of a government bid to boost finances. Many stores started selling tobacco and drink at inflated prices before midnight, ahead of the official implementation of the tax hikes on January 1, hitting partygoers in the pocket. Tax on cigarettes will gradually be raised to 30 pesos ($0.72) per pack by 2017, roughly doubling the current price to around 52 pesos. Duty on alcohol will also increase gradually until 2017, increasing the price of a bottle of beer by 23.50 pesos, with varying levels for other drinks including wine and spirits. It will be further increased by four percent each year thereafter.

“The new prices compared to countries like Singapore for example, are still low, but for the ordinary Filipinos they are expensive,” said Laudemer Angeles, a 33-year-old shop owner in the town of Bacoor, south of Manila. “Many of my customers were complaining about the higher prices and were not too happy when they bought their booze and smokes for their parties last night.” Anti-smoking campaigner Emer Rojas said he hoped the new taxes would lead to a gradual decline in the number of people suffering from tobacco-related illness.

“I think the sin taxes should even be raised higher,” he told AFP. “But we commend President Aquino for showing his resolve in signing the law.” The government has said that the country of 100 million has the highest incidence of smoking in the region, with tobacco-related diseases costing the country 177 billion pesos ($4.3

PHILIPPINES: Customers look at alcoholic beverages on display at a supermarket in Manila yesterday. — AFP billion) last year. The new taxes aim to raise 33 billion pesos ($800 million) this year alone, gradually increasing over the coming years. A large percentage of the money will go towards the government’s health care program. The government first asked parliament to raise taxes on “sin”

products as early as 1997, but a strong lobby by tobacco manufacturers stifled change. The lobby included members of parliament representing tobacco-growing regions as well as powerful cigarette companies that enjoyed one of the lowest tobacco taxes in Southeast Asia.— AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

health & science

Barefoot runner turns heads during daily commute ORLANDO: Mike Funk jokes that he likes to feel the earth move under his feet. Five days a week, Funk, 37, jogs from his home in Altamonte Springs, Fla, to his job as a web developer at a Maitland, Fla., publishing firm. He runs again at lunch, and at the end of the day he straps on his backpack and heads home the same way. All without benefit of shoes. Funk has become known as “that barefoot runner guy,” and he often gets puzzled looks from rush-hour motorists. “People will yell out: ‘Hey, where are your shoes?’ or ‘Do you need a ride?’ or ‘You really shouldn’t do that,’” Funk said. “But I come up with short answers, because I’m trying to run.”

Funk runs barefoot about 13 miles every day.

And on weekends he runs another 20 miles, with his bare feet slapping the sidewalk or grass. So far this year, he has logged more than 2,500 miles, each one without shoes or socks.

“Barefoot running is more of a normal state of running,” said Funk, a tall man with a string-bean physique and a cheerful smile. “It makes an otherwise boring run a whole lot more challenging and interesting.”

Running barefoot has become so much a part of Funk’s life that he recently sold his car and now jogs almost everywhere. Funk is among a growing number of runners who have ditched

their running shoes for no shoes at all. And like Funk, these runners with naked feet feel that’s the way Mother Nature intended running to be.

But is it better for the feet and body, as Funk and other barefoot enthusiasts claim? Carey Rothschild, a physical therapist and an instructor at the University of Central Florida, said “the jury is still out” on that question.

Rothschild, who’s also a runner, spent years studying barefoot running, and this year her findings were published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. She points out that barefoot runners tend to land on the middle or front of the feet, whereas shoed runners will often strike the ground with their heel first and then roll the foot forward.

“There is sound evidence that there is a biomechanical difference between running barefoot and running with shoes. But we don’t know if that translates to less injury,” Rothschild said.

Dr Cary Zinkin, a podiatric sports physician in Deerfield Beach, Fla., and a spokesman for the American Podiatric Medical Association, agreed, saying “there is no absolute or definitive evidence that it (barefoot running) either hurts you or helps you.”

“But you will find a majority of podiatrists not really recommending it,” he said. “We feel the

MAITLAND: Mike Funk runs barefoot daily from his home in Altamonte Springs to his job in Florida. — MCT possibility of getting hurt is greater when you run barefoot. You can step on things. You can cut yourself. You can pick up micro-organisms and

infectious agents, and that can lead to greater problems.”

But if a runner insists on going barefoot, Zinkin, who has run nine marathons and 30 half-marathons, advises starting on a soft surface such as a rubberized track or grass and slowly building up mileage. Funk’s interest in barefoot running was sparked about a year ago when he read an article touting its benefits. He had been running in shoes for years but wanted to try something different. At first he was able to run only half a mile without shoes because of the discomfort. But after several weeks, a thick, leather-like callus developed on the bottom of his foot.

His thick soles now help protect him from glass, nails, twigs and other nasty, sharp objects he encounters while running, he said. “You have to keep a hawk’s eye on the ground,” Funk said. “I sometimes will find tiny pieces of glass in my foot, but that happens about every 500 miles or so.” Funk’s wife, Bonni, a counselor, said she wasn’t surprised when her husband decided to take up barefoot running. “He’s a big goal-setter and someone who is always trying new things,” she said. “Although there are times when it’s nighttime, and I’m wondering if he’s OK. But he watches out for himself.” — MCT

Pakistan child measles deaths surge last year

KARACHI: Measles cases surged in Pakistan in 2012, and hundreds of children died from the disease, an international health body said yesterday. In recent days Pakistani officials said they launched an immunization campaign to reach children in the worst-hit areas. But the country still struggles with a beleaguered health care system, unsanitary conditions in many regions and a lack of education about how to prevent disease.

All those factors make it difficult to combat infectious diseases such as measles and polio. Also, many oppose vaccinations, suspecting they are meant to harm their people.

A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, Maryam Yunus, said that 306 children died in Pakistan of measles in 2012, compared to 64 the year before.

She said the jump was most pronounced in southern Sindh province, where measles killed 210 children in 2012. She said 28 children died there in 2011. The World Health Organization did not give a reason for the increase in deaths, but a provincial health official in Sindh said that the disease hit areas where poor families did not vaccinate their children.

Provincial health minister Saghir Ahmed said 100 children died in Sindh province

in December alone, mostly in areas where many people were not vaccinated.

He said health officials recently launched a campaign to vaccinate 2.9 million children in the affected areas of the province and urged parents to get their children vaccinated. Many Pakistanis, especially in rural areas, view vaccinations campaigns with suspicion as a Western plot to sterilize Muslims. In December, nine health officials working to immunize Pakistanis against polio were killed by militants opposed to the campaign. Pakistan is one of three countries in the world where polio is endemic.

Sindh province, the area hardest hit by the measles outbreak, has also been battered by repeated floods in recent years that have damaged hospitals and clinics.

Measles is an extremely infectious disease spread by coughing and sneezing or personal contact. It causes a fever, cough and a rash all over the body. Most people who contract the disease recover, but it can be fatal for malnourished children. Complications from the disease can include blindness, an infection that causes brain swelling, dehydration and diarrhea, and pneumonia. According to WHO, 139,300 people died of measles worldwide in 2010. —AP

Rockettes perform ‘12 Days of Christmas,’ Radio City Christmas Spectacular. — MCT photos

Rockette plan: Want those legs? Here’s a workout used to get them and keep them he first thing the Rockettes are known for are their incredible synchronized high kicks.

The second thing they’re known for are the way their legs look when they do those kicks.

Countless hours of practice, rehearsals and performing (sometimes up to four shows a day) leave these ladies in tip-top shape.

Take some cues from Stacy Paydo, a Los Angeles-based Rockette, who created a fusion workout of ballet, Pilates and yoga that’ll get you on the way to the famed Rockette legs (if you run through this set of exercises enough times, that is). Before you start, do a five-minute warm-up by taking a brisk walk or another easy cardio exercise. Do each exercise 8 to 10 times and repeat the set three times for a full workout.

T

jump. Smoothly return to your turned-out grand plie when you land and repeat.

Hamstring rolls on the ball Find an exercise ball and lay on your back. If you don’t have a ball, you may use a stool or a chair-but you should skip the rolling portion of the exercise. Place the ball underneath your heels so that your legs are lifted in the air. Place your arms to your sides and press down into the ground until you can lift your pelvis off the floor.

At this point all of your leg muscles should be fired up and your feet should be flexed. Keep

Standing leg pulses Stand straight with your feet under your hips.

If you have a Thera-band, place it around the outside of both ankles so your feet are inside. (Get one for $15 at thera-band.com. They are colorcoded to your level, so if you’re a beginner, get the red one. If you don’t have one, you can do the exercise without it.) Starting with your right leg, extend it straight forward to the maximum height the Thera-band will allow. Pulse and lift here 8 to 10 times. Repeat the exercise to the side and to the back and then switch to the left leg. Hands can be placed on your hips. This exercise also challenges your balance, which works your core muscles.

KARACHI: A Pakistani mother tends to her young son suffering from measles at a Red Cross hospital in the southern Sindh province city of Sukkur yesterday. — AP

Galapagos pink iguana captured on film LONDON: Veteran British nature broadcaster David Attenborough is to show the first filmed sighting of the rare pink iguana, in a television series on the Galapagos Islands which begins yesterday. The 86-year-old filmed the rare Conolophus Marthae iguana in June last year for his new series “Galapagos 3D”, which goes out on Britain’s Sky television. It was only identified as a separate species in recent years and it will be the first time the creature has been seen on screen. It was filmed on the island of Isabela in the volcanic Ecuadoran archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. “It was a privilege to see it,” said Attenborough.

“It’s a remarkable thing in this day and age when you think about the number of scientists per square meter

in the Galapagos, and yet suddenly we have discovered a new species. “A little periwinkle or something which nobody has identified before is one thing, but this is more than that: it’s a large, pink iguana.” Series executive producer Geffen added: “When he finally came face-to-face with the iguana it was just one of the most extraordinary moments that I’ve ever experienced: here was the world’s greatest naturalist coming face-toface with a new species. “In the footsteps of Charles Darwin but almost 200 years later, David Attenborough was capturing the rare species on film for the first time.” Attenborough celebrated 60 years with the BBC last year in a career that has seen him win many awards and the respect of the scientific community. — AFP

Standing calf raises In dancer lingo, these are known as eleves.

Heels can be lifted with feet parallel hip-width apart, or you can turn out to first position (heels touching, toes apart) to work those deep lateral rotators buried in your gluteus maxims. For added challenge, find a chair for balance and try single-leg calf raises (same exercise but one leg at a time).

Crescent lunge to warrior III Start in a deep lunge, create a 90-degree angle with your front leg keeping your back leg is straight. When lunging, your heel should be right under your knee. Reach your arms high into the sky. Slowly transfer your weight forward, lowering your torso, and lifting your back leg until you are parallel with the floor and feeling like a big capital “T.” Arms reach forward by your head or can be taken out to the side if you are having trouble balancing. With control, bend your supporting leg and return to your starting crescent lunge. Switch sides.

Jumping squats in second Start in a deep grand plie in second position.

This is done by placing the feet wide apart with the toes comfortably facing out to the side. There should be no discomfort in the knees. If it doesn’t feel right, try angling your feet more toward the corner. Bend your knees until you’ve created a 90-degree angle between your hamstring and calf, and keep your bottom in line with your knees. Arms can be straight out to the side.

Explode off the floor by pushing through your feet. Reach the arms up to the sky when you

Paydo demonstrates the first pose of the Curtsy squat.

Paydo demonstrates the second pose of jumping squats. pressing into the floor and try to keep your hips lifting high as you bring your heels closer to your bottom and back out again. If done successfully, your ball should be rolling along the floor.

Paydo demonstrates the second pose of hamstring Rolls on the Ball.

Shoulder bridge leg lift Start on your back, legs bent, knees pointing to the ceiling, feet flat on the floor. Rolling through your spine, lift your pelvis so that one line is created from knees to shoulders. Pressing into the ground with your hands should help you with this. Carefully lift one leg straight up to the ceiling, lower it until your knees are even, and then bring it back up the ceiling again. Repeat lowering and lifting on one leg 8 to 10 times before placing the foot back on the floor and switching to the other side.

Paydo demonstrates the first pose of ‘jumping squats in second.’

Curtsy squat At the end of a great performance or after a fantastic ballet class it is common to bow. The ladylike version of this is the curtsy, so what better way to prepare for a standing ovation than with this exercise? Start by placing one foot behind you and bend both legs in a turned out fourth position (right toes pointing to the right, left toes to the left, legs crossed so the right toes line up for the left heel. Feet should be about 2

feet apart). Place your hands on your hips or out to the side to help with your balance. In one swift movement, straighten your supporting leg and bring the back foot into passe and hold.

Passe is a common dance position when you bring the toe of one foot to the knee of the opposite leg. Take the foot in passe back down behind you into your lunge and repeat. Make sure to get that left side in when you are finished with the right. — MCT

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

Leigo music festival organizer, Estonian farmer Tonu Tamm, 71, who created 14 artificial lakes shows a map of his land before and after.

This picture taken on December 15, 2012 shows an artificial lake created by Estonian farmer Tonu Tamm in Leigo.

— AFP photos

Estonia’s lake-maker lives his dream

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t started as a whim, but snowballed into a life-long passion. Estonian Tonu Tamm has dedicated the past two decades of his life to his obsession of creating artificial lakes. Surrounded by water in the south of the small Baltic republic, his enthusiasm is infectious as he insists everyone should do their bit for the environment and take tiny steps that help bring calm to a troubled world. “People might think it’s very hard to make a lake, but you just need a suitable landscape and some knowledge, including about dams,” the 71-year-old told AFP. “It all started in the spring of 1981. After spending all our summers from 1966 to 1980 on wild nature trips to Siberia, where I made several TV documentaries, I decided with my wife Tiiu-Mall to buy a summer cottage in Estonia,” he explained. At the time, Estonia was under Soviet rule. As

in other communist-bloc states, escape to the countryside was one way for urban dwellers to forget the political sloganeering of daily life. Despite the Soviet command economy, it was still possible to buy a cottage or exchange a city apartment for one. “The plan was just to have a cottage to relax at weekends and retire when we got old. But when we arrived here, for one day only, the beauty of nature stunned us so much that we decided to stay forever,” Tamm said.

Having loved the lakes he saw on his travels, he dreamed of having one near his new home. “So I decided to make a lake myself. And suddenly making lakes just became part of my life,” he explained. After the nation of 1.3 million regained its independence peacefully in 1991, it became possible to buy privatized land and homes in

Estonian farmer Tonu Tamm, 71, who created 14 artificial lakes plays an organ.

exchange for coupons issued for the number of Soviet-era working years in a family. Tamm gradually expanded his holding to 250 hectares (618 acres), turning fields into 14 lakes which cover 39 hectares in total. The biggest lake covers 10 hectares and is 400 meters (1,300 feet) long, and has gradually filled with fish.

“People like how Tonu Tamm and his family have put nature at work in Leigo,” Sirje Laansoo, a 50-year-old cosmetologist from the capital Tallinn, told AFP. “Whenever we go there with family, they have a magic feeling, and that’s what attracts people to return,” she said. The biggest lake is where he indulges his other passion: classical music. Tamm built two concert stages and now draws thousands of music lovers to an annual festival which he launched in 1998 — as well as the likes of star conductors Neeme and

Estonian farmer Tonu Tamm,71, is pictured at his 10-hectare lake.

Paavo Jarvi, who hail from Estonia and perform for free.

“We make a decent income from farm tourism because people like to have various celebrations or just a quiet vacation here. But the festival, which takes a huge amount of work to organize, generally brings in less money than we invest,” Tiiu-Mall Tamm told AFP. “But we keep on, because the music festival and gratitude of people attending and performing has brought so much meaning to our lives,” she added. Her husband already has his sights on something new. “I dream of a day when Swan Lake will be danced on the lake, with a stage slightly below water level,” he said.

“The key to happiness is creativity,” he added. — AFP

Leigo music festival organizers, Estonian farmer Tonu Tamm, 71, who created 14 artificial lakes and his wife Tiiu-Mall Tamm are pictured at their house.

UAE national wins OSN privileges mega prize KUWAIT: UAE resident, Waleed Al-Zaabi, has won an incredible trip for his family to the magical Euro Disney Resort in Paris, courtesy of OSN’s rewards program, OSN Privileges. Waleed was picked as the lucky winner through a random draw from thousands of entries received from OSN subscribers across the region to win this experience of a lifetime.

“It was like a dream come true when we received the phone call from OSN informing us we won the OSN Privileges Disney prize”, said Waleed Al-Zaabi. “My kids can’t wait to go to Paris and enjoy the magic of Disney Land. Thank you OSN for

this wonderful prize.” Waleed, his wife and two kids, will receive VIP treatment throughout the duration of the trip, including business class return flights and seven nights at the luxurious Disneyland Hotel, which overlooks Disneyland Park all courtesy OSN Privileges.

Launched in September this year, OSN’s rewards program will be available to existing and new customers. All subscribers need to do is log on to OSN Privileges at www.osn.com/privileges. Once registered, customers will receive regular updates, news and information on the latest prize draws every month.

Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse, dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos, accompanied by Pluto wave to greet guests from a float during the theme parkís annual New Yearís Day parade at Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, suburban Tokyo yesterday. Thousands of people visited the theme park to mark the start of the New Yearís holiday, the biggest one of the year in Japan. ñAFP

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

lifestyle G O S S I P

Aniston cancels Mexican wedding

ennifer Aniston has scrapped plans for an intimate New Year’s beach wedding. The ‘We’re The Millers’ star - who announced her engagement to her 40-year-old boyfriend Justin Theroux in August - was reportedly planning to tie the knot in the presence of a small number of their close friends and family during their current holiday in Mexico but have now decided to postpone the ceremony as they feel they have already attracted too much attention. A source close to the 43-year-old actress told OK! Magazine: “Originally they wanted to fly everyone to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for a small barefoot-on-the-beach ceremony, but that plan was scrapped after the details were leaked.” But the insider insisted the couple - who have been spotted kissing and cuddling as they soaked up the sun in recent days - are really excited to get married soon but want to keep their new plans top secret. The source said: “They are both incredibly excited. Jen can’t believe it’s actually happening. Jen’s in a super place at the moment. She’s on an all-time high.” The couple has been spotted hanging out with a number of their celebrity pals at their private villa at the plush El Dorado resort over the festive season. They welcomed John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Jimmy Kimmel, and Molly McNearney for a post-Christmas vacation and the three couples have been relaxing by the pool. And they also enjoyed a private dinner with George Clooney and his girlfriend Stacy Keibler on Thursday.

Biel’s simple New Year celebration Swift will never dye her hair

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proposed to her during a break in Jackson, Wyoming. They subsequently married in Naples, Italy in October. She added: “I will definitely be kissing my husband at the turn of midnight.” Jessica also confirmed shortly after they were married she will keep her own name for work but will otherwise be known as Jessica Timberlake. She said: “Yes, I’m changing my name. My professional name will still be the same, but for life, yes, I think it sounds great. I think I really won the jackpot of names.”

he blonde singer insists she has never had any beauty disasters and will keep her chances to a minimum by not changing her look in any drastic way. Asked if she has had any beauty disasters, she said: “Not really! I’ve never dyed my hair and I’m not sure I ever will. I’m careful not to get red lipstick on my teeth.” However, the ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ hitmaker likes to “experiment” with her hair and enjoys having someone look after her make-up and styling because it makes her feel “better”. She said: “My hair is naturally curly, and I use a curling iron to create a spiral look for a night out. “I love having my hair and make-up done because it makes me look like a better version of myself. I love experimenting.” And the 23-year-old star has a host of products which she relies on every day. She said: “My everyday essentials are eyeliner, lipstick and mascara. “I like the Body Shop Coconut Body Butter. I love that it makes me feel like I’m on a tropical island.”

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indsay Lohan admits she feels “grateful” for her freedom. The ‘Liz & Dick’ star - whose probation was revoked earlier last month after she allegedly lied about driving her Porsche during a car crash in June - says she feels blessed to be able to spend time with her loved ones and is hoping 2013 brings good things her way amid reports she is facing a possible eight months in jail. The 26-year-old actress wrote on her Twitter page today: “i feel very blessed to be able to spend time w/ my mom, family&very wonderful friends. Very grateful. May only good things come this year. (sic)” Lindsay is set to ring in the New Year in London tonight, where she is said to be planning a low key dinner with friends and an ear-

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Ke$ha has vowed to do everything well in 2013

become a vegan

he ‘Die Young’ hitmaker doesn’t make many New Year’s resolutions, apart from aiming not to let herself down in any areas of her life. She said: “My new year’s resolution is to not suck at anything!” The 25year-old star also revealed how she has no regrets in her life as she thinks everything happens for a reason and she can learn from all her experiences. She exclusively told BANG showbiz: “I don’t have any regrets. I don’t really believe in that. I feel like if it all comes out, it’s for a reason. Ke$ha may also be looking for love in 2013 as she recently revealed her ideal man - a long-haired bearded biker. She said: “ There aren’t celebrities that I necessarily have a thing for.

I’m into metal dudes with long hair, big beards, motorcycles, that love heavy metal.”

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May named PETA Person of the Year

rian May has been named PETA UK’s Person of the Year. The legendary Queen guitarist has been honored by animal rights group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals or his efforts to stop badgers from being killed. A spokesperson for the organization, Mimi Bekhechi, said: “In his fight to save Britain’s badgers, Brian May never backed down. He spread his message of compassion for animals through everything he said, wrote and even wore until the world sat up and paid attention. “His tenacity and boldness are an inspiration to kind people everywhere.” The 65year-old rocker’s charity Save Me launched the Team Badger campaign earlier this year, along with PETA and other animal welfare charities, to put an end to the slaughter of badgers by farmers, who are given license to shoot the furry creatures in order to prevent tuberculosis in their cattle. Speaking about the campaign, he has said: “The disease comes from cows, it doesn’t come from badgers. It’s a very unfair situation. Badgers have been the scapegoat for years and years and farmers have been killing badgers for many, many years now. “All the scientific evidence that’s been done - 11,000 badgers were killed in the ISG [Independent Scientific Group]’s experiment...and their conclusion was that killing badgers cannot meaningfully contribute to the problem of bovine TB in cattle. It’s completely unequivocal.”

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ly night. The actress - who is rumored to have signed up to star on ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ for two weeks before her next court appearance on January 15 - has been spotted shopping up a storm in high end department store Harrods in the city while carrying a Hermes Birkin bag despite struggling to pay her bills. She also dined at celebrity eatery Cipriani and is staying at the luxurious Dorchester hotel. Lindsay was recently said to have admitted to her friends that she had hit rock bottom and needed professional help but claimed she didn’t have the money to hire a psychiatrist as she is currently in debt. The actress was given $100,000 from her friend Charlie Sheen to help cover her enormous tax bill.

Ne-Yo wants to he Cracks in Mr Perfect’ singer has revealed his New Year’s resolution is try to give up all meat, dairy and animal products but he has admitted he is not looking forward to the challenge. The 30year-old star shared his plans with his fans via his Twitter page early this morning writing: “What’s everybody’s New Year’s resolution? I’m gonna try to go vegan. Discipline test. NOT looking forward to it. Wish me luck!” The father-of-two is just the latest in a number of well-known celebrities to adopt the lifestyle change, including Leona Lewis and Avril Lavigne. Despite doing his best for the planet, Ne-Yo admitted earlier this year that he isn’t perfect. He previously said: “I’m a gentleman, but I’m a human being first, and a human being is not always polished and pretty. “‘The Cracks in Mr Perfect’ speaks on the perfection of imperfection. Coming into the game, I didn’t realize the perception of the artist as this perfect being.” The singer and songwriter - who has previously worked with Michael Jackson, Mary J. Blige and Beyonce Knowles - credits his musical abilities to his mother, who encouraged him to express himself when he was younger. He added: “My mum saw I was a pent up kid. So she gave me a pen and said, ‘Write it all down’.”

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Paltrow is no

make- up expert

wyneth Paltrow admits she’s not an expert when it comes to make-up. The Oscar-winning actress is known for her well-groomed and stylish look but she insists she’s very laid-back when it comes to glamour and doesn’t even know how to apply cosmetics that well.

She said: “One in a while, I’ll get a facial from Sonya Dakar in Beverly Hills. I’m not the best when it comes to products and treatments. I don’t know how to do make-up well. At my core, I’m a little preppy and a little irreverent and together, that makes me sort of not care when I’m not in the public eye. I’m more of a natural girl.” Gwyneth also says the secret to her gorgeous-looking hair is not to style it too often. The blonde beauty - who has two children, Apple, eight, and six-year-old Moses, with husband Chris Martin - said: “Good hair is good nutrition. And I leave my hair alone; I don’t blow-dry it every day. I let it go frizzy and big.”

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Mel B may be return to UK in 2013

essica Biel likes to keep her New Year’s Eve simple. The ‘Total Recall’ actress likes things to be as traditional as possible when it comes to celebrating the turning of the year, and always likes to share it with a few close friends. She said: “I’m not much of a big New Year’s planner.

It’s usually a get together in someplace chilly with a fire burning and snow coming down, and just enjoying a cocktail.” The festive period is a special time for Jessica, 30, as it was at this time last year now-husband Justin Timberlake

Lohan hopes for good things in 2013

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el B is considering moving back to the UK in 2013. The Spice Girls singer has been away from her home country for 10 years living in the US in Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia, but she thinks the New Year could be the right time to bring her family back to its roots. She told BANG Showbiz: “I’m such a traveler so maybe I’m moving back to the UK eventually. I’ve been living in LA for eight years and in Australia for two years, so who knows?” Mel raises three daughters, Phoenix, 13, Angel, five, and 15-month-old Madison with her husband Stephen Belafonte and she would like them to experience the British way of life. The 37-year-old star admits one of the thing she misses most about the UK is the food, especially traditional roast dinners piled high with potatoes and meat. She said: “When I come back to the UK I’m always keen to have a Sunday roast because I really miss it. I love a roast, they’re gorgeous.” Mel was recently back in the UK for the opening of the Spice Girls musical ‘Viva Forever!’ which is based on the girl group’s music. — Bang Showbiz

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

lifestyle

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chart-topping Indian rapper known for his sexually explicit lyrics was caught in a backlash yesterday against sexism and misogyny after a deadly gang-rape that shocked the nation. Yo Yo Honey Singh, whose hits include “My home my village”, saw his New Year’s Eve concert in New Delhi cancelled following an online campaign highlighting lyrics that incite violence against women. His 2007 track “Prostitute” refers to him having violent sex with a woman after he forces her to “dance naked” and includes the line: “You will scream and run but where can you go... I will take your life”.

Amid low-key New Year’s celebrations following the shocking gang-rape on December 16, the upmarket Bristol Hotel in a suburb of New Delhi cancelled the show, an employee told AFP. The popular star, who sang in Bollywood films last year and has several top 10 hits, told the Hindustan Times he himself had called off the performance to “express my grief for the unfortunate girl”. The furore over the rap star comes as the country comes to terms with the Delhi gang-rape in which a 23year-old medical student was repeatedly assaulted and violated with an iron bar while being driven around in a bus for 40 minutes.

She died from internal injuries in a Singapore hospital at the weekend. Extreme

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sexual violence and gang-rapes are commonplace in India, but the case brought simmering anger-particularly among young urban women-to the boil and led to violent protests in the capital. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said six suspects arrested after the crime risked the death penalty if found guilty and the case against them appeared very strong. “We have a solid case with very good evidence... a magistrate has recorded the victim’s dying declaration and we have a prime witness, the girl’s friend, who has identified the rapists,” Shinde told The Economic Times newspaper yesterday.

The victim’s boyfriend, whom friends said she intended to marry, tried to prevent the rape and is likely to give crucial evidence during what is expected to be a fast-tracked trial.

Police are to file charges and present their evidence against the suspects five men and a minor-on Thursday. Delhi police have said their probe is almost complete, pending the arrival of an autopsy report from doctors in Singapore and the conclusions of forensic experts.— AFP

he runaway bride who left Playboy founder Hugh Hefner out in the cold days before their planned wedding in 2011 said on Monday that she is finally ready to tie the knot with the octogenarian publisher on New Year’s Eve. “Today is the day I become Mrs. Hugh Hefner,” Crystal Harris, 26, wrote on Twitter on Monday after changing her name to “Crystal Hefner” on the micro-blogging site. “Feeling very happy, lucky, and blessed.” Hefner, 86, and Harris reunited earlier this year after the blonde Playmate jettisoned the adult entertainment mogul in what was called a “change of heart” five days before a lavish June 2011 wedding before 300 guests.

Harris hinted at a low-key ceremony this time around, tweeting a picture of a room at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles flush with an arch of white and pink flowers, and two dozen white chairs aligned for the ceremony. Hefner himself was silent on Twitter and the exact timing of Monday’s wedding ceremony was not known. Harris, who earned a psychology degree, was Playboy magazine’s Miss December 2009 and appeared on the July 2011 cover of the adult magazine with a “runaway bride” sticker covering her bottom half.

The San Diego native born to British parents said she asked for Christmas ornaments at her pre-Christmas bridal shower to help decorate Hefner’s famed mansion. “I was deciding what kind of shower I wanted, and I thought I didn’t really want a lingerie shower, since I have more than enough lingerie,” Harris

I’m not quite sure,” says Seacrest. “I looked forward so much to each year that I did the show with him.”

Seacrest recalls how typically he would be posted outside overlooking Times Square, while Clark, who had suffered a stroke in 2004, made brief appearances from indoors. “Then, right after midnight, I would run inside and stand next to him, and he always has some funny, clever thing to make fun of me about,” says Seacrest, unwittingly speaking in the present tense. “I think I will really miss that moment this year.” The night will begin with a two-hour tribute, “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Celebrates Dick Clark,” hosted

by Fergie and Jenny McCarthy. Then Seacrest takes over for the countdown show at 10 pm EST. “I definitely will say something about him, and it will be from the heart,” Seacrest promises.

“But the night will be, as he would want, a celebration of what’s to come: Dick was always one to say, ‘The show must go on.’” That clearly resonates for the man who claims Clark as his mentor.

Seacrest, who marked his 38th birthday on Christmas Eve, grew up in Atlanta loving music and dreaming of a career in broadcasting. From childhood, he was a student of Dick Clark, who in the 1950s had pioneered melding music, youth and TV on a show he called “American Bandstand.” “I loved the perception that people came together to hang out and be introduced to new music,” Seacrest says.

“Dick was brilliant at making everyone feel at home and comfortable, and never getting in the way. That’s the key.”

That became the key for Seacrest, who, today, is among the most accomplished at doing what he does. But just what does he do? “At the doctor’s office where it says ‘Occupation,’ I always have trouble knowing what to write in that box,” he says with a laugh. “I usually put ‘Host.’ I enjoy bringing pop-culture moments and events to an audience, introducing the country to a promising new act or sitting down with an artist who has had a big hit. “I like being the host of a party. I never feel like I need to be the star of it. Just host.” Seacrest wangled a shift on an

Atlanta radio station when he was still in high school.

So, from the start, he was live on the air, “and I felt comfortable when things didn’t always go as planned. I didn’t realize how valuable that would be until later, when I was standing on the ‘American Idol’ stage.”

Populated with jittery contestants and volatile judges, “Idol” counts on Seacrest to keep everything on track. And he does - even when a problem pops up of his own making. “I remember a results show when we were down to the final two contestants,” he says, “and I realized I didn’t have the results card with me. I’d gone offstage during a commercial and set it down. —AP

In this file image provided by ABC, Dick Clark, right, and Ryan Seacrest are shown in New York.

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rench electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre has held talks with Downing Street officials in recent months, the British premier’s office confirmed yesterday, about setting up business operations in London.

The talks come after France’s highest court struck down a proposed 75 percent tax rate on individual income above a million euros ($1.3 million) a year, a plan which saw the republic’s biggest film star Gerard Depardieu relocate to Belgium. “Jean Michel Jarre visited Downing Street to meet with officials about ‘Tech City’, London’s media and technology hub,” a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron’s office told AFP. “There are a growing number of businesses and entrepreneurs from across the world who want to be part of the technology cluster in east London and we are keen for that to continue.” The 64-year-old pioneer-known for his spectacular concerts and whose hit albums include “Oxygene” (1976) and “Equinoxe” (1978) — has a company Jarre Technologies, which makes products lke the AeroPad One, a dock speaker for iPods, iPads and iPhones. Tech City is a project to transform the Old Street roundabout in east London and its environs into a European centre of media and technology innovation for blue-chip firms, investors and start-up companies.

Cameron announced a £50 million ($80 million, 60 million euro) injection into the project last month. “The UK is in a global race and I am determined that we as a government continue doing everything we can to equip the UK to compete and thrive in that race,” he said. Cameron’s coalition government has set up policies it says are aimed at making Britain the “first choice” for entrepreneurs and investors. They include the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, introduced in April 2012, which provides 50 percent tax relief for the first £100,000 seed investment.

The 75 percent tax rate in France was a flagship promise of the election campaign that saw Francois Hollande defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the May 2012 presidential election. Due to take effect next year, it had angered business leaders and prompted

some wealthy French citizens to seek tax exile abroad, including Depardieu, who made his decision known in a vitriolic editorial published earlier this month.—AFP

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File photo shows French artist Jean-Michel Jarre performs on stage during his sound and light show at Port Hercule part of the festivities of Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife Princess Charlene’s wedding in Monaco. — AFP

f you liked the music in the trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” you’ll be happy to hear Jay-Z isn’t just lending a few of his songs to the soundtrack, he’s composing the upcoming film’s entire original score. The rapper is, apparently, hard at work to accomplish the task with another artist, who goes by the name The Bullitts. The latter broke the news on Twitter in the early morning hours Sunday.

“Jay-Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC ‘The Great Gatsby,’” Bullitts exclaimed. “It is too DOPE for words!” Don’t expect the collaborators to start producing tunes from the Roaring

Twenties. The trailer certainly indicates otherwise and Luhrmann mixed in modern music for “Romeo + Juliet,” as well as the musical period piece “Moulin Rouge!”

It appears the flappers in Luhrmann’s latest film will be dancing to a very different beat than what F. Scott Fitzgerald imagined while writing his classic novel. “The Great Gatsby,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, hits theaters on May 10. Warner Bros. and Jay-Z’s rep did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. — Reuters

told Us Weekly magazine of the shower. Hefner, founder of the Playboy adult entertainment empire, has been married twice before. He and his second wife Kimberley Conrad, also a former Playmate, divorced in 2010 after a lengthy separation. His first marriage to Mildred Williams ended in divorce in 1959. He has two children from each marriage. — Reuters

Hugh Hefner

Entertainers Ryan Seacrest, left, and Jenny McCarthy, hosts of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on ABC, pose for a portrait Friday in New York. — AP

es, Ryan Seacrest has a New Year’s resolution for 2013: improve his skill at dancing. “There’s a Significant Other in my life who’s very good at it,” he notes. That would be professional dancer Julianne Hough, a two-time champ on “Dancing with the Stars” in whose proximity “I feel the pressure to be as good as she is. It sounds like a joke, but this is a serious thing for me to accomplish next year.” So add dancing lessons to the long list of projects that keep Seacrest famously fast on his feet. His numerous broadcast gigs include roles on E! Entertainment and NBC, a syndicated morning radio show for Clear Channel, as well as “American Idol,” whose new season starts next month on Fox. Behind the cameras, he has a swiftly expanding production empire that includes the Kardashian portfolio of reality shows.

But as Monday nears, Seacrest is focused on this annual rite: “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” which, with related programming, will blanket ABC from 8 pm until past 2 am EST. Booking musical acts has been in the works for months, Seacrest says. Performers include Carly Rae Jepsen, Neon Trees, Flo Rida and Pitbull, as well as Taylor Swift, in the headliner position just before midnight. But Friday afternoon in Manhattan, Seacrest is soon due at a production meeting “to work out the nitty-gritty of the show - some of which we will stick to, some of which we won’t.”

Already he has appeared on “Good Morning America,” then headed to the rooftop of One Times Square, where the huge crystal ball was poised for its flashy descent, along with half-a-dozen TV teams queued up to tape interviews with him. An hour later, at ABC’s Upper West Side headquarters, Seacrest has shed his top coat and taken a break to reflect on Monday’s extravaganza. This will be his eighth New Year’s Eve turn for ABC. But it’s his first since Clark’s death last April at age 82. Clark, of course, originated “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” four decades ago. And it is Clark on “Rockin’ Eve” who gave Seacrest as a youngster his earliest memories of ringing in each New Year.

“I’d like to say I can imagine how it’s going to feel, but

Austrian conducter Franz Welser-Moest and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform the traditional New Years Concert yesterday at the music association in Vienna, Austria. — AFP

Indian rapper caught in gang-rape backlash

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

Fireworks explode over the London Eye in central London, as part of the New Year celebrations.

Globe greets 2013 People bearing colors to the Dutch national flag take a bath in the North Sea during the Nieuwjaarsduik (New Year’s dive) on New Year’s Day in Scheveningen, yesterday. —AP/AFP photos

in rolling New Year’s party

South Korean singer PSY performs during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December, 31, 2012. (Center) Carly Rae Jepsen performs during New Year’s Eve celebrations. (Right) Gary Marion, portraying female impersonator Sushi, hangs in an oversized replica of a women’s red high heel over Duval Street, late Monday night, at the Bourbon Street Pub Complex in Key West, Florida. The Red Shoe Drop has become a Key West tradition and is one of five Florida Keys warm-weather takeoffs on New York City’s Times Square ball drop marking the beginning of the New Year.

A

million people crammed into New York’s Times Square yesterday to greet the New Year in a global party that kicked off in Australia before rolling around the world in a nonstop chain of firework displays. But tragedy struck in the Ivory Coast when around 60 people died and at least dozens were injured as a crowd stampeded during New Year’s fireworks in the economic capital Abidjan, rescue workers there said. An estimated one billion television viewers around the world also watched the Big Apple extravaganza, which climaxed when the mayor, aided by a bevy of Rockettes dancers, sent the traditional glittering crystal ball down a pole at one minute to midnight.

Kissing and dancing erupted in the thronged streets as fireworks erupted over Manhattan. “It’s something you need to do in your life. It’s New York and New Year’s Eve,” said an excited Juli, 18, visiting from Austria. Worldwide celebrations got started on a balmy summer’s night in Sydney with a $6.9 million pyrotechnics display overseen by pop star Kylie Minogue. From there, the endless party shifted to a kaleidoscopic eight-minute jamboree in Hong Kong, with the city’s famed Victoria Harbor lit up in spectacular fashion, and fireworks across other Asian cities, including for the first time Yangon, in long-isolated Myanmar.

As midnight moved westward through time zones, the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, was the centerpiece of festivities in the huge expatriate and tourist hub. In Britain, tens of thousands braved rain on the banks of the Thames to see fireworks and the London Eye wheel lit up in changing colors. “What an amazing end to an

Fireworks illuminate the night sky before Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro to mark the start of New Year’s Day. incredible year,” said the British capital’s Mayor Boris Johnson, alluding to the Olympic and royal spectaculars of 2012.In Washington, the White House and top Republicans rang in 2013 by striking a last-minute budget deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” tax hikes and spending cuts. The US Senate in the wee hours of the New Year, held a vote passing the measure, with the House possibly following suit later Tuesday.

It was New York that led the US party scene however, with South Korean pop sensation Psy and country star Taylor Swift in the line-up and the Empire State Building blazing in an unusual pulsating light display. Frederick Martineau, a sales rep from Quebec, Canada, made the trip to Times Square as a Christmas present for his girlfriend,

Sonia Lapointe. Asked about his 2013 resolution, Martineau, 38, patted his substantial midriff and grinned: “Guess what?” Another Canadian couple, who were kitted out with tinsel and small golden trumpets, said coming to the Big Apple New Year’s bash was a dream come true. “I’ve always wanted to be here. I’ve watched it on TV for so many years,” Sherry, 49, said.

“2012 was a hard year. I survived pancreatic cancer this year. I lost my brother this year. So we have come here with a lot of hope for next year.”

The merrymaking turned deadly in Sacramento, California, however when shots rang out during a suspected altercation as crowds head gathered to watch New Year’s Eve fireworks, killing two people and leaving at least four others wounded, KTXL tel-

evision reported. The New Year also often turns lethal in parts of Latin America, where revelers sometimes celebrate by firing guns into the air, but there were no reports of deadly celebrations early Tuesday.

Many festivities were on hold in Venezuela however, out of respect for President Hugo Chavez, who has suffered a health setback following a return of his cancer. Meanwhile, in Russia, President Vladimir Putin used a traditional New Year ’s address to call for unity following a year of protests against his return to the Kremlin for a third term. In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated New Year’s Eve vespers in St Peter’s Basilica, voicing solidarity with the poor and calling on believers to pause to reflect from time to time despite busy lives.

“We have to know how to stop and think. This way our soul can find healing for the inevitable wounds of everyday life,” he said. In Spain, revelers who gathered in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square ahead of midnight-cowed by cold, rain and recession-sought to numb the pain of economic crisis with a glass of wine and plenty of cheer. Manuela Ibanez, 51, who came from Barcelona with her two daughters, said: “At times like this we forget the crisis.” In Paris, however, there was less cheer as authorities issued a reminder that all fireworks are officially banned for the night.

Earlier in Asia, in regions devastated by Typhoon Bopha which hit the southern Philippines in early December killing more than 1,000 people, many survivors said food, work and permanent shelter topped their priorities. In the capital Manila, authorities had been bracing for the annual rush of injuries as families celebrated with do-ityourself firework displays and shot celebratory bullets into the air. Seoul ushered in 2013 with a ritual ringing of the city’s 15th-century bronze bell 33 times, reflecting the ancient practice of marking a new year.

Millions visited temples and shrines in Japan for “ninen-mairi” two-year prayers, gathering at family homes to feast on soba noodles and watch the New Year variety show “Kohaku Uta Gassen” or the Red and White Song Contest. Fireworks also went up in cities across China. And In Taiwan, hundreds of thousands defied chilly winds to pack the square in front of the Taipei City Hall for a concert featuring Taiwanese pop diva A-Mei and Hong Kongbased singer and actor Aaron Kwok. —AFP

Singer Taylor Swift performs during New Year’s celebrations on Times Square on December 31, 2012 in New York. A million people cheered in New York’s Times Square as the traditional crystal ball dropped to mark the start of 2013, bringing a rolling global New Year’s party that kicked off in Australia to US shores. (Center) People wave balloons as part of the New Year’s Eve celebrations at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto on Monday, Dec 31, 2012. (Right) Fireworks light up Toronto City Hall marking the official start of 2013 as a large crowd fills Nathan Phillips Square to celebrate the New Year in Toronto.

23

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted

by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai.

Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. nnnnnnn

US Embassy counselor meets GUST students

T

he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) political communication courses, taught by Dr Fahad Al-Sumait, welcomed Tracy Roberts-Pounds Counselor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Kuwait as a guest lecturer. In her visit, Roberts-Pounds discussed the challenges and benefits of engaging local communities while representing a foreign country like the USA. The visit gave students an opportunity to hear directly from someone who practices public diplomacy on a daily basis.

“In today’s highly advanced and globalized world, there is considerable pressure to respond to international events,” said Roberts. To coordinate messages and address media questions, countries like the United States circulate daily briefs to their press officers at Embassies around the world and hold regular press conferences.

They also translate their messages into several languages and do media outreach in international communities.

Roberts-Pounds discussed how popular culture, policy, and diplomacy can sometimes conflict, since each has its own effects

on people’s perceptions about foreign countries. For example, movies and television can produce inaccurate or simplified visions about life in other countries. To make this point, Roberts-Pounds explains, “If you have ever visited the United States, I’m sure you didn’t see Transformers walk-

ing down the streets of New York.”

A country’s foreign policies can also pose obstacles to gaining the trust of international communities. In such cases, Roberts-Pounds suggests that the objective should be to foster more considerate and reflective audiences, rather than only

trying to change people’s deep-seated views. “People might not always like what other countries do, but there is always a value in discussing differences of opinion directly with audiences.”

Today, social media are providing new opportunities for such interaction with global communities and have become an integral part of public diplomacy.

However, it is also easy for messages shared through these technologies to be taken out of context or seen as official declarations by a country or its people.

Navigating a balance between the need for constant communication and careful consideration is an ongoing pressure for front-line diplomats around the world.

“It is always a challenge to figure out what gets people interested and engaged in foreign countries,” Roberts-Pounds said. “Media relations are not enough. You also need to be actively engaged in cultural and educational outreach,” she stressed. “Things like art, culture, and music help people interact on a very human level that can create common ground.”

Greetings Yellow League’s ‘Men of the Matches’

H

appy birthday to Alma Trisa. You are very dear to us as you are ‘the apple of our eyes’. May this year bring you more songs, more colors and more friends. With the choicest love Cherish and Liva.

New Year celebration

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-imenquiry@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. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on short-stay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database. Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, first-time applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. nnnnnnn

M

cDonald’s chose six players as Men of the Matches for the football matches that took place on Matchday 2 of the Yellow League. The players were chosen based on performance, great team play, and all around good sportsmanship. The Yellow League is a football tournament for local middle schools organized by McDonald’s Kuwait and Boca Juniors Football Academy to promote bringing the family together through the love of football and encouraging and promoting an active and balanced lifestyle.

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com. nnnnnnn

O

n New Year’s Eve, a family get-together was hosted by Mohan Iyer and family for their friends and relatives at his residence in Salmiya. The festivities went into the early hours of New Year with a cake-cutting ceremony and fun games followed by a sumptuous dinner. Several games and contests were held and prizes and gifts were presented to children and adults who participated in the contests enthusiastically.

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF PERU The Embassy of Peru is located in Sharq, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Al Arabiya Tower, 6th Floor. Working days / hours: SundayThursday /9 am - 4 pm. Residents in Kuwait interested in getting a visa to travel to Peru and companies attracted to invest in Peru are invited to visit the permanent exposition room located in the Embassy. For more information, please contact: (+965) 22267250/1.

Write to us Send to What’s On

The Cultural Forum for Graduates of the Syrian Province of Deer Al-Zoor concluded the year with the election of its executive office members featuring participation of 93 Deer Al-Zoor natives living in Kuwait. The event was held at the Kuwait Authors Association building.

upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

24

s ta rs CROSSWORD 57

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) You may have a hard time being clearheaded but you keep moving through your day. Patience seems to be with you today—learning what or why people do the things they do gives you an understanding about your own humanness. You love people and enjoy having plenty of people around you. There is plenty of food in the house today and after the noon meal you might suggest a brisk walk to burn off a few of the calories or just in hopes of a little fresh air. Higher education or philosophical or religious contacts and subjects are things you really enjoy and if you are not already sitting in on a class this year, you might be taking a few classes. There are lots of things you want to learn and the teacher is available. It may take travel to complete the education.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You may decide to rethink the direction your career is taking. Just the right people are present today to help you think through some future goals. Return the favor and create an opportunity to hear the goals of others. Think over your long-range plans before making any decisions. Evaluating and planning can bring you better ideas for future opportunities. This is a time when your path of self-development and expression becomes more and more unusual—setting you apart from the crowd and from all that is traditional. The new, the futuristic, the high tech are the hallmarks of your lifestyle as this cycle gets underway. Ideas and technologies that change the way people live—not just one person, are a major new focus in your life soon.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. 10 grams.

4. Protozoa characterized by a pseudopod.

12. A proportion multiplied by 100.

15. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

16. Flagellates free-living or parasitic in intestines of birds.

17. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

18. Monoamine oxidase inhibitor (trade name Nardil) used to treat clinical depression.

19. (Sumerian and Babylonian) A solar deity.

20. East Indian tree bearing a profusion of intense vermilion velvet-textured blooms and yielding a yellow dye.

21. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

24. The female or generative principle.

26. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

27. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

29. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

30. Serving as or forming a base.

35. Cassava with long tuberous edible roots and soft brittle stems.

39. A small digital computer based on a microprocessor and designed to be used by one person at a time.

41. Showing or causing joy and pleasure.

42. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.

44. A rapid bustling commotion.

45. A Hindu prince or king in India.

47. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

50. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot palm used in India for writing paper.

51. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

53. Haul a ship into a drydock.

54. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

56. A circumscribed inflammatory and often suppurating lesion on the skin or an internal mucous surface resulting in necrosis of tissue.

59. A dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon.

60. North American republic containing 50 states 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

62. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

64. Cause to become awake or conscious.

66. Of or relating to the people of Nigeria.

68. Related on the mother's side.

72. An enclosed space in which the air pressure is higher than outside.

73. Tropical American trees with palmately compound leaves and showy bell-shaped flowers.

76. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

77. Any of various coarse shrubby plants of the genus Iva with small greenish flowers.

78. Term used in some classifications as nearly equivalent to the order Coraciiformes.

80. A three-year law degree.

81. (British) Your grandmother.

82. A river in northeastern Brazil that flows generally northward to the Atlantic Ocean.

83. The month following July and preceding September.

DOWN 1. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

2. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or

North Africa.

3. Primitive predaceous North American fish covered with hard scales and having long jaws with needle-like teeth.

4. Of or in or relating to the nose.

5. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

6. Denoting a quantity consisting of one more than eight and one less than ten.

7. An island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa.

8. Prevent from being included or considered or accepted.

9. A genus of Adelgidae.

10. Of or relating to near the ear.

11. A light touch or stroke.

12. A genus of Ploceidae.

13. Wearing or provided with clothing.

14. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

22. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

23. Liquid containing proteins and electrolytes including the liquid in blood plasma and interstitial fluid.

25. A member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Alaska.

28. Small evergreen shrub of Pacific coast of North America having edible dark purple grape-size berries.

31. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

32. A federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

33. Aristocratic Italian family of powerful merchants and bankers who ruled Florence in the 15th century.

34. A member of the Wakashan people living on Vancouver Island and in the Cape Flattery region of northwestern Washington.

36. The seventh month of the Moslem calendar.

37. A gray lustrous metallic element of the rare earth group.

38. A clique that seeks power usually through intrigue.

40. Productive work (especially physical work done for wages).

43. A genus of Pyralidae.

46. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing.

48. Genus of tropical American timber trees.

49. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

52. A disorder of eating seen among young women who go on eating binges and then feel guilt and depression and self-condemnation.

55. Chief port of Yemen.

57. A high-kicking dance of French origin performed by a female chorus line.

58. Military action involving the use of electromagnetic energy to determine or exploit or reduce or prevent hostile use of the electromagnetic spectrum.

61. The forest trees growing in a country or region.

63. German arms manufacturer and son of Friedrich Krupp.

65. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

67. Wild or seedling sweet cherry used as stock for grafting.

69. The basic unit of money in Western Samoa.

70. An Eskimo hut.

71. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

74. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

75. Being one more than two.

79. A hard brittle blue-white multivalent metallic element.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

You may find yourself spending a bit of time this morning in transferring files or updating your calendar for this New Year. You may decide to post a couple of notes to yourself so you can feel more organized and prepared for the week ahead. If marriage ties or business partnership relations need mending or strengthening, now is the best time. Review the opportunities you are given today with regard to time. For example, you might be able to create a new recipe, play games with the kids, take a drive around town, etc. Today is a good time to begin a diary or encourage a young person to begin a diary, learn something new and call grandma. When you cook this afternoon, find something the kids can do in the kitchen. Romance is possible tonight.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) A friend may come to you with personal problems this afternoon. You are able to get to the bottom of the story and help him or her discover a truth.

You are most persuasive and convincing with others and today there are opportunities toward good communication. You may enjoy visiting with a young person this evening— perhaps by reading a story or in some interaction with puppet play. The laughter and lighthearted feelings of the evening are contagious. You appreciate feelings and the movement of music and may enjoy dancing. You have thought of private lessons but keep putting the idea aside. You might be able to have some time to sign up for a dancing class. Dancing is good exercise no matter what style you decide to learn.

Leo (July 23-August 22) With everyone together today, you might find the lightweight person to send up to the attic in order to check some sound or a place from which a water leak is occurring. One family member may have offered to help with a winter garden and you are elated. Working with others and excelling in a particular project can prove to be quite enjoyable. You have worked ahead of time to gift the working family and they will be pleased. Others need your input on their own projects and this you can do. How to create the best light so as not to have a glare, where to find room for a gazebo in the back yard, which color is best for a door or a room. You will be happy to help everyone and this is a great family or group of friends that can lend help to each other.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Healing comes from destroying the roots of a disturbance. You may be advising or counseling someone this afternoon but this will end with positive results. You may enjoy getting away from routine chores later so that you can visit with a friend. All is quiet today and you may enjoy some hot cocoa with a sandwich and a movie this evening.

One or two family members will happily join you as you may have been saving this movie for a special occasion. Nobody went to see the movie so you could have the family together this evening for an enjoyable evening together. There is much laughter with an animal before the movie begins but when the movie starts everyone is grateful to have a quiet house and time to relax.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) It may take several people, working together, to understand the workings of some new technical equipment today. A friend could be giving you expert advice—ask. Everything points to your taking the initiative. This is a wonderful time to show off your talents, especially with regard to learning and teaching. You feel great support from those around you. You may even have some ideas of breaking away from the house for a while this afternoon. You like being at home and might consider a home job, such as a tutoring or teaching as a business for yourself. This afternoon is a good time to dive into your favorite hobby—perhaps a cooking frenzy. You will find a great relief of stress as well as finding much attention from others that are nearby.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Lots of positive things are happening today. This morning you get a good start on some writing project. Poetry, short stories, whatever the case, you seem to have enough material to pull from in order to put some fun books together. In some instances you feel best in writing for your grandchildren but in other cases your poetry might not be understandable by children. This afternoon, if there are no sports on television, everyone gets in a huddle and decides on a theme for charades. Popcorn and charades may be a tradition or just a spur of the moment decision. Most of your clan loves sports and word games. Family happily occupies the afternoon and there is plenty about which to talk. You pitch in and help someone pack for a move.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) It is essentials that are needed and a list is a good thing for a future shopping trip, however, there is plenty of food in the house for today and you have the talent to serve the same thing differently. You have many talents and capabilities—you serve your profession but now it may be time to serve a volunteer group: children’s hospital, animal rights, etc. You may prefer working with large animals but can help train any size animal. If you are with a family or with friends they can go along on this volunteer group to lend a helping hand. Later today you might move things around in hopes of cleaning up a bit before the workweek begins. You may decide that lists will be helpful in keeping you focused and until spring cleaning comes around a list will help.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A study of future possibilities for your professional status may find you studying the many opportunities to improve, adapt, grow and achieve. Plans you may have made some time ago may be in the completion stages now. You will first be concentrating on finishing up with past projects but for now you can relax. Obtaining and exchanging information for some future event with friends may begin to take priority this afternoon. You could be helping someone pick out a wedding dress or helping with wedding plans today. Being more involved with neighbors or siblings this evening satisfies a deep emotional need. Communicating feelings accurately and staying factual will help in solving some rather trivial issues this evening.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You may have had some vision or feeling about some old thing around the house and decide to check out its worth. It may not be the worth that is important but the owner. You will have fun doing a bit of research and some of your searching could be over the Internet. The more you learn, the more the item will be worth. The unexpected happens today and it moves you in a most positive direction. Just remember, not everything is as it seems. Some things that you perceive as negative could prove to be most positive and vice versa. You are known for detecting the real point of an issue or finding the point of change. Today is the day that you find answers and solve problems—heck, you might even find a lost piece of jewelry.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Confidence and independence create the perfect beginnings for a successful gathering of neighbors, with munchies and good wishes for the New Year.

Something special that you recorded along with a few pictures that others brought to showoff brings lots of laughter and fun times to the scene. Snacks and chatter reign all afternoon and then all depart for home. There are creative and imaginative possibilities concerning your future ideas of art and work and you are ready to return to the workplace tomorrow, full of energy. You will make a positive difference in people’s lives. Young adults help with a project around the home. There is talk about planting more vegetables soon and family wants to help. A romantic mood is indicated tonight.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

ST TATE T OF KUW K WAIT A

Te el.: 161

DIRECTORA ATE T GENE GENERAL OF CIVIL AV VIA ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT DA AY: Y Tuesday

01/01/2013

BY Y DA AY:

Fair with light to moderate north westerly wind, with speed of 10 - 30 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear

BY Y NIGHT:

Cold with light to moderate north westerly wind, with speed of 08 - 28 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear No Current Warnings arnin a

WARNING A

KUW WA AIT CITY

20 °C

14 °C

KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

22 °C

11 °C

NUW WA AISEEB

21 °C

12 °C

WAFRA A

22 °C

11 °C

SALMI

18 °C

07 °C

ABDAL LY

20 °C

08 °C

JAL ALIY YA AH

19 °C

09 °C

25623444

FAILAKA A

18 °C

13 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

18 °C

15 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

21 °C

17 °C

W Hawally

22630786

WARBA A A - BUBY YA AN

19 °C

09 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

SFC. CHART

01/01/2013 0000 UTC

4 DA AY YS FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA AT TE

WEA AT THER

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

Weednesday

02/01

fair + scattered clouds

21 °C

10 °C

NW

08 - 30 km/h

Thursday Friday

03/01

cool + raising dust

19 °C

12 °C

NW

22 - 42 km/h

04/01

sunny + raising dust

18 °C

06 °C

NW

20 - 40 km/h

Saturday

05/01

fair

17 °C

07 °C

VRB-SE

08 - 30 km/h

PRA RA AYER Y TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPORT

Fajr

05:18

MAX. Temp.

20 °C

24884079

Sunrise

06:43

MIN. Temp.

12 °C

24892674

Zuhr

11:52

MAX. RH

93 %

Asr

14:43

MIN. RH

42 %

Omariya

24719048

Sunset

17:01

MAX. Wind

N Khaitan

24710044

Isha

18:23

TOT TA AL L RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

Fintas

23900322

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

NE 28 km/h 00 mm V1.00

01/01/13 02:46 UTC

T1.06

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

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

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

07:00

Issue Time

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours

ST TATION T

Al-Shuhada

WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

MIN. REC.

Firdous

Ext.: 2627 262 - 2630

22418714

Fax: 24348714

MAX. EXP P.

Ardhiya

PHONE

Al-Madeena

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:50 Animal Cops Philadelphia 01:45 The Last Lion Of Liuwa 02:35 Untamed & Uncut 03:25 Gator Boys 04:15 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz 05:05 Profiles Of Nature 05:55 Call Of The Wildman 06:20 Animal Kingdom 06:45 Shamwari: A Wild Life 07:10 Shamwari: A Wild Life 07:35 Wildlife SOS 08:00 The Really Wild Show 08:25 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 09:15 Dogs 101 10:10 Too Cute!

11:05 Profiles Of Nature 12:00 Wild Britain With Ray Mears 15:10 Wild Britain With Ray Mears 15:40 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 16:35 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 17:30 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 18:25 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 19:20 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 20:15 Monkey Life 20:40 Bondi Vet 21:10 Call Of The Wildman 21:35 Animal Kingdom 22:05 Profiles Of Nature 23:00 Wildest Islands 23:55 Biggest And Baddest

00:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 00:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 01:25 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 02:10 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 03:30 House Swap 04:15 Come Dine With Me 05:05 Antiques Roadshow 06:00 House Swap 06:45 Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 07:15 Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 07:40 House Swap 08:25 Rhodes Across The Caribbean 09:10 Fantasy Homes In The City 09:55 Bargain Hunt 10:40 Antiques Roadshow 11:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 12:50 Come Dine With Me 13:40 Rhodes Across The Caribbean 14:25 10 Years Younger 15:15 Bargain Hunt 16:00 Antiques Roadshow 16:50 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:05 Britain’s Dream Homes 19:00 Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes 19:50 Rhodes Across China 20:40 Come Dine With Me 21:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt

00:00 Business Edition With Tanya Beckett 00:30 Hardtalk 01:00 BBC World News America 01:30 BBC World News America 02:00 Newsday 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 Newsday 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Sport Today 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 BBC World News

06:30 Asia Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 Hardtalk 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 BBC World News 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 World Business Report 11:45 BBC World News 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 Hardtalk 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 BBC World News 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 15:30 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 16:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 19:30 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 BBC Focus On Africa 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

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

Tom And Jerry Tales Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry Kids Tom And Jerry Tales Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry Kids Tom And Jerry Tales Looney Tunes Duck Dodgers Dastardly And Muttley Dexter’s Laboratory Wacky Races Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show Moomins Looney Tunes Tom & Jerry Tales Dexter’s Laboratory Baby Looney Tunes Jelly Jamm Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Ha Ha Hairies Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Puppy In My Pocket Wacky Races Looney Tunes Duck Dodgers Popeye Top Cat The Flintstones Dastardly And Muttley Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Cartoonito Tales Moomins Dexter’s Laboratory Johnny Bravo Tom & Jerry Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show What’s New Scooby Doo? Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom & Jerry Tales The Looney Tunes Show Taz-Mania Pink Panther And Pals

19:30 19:45 20:00 20:15 20:40 20:55 21:20 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:40

Moomins The Garfield Show Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas Puppy In My Pocket The Garfield Show What’s New Scooby Doo? Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom & Jerry Tales The Looney Tunes Show

00:40 Chowder 01:30 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 01:55 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 02:20 Foster’s Home For...

02:45 Foster’s Home For...

03:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 04:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 04:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Powerpuff Girls 05:40 Generator Rex 06:05 Ben 10 06:30 Ben 10 06:55 Angelo Rules 07:00 Casper’s Scare School 07:30 Casper’s Scare School 08:00 Mucha Lucha 08:25 Johnny Test 08:45 Regular Show 09:05 Total Drama Island 09:30 Total Drama Island 09:55 Ben 10: Omniverse 10:20 Young Justice 10:45 Thundercats 11:10 Adventure Time 12:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 12:50 Foster’s Home For...

13:15 Foster’s Home For...

13:40 Courage The Cowardly Dog 14:30 Powerpuff Girls 15:20 Angelo Rules 16:10 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 16:35 Young Justice 17:00 Ben 10: Omniverse 17:20 Johnny Test 18:00 Level Up 18:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 18:50 Adventure Time 19:15 Regular Show 19:40 Mucha Lucha 20:05 Total Drama Island 20:30 Total Drama Island 20:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 21:20 Young Justice 21:45 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 22:10 Grim Adventures Of...

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

00:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson 01:00 Amanpour 01:30 World Sport 02:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 03:00 World Report 03:30 World Sport 04:00 Anderson Cooper 360 05:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 06:00 Quest Means Business 07:00 The Situation Room 08:00 World Sport 08:30 News Special 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Report 11:00 World Sport 11:30 Inside Africa 12:00 World Business Today 13:00 Amanpour 13:30 Inside The Middle East 14:00 World One 15:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 16:00 News Stream 17:00 World Business Today 18:00 International Desk 19:00 Global Exchange 20:00 World Sport

RESTITUTION ON OSN ACTION HD

20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:30

Inside The Middle East International Desk Quest Means Business Amanpour CNN Newscenter

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

Flying Wild Alaska Fine Dining With Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Mythbusters Border Security Scrappers Auction Hunters How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made Sons Of Guns Sons Of Guns Mythbusters Mythbusters Dynamo: Magician Impossible Border Security Scrappers Auction Hunters How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made Flying Wild Alaska Fine Dining With Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Border Security Scrappers Auction Hunters Megaquake: Hour That Shook

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

Fish Hooks Fish Hooks Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Doc McStuffins Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Jessie Jessie Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Shake It Up Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Doc McStuffins Doc McStuffins Art Attack Jessie Jessie A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Jessie Jessie The Suite Life Movie Austin And Ally Phineas And Ferb A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Jessie That’s So Raven Cory In The House Kim Possible Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks

Dynamo: Magician Impossible Mythbusters Sons Of Guns Sons Of Guns How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made Scrappers Auction Hunters Magic Of Science Time Warp Mythbusters Mythbusters

00:20 Little Einsteins 00:50 Special Agent Oso 01:05 Special Agent Oso 01:15 Lazytown 01:40 Jungle Junction 01:55 Jungle Junction 02:10 Handy Manny 02:20 Handy Manny 02:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:55 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:35 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:15 Handy Manny 04:25 Handy Manny 04:40 Special Agent Oso 04:50 Special Agent Oso 05:00 Timmy Time 05:10 Lazytown 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Little Einsteins 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Imagination Movers 08:45 Handy Manny 09:00 The Hive 09:10 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:05 Doc McStuffins 10:20 Doc McStuffins 10:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:00 Mouk 11:15 Mouk 11:30 Handy Manny

11:45 Art Attack 12:10 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 12:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 13:10 Doc McStuffins 13:25 Handy Manny 13:40 Jungle Junction 13:55 Timmy Time 14:05 The Hive 14:15 Mouk 14:30 Mouk 14:45 Timmy Time 14:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 15:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 15:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 16:00 The Little Mermaid 16:25 Art Attack 16:55 Zou 17:05 Zou 17:20 Handy Manny 17:35 Mouk 17:50 Mouk 18:10 Doc McStuffins 18:25 Doc McStuffins 18:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 18:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:10 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 19:35 Zou 19:50 Zou 20:05 Timmy Time 20:15 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:10 The Hive 21:20 Timmy Time 21:30 Mouk 21:45 Handy Manny 22:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:25 The Hive 22:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 23:00 Timmy Time 23:10 Animated Stories 23:15 A Poem Is...

23:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 23:30 Jungle Junction 23:45 Handy Manny 23:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

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

Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting Deadly Affairs Deadly Women Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Murder Shift Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Murder Shift Disappeared Forensic Detectives Street Patrol True Crime With Aphrodite Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Reel Crime/Real Story I Almost Got Away With It

00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Heat Seekers 01:55 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:20 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:45 Guy’s Big Bite 03:10 Guy’s Big Bite 03:35 Ultimate Recipe Showdown 04:20 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:50 United Tastes Of America 05:15 Unique Eats 05:40 Chopped 06:30 Iron Chef America 07:10 Unwrapped 07:35 Unwrapped 08:00 Iron Chef America 08:50 Kid In A Candy Store 09:15 Unwrapped 09:40 United Tastes Of America 10:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:30 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:55 Cooking For Real 11:20 Cooking For Real 11:45 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 12:10 United Tastes Of America 12:35 Unwrapped 13:00 Iron Chef America 13:50 Tyler’s Ultimate 14:15 Andy Bates Street Feasts 14:40 Everyday Italian 15:05 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:30 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:55 Cooking For Real 16:20 United Tastes Of America 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:15 Kid In A Candy Store 19:40 Tyler’s Ultimate 20:05 Guy’s Big Bite 20:30 Chopped 21:20 Iron Chef America 22:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 22:35 Charly’s Cake Angels 23:00 Unique Sweets 23:25 Unique Sweets 23:50 Have Cake, Will Travel

00:15 Delinquent Gourmet 00:45 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 01:40 A World Apart

A SEPERATION ON OSN CINEMA 02:35 Dive Detectives 03:30 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 04:25 By Any Means 05:20 Somewhere In China 06:15 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 06:40 Exploring The Vine 07:10 Delinquent Gourmet 07:35 Delinquent Gourmet 08:05 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 09:00 A World Apart 09:55 Dive Detectives 10:50 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 11:45 By Any Means 12:40 Nomads 13:35 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 Delinquent Gourmet 14:55 Kimchi Chronicles 15:25 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 16:20 A World Apart 17:15 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 18:10 Banged Up Abroad 19:05 By Any Means 20:00 Delinquent Gourmet 20:30 Kimchi Chronicles 21:00 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 21:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 22:00 Somewhere In China 22:55 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 23:20 Exploring The Vine 23:50 Food School

00:00 Megastructures 01:00 Naked Science 03:00 Convoy: War For The Atlantic 04:00 Fight Science 05:00 Animal Autopsy (AKA Inside Nature’s Giants) 06:00 Convoy: War For The Atlantic 07:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 08:00 Megastructures 09:00 Naked Science 11:00 Convoy: War For The Atlantic 12:00 Fight Science 13:00 Hunter Hunted 14:00 Alaska Wing Men 15:00 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 16:00 Megacities 17:00 Monster Moves 18:00 Helicopter Wars 19:00 Hooked 20:00 Situation Critical 21:00 Predator CSI 22:00 Hooked 23:00 World’s Toughest Fixes

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

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00

Animal Intervention Ape Genius Wild Russia Fish Tank Kings World’s Deadliest Animals Striker!

Swamp Men Wild Chronicles Wild Russia World’s Deadliest Animals Striker!

Moray Eels: Alien Empire Monster Jellyfish Wild Case Files World’s Deadliest The Living Edens Dangerous Encounters World’s Deadliest Animals Snake Underworld Raptor Force Wild Case Files Monster Fish World’s Deadliest Animals Striker!

Moray Eels: Alien Empire Monster Jellyfish

Blood Out-18 Dread-18 Metro-PG15 Reign Of Fire-PG15 Restitution-PG15

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

Drunken Master-PG15 Walled In-PG15 Restitution-PG15 Tank Girl-PG15 Walled In-PG15 The Speak-18 Paranormal Activity 2-18

01:00 Another Year-PG15 03:15 Vampires Suck-PG15 05:15 B-Girl-PG15 07:15 Unmatched-PG15 09:00 Another Year-PG15 11:30 Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown-PG 12:30 Kung Fu Dunk-PG15 14:30 A Separation-PG15 16:45 The Warlords-PG15 19:00 The Edge Of Love-PG15 21:00 Cleanskin-18 23:00 Hemingway & Gellhorn-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Community 02:00 American Dad 02:30 Bored To Death 03:00 Two And A Half Men 03:30 Two And A Half Men 04:00 Hope & Faith 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Gary Unmarried 06:00 Samantha Who? 06:30 Seinfeld 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Hope & Faith 08:30 New Girl 09:00 Gary Unmarried 09:30 Samantha Who? 10:00 Melissa & Joey 10:30 The Office 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Seinfeld 12:30 Hope & Faith 13:00 Gary Unmarried 13:30 Samantha Who? 14:00 The Simpsons 14:30 The Office 15:00 Melissa & Joey 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Seinfeld 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 New Girl 18:30 The Simpsons 19:00 Melissa & Joey 19:30 The Office 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 22:30 The Big C 23:00 Bored To Death 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 12:00 12:30 15:00 16:00 16:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 23:00

Grimm Hawthorne Pillars Of The Earth Six Feet Under Emmerdale Coronation Street Criminal Minds Emmerdale Coronation Street Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street Criminal Minds Touch Warehouse 13 Hawthorne Six Feet Under

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00

Nothing To Lose-PG15 Coldblooded-PG15 Joe Dirt-PG15 Held Up (1999)-PG15 Airheads-PG15 Baby Geniuses-PG Joe Dirt-PG15 Robots-PG

16:00 Baby Geniuses-PG 20:00 Submarine-PG15 22:00 No Strings Attached-18

01:00 L.A I Hate You-PG15 03:00 Love And Other Impossible Pursuits-PG15 05:00 Quiz Show-PG15 07:15 Le Syndrome Du Titanic-PG15 09:00 Ice Dreams-PG 11:00 Jesse Stone: Innocents LostPG15 12:45 Quiz Show-PG15 15:00 Ice Dreams-PG 16:45 Lorenzo’s Oil-PG15 19:00 Le Divorce-PG15 21:00 Trust-PG15 23:00 The Last Gamble-18

01:00 Trans World Sport 02:00 Cricket Twenty20 05:00 The Ryder Cup 06:30 ICC Cricket 360 07:00 PDC World Darts Championship 10:00 Futbol Mundial 10:30 ICC Cricket 360 11:00 Live Cricket Twenty20 14:00 PDC World Darts Championship 17:00 Extreme Sailing Series 17:30 ICC Cricket 360 18:00 Futbol Mundial 18:30 Cricket Twenty20 21:30 Trans World Sport 22:30 Top 14

01:30 Futbol Mundial 02:00 PGA European Tour Weekly 03:00 PDC World Darts Championship 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Cricket T20 10:00 Top 14 12:00 Trans World Sport 13:00 Top 14 15:00 Cricket T20 18:00 Extreme Sailing 18:30 PGA European Tour Weekly 19:30 Inside the PGA 20:00 PDC World Darts Championship 23:00 Futbol Mundial 23:30 Trans World Sport

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World Cup of Pool Fukuoka Marathon HSBC Sevens World Series Golfing World Spirit of Yachting Spirit of Yachting World Pool Masters World Cup of Pool Spirit of Golf Spirit of Golf MENA Golf Tour Highlights Golfing World AFL Highlights World Pool Masters World Cup of Pool Top 14 Highlights Pro 12 Pro 12 Golfing World Top 14 Highlights World Pool Masters

00:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes 01:00 V8 Supercars Highlights 02:00 V8 Supercars Highlights 03:00 UFC Unleashed 04:00 UFC Unleashed 05:00 NHL 07:00 WWE Vintage Collection 08:00 WWE NXT 09:00 V8 Supercars Highlights 10:00 V8 Supercars Highlights 11:00 NHL 13:00 WWE SmackDown 15:00 WWE Vintage Collection 16:00 Prizefighter 19:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes 20:00 UFC Unleashed 21:00 UFC 23:00 UAE National Race Day Series

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

ACCOMMODATION Room available, rent KD 65, near the big Jamiya, Bahrain St, Ghadeer Clinic building. Tel: 66792392/ 66282602/ 60421240.

(C 4263) 25-12-2012 FOR SALE Jeep Honda CRV - 2007, green color, full options, km 47,000, KD 2,950. Tel: 66729295. (C 4272) Toyota Prado 2003, white color, 4 cylr, excellent condition, km 1,52,000, KD 3,100. Tel: 50994848.

(C 4271) 31-12-2012 CHANGE OF NAME

as a secretary in a reputed company looking for a good fearing and well educated girls. Email: eng.mrabdo@yahoo.com (C 4268) 29-12-2012 Marthomite parents in Kuwait, invites proposals for their daughter (28/160/Fair), B/B in Kuwait, Masters from UK and currently working with Global PR in Bangalore as senior account executive, from well qualified and employed MARTHOMA/ CSI/ ORTHODOX boys preferably in Kuwait/Dubai with good family background and clean habits.

Contact: Email: jacobthomask3@yahoo.com (C 4269) 30-12-2012

I, Jafar Mohammed Hussain Warekar, holder of Indian Passport No: E8758097 hereby change my name to Zafar Mohammed Hussain Warekar. (C 4266)

I, Suresh Dhanapal, Indian Passport No: E6840843 have converted from Hindu to Islam and changed my name to Barakath Ali Dhanapal (C 4265) 25-12-2012

MATRIMONIAL Proposal invited for a bachelor 29 years working

Systems Engineer (2-3 years experience in Infosys Ltd) Configuration Controller and Release Management, UNIX, Oracle, B-Tech Electronics & Comm.

Mob: 65015932. (C 4260) 24-12-2012

TUITION Learn Holy Quran in perfect way, private tuition available for elders and children by Hafiz-E-Quran.

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For Rent

Hotel Apartment Mahboula 1 bed room & 2 bed room. Include: Swimming pool & Gym & Club & Internet Contact Tel:

90062345 - 99737962 Prayer timings

SITUATION VACANT Required cook for house, good knowledge of cooking all kinds of food, good salary, good facilities, full time or part time. Phone: 23901053, 66519719.

(C 4273)

Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES

I, Raguri Subbaiah Reddamma holder of Indian Passport No: F0419527 hereby change my name to Ravuri Reddamma Venkata Subbaiah. (C 4258) I, Mohammed Pervaiz S/o Mohammed Jahangir, R/o 194-281/A/30, Sanjeev Gandhi Nagar, Hyd. Passport bearing No: H1841911 hereby changed my name to Syed Parvez S/o Syed Jahangir Parvez.

(C 4267) 27-12-2012

SITUATION WANTED

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DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JAI THY JZR JZR QTR ETH GFA UAE ETD OMA QTR FDB MSR DHX THY JZR JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC ETD KAC UAE GFA ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA BAB IRC IRA JZR MEA KNE MSR IRM UAE KAC JZR CLX GFA FDB KAC SVA QTR JZR KAC KAC

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 2/1/2013 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 138 DOHA 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 555 ALEXANDRIA 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 933 ABU DHABI 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 223 BAHRAIN 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 436 BAHRAIN 6592 MASHAD 603 SHIRAZ 165 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 470 JEDDAH 610 CAIRO 1190 MASHAD 871 DUBAI 382 DELHI 175 DUBAI 792 LUXEMBOURG 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 672 DUBAI 500 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 561 SOHAG 788 JEDDAH 284 DHAKA

Time 0:30 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:45 1:50 2:35 2:45 2:50 3:01 3:05 3:10 5:15 5:30 6:00 6:35 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:55 8:05 8:30 8:40 8:40 8:45 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:55 10:05 10:10 10:40 11:20 11:55 12:10 12:45 12:50 12:50 12:55 13:10 13:15 13:35 13:50 14:10 14:30 14:45 14:50 14:55 15:10

QTR IRC KAC JZR JZR IYE UAE JZR ETD RJA GFA SVA KNE JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC JZR RBG KAC BAB FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA FDB KAC JAI AXB MSR ABY QTR ALK MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE JZR KAC DHX FDB KLM AIC JZR GFA JZR UAL DLH

134 6692 538 787 535 824 857 357 303 640 215 510 462 777 144 127 982 542 177 3553 786 438 63 166 618 102 674 774 647 61 614 572 389 606 129 146 229 402 136 221 307 859 135 790 372 59 417 975 239 217 185 981 636

DOHA MASHAD SHARM EL SHEIKH RIYADH CAIRO SANAA DUBAI MASHAD ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN RIYADH MEDINAH JEDDAH DOHA SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI PARIS DOHA NEW YORK DUBAI RIYADH MUSCAT DUBAI BAHRAIN MUMBAI MANGALORE LUXOR SHARJAH DOHA COLOMBO BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN MEDINAH BAHRAIN DUBAI AMSTERDAM CHENNAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT

15:30 15:50 16:05 16:10 16:25 16:30 16:40 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 19:10 19:20 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:20 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:05 23:25 23:55

Airlines AIC PIA BBC UAL DLH JAI KAC ETH THY KAC FDB UAE OMA ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA THY KAC JZR FDB JZR BAW JZR KAC GFA KAC ABY UAE KAC FDB ETD ETD QTR GFA JZR KAC BAB IRC KAC IRA JZR KAC JZR MEA KAC KNE MSR JZR IRM UAE

Departure Flights on Wednesday 2/1/2013 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 206 LAHORE 44 DOHA 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 573 MUMBAI 283 DHAKA 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 381 DELHI 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 644 MUSCAT 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 560 SOHAG 54 DUBAI 174 DUBAI 156 LONDON 534 CAIRO 787 JEDDAH 224 BAHRAIN 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 117 NEW YORK 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 934 ABU DHABI 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 356 MASHHAD 175 FRANKFURT 437 BAHRAIN 6593 MASHHAD 541 CAIRO 602 SHIRAZ 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 786 RIYADH 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 461 MADINAH 611 CAIRO 176 DUBAI 1191 MASHHAD 872 DUBAI

Time 0:05 0:10 1:00 1:10 1:20 1:30 2:25 2:45 2:55 3:15 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:10 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:35 8:10 8:15 8:25 8:35 8:45 9:15 9:25 9:30 9:35 9:45 9:55 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:30 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:45 10:50 11:10 11:30 11:40 12:15 12:20 12:55 12:55 13:00 13:10 13:45 13:50 14:15 14:15

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

GFA FDB CLX KAC KAC SVA QTR KAC IRC KAC KAC JZR IYE ETD JZR QTR UAE RJA GFA JZR SVA KNE ABY JZR QTR RBG JZR UAL FDB BAB FDB KAC KAC OMA JAI ABY MSR DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB JZR UAE DHX KAC KLM QTR JZR GFA JZR KAC

220 58 792 673 617 503 141 773 6693 613 789 238 824 304 538 135 858 641 216 184 511 471 128 266 145 3554 134 982 64 439 62 353 331 648 571 120 619 171 230 403 308 137 222 301 60 554 860 373 205 417 147 502 218 528 415

BAHRAIN DUBAI GIALAM DUBAI DOHA MADINAH DOHA RIYADH MASHHAD BAHRAIN MADINAH AMMAN SANAA ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH JEDDAH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI KOCHI RIVANDRUM MUSCAT MUMBAI SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD DAMMAM DOHA LUXOR BAHRAIN ASSIUT KUALA LUMPUR

14:20 14:30 14:45 15:05 15:45 15:45 16:15 16:25 16:40 17:05 17:10 17:15 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:25 19:30 20:40 20:45 20:55 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:25 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:35 23:50 23:50 23:55

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

sp orts Sharapova pulls out of Brisbane International

Double challenge for McCullum CAPE TOWN: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum will face a double challenge when his team take on world champions South Africa in the first Test at Newlands today. Handed the captaincy in controversial circumstances, McCullum confirmed on Tuesday that he will also open the batting in the absence of the injured Peter Fulton. “Peter was going to open but he has been struck down by an injury. That gives an opportunity to Dean Brownlie,” McCullum said. “I’ll come back to the top of the order and Dean will come in at number four. I’ve been opening the batting for the last little while and you’ve got to bat at some point,” he said of the challenge of facing South Africa’s formidable pace trio of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel.

Told that Philander had passed a fitness test after being a doubtful starter because of a hamstring injury, McCullum said: “He’s an excellent bowler. His stats have been phenomenal but from our point of view we’re playing against a very good cricket team so we expect them to have very good cricketers in their side.”

New Zealand’s three leading batsmen will fill the first three positions in the order. Martin Guptill will open with McCullum, while Kane Williamson will bat at number three. “Martin’s been in good form and hopefully we can establish a pretty good partnership up front,” said McCullum. —AFP

BRISBANE: Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International yesterday due to inflammation around her collarbone and the world No. 2 is still unable to hit a serve just two weeks before the start of the Australian Open.

Sharapova, who spoke optimistically about the new season on Monday, was forced to withdraw from her second-round match against Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova in Brisbane, saying it was the “smart move” to make. The French Open champion also pulled out of an exhibition match against Caroline Wozniacki at the end of December in Seoul because of a sore collarbone. “That’s why I had to pull out of the exhibition match I had in Korea,” she said at a news conference on Tuesday.

“I had a bit of inflammation in my collarbone. My doctor in New York told me I couldn’t really do much overhead training for about a week. — Reuters

NBA results/standings Indiana 88, Memphis 83; Charlotte 91, Chicago 81; Miami 112, Orlando 110 (OT); Houston 123, Atlanta 104; San Antonio 104, Brooklyn 73; Oklahoma City 116, Phoenix 96.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT GB 21 9 .700 NY Knicks Brooklyn 16 15 .516 5.5 Boston 14 16 .467 7 Philadelphia 14 17 .452 7.5 Toronto 11 20 .355 10.5 Central Division Indiana 18 13 .581 16 13 .552 1 Chicago Milwaukee 16 13 .552 1 Detroit 11 22 .333 8 Cleveland 7 25 .219 11.5 Southeast Division Miami 21 8 .724 19 10 .655 2 Atlanta Orlando 12 19 .387 10 Charlotte 8 23 .258 14 Washington 4 24 .143 16.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 24 6 .800 Denver 17 15 .531 Minnesota 14 13 .519 Portland 15 14 .517 Utah 15 17 .469

Li starts Shenzhen Open with easy win over Mandy SHENZHEN: Top-seeded Li Na opened her Shenzhen Open campaign with a clinical 6-4, 6-0 victory over Mandy Minella of Luxembourg yesterday. Li, ranked No. 7 in the world, broke Minella four times without facing a break point. Next up for the Chinese star, trying to win her first title on home soil since 2004, will be Julia Cohen of the United States in the second round.

It was a good day for Chinese. Sixth-seeded Peng Shuai, chasing her first WTA singles title, swept past Ayumi Morita of Japan for a seventh straight time, 61, 6-1, and Zhou Yi-miao, a lucky loser who made the draw when third-seeded Jelena Jankovic withdrew, defeated American qualifier Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-2.

Peng’s win set up a quarterfinal with Annika Beck of Germany, who beat fourth-seeded Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6-3, 6-0 in their first meeting. Also through to the last eight were Monica Niculescu of Romania, who dumped seventh-seeded Laura Robson of Britain 6-2, 6-3, fifthseeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, and eighth-seeded Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia, who awaited Li or Cohen. — AP

Heat slip past Magic

8 8.5 8.5 10

Pacific Division LA Clippers 25 6 .806 Golden State 21 10 .677 4 LA Lakers 15 15 .500 9.5 Sacramento 11 19 .367 13.5 Phoenix 11 21 .344 14.5 Southwest Division San Antonio 25 8 .758 Memphis 19 9 .679 3.5 Houston 17 14 .548 7 Dallas 12 19 .387 12 New Orleans 7 23 .233 16.5

Kelly a top NFL target again SCOTTSDALE: One of the first questions Oregon coach Chip Kelly was asked after arriving in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl was about the possibility of coaching in the NFL. The are-you-going-to-the-NFL questions haven’t let up in the five days since and only figure to pick up after seven coaches were fired Monday.

Deflection has been Kelly’s defense since the rumors started and it was no different after all those NFL openings cropped up.

“I’ve got a game to play,” Kelly said during the Fiesta Bowl’s media day on Monday. “We’re playing in the Fiesta Bowl. That’s the biggest thing in my life. If I allowed other things to get into my life, then they would be distractions, but there aren’t. Our focus 100 percent is on the Fiesta Bowl.”

Kelly has been an intriguing candidate for NFL teams for a few years. The 49year-old coach is known as an offensive innovator and his fast-paced, high-scoring offense has led to the most successful stretch in Oregon’s history.

The fifth-ranked Ducks have gone to four straight BCS bowl games, a run that includes a trip to the 2011 national championship game, Oregon’s first Rose Bowl win in 95 years last season and Thursday night’s Fiesta Bowl against No. 5 Kansas State at University of Phoenix Stadium.The speculation over the past few years has been that Kelly has his eye on an NFL job and he even talked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year before saying he had unfinished business in Eugene. The rumors began to pick up this season and followed him to the desert, where he’s been asked about the NFL every day he’s been here and has given a different version of the same answer every time. “My heart is to win today and that’s it,” Kelly said. “I know everybody wants to hear a different

SCOTTSDALE: Oregon head coach Chip Kelly laughs as he answers a reporter’s question during media day for the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football game. —AP

answer. And I know that at times when I don’t give you guys the answer that you guys want, then I’m being evasive. I’m not being evasive.” One reason that Kelly’s stock is so high is that NFL teams are starting to embrace the hurry-all-thetime offense he has nearly perfected in Eugene.

In college, coaches have latched onto the no-huddle offense, with teams across the country employing a version of it.

NFL teams have always seemed to be reluctant to borrow from the college ranks, sticking to smash-mouth football for years even while college offenses had unprecedented success with the spread.

The mindset has changed, at least some, over the past few years as teams have looked for ways to get ahead of the defenses. Several NFL teams have gone the high-octane route on offense, including New England, Seattle, Washington and Green Bay, to a certain extent.

Kelly has been the standard-bearer for the redline approach in college. His Ducks have ranked no lower than sixth in the country in rushing yards since he became offensive coordinator in 2007 and have been in the top 10 in scoring and total offense every year but one.

With success like that, it’s no wonder he’s become a popular target for NFL teams. “My whole thing since I’ve been here is that I’m going to do the best job I can every single day,” Kelly said. “If that’s good enough that other people look at me sometimes, I don’t really care about that. I think too many people live in the future. We live in the moment.” The key this week will be keeping the Ducks in the moment as the rumors swirl.

Kelly is reported to be the top candidate to replace Pat Shurmur with the Cleveland Browns and would be a popular choice for the Philadelphia Eagles now that Andy Reid is gone. Arizona, Buffalo, Chicago, San Diego and Kansas City also are without coaches and could come calling on Kelly as well. Whatever Kelly does behind the scenes, he’s tried to make sure it doesn’t become a distraction for his team as it prepares to play another team that had national-championship hopes that lasted deep into the season.

“I never said a word to our guys about it,” Kelly said. “They understand what the task is at hand. I don’t think about it. They don’t think about it, so ...” So far, it seems to be working.

Kelly’s players have taken to his stickto-what’s-in-front-of-you mentality when it comes to games and have done the same thing with the rumors about their coach possibly leaving. “It’s not really distracting,” Oregon running back DeAnthony Thomas said. “Our main focus is just winning this game right now and just celebrating as a team.” Celebrating or lamenting, Kelly likely will face a decision not long after it’s over. — AP

HOUSTON: Rockets guard Jeremy Lin (7) drives the lane on Atlanta Hawks guard DeShawn Stevenson (92) during the second half of their NBA basketball game. —AP ORLANDO: LeBron James had 36 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and Chris Bosh scored 22 points to help the Miami Heat slip past the Orlando Magic 112-110 in overtime Monday.

James scored eight points in OT, including two free throws that clinched it with 1.5 seconds remaining. Dwayne Wade, who had 21 points, had a dunk with 6.2 seconds to go to give Miami a four-point lead.

Arron Afflalo scored 28 for the Magic and J.J. Redick added 23, but he committed the turnover that led to Wade’s decisive dunk.

Nikola Vucevic had 20 points and set a team record with 29 rebounds as Orlando lost its sixth straight. The previous record was 28 rebounds by Shaquille O’Neal in 1993. James scored on a driving layup with 1:07 left in the extra period to give Miami a 108-106 lead. He missed a shot from the top of the key, giving Orlando a chance to tie, but Shane Battier stole a cross-court pass from Redick and fed Wade for his late slam. Josh McRoberts cut it to two with two seconds to play, but James sealed it at the line.

Bobcats 91, Bulls 81 In Chicago, Kemba Walker had 18 points and eight rebounds to help Charlotte end an 18-game losing streak with a win over Chicago. Gerald Henderson added 16 points and reser ve Ben Gordon had 15 as the Bobcats snapped the second-longest skid in team history. It was their first win in their last 10 road games.

Luol Deng scored 20 points and grabbed

12 rebounds for Chicago. Carlos Boozer also had a double-double with 19 points and 14 boards. Charlotte fended off several rallies by the Bulls, who never held a lead, to win for the first time since Nov. 24.

Thunder 114, Suns 96 In Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 30 points, and Russell Westbrook returned from a cut above his eye with 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as Oklahoma City beat Phoenix. Oklahoma City extended its home winning streak to 12 games - the longest in the NBA this season - and won on New Year’s Eve for the fifth straight year since the franchise moved from Seattle. The Thunder closed 2012 by winning 15 of their last 17 games.

Luis Scola scored 24 points to lead the Suns, who dropped their sixth straight game overall and seventh consecutive meeting against the Thunder. The Suns haven’t beaten Oklahoma City since December 19, 2010.

Spurs 104, Nets 73 In San Antonio, Tony Parker had 20 points and San Antonio Spurs held Brooklyn to only five points in the third quarter in a win over the Nets. Tim Duncan added 15 points and Nando DeColo had 11, while Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter and Matt Bonner chipped in 10 apiece for San Antonio (25-8), which went 9-0 at home in December.

MarShon Brooks had a season-high 16 points to lead Brooklyn (16-15), which suffered its first loss under interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo. Joe Johnson added 12 points

and Brook Lopez had 11, but Deron Williams was held to eight points and one assist. San Antonio set a franchise low for fewest points by an opponent in a quarter.

Pacers 88, Grizzlies 83 In Indianapolis, Paul George had 21 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead Indiana to a win over Memphis. DJ Augustin had 17 points and six assists, and David West had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who have won five of their last six games.

Zach Randolph had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Marc Gasol had 13 points for the Grizzlies, who have dropped three of the last four. West scored the go ahead three throws with 6:09 to play to give the Pacers a 72-71 lead after they trailed by as much as 10 in the second half.

Rockets 123, Hawks 104 In Houston, James Harden had 28 points and Houston rebounded from its worst loss of the season with a win over Atlanta. The Rockets were coming off a 30-point defeat by Oklahoma City and had allowed at least 120 points in their last two games - both losses.

They used a 16-0 run in the second quarter to build a big lead and hold on for the win.

Lou Williams had 21 points for the Hawks, whose winning streak ended at four games.

Houston was up by 15 points in the fourth quarter before Atlanta used a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 102-97 with about five minutes remaining. The Rockets answered with an 8-0 run to regain control. — AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

sp orts Davydenko seeking last view of tennis heights

BRISBANE: Andy Murray of Britain talks to the media at a press conference during the Brisbane International tennis tournament. — AP

Murray knows he must do more to become ‘Sir Andy’ BRISBANE: Andy Murray is coming off a season in which he became the first British man in 76 years to win a Grand Slam singles title and won Olympic gold at the London Games but the Scot does not think he has done enough to deserve a knighthood yet.

The 25-year-old received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in a special UK New year Honours list, though some of his supporters thought his victories at the US Open and Olympics warranted a higher honour.

Bradley Wiggins, the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France, and Ben Ainslie, the most decorated Olympic yachtsman, received knighthoods but Murray said he would have to accomplish much more before he could perhaps one day join them.

“You need to do a lot, for a long time, to deserve an honor like that,” Murray told a news conference at the Brisbane International yesterday. “A lot of the sportsmen and women have been given that just because their sport isn’t necessarily in the spotlight all the time, it’s easy to forget what they’ve done for 10, 15 years.

“I mean, some of them have won 10 gold medals in world championships, four or five Olympic medals, and have been doing it for years. “I’ve only been doing it for a couple years, so I think I’ll definitely need to win a few more matches and have more tournaments to have a chance of getting that.”

Sir Sean Connery and Sir Alex Ferguson were in Murray’s corner as spectators during the US Open but he said he only referred to them as Sean and Alex. “I think with the people around you, I think everyone just kind of stays the same, and then it would be people that you don’t know that will come up to you and address you as that,” Murray said. “But I would hope I wouldn’t want my friends and family to call me that.”

Murray’s win over Novak Djokovic at the US Open in September has finally freed him of the questions about when he would make his grand slam breakthrough.

The world No. 3 said winning Olympic gold and his first major in the same year had had its perks but with a coach like Ivan Lendl to guide him he was never likely to get carried away by the success.

“The few weeks afterwards around the Olympics time and the US Open, I got a few upgrades on flights and things like that, which is nice, but that’s died down a little bit over the last few months,” he said.

“Life hasn’t changed too much. Obviously the few weeks afterwards were very busy. Then once you start travelling and playing tournaments again, and get back into the routine of training and practicing, it hasn’t really changed that much, to be honest, which has been nice.

“Also having someone like Ivan around me as well, he went through a similar sort of thing so that’s obviously helped as well. He’s given me some advice on how to deal with certain things that come with winning big events.

“I’ve had a lot of congratulations because I think a lot of people that follow tennis, and were sort of general sports fans, kind of knew my story a little bit. “Of how long it had been since any British player had won a slam and how many times I had lost in the finals. Especially after Wimbledon, when I was very upset this year.

“It was very nice for me to finally be able to move on and not worry about that stuff anymore. I got a lot of congratulations for that.” Having shed the nearly-man tag, Murray said he would be better prepared than ever in his bid to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win Wimbledon.

Murray endured heartbreak in the 2012 Wimbledon final when he was beaten Roger Federer. “There will be a lot of pressure again, but I don’t think there will be more pressure than what I went through last year, to be honest,” he said.

“I mean, that was a tough tournament for me. It was quite stressful. The Olympics was the same. The US Open - that was a tough, tough three months mentally for me.

“I think whatever happens at Wimbledon this year, I’ll be able to deal with it better than I have done in the past.”

Murray is taking part in the Brisbane International tournament as part of his preparations for the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 14. — Reuters

DOHA: Nikolay Davydenko, one of only a handful of players to have beaten Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the same tournament, has a new year’s resolution of making a last bid to return the world’s top 20 before retirement.

Three years ago the former world number three from Russia caused a sensation here while capturing the Qatar Open title, first overcoming Federer and then winning the final from match points down against Nadal after dropping the first set to love.

Now a dashing new year’s eve win over Victor Hanescu of Romania, by 6-2, 6-3, has prompted Davydenko to claim he is the fittest he has been since breaking his wrist in Rotterdam two months after his Qatari thunderbolts.

“I tell everyone from my family I will push myself - I want to (win) again,” said Davydenko, whose greatest triumph involved another win over Federer, en route to winning the 2009 ATP World Tour finals in London.

And so the 31-year-old asserts that he is “practising concentration” because he is “already not so young” and “maybe has two more years, but maybe only this year left”. Davydenko concluded: “If I have no more injuries and really concentrate for matches and for practice, I can maybe be top 20 again.”

That will depend to a large extent on whether he can impose his unusual flat-hitting, early-ball, risk-taking style with sufficient consistency to deny opportunities to taller, more muscular, harder-hitting opponents who can power him off the court.

Revived ambition has also revived Davydenko’s dark humour. Whilst some players bemoan the absence of Nadal, both from this tournament and from the ATP World Tour at least till mid-February, Davydenko talks differently.

“If Nadal will be here and I, like, play against him first round, I will not enjoy this one,” the former champion said, causing laughter. “Last time I played Federer first round here. This time I was surprised. I was really thinking Federer and Nadal play here, but Federer not here and Nadal not here - perfect,” he added, bringing more mirth.

Davydenko’s humor was shielded from bitterness by his place alongside Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and David Nalbandian as the only players to have overcome Nadal and Federer in the same week. Davydenko’s other new year resolution has been vigorously to celebrate the arrival of 2013. “I really didn’t enjoy playing on the 31st,” he claimed, still talking mischievously.

“I ask the tournament director (Karim Alami) please put me on first or second match - I really don’t want to be late. “We have no Merry Christmas in Russia, but the new year it’s like really a celebration for us. We make some party, enjoy this time. I am allowed to drink this time.

“I said if I play on the 1st, it doesn’t matter what time you put me on - you can put me last. But I shall enjoy not playing on new year’s day. I can sleep and play my match on the 2nd.” That match will be against his fourth-seeded compatriot Mikhail Youzhny, who struggled past Benjamin Becker, the world number 56 from Germany, by 4-6, 7-6(7-3), 6-1. Youzhny will know better than most that Davydenko’s sweet-andsour humour serves partly to mask one last serious ambition. — AFP

BRISBANE: Serena Williams of the US plays a shot in her match against Alize Cornet of France during the Brisbane International tennis tournament. — AP

Serena sends Alize packing

BRISBANE: Serena Williams stamped her authority on the Brisbane International yesterday when she crushed Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-2. On a day that saw second seed Maria Sharapova withdraw with an injured collarbone and fifth and sixth seeds Sara Errani and Petra Kvitova bundled out, Williams was all business as she disposed of Cornet in exactly one hour.

The 15-times Grand Slam winner broke Cornet in the first game of the match and was never troubled after that, as she broke the Frenchwoman once more in the first set and twice in the second for a comprehensive victory.

Williams had far too much firepower for Cornet, hitting 25 winners to four including six aces. One in the second set was clocked at 200 kmh (125 mph). The third-seeded American stepped up a gear from her opening-round win over fellow countrywoman Varvara Lepchenko.

“She’s (Cornet) a former top 15 player and we’ve had a tough three-set match before, so I knew I had to play really well,” she said. “I tried to be more aggressive and tried to be more consistent.” Sharapova was earlier forced to withdraw with a right collarbone injury.

The Russian world number two sent scans of her injury to her doctor in New York, who advised her not to do any overhead training for at least a week. “So to be fair I haven’t really given myself a chance to pretty much hit any serves or anything over my head, I’ve just been practising ground strokes. So I just kind of ran out of time here,” she said.

It is the second year in a row that Sharapova has with-

drawn from the tournament without playing a shot. In 2012 she skipped Brisbane because of an ankle injury and went straight to Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open, where she finished runner-up to Victoria Azarenka.

Sharapova said she would do the same this year, passing up the opportunity of playing in Sydney next week to make sure she is fit for Melbourne. Former Wimbledon champion Kvitova, who won in Brisbane in 2011, went down 6-4, 7-5 to Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while Italy’s Errani lost in three sets to 2012 runner-up Daniela Hantuchova 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

“It wasn’t my best tennis today and I think that it’s the beginning of the season, so I hoped that it could be better, for sure,” Kvitova said. “Right now I have still some space where I can improve and I hope that in Melbourne I will improve these things.” Top seed and world number one Victoria Azarenka plays her second-round match against German Sabine Lisicki today.

In the men’s draw, Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin downed eighth seed Slovakian Martin Klizan 6-1 6-2, while Austria’s Jurgen Melzer, the seventh seed, beat US qualifier Denis Kudla 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Australian qualifier John Millman set up a second-round clash against Andy Murray when he beat Japan’s Tatsumo Ito 6-4, 6-1 and Tommy Robredo of Spain edged American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). In the final match, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia downed Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. — AFP

South Africa seek to build on top spot

SYDNEY: Australia’s David Warner dives for the ball during a training in Sydney, Australia is ahead of the third Test against Sri Lanka beginning tomorrow. — AP

Clarke’s chances improve for Hussey’s farewell SYDNEY: Australia skipper Michael Clarke came through a fitness test yesterday, indicating he will play in this week’s third test against Sri Lanka and resolve at least one of the hosts’ selection problems for the dead rubber match.

With an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, Australia could have been forgiven for going into the match, which starts at the Sydney Cricket Ground on tomorrow, riding on the crest of a wave of optimism for the future.

The hammer blow of Michael Hussey’s retirement announcement coming so quickly after that of Ricky Ponting, though, has left them contemplating their batting resources with a test series in India and back-to-back Ashes encounters to come this year. Sri Lanka, despite being humbled by an innings and 201 runs inside three days in the second test in Melbourne, can still hold onto the hope of claiming a first test victory in Australia on what should be the most spin-friendly of the three tracks.

Hussey announced last week that the Sydney test would be his 79th and last, and the 37-year-old’s chances of going out with a bang are high if statistics are anything to go by.

“Mr Cricket”, as he is affectionately nicknamed, has averaged 117.75 runs in his seven previous tests against Sri Lanka, 100 in a similar number of matches at the SCG and has scored centuries in three of his last five tests.

Australia might need those runs if Clarke’s hamstring is not risked and he joins all rounder Shane Watson in the treatment room, leaving a batting order as low on experi-

ence as Sri Lanka’s is rich in it.

Usman Khawaja remains on standby for Clarke and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade admitted there would be a lot more expectation on those players who have played fewer than 20 tests, not least the uncapped Glenn Maxwell.

“We’ve got to accept the responsibility,” Wade told reporters this week. “It’s a big hole that’s going to be out of our team but our young batters are keen and eager to learn and get better and hopefully there’s another ‘Mr Cricket’ waiting in our top six or seven.”

Mitchell Starc is certain to return to the pace bowling unit, leaving one of Mitchell Johnson (man of the match in Melbourne), Peter Siddle (ditto in the first test in Hobart) or Jackson Bird (an impressive debutant in Melbourne) to miss out. Sri Lanka’s battered and bruised tour party, by contrast, have had to call for reinforcements after injuries ruled out batsman Kumar Sangakkara and bowler Chanaka Welagedera and put serious doubt over wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene and seamer Nuwan Kulasekara.

Still, batsman Thilan Samaraweera said they were still motivated by the chance of making a little bit of cricketing history. “It was really hard to digest that defeat ... but that’s the past now,” batsman Thilan Samaraweera said on Monday. “The good thing is this team has to believe they can make history if they win one test in Australia.

“That is the kind of attitude we are taking into the New Year’s test.”— Reuters

CAPE TOWN: South Africa will seek to consolidate their top place on the world Test rankings when they play New Zealand in a two-match series starting at Newlands today.

The series shapes up as a mismatch, with eighthranked New Zealand hit by injuries and the withdrawal of former captain and star batsman Ross Taylor, but coach Gary Kirsten said the South Africans would not take victory for granted.

Kirsten said South Africa wanted to start a busy year of Test cricket on a strong note after capturing and then retaining the number one spot with successive away series wins against England and Australia.

“We had a good meeting around the year ahead,” said Kirsten. “We’re likely to have ten Test matches in 2013, and what we do as a team is set our goals about what we want to achieve for the year. The New Zealand series will be an important stepping stone to that.

“The success of our team in 2012 was the fact that we remained humble in our play, we never took any situation or any team for granted. We made sure that our preparation was spot on and that, when we got into Test match time, we set up solid foundations to give ourselves the best chance of success.

We will treat this series no differently.”

Nothing less than a 2-0 series win will be necessary for South Africa to improve their ranking points - and even then they will only gain one point. If they win the series 1-0 they will lose a point, while if they lose the series 1-0 they will shed seven points and lose their top spot to England.

New Zealand are likely to rely on a handful of top players, with captain Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson their key batsmen.

Guptill made a century in a Twenty20 international against South Africa, while all three made half-centuries in their side’s three-day warm-up match against a South African Invitation XI in Paarl.

Williamson made New Zealand’s only century when the teams met in three Tests in New Zealand earlier this year. South Africa won the series 1-0. Leftarm opening bowler Trent Boult and the experienced Chris Martin will be New Zealand’s bowling spearheads in the absence of the injured Tim Southee and Daniel Vettori.

South Africa have an injury concern over new ball bowler Vernon Philander, who is recovering from a hamstring strain but can call on two of the world’s leading fast bowlers in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, while their batting bulges with proven world-class performers such as captain Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers.—AFP

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

sp orts

New year, same old challenge for ageless Ferguson LONDON: Alex Ferguson’s retirement age, like Manchester United’s goals against column, keeps rising and the link between them is becoming clearer as the manager strives for one last indelible triumph.

The Scot turned 71 on Monday, his competitive spirit apparently undimmed in his 27th year at Old Trafford and with his team seven points ahead of Manchester City in the Premier League title race.

Whether Ferguson will get to celebrate a 13th championship in May - not to mention the third European Cup victory he covets so much - is likely to rest on United’s defensive strength. Which is to say, their weakness.

Among myriad statistics this season, one has stood out; that in leaking 28 goals at the halfway mark, United have already conceded more than they did in the title-winning years of 2007 (27 goals), 2008 (22) and 2009 (24).

Strangely, Ferguson said this weekend when United recorded only their fourth

clean sheet in the league with a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion that he had never had a stronger group of players at Old Trafford. Yet their defensive frailty has been so glaring that even Ferguson, that notorious protector of players, has confronted it publicly.

Poor marking at set-pieces, lack of organisation, indecisive goalkeeping and the aging limbs of defenders Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, and midfielders Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have all been blamed, but Ferguson is perplexed.

“I can’t possibly answer it,” he said after United came from behind three times to beat Newcastle 4-3 last week.

“We’ve analysed it to every possible detail to try to get a constant thread that tells me how to address it.

“It’s either don’t attack at all, which is not going to be Manchester United, or let our supporters live through the agony of 4-3 wins. We’ve not had a 5-4 yet or a 6-5. I think that could be more exciting.” He was certainly joking about

that, though his mood changes when you remind him how United lost the title to City last season - on goal difference on the final, stupendous afternoon of the campaign.

“It does matter, of course it matters,” he said of the goals against column. “If we’re scoring four goals at home there should be one against us or nothing.

That’s one way to help your goal difference. So that’s always a concern. “The concern about losing goals is that it’s testing us to the very limit and making us play beyond the energy levels we need to.”

Ferguson has been unable, or unwilling, to choose a No. 1 goalkeeper between David de Gea and Anders Lindegaard. In mitigation, the absence through injury of Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and, in particular, Nemanja Vidic has prevented United fielding a settled back four all season.

Vidic returned from three months out against Sunderland in December, and his continued presence beginning with

the trip to Wigan Athletic on New Year’s Day will be key to fulfilling United’s ambitions in the next four and a half months. “It is important we don’t sit at the top of the table admiring our position,” Ferguson said. “We would soon get a rude awakening. Congratulating ourselves on our Premier League lead doesn’t mean a thing to me, it’s winning the next game that counts.”

Ferguson once said, when he was talking about the late Bobby Robson, that he would not be managing a Premier League club at the age of 70.

The fact he is still there at 71 - still remonstrating with referees and raging at his own players, including Nani, De Gea and Alex Buttner this season, is testament to his passion for the game.

Only recently he gave a lecture to the Harvard Business School in the United States, an unlikely venue for a fascinating insight into the methods of English football’s most successful figure. He covered several topics, from player power and managing million-

aires to United’s policy in the transfer market and how the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli inspired a team talk.

“I had never been to a classical concert in my life,” Ferguson said. “But I am watching this and thinking about the co-ordination and the teamwork - one starts and one stops, just fantastic. So I spoke to my players about the orchestra - how they are a perfect team.”

There is, however, a more cynical way to view Ferguson’s longevity. That would be to conclude that the current United, trying to cope with the fading careers of Giggs and Scholes, shorn of giants such as Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo and impatient for the development of young players like Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley, is not yet good enough to allow him to retire.

Steve Clarke, the West Brom manager beaten by his Scottish compatriot on Saturday, summed it up well. “I have met a few grumpy 70-year-olds, and he is a typical grumpy Scot,” Clarke said.

“He likes to go chasing.” — Reuters

Graham’s late show frustrates Villa penalised for handball on the left side of his own area as he blocked from Angel Rangel, but Swansea were only awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box when the offence appeared to take place just inside the area.

Lambert and his players were furious when Michu escaped punishment for a challenge on behind that forced Ashley Westwood to

Swansea 2

Aston Villa 2

BIRMINGHAM: Fulham’s Dimitar Berbatov (centre) in action as West Bromwich Albion’s Gabriel Tamas (left) and Youssuf Mulumbu chases him during their English Premier League match. —AP

Fulham spring into 2013 with win at West Brom West Brom 1

Fulham 2 WEST BROMWICH: Fulham turned over a new leaf in the first Premier League game of 2013 by winning 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion on New Year’s Day to record only their second win in 13 matches.

Dimitar Berbatov claimed the first goal of the calendar year to put Fulham in front, with Alex Kacaniklic netting a 58th-minute winner after Romelu Lukaku had equalised for West Brom with his seventh goal of the campaign.

It was only Fulham’s second away win of the season and lifted Martin Jol’s side two places to 12th, while Steve Clarke’s West Brom remain seventh.

The final weekend of Premier League football in 2012 had dissolved in a blitz of 41 goals, but the first half at the Hawthorns showcased a sleepier side to the English top flight.

West Brom centre-back Gabriel Tamas headed wide from a corner in the 29th minute, before Berbatov spurned the game’s first real chance when he blazed over from 25 yards after Chris Brunt miscued a back-pass. When the breakthrough arrived, following a rapid Fulham counter-attack in the 39th

minute, its quality was completely at odds with what had come to pass before. Defending a corner, Fulham saw the ball pop out to Giorgios Karagounis, who helped it on to Berbatov in the centre circle.

The Bulgarian sprayed a pass wide to Ashkan Degajah, and he took a touch before cutting the ball back for the inrushing Berbatov to tuck a first-time shot between the legs of goalkeeper Ben Foster. In response, Youssouf Mulumbu headed wide from Liam Ridgewell’s leftwing cross, but West Brom had to wait only four minutes to level in the second half. Billy Jones was the creator, bamboozling Matthew Briggs wide on the right by darting inside and then out, before rolling the ball square for Lukaku-lingering on the offside boundary-to tap in from five yards.

Lukaku then hit the post after holding off Aaron Hughes, before a frantic sequence saw Zoltan Gera strike the woodwork after David Stockdale had saved from Lukaku, with Brunt’s followup brilliantly headed off the line by Hughes. The hosts had taken control, but they were hit by a sucker-punch just before the hour when Kacaniklic collected Bryan Ruiz’s lofted pass, turned, and rolled the ball beneath the advancing Foster to restore Fulham’s lead.

The irrepressible Lukaku headed narrowly wide in the 75th minute, while Hughes had to scramble the ball off his own line in injury time after another jinking foray from Jones. — AFP

Preview

Lampard: Chelsea transformed LONDON: Frank Lampard says Chelsea’s dramatic upturn in form has transformed the Premier League title race. Lampard struck twice in the 2-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park that moved the Blues back up to third place and ensured they face bottom club Queens Park Rangers at Stamford Bridge looking for a seventh win in eight games.

Four successive league wins have moved Rafael Benitez’s side to within eleven points of leaders Manchester United with a game in hand. And after having dropped off the pace during a disastrous dip in form in November and early December, Lampard believes the club can once again be considered serious contenders. “We have to keep believing,” said the midfielder. “There is a long way to go and things have changed around. “It can only happen if we win our games but if we go on performing like we have done in the last few league games and keep doing that, it’s all we can do. “We need to keep this form and this attitude.” Lampard’s dou-

ble at Everton highlighted the midfielder’s uncertain future with the 34-yearold yet to receive an offer of a new contract despite becoming a free agent at the end of the season.

Chelsea manager Benitez has steered clear of the debate surrounding Lampard’s future and faces a more immediate problem with goalkeeper Petr Cech a doubt for the visit of QPR. Cech was replaced at half-time against Everton and Benitez said: “He felt something in his adductor so we didn’t want to take any risk. We’ll have to do a scan and see and this depends on the doctors.” QPR’s home defeat to Liverpool left Harry Redknapp’s side eight points adrift of safety although Benitez has cautioned against underestimating Chelsea’s near neighbors.

“Obviously they’re in a difficult position and that means they will be more dangerous,” he said. “So we have to carry on doing our job and focus on the things that we are doing well and trying to improve the things that we’re not. — AFP

SWANSEA: Danny Graham frustrated Aston Villa’s bid to climb clear of the relegation zone as the Swansea striker’s last-gasp equaliser rescued a 2-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium yesterday. Villa were on course for a rare victory when Christian Benteke converted a penalty with only six minutes remaining after Andreas Weimann had earlier cancelled out Wayne Routledge’s opener for Swansea. But Paul Lambert’s team, who had conceded 15 goals and scored none in their last three games, were unable to hold on as Graham volleyed home after a late goalmouth scramble.

Villa, who fielded an inexperienced team with an average age of just 23, climbed one place to 16th, but they are just two points above the Premier League relegation zone. It was Swansea who took control against Lambert’s rookies and Routledge embarrassed Matthew Lowton by flicking the ball over the full-back’s head and racing clear, but Brad Guzan did brilliantly to deny the winger and then smothered at Michu’s feet as the Spaniard followed up.

Villa’s luck ran out in the ninth minute when Pablo Hernandez’s pass opened up the visitors’ defence and Routledge rounded Guzan to open the scoring. Graham hit the post seconds later and the striker then also blazed wide with the goal at his mercy.

Guzan was in action again midway through the half as he turned Michu’s shot onto a post after a superb run from the Spaniard. But Villa equalised against the run of play in the 44th minute when Ashley Williams failed to cut out Benteke’s flick and Weimann finished superbly with an angled shot across Michel Vorm.

Villa had a let-off when Joe Bennett was

EPL Results/Standings Man City 3 (Zabaleta 43, Dzeko 56, Aguero 74-pen) Stoke 0; Swansea 2 (Routledge 9, Graham 90) Aston Villa 2 (Weimann 44, Benteke 84-pen); Tottenham 3 (Dawson 9, Adebayor 51, Dempsey 79) Reading 1 (Pogrebnyak 4); West Brom 1 (Lukaku 49) Fulham 2 (Berbatov 39, Kacaniklic 58); West Ham 2 (Noble 3pen, O’Brien 26) Norwich 1 (Martin 90); Wigan 0 Man Utd 4 (Hernandez 35, 63, Van Persie 43, 88).

leave the field. But Benteke struck with a cool penalty to put them ahead in the 84th minute after Swansea substitute Nathan Dyer brought down Weimann.

With three priceless points within touching distance, Villa stumbled and Graham fired beyond Guzan’s grasp after Michu’s shot had been pushed into his path. —AFP

Danny Graham of Swansea celebrates in this file photo.

West Ham hold on to edge Norwich 2-1 West Ham 2

Norwich 1

Playing later Southampton v Arsenal English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd 21 17 1 3 54 28 52 Man City 21 13 6 2 41 19 45 Tottenham 21 12 3 6 39 27 39 Chelsea 19 11 5 3 39 18 38 Arsenal 19 9 6 4 39 21 33 Everton 20 8 9 3 33 25 33 West Brom 21 10 3 8 29 27 33 Swansea 21 7 8 6 31 26 29 Stoke 21 6 11 4 21 20 29 Liverpool 20 7 7 6 31 26 28 West Ham 20 7 5 8 24 24 26 Norwich 21 6 7 8 24 34 25 Fulham 21 6 6 9 32 37 24 Sunderland 20 5 7 8 21 26 22 Newcastle 20 5 5 10 26 37 20 Aston Villa 21 4 7 10 17 41 19 Wigan 21 5 3 13 22 39 18 Southampton 19 4 5 10 26 37 17 Reading 21 2 7 12 23 40 13 QPR 20 1 7 12 16 36 10

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LONDON: West Ham returned to winning ways for the first time in six outings as first-half goals from Mark Noble and Joey O’Brien were enough to defeat Norwich 2-1 in controversial fashion at Upton Park yesterday.

It was a much needed win for the East Londoner’s, who move six points away from the relegation zone and pick up maximum points for the first time since defeating Chelsea 3-1 on December 1. Scottish defender Russell Martin pulled a goal back for Norwich in the dying minutes but it wasn’t enough to salvage something from a tight contest. Norwich, who lamented several contentious decisions by referee Mark Clattenburg including arguments about both goals, lost for the fourth straight match and stay 11th in the table.

Both teams came into the match having failed to register a point during the festive period. Hammers manager Sam Allardyce had to reshuffle his pack in the absence of suspended skipper Kevin Nolan and James Collins while Andy Carroll and Mohamed Diame remain injured. Hughton had his own problems, being without injured captain Grant Holt as well as suspended midfielder Bradley Johnson.

The Upton Park faithful had barely settled into their seats before some early pressure enticed Ryan Bennett to tug the shirt of New Zealand defender Winston Reid following a corner and Clattenburg immediately pointed to the spot. It appeared harsh on Hughton’s side but Noble coolly sent Irish ‘keeper Mark Bunn the wrong way

from the resulting spotkick and the home side led 1-0 after just three minutes.

The Norwich players were then left infuriated on 23 minutes when Clattenburg declined to give a clear penalty following a blatent handball in the box by goalscorer Reid.

It went from bad to worse for the ‘Canaries’ on 26 minutes when Carlton Cole appeared to have fouled Norwegian midfielder Alexander Tettey only for play to continue and O’Brien was allowed to fire home Noble’s clever cutback inside the box. Tettey only came back into play minutes later after having treatment on a head injury adding to Clattenburg’s controversial first-half. Norwich had another strong penalty appeal turned down five minutes into the second half which would have changed the complexion of the match but again play was waved on despite James Tomkpins clearly bringing down striker Harry Kane. The away side finally got some return on their second-half onslaught when Martin volleyed home following some excellent work from Elliot Bennett but it was too little too late. — AFP

Mark Noble

Fulham spring into 2013 with win at West Brom

Serena sends Alize packing

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30

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013

New year, same old challenge for ageless Ferguson Page 31

LONDON: Wigan Athletic’s Ivorian striker Arouna Kone (second left) vies with Manchester United’s English defender Rio Ferdinand (left) and Brazilian defender Rafael Da Silva (right) during the English Premier League football match. —AFP

United start New Year with a bang Wigan 0

Man United 4 WIGAN: Javier Hernandez and Robin van Persie each scored twice as Manchester United preserved their seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 win at the DW Stadium yesterday.

Alex Ferguson made five changes to the side that beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 on Saturday. While eight players have started all four of Wigan’s festive matches, only four-

David de Gea, Patrice Evra, Jonny Evans and Michael Carrick-had to do the same for United.

The Latics never got going and trailed to goals from Hernandez and van Persie at halftime, with Hernandez taking his tally to 12 for the season with a second goal after the break.

The Mexican further underlined his reputation as a goal-poacher, with every single one of his 31 Premier League goals having come from finishes inside the penalty area. Van Persie continued his fine scoring form by taking his tally to 16 league goals for the season, as Ferguson’s team made it eight wins in nine matches.

Wigan enjoyed plenty of early possession but United always carried the greater threat and were the first to threaten when Hernandez surged onto a ball from van Persie

and had his shot saved by Ali Al Habsi at the near post. Ashley Young burst through a challenge from James McArthur and sent a teasing cross across the area, but it had just too much on it for Ryan Giggs to touch in at the far post.

Wigan continued to dictate, but once again they were undone by a long ball, this time from Giggs, and Hernandez turned in, only to be called back for offside. The Latics almost made the most of all of their possession when Franco Di Santo attempted to lob over the top for Arouna Kone and Jean Beausejour seized on Rio Ferdinand’s clearance before thumping high and wide.

United finally clicked into gear just before the half-hour mark and when Tom Cleverley played Giggs into space, the veteran’s cross was turned wide by Maynor Figueroa with

Hernandez ready to pounce at the far post.

Ferguson’s side went closer still when Al Habsi failed to deal with a van Persie free-kick and Gary Caldwell just blocked from Giggs. Al Habsi also looked uncomfortable in dealing with a long shot from Rafael and was fortunate to see his block cleared before a United player could finish.

But 10 minutes before the interval, United secured the breakthrough when Wigan failed to clear a corner, Al Habsi could only push Patrice Evra’s effort back into a dangerous area, and Hernandez finished from close range.

Two minutes before the interval they doubled their lead when McArthur and Figueroa collided to allow Hernandez to break for the box. The Mexican found van Persie and when

Spurs third despite early New Year alarm

City end Stoke run to keep in touch with Man United Man City 3

Stoke 0 MANCHESTER: Manchester City inflicted a first league defeat in 11 games on Stoke as the Premier League champions kept their title challenge alive with a 3-0 win at Eastlands yesterday.

Goals from Pablo Zabaleta, Edin Dzeko and a Sergio Aguero penalty saw Roberto Mancini’s team make the perfect start to 2013 as they remain within seven points of league leaders Manchester United, who won 4-0 at Wigan.

As has been the case for so much of the season, City dominated the first half completely, in terms of possession, but were frustrated by the lack of an end product until taking the lead three minutes before the interval.

Aguero was at the heart of so much of City’s enterprising play and the Argentina forward almost handed his side the lead in the opening minute when he gathered James Milner’s pass at full speed and skipped his way past a challenge before his low shot was kept out by goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

As City kept pressing, Andy Wilkinson made a telling tackle to deny Aguero six yards out but, after

Gareth Barry sent over a cross from the resulting breakdown in play, Aguero met the ball with a near post header that struck the post and flew behind.

Begovic was also required to leap into action to deny Aguero halfway through the opening period after the home forward collected Barry ’s pass and turned his marker Ryan Shawcross.

Aguero took a step into the Stoke area and unleashed a low shot which the visiting goalkeeper did well to keep out with a sharp, low dive to his right. Finally, as the half-time whistle approached, City’s growing frustrations were eased as they took a deserved lead through Argentine full-back Zabaleta in the 43rd minute.

Milner drilled in a low cross from the right-hand by-line which Begovic was forced to keep out with an extended foot, the ball falling straight to Zabaleta who returned it into the open net from six yards.

The solitary goal lead was the least City deserved to take into the dressing room at half-time after 45 minutes of complete domination.

Stoke scarcely managed to get the ball into the final third of the field and a coming together between Barry and Charlie Adam was the closest thing to a moment of anxiety for the home team as visiting supporters appealed for a penalty.

Dzeko, a virtual non-factor in the first half, started the second in far

Ivan Ramis also slipped, the Dutchman jinked inside and stroked a sparkling shot inside the right-hand post. Wigan thought they had pulled one back just before the hour mark when Kone touched in from a Di Santo cross, but it was ruled out for offside.

At the other end, Hernandez threw himself at Young’s cross and got there ahead of Al Habsi, only to see the ball drop just over.

But United extended their lead when van Persie’s free-kick hit the wall and Hernandez thumped the rebound past Al Habsi.

Wigan appeared to have run out of energy and ideas and substitute Jordi Gomez passed up two late chances to secure a consolation.

And with just over a minute left, van Persie touched in from a Danny Welbeck cross to add a fourth. —AFP

Tottenham 3

Reading 1

LONDON: Liverpool’s Luis Suarez (right) celebrates scoring against Aston Villa during the English Premier League soccer match. —AP more dangerous form. After three minutes, he met Yaya Toure’s through ball with a terrific half volley which just cleared the Stoke goal.

Toure then darted into the area where he pulled the ball back for Dzeko whose 12-yard shot was deflected behind and, finally, after 55 minutes, Dzeko secured his 10th of the season after more productive approach play from Aguero.

Aguero eased past Glenn Whelan and his driven cross-shot was steered by Begovic directly into the path of Dzeko who tapped in from point blank.

An Adam free-kick on the hour was Stoke’s first attempt on goal and had Hart performing an unconvincing punch clear and Jonathan Walters missed a chance to pull one back for the visitors, when he miscued, just six yards out, from a corner moments later.

But any uncertainty about the result was removed after 73 minutes when Steven N’Zonzi tripped David Silva in the box and Aguero drove in the resulting penalty. With time running out, Whelan’s spectacular 25yard strike was turned onto the post

by Hart but it was far too little too late from the visitors. —AFP

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur leapfrogged Chelsea to claim third place in the Premier League by coming from behind to win 3-1 at home to second-bottom Reading on New Year’s Day. The visitors took a shock early lead through Pavel Pogrebnyak but Spurs hit back through Michael Dawson, Emmanuel Adebayor and Clint Dempsey to record their seventh win in nine matches. Andre Villas-Boas’ side moved a point above Chelsea, who have two games in hand and host Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday, while Brian McDermott’s Reading remain five points from safety.

Reading are still to win away from home this season, but they stunned Tottenham by taking the lead in the fourth minute.

Ian Harte, Reading’s 35-year-old left-back, rolled back the years by curling a 20-yard free-kick against the crossbar and Pogrebnyak stooped to head the rebound into the unguarded goal.

It took Spurs just five minutes to level, however, as Dawson met ex-Reading midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson’s left-wing corner with a near-post header that flashed past visiting goalkeeper Adam Federici.

Tottenham seemed determined to atone for their sluggish start and despite the

absence of the suspended Gareth Bale, they dominated the game thereafter.

Jermain Defoe headed over the bar, while Sigurdsson saw a shot deflected over and Mousa Demble drove wide.

Defoe shot fractionally wide of the post in the 37th minute and then forced Federici into a smart save, before the Reading goalkeeper reacted quickly to snatch the ball away from Adebayor after spilling a shot from Dembele.

The second half quickly adopted a familiar pattern, with Federici getting down well in the 47th minute to field a left-foot curler from Defoe. Spurs duly went in front six minutes into the second period, with Adebayor climbing at the back post and straining his neck muscles to meet Aaron Lennon’s dinked cross with an emphatic header.

Sandro went close and Lennon tested Federici, but there was a scare for the hosts when Pogrebnyak went close twice in quick succession. Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris got down well to repel a shot from the Russian after he had surged down the right and when the ball came back to him, the Reading striker put his header wide. Kyle Naughton then had to produce a last-ditch tackle to prevent Jimmy Kebe from drawing Reading level, as the ghosts of Spurs’ recent late capitulations threatened to return. Fate, however, had other ideas, and with a large slice of luck, Dempsey put the game beyond Reading in the 79th minute with a 30-yard shot that took a wicked deflection off Mikele Leigertwood before looping over Federici. — AFP